Tag Archive for Smartphones

Smartphone

WickedLeak launches Full HD Android Wammy Passion Z+ in India for Rs. 15,990

by Hans Gogia • July 19, 2013

WickedLeak Inc has announced their latest addition to the quad-core category – Wammy Passion Z+ on 16th July 2013. Wammy Passion Z+ is the first smartphone to be out in the market with MediaTek MTK6589T processors that are clocked at 1.5Ghz rather than the previous 1.2GHz series.

Features:

Wammy Passion Z+ sports a Super Clear 5-inch Full HD IPS display with scratch resistant Dragon Trail Glass ( OGS ) with the updated MediaTek MTK6589 Turbo quad-core 1.5GHz processors. It comes with 1GB RAM and dual sim capability with one of the sim having 3G access. It also features a 13MP rear camera with LED flash with BSI sensor and 2MP front facing camera. It has 4GB internal memory which can be expanded up to 64GB via microSD card slot. Wammy Passion Z+ is powered by a 2500 mAh battery to backup this device. It could not be called a phablet because 5inch devices genrally are quoted as smartphones these days.

Specifications at a glance:

Super Clear 5-inch Full HD display
1.5GHz Mediatek Quad-core processor MTK6589 Turbo
1GB RAM
4GB internal memory
13MP rear camera with BSI sensor and 2MP front camera
2500 mAh battery
Android 4.2.2
3G / WiFi / Bluetooth

Wammy Passion Z+ has been priced at ₹15,990. WickedLeak has started taking pre-orders for the device since 16th July 2013 and the expected availability date is 25 July 2013.

Comparison:

At this price point, we think no one is better than Wammy Passion Z+ till now. Reason being it has the 1.5GHz MediaTek Turbo processor and it runs on Android 4.2.2 and it has full HD display with OGS. Nothing can beat that till now. But we still don’t have any takes on performance because we need to test the device before commiting. We have tested Zen Mobiles Ultrafone 701 HD and Lava Iris 504q which gave the best performance at their pricing. If Wammy stands out in this competition it will undoubtedly be the champion until other manufacturers come out with their updated products.

How To

[How-to] Set Any Video Clip As Live Wallpaper

by Rohit Khurana • July 18, 2013

Android is a very powerful mobile operating system. It can do a lot of stuff which a computer can or even more than that. We personally have been using Android devices as our work phones and we found them to be very productive. Android has number of functionality and possible customization which need to be discovered by you as an individual for your use case. One such customization is making a video clip as a live wallpaper.

Android is the only mobile operating system having the option to set live wallpapers. Live wallpapers or interactive wallpapers give a different feel to the device. There might be sometime when you have this thought that wish I could set this video as a wallpaper. If yes, then you are in luck because it’s possible on Android.

There is an application on Android called as Video Live Wallpaper by C.C.P. Cre@ions which makes it possible to set a video clip as a live wallpaper on Android. Below is the step-by-step guide on how to configure this app and get the live wallpaper ready.

Visit the Google Play Store and search for Video Live Wallpaper.

Install the application to your Android device.
Long press on the home screen.
Select to change wallpaper and choose live wallpapers.
In the list you will find Video Live Wallpaper as an option.
After selecting Video Live Wallpaper configure the video source in settings and leave the rest as it is.
Go back, choose the video and there you go.

Easy eh? If you have any queries leave us a comment below. You may also contact us on our Facebook Page or on twitter.

Smartphone

BlackBerry launches Q5 in India for 24,990INR

by Hans Gogia • July 16, 2013

BlackBerry the king of qwerty handsets today on 16th July 2013 launched their latest entrant to the BlackBerry 10 smartphone series and the budget friendly – BlackBerry Q5 at an event in New Delhi. Q5 is the cheapest BB10 running handset available out there which provides an awesome qwerty experience as is the best alternative to Q10, company’s high profile smartphone.

BlackBerry Q5 features an awesome qwerty keyboard which provides one of the best typing experience with an youthful design. It also has a 3.1 inches touchscreen display which makes it for the BB10 gestures and provide best of both worlds in one device. BlackBerry Q5 comes with the BlackBerry 10.1 software upgrade pre-installed with all the BB10 features like Time Shift, BlackBerry Hub, Story Maker, BBM and the other 120,000 applications from the BlackBerry World which shall be compatible with the Q5 as well.

BlackBerry aims this model especially to the youth who want BBM, qwerty keyboard with some really cool colors. Q5 will be available in Pure Black, Pure White and Pure Red color options for 24,990 from authorized retailers in India from 20th July 2013.

After Z10 and the Q10 and their highly incorrect pricing, we think though BlackBerry managed to go down but still Q5 is pricey. Something kind of 9220 here could have done the magic but sigh they lost it once again. BlackBerry Q5 no doubt is a good smartphone which even though being at the lower end feels premium but 25k for this hardware and software combo is too vague for targeting the youth. At a similar price point, we can have some top notch Android smartphones which could be a better value for money for example even today S3 not to forget which was smartphone of the year 2012 comes for about this much price can be a better deal.
In the same price window we can get Huawei Ascend Mate the 6.1 inch Android running phablet with powerful specification packed inside for 25 grands to combine performance, design and size if one is looking for such handsets. Other than this we have the Samsung Galaxy Mega 5.8 for ₹23,699 or the Nokia Lumia 820 for 21k running the Windows Phone 8.

How To

[How to] Force Reboot Smartphones With Non-Removable Battery

by Rohit Khurana • July 16, 2013

With the increasing demand of decreasing thickness smartphone manufacturers have been continuously innovating to bind beauty and the beast. Cutting edge design with super powerful chipsets is their call and in the process of achieving their goal there are some pros and some cons. One such cons is the use of non-removable battery.

Using a non-removable battery device undoubtedly has chances for a better build than compared with that of removable. For instance let’s compare the Galaxy S4 and HTC One. HTC One is a master piece, an exception in the smartphone industry whereas S4 though is good but nowhere near HTC One. Smartphones with non-removable battery have an advantage that they can have less thickness than a smartphone with removable battery as the non-removable battery is embedded into the casing which therefore decreases the thickness.

These were all pros but there are cons as well. Operating system no matter what is prone to crashes, freeze, hangs, lags etc. due to insufficient resources or improper utilization. Earlier when there were removable batteries on smartphones we used to tackle these issues but just removing the battery and inserting it again. This is called the hard reset. But now soft reset seems to be a difficulty as the number of smartphones opting for non-removable batteries are increasing day by day. Now there should be an alternative for this to hard reset the device and the developers figured out a way and set it as a standard to force reboot the device.

Starting with the iPhones which never had a removable battery, the standard way to reboot if the os stuck somewhere is to hold and long press HOME + POWER key and wait till the device reboots. This basically does a hard reset which clears off the RAM and the process which made this happen is no longer in the volatile memory.

Image source: Wikihow

Similarly on Androids Google thought to implement this and came up with a combination of POWER + VOL DOWN which generally all smartphone vendors implement but it may vary. For example, some of the devices may just force reboot by long pressing the home button whereas some may implement this as per the standards.

So whenever you are stuck with a screen freeze you may follow this guide and give us a heads up if it helps. In case there is a demand of anything specific you can drop us a comment below or contact us on our Facebook page or twitter handle @idigestindia

Smartphone

Xolo Play T1000 Powered By Nvdia Tegra 3 Processor launched In India For 15,999INR

by Hans Gogia • July 15, 2013

After some rumors Xolo finally unveiled its plan for a gaming smartphone powered by a Tegra 3 processor which we expected to arrive sometime this quarter but not this soon. Earlier this month following the rumor Xolo started the pre-bookings of the handset in association with an e-commerce portal. It was declared that the smartphone shall be launched on 15 July and here it is for ₹15,999.

Xolo Play T1000 is the company’s first Nvdia powered Tegra 3 processor smartphone aimed to provide its patrons with mobile gaming experience at an affordable price point. Xolo Play sports a 4.7-inch HD capacitive touch screen IPS display with 1280 x 720 pixels resolution based on one glass solution (OGS) technology. It features a 1.5 GHz quad-core Nvidia Tegra 3 processor with 416 MHz 12 Core NVIDIA ULP GeForce GPU and runs on Android 4.1.1 Jelly Bean mobile operating system. It has 1GB of RAM and 4GB of internal memory with an expandable option up to 32 GB via a microSD card slot. It comes with a 8MP BSI sensor primary camera with LED flash and 2MP front-facing secondary camera and runs on a 2000 mAh battery. On the connectivity front the device features single-SIM card slot with 3G , Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and GPS/ AGPS support.

The smartphone having Tegra processor comes bundled with an application by Nvidia itself which is the Tegra Zone that would let users search and install Tegra optimized games on their Android. Tegra processor and battery issues though run hand-in hand but Xolo Play shall give 11.2 hours of talk time on 2G and up to 9 hours on 3G under nominal usage conditions.

Xolo Play T1000 is available for purchase online via xolo.in and other retailing web-sites and shall hit the shelves soon across the country.

Xolo Play at this price point will definitely face a huge competition from the budget android market with Canvas 4 and Karbonn Titanium S9 or even Lava Iris 504q from the parent company itself. Most of the features that is quad-core processor, HD display, 1GB RAM, 4GB internal memory, 8MP BSI sensor camera are exactly the same with the prominent difference between the SoC used. Though the rest run on MediTek MT6589 SoC and this on Tegra 3 but now the general public knows about the pros and cons of Tegra chipsets which primarily include battery woes, overheating and undoubtedly better gaming experience than MediaTek inbuild GPU. Let’s see how well the market accepts another struggler in this already stagnated scenario.

Smartphone

Samsung Galaxy Star vs Budget Smartphone Competitors: Which is a Better Smartphone?

by Rohit Khurana • May 27, 2013

Samsung, the largest smartphone vendor in the world is aggressive in launching a plethora of handsets in the country, especially in the budget segment in order to attract the consumers who do not like to shed out a lot of money on smartphone purchases.

Well, a company official has once stated that the company is looking forward to make its presence prominent in all the segments of the smartphone industry starting from budget to high-end devices covering all the price points.

Recently, the company has been launching many smartphones in the budget price point and the latest one is none other than Galaxy Star, a dual SIM smartphone with a price tag of Rs 5,290.

When it comes to the technical specifications, the Galaxy Star packs a 3-inch capacitive touchscreen display with a resolution of 320×240 pixels, 1GHz processor and 512MB RAM. Running on Android 4.1 Jelly Bean OS, the smartphone comes with a 2-megapixel rear camera, 4GB internal storage and micro SD card up to 32GB. Further, Galaxy Star boasts connectivity aspects such as 2G, Bluetooth, micro USB and Wi-Fi and is loaded with a 1,200 mAh battery.

Apart from these specifications, the Galaxy Star also comes with features including Intelligent Motion UI, which offers a responsive and intuitive user experience. Also, the Smart Dual SIM feature enables the users to receive calls on both the SIM cards uninterruptedly. Galaxy Star comes preloaded with ChatOn and many other applications including e-books, games, news, productivity and more.

Launched at Rs 5,290, the Galaxy Star comes with a special plan from Vodafone, which offers 250MB free 2G data per month for 2 months and is valid up to July 31, 2013.

Now, after having known about all the aspects of the Galaxy Star, it is time to look at the impact on the market due to the launch of the smartphone. There are a plethora of India based vendors who also come up with budget dual SIM smartphones and hence, Galaxy Star will enter a direct rivalry with these devices. Have a look at the competitors to the Galaxy Star below.

Nokia Asha 501

Early this month, Nokia announced the Asha 501 in India and the handset is pegged to be released in June with an estimated price tag of Rs 5,300 approximately. Asha 501 is equipped with a 3-inch capacitive touchscreen display with 320×240 pixels and a 1GHz processor. Further, the Asha 501 comes with 512MB RAM, 4GB internal storage, micro SD card slot supporting up to 32GB and a 3.2-megapixel main camera. Also, the handset is packed with connectivity features including Wi-Fi, 2G, Bluetooth 3.0 and is powered by a 1,200 mAh battery offering up to 17 hours of talk time and 48 days of standby.

With increased battery backup and better camera features than the Galaxy Star, hence, the Asha 501 is a better option.

Micromax Bolt A51

Micromax is a popular and dominant smartphone maker in India. The company launched Bolt A51 a couple of months back with a 3.5-inch capacitive touchscreen display with a resolution of 480×320 pixels and an 832MHz processor. Based on Android 2.3.7 Gingerbread, Bolt A51 houses a 2-megapixel rear camera, VGA front camera for video calling, 512MB internal storage, 256MB RAM and a micro SD card slot supporting up to 16GB additional storage. Further, Micromax Bolt A51 is packed with software features including Bluetooth, 2G, 3G, Wi-Fi and is powered by a 1,500 mAh battery offering up to 4.5 hours talk time.

Priced relatively lesser than the Galaxy Star, the Bolt A51 comes with 3G and a front camera for video calling.

Karbonn A4+

Last week, India based vendor Karbonn announced the launch of A4+ online at a price of Rs 5,190. The Karbonn A4+ features a 4-inch capacitive touchscreen display with a resolution of 480×800 pixels and a 1GHz dual-core processor. A4+ is flavored with Android 4.0 ICS operating system and boasts a 3.2-megapixel main camera, 2G, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. Also, the handset comes with 512MB RAM, 139MB internal storage, which can be expanded to up to 32GB and is loaded with a 1,250 mAh battery.

With a similar price tag, the Karbonn A4+ has a dual-core processor, but the Galaxy Star is based on Jelly Bean OS.

Celkon A9+

Celkon has also launched a couple of handsets last week, and of the duo – A9+ is a budget smartphone priced at Rs 6,999. The Celkon A9+ boasts a 3.5-inch capacitive touchscreen display with a resolution of 320×480 pixels, 1GHz processor and 512MB RAM. Having an internal storage capacity of 512MB, the handset supports micro SD card up to 32GB. Also, Celkon A9+ is based on Android 4.0 ICS and comes with 2-megapixel rear camera, VGA front camera, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and a 1,350 mAh battery.

Of course, with a front camera, the Celkon offering is better, but Galaxy Star is priced relatively lower at Rs 5,290.

Videocon A22

Videocon is another vendor who has started manufacturing budget smartphones. The Videocon A22 is based on Android 2.3.7 Gingerbread OS and is priced at Rs 4,499. Packing a 3.5-inch capacitive touchscreen display with a resolution of 320×480 pixels and 1GHz processor, the Videocon A22 comes with 3-megapixel rear camera, VGA front camera, 256MB RAM and 256MB internal storage, which can be expanded to up to 16GB. The smartphone comes with connectivity features such as Wi-Fi, 3G, Bluetooth and is loaded with a 1,500 mAh battery delivering 4 hours of talk time.

With a front camera, 3G connectivity and lesser price tag, the Videocon A22 could be a better offering, but Galaxy Star comes with Android 4.1 Jelly Bean OS.

Smartphone

Top 5 Alternatives To Micromax Canvas 2 A110

by Nitesh Rathore • May 6, 2013

Do you wants to buy a smartphone with good specification under Rs. 10,000? Are you confused with the smartphones available in Indian market? Your friend or relative told you to buy Micromax Canvas 2. But someone else also told you not to buy a phone from Micromax. And in fact you are totally confused, so here we are going to suggest you best one for you. If you want to buy Micromax Canvas 2, but here take a look at the alternatives of canvas 2. There are many quad core phablets are also available in the market under Rs. 13,000 but here we only take a look at the dual core phablets at price range Rs. 10,000.

Gionee Gpad G1

Rs. 9,990
5.0 inches
480×800 pixels resolution
1GHz dual-core Cortex A9 processor processor
512MB RAM
Android 4.0 Ice Cream
8MP Rear Camera with LED flash
0.3MP VGA Front Camera
4GB Internal Memory
2100 mAH

PROS – 8 MP camera, display, processor

CONS – Android ICS, not enough battery

Byond P1 Phablet

Rs.10,999
5.3 inch IPS qHD
540 x 960 pixels.
1GHz dual core processor
1GB RAM
Android 4.1 Jelly Bean
8 megapixel rear camera with LED Flash
1.3 megapixel front camera
2,000 mAH battery
internal memory of 4GB

PROS– If you love big screen phones then this phone is for you, with 540 x 960 pixels resolution it will gives you good picture quality too. And the latest version of Android surely delight you. With 8 MP camera and LED flash support you can capture beautiful moments of your life.

CONS – With only 2,000 mAH battery it promises up to 5 hours of talk time that is only bad thing with this device.

Huawei Ascend G510

Rs. 10990
4.5-inch display
480 x 854 Pixels resolution
1.2 GHz Qualcomm Dual Core processor
512 MB RAM
Android 4.1 Jelly Bean
5 Megapixel rear camera with LED flash
0.3 megapixels front camera
1700 mAh battery

PROS – A 1 GHz dual core processor from Qualcomm makes this device great deal and a better alternative of Canvas 2 and you get android jelly bean out of the box.

CONS – battery backup, only 512 MB RAM

Karbonn A30

Rs. 10999
5.9-inch Capacitive Touchscreen display
480 x 800 Pixels resolution
1 GHz Dual Core processor
512 MB RAM
Android 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich
8 MP primary camera with LED Flash
VGA secondary camera support
2500 mAh battery

PROS – If you like bigger screen smartphones than this device will be great deal for you. Massive big screen, good battery backup

CONS – low RAM

Salora PowerMaxx

Rs. 9999
4.5 Inches
540 x 960 Pixels
1 GHz Dual-Core processor
512 MB RAM
Upgradable to jelly bean 4.1
8 megapixel rear camera with LED Flash
1.3 megapixel front camera
4 GB internal memory
3200 mAh battery

PROS – This device has biggest mobile battery ever installed on any smartphone. And now its upgradable to jelly bean 4.1 which is quietly fair.

CONS – The only bad thing with this device is that it has 512 MB RAM. So sometimes multitasking becomes difficult with this device.

So here I try to give you alternatives of Micromax canvas 2. These are the most popular smartphones under 10K segment. All phones are dual core and all of them only Beyond P1 has 1 GB of RAM. Salora powemaxx has a huge battery backup while most of the device is running on android jelly bean 4.1 you can select phone as you like, However every one promises same type of hardware and specification, Hauwei has processor from Qualcomm but has poor battery backup too.

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