Vivo V9 Review: A value-for-money device with good camera, notch screen

Chinese smartphone maker Vivo recently launched the Vivo V9 in India. Priced at Rs

22,990, the phone has a 24-megapixel front camera with enhanced face beauty features that
can brighten up and take sharp selfies.

The V9 is powered by Snapdragon 626 octa core processor, along with 4GB RAM and 64GB internal memory, expandable up to 256 GB through microSD card. The phone runs smoothly with minor lags even after opening 10-15 different applications ranging from social media to gaming.

Even though there is decent internal memory, users can still choose to expand with the help of a microSD card, a designated slot for which has been provided in the SIM tray.

Vivo V9 The handset comes with the Android 8.1 Oreo operating system out-of-the-box, based on Vivo’s Funtouch OS 4.0

Honor 10 India launch by May-end; sale exclusively on Flipkart: Know more

Honor, the online subsidiary brand of Chinese smartphone manufacturer Huawei, is set to unveil the Honor 10 on May 15 in London. In India, the smartphone will launch by the end of May, exclusively on home-grown e-commerce platform Flipkart, according to an official statement issued by the company.

The midrange smartphone is believed to take inspiration from the Huawei P20, unveiled last month along with the P20 Pro and P20 Lite but not yet launched in India. In terms of pricing, according to an industry source, the Honor 10 would be launched at Rs 35,000 and would rival the OnePlus 6, which is also due for a launch on May 16.

"We are delighted to announce that Flipkart will be our exclusive online sale partner for Honor 10. At Honor, we have always believed in making our products easily accessible for our consumers by opting for strategic partnerships. We are confident that this association with Flipkart, who shares our vision to deliver superb value to consumers will help strengthen our position in the Indian smartphone market." said P Sanjeev, Vice-President Sales, Huawei India-Consumer Business Group.

Infocus Vision 3 Pro Review: Budget phone with strong battery, dual camera

American smartphone brand Infocusearlier this month launched the Infocus Vision 3 Pro, an upgraded version of the 18:9 aspect ratio screen-based Infocus Vision 3. Priced at Rs 10,999, this budget smartphone is packed with a powerful 4,000 mAh battery, which easily lasts around 2 days on regular usage. The device comes with Android 7.0 Nougat and 1.5GHz MediaTek MTK6750T octa core processor, along with 64GB of internal memory and 4 GB of RAM. It would have been great if the company had provided Android 8.0 Oreo out of the box instead.

Infocus Vision 3 Pro
The phone can multi-task pretty well, as we found the day-to-day usage to be smooth enough. However, the phone shows some lags while running graphic-intensive games like Need for Speed No Limits and Tekken.
Infocus Vision 3 Pro The operating system comes pre-installed with bloatware, which includes Amazon shopping and Prime Video apps, UC news and UC browser apps and Freeshare, which should have ideally been kept optional.

Detel D1 Boom Review: Low-budget feature phone with SOS features for Rs 699

Detel, a home-grown feature phone brand known for its economical offerings, recently launched the D1 Boom, along with D4 Prime, D120 and D500 devices. These phones feature a panic button, which activates and sends an SOS message to police authorities and connects call to emergency number 112.

Detel D1 Boom
Priced at Rs 699, the Detel D1 Boom is touted as one of the cheapest feature phones with a panic button. It is also the loudest and has the ability to record calls, which makes it an interesting proposition in ultra-affordable feature phones segment.
Detel D1 Boom The key feature of the phone is its panic button, housed in numeric key 5. On a short press, the numeric key 5 works as other alpha-numeric keys. However, a long press activates the SOS panic mode and make five calls to the emergency number 112, followed by 5 SMSes sent to police authorities and another 3 to family and friends.
Detel D1 Boom For a feature phone, the Detel D1 comes stuffed with a lot of utility tools. The dual-SIM phone boasts dual standby and features a microSD card slot, auto call recording function, VGA camera at the back and FM 

HMD Global to adopt notch screen, resurrect X-series with Nokia X6: Report

HMD Global, the Finnish mobile phone manufacturer behind Nokia-branded devices, might bring back the old Nokia X-series smartphones. The first smartphone in the series will purportedly be called the Nokia X6. And the official images shared by the company on the Chinese social media platform Weibo shows that the phone will sport a notch-based screen, a first for Nokia smartphones.

Those who have seen the original Nokia X-series devices would agree that those phones offered a value-for-money proposition. The series had its spot fixed between the premium Nokia N-series and the budget Nokia C-series, therefore it took cues from both. The X-series devices usually had a distinct design language, unconventional mostly, and featured a colourful outlook. The Nokia X7-00 with razor cut metallic design and unconventional pseudo speaker grilles on each corners was the last device of the X-series that came out.

Nokia X6 specifications and features

Speaking of the purported Nokia X6, the Android-based smartphone is expected to sport a notch-based 5.8-inch screen with a 19:9 aspect ratio on the front. The phone is expected to use either a MediaTek P60 system-on-chip (SoC) or a Qualcomm Snapdragon 636 processor. The earlier leak also hinted that the phone would sport dual camera set-up on the rear. However, just like original Nokia X-series, it may not feature Carl Zeiss lenses.

Vivo announces X21 with in-display fingerprint scanner, notch display

Chinese smartphone manufacturer Vivo has announced the X21 smartphone, a successor to X20 Plus UD, in China. The smartphone sports an iPhone X-like notch display and an in-display fingerprint scanner – in special edition only -- which was first featured in its predecessor.

The Vivo X21 sports a 6.28-inch Super AMOLED FHD+ display in 19:9 aspect ratio. It is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 processor, coupled with a dedicated artificial intelligence chip. The phone comes in 64GB and 128GB storage options with 6GB RAM. The 128GB storage variant comes with in-display fingerprint scanner, whereas the 64GB variant sports a fingerprint scanner on the back.

The smartphone houses a 12-megapixel selfie camera, which doubles as face recognition sensor powered by infrared technology. On the back, there is a dual-camera module, which utilises a 12MP sensor of f/1.8 aperture and a 5MP sensor with f/2.4 aperture.

Xiaomi Mi Mix 2S may not be too different from bezel-less flagship Mi Mix 2

Chinese smartphone manufacturer Xiaomi is gearing up to announce the the Mi Mix 2S, the next iteration of its bezel-less smartphones, on March 27. Before the official launch, however, the phone’s official promo material has been leaked and it drops a few hints on what to expect from the device.

Unlike the previous leak, which showed the bezel-less smartphone with all-screen display and a minute cut-out on the top-right corner for a selfie camera, the new leak shows an altogether new design, in line with the current breed of the Xiaomi Mi Mix 2.

Based on the new leak, the Mi Mix 2S would sport a Mi Mix 2-inspired design, with three-side bezel-less screen and a minimal bezel on the bottom. However, the front camera placement is not clearly visible and the phone might get a new space to host it.

As for specifications and features, the phone would boast Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 system-on-chip (SoC); this was confirmed by the company spokesperson on social media.

Nokia 7 Plus leaks: Device said to sport dual-camera set-up, 18:9 screen

HMD Global, the company behind resurrecting the Nokia brand, is reportedly working on a smartphone with the futuristic 18:9 aspect ratio screen. The smartphone, dubbed Nokia 7 Plus, would feature a dual-camera set-up on its back.

The Nokia 7 Plus is going to be the first smartphone from the stable of HMD Global to follow the ultra-wide aspect ratio screen, which has been trending in the global smartphone space since last year.
In terms of features and specifications, a photo post on Chinese social media portal Baidu reported that the phone would sport a 6-inch screen. The screen would have Gorilla Glass for protection against scratches and accidental falls.

It is also expected to feature a metallic build. The smartphone could run on Android Oreo, powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 processor, mated with 4GB RAM and 64GB internal storage, expandable via microSD.

Google plans to launch offline stores in India to boost Pixel sales: Report

Alphabet Inc's Google is looking to launch brick-and-mortar stores in India to boost sales of its Pixel smartphones, the Economic Times newspaper reported on Tuesday, citing three people with knowledge of the matter.

Google is exploring the idea of physical stores after finding an encouraging response to more than a dozen pop-up stores opened in malls across the country to showcase the second generation Pixel phones, the newspaper reported.

Google responded to a Reuters query saying that it does not comment on rumours or speculations.

India is the world's second-biggest wireless market with 1.2 billion mobile subscribers, which is currently dominated by South Korea's Samsung Electronics Co Ltd, and Chinese players including Xiaomi, Oppo and Vivo.
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Twitter expands character limit to 280 for users

Twitter on Wednesday said that users can use 280 characters now — instead of the earlier limit of 140 characters — to express their views on the platform.

For India and the Indian diaspora, the update will apply to the six regional languages supported on the platform — Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Marathi and Tamil, Twitter said.

This is part of Twitter's move to allow most of its users to tweet using 280 characters.

Japanese, Korean, and Chinese will continue to have 140 characters because cramming is not an issue in these languages, Twitter said in a blogpost.

Twitter had 330 million monthly users at the end of September 2017 quarter. It does not divulge country-specific numbers.
In September, Twitter launched a test that expanded the 140-character limit.

"Twitter saw when people needed to use more than 140 characters, they Tweeted more easily and more often," Twitter Product Manager Aliza Rosen said in the blogpost. She added that Twitter is making this change after listening and observing a problem its global community was facing in terms of tweeting.
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iPhone X debut: Should Apple worry as model 7 outsells 8 in US?

Apple Inc’s older iPhone 7 models are outselling the recently launched iPhone 8 ahead of the early November debut of the premium iPhone X, broker KeyBanc Capital Markets said, citing carrier store surveys.

Traditionally, new editions of the iPhone have sold quickly as fans queue for the latest upgrade, but early surveys have added to chatter that the iPhone 8 is not proving as popular as its predecessors.

US wireless carrier AT&T said last week its third-quarter postpaid handset upgrades were fewer by nearly 900,000 from a year ago, and brokerage Jefferies attributed it to weak iPhone 8 demand.

“Many respondents indicated that a meaningful portion of customers are buying iPhone 7 in lieu of the new iPhone 8, given the lack of significant enhancements in the new phone,” KeyBanc analyst John Vinh wrote in a client note.

Vinh also said feedback from stores indicated that customers were waiting to purchase the iPhone X or to compare the iPhone X with other models before buying the iPhone 8.

Apple last month introduced the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus, which resemble the iPhone 7 but have a glass back for wireless charging. While iPhone 8 starts from $699 in the United States, iPhone 7 is retailing from $549 after a price cut.
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Samsung bites into Apple in India: Galaxy Note8 sales beat iPhone 8

Samsung Galaxy Note8 that came to India last month and saw over 250,000 registrations within no time is selling like hot cakes and has left Apple iPhone 8 and 8 Plus behind in the race at the moment, industry sources said on Wednesday.

According to dealers, Galaxy Note8 sales are ahead when compared to iPhone8 and 8 Plus.
"For every 100 Galaxy Note8 being purchased, 60-70 iPhone8 and iPhone 8 Plus are being sold," a south Delhi-based dealer told IANS on the condition of anonymity.

According to Tarun Pathak, Associate Director, Mobile Devices and Ecosystems, Counterpoint Research, the fight between Note8 and IPhone8 is finally going to be pretty close.

"We are looking at a neck-to-neck fight. What changes iPhone X will make to the scenario is yet to be seen but at the moment, Note8 is doing good in India and Apple users are waiting for iPhone X to arrive," Pathak told IANS.

Indian smartphone users have reiterated that lack of innovation, coupled with high prices of iPhone devices, stopped them from buying iPhone8 and 8Plus.
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Motorola to launch Moto G5 in India on 1 April: Know about it

Motorola India is all set to launch the Motorola G5, the trimmed-down version of Moto G5 Plus, in India on 4 April, 2017. Just like its predecessors -- the Moto G4 series -- the Moto G5 is going to be Amazon India exclusive.

The Moto G5 is almost identical with the Moto G5 Plus sans a few hardware and software features. The Moto G5 is built on the blueprints of Moto G5 Plus and thus carry the same body design language.

The Moto G5 sports 5.0-inch fullHD IPS display protected with Gorilla Glass 3. It inherits the finger print scanner under the home button at the front, which was missing in the previous Moto G4 series and therefore is a welcome move. The dual-sim smartphone offers 13 megapixel (MP) rear and 5 MP front facing selfie camera. The rear facing camera is assisted with phase detection autofocus (PDAF) and LED flash light.  

The smartphone runs on Snapdragon 430 processor and has 16 GB internal storage – expandable via microSD card – and 2 GB of RAM. It offers metal build, which looks premium and takes the power from 2,800 mAh battery that supports 10W quick charging via dedicated charger.

“The Moto G5 is a perfect blend of performance and entertainment so customers don’t have to compromise on either. We are glad to partner with Amazon.in to launch this and look forward to helping our customers, have all they need in a smartphone,” said Sudhin Mathur, Managing Director- Motorola Mobility Pvt. Ltd India in a press statement.

“Reiterating our long-term commitment to Motorola, we are pleased to offer our customers exclusive access to Moto G5. With this smartphone we offer a great device with impressive specs and introduce special offers for Amazon Prime members,” said Noor Patel, Director Category Management, Amazon India. (READ MORE)

Samsung launches flagship Galaxy S8, S8 Plus with Bixby assistant

After much speculation over its built and specifications over past few months, South Korean giant Samsung on Wednesday launched its flagship device, Galaxy S8, that has a voice assistant.

The device comes in two variants with different screen sizes -- the 5.8-inch Galaxy S8 and 6.2-inch Galaxy S8 Plus - and will be available from April 21. Registrations begin from March 30. The device might be priced from $720 (approximately Rs 47,000).

Samsung will release these devices in India in the coming months.

Samsung also revealed Bixby, a smart voice assistant to rival Apple's Siri and Google's Assistant. With a perfect amalgam of voice, vision and touch, Bixby can search restaurants, take screenshots and even book a cab for you.

The technology giant has used the best hardware and provided the best features available to date in the device.

The device has a bezel-less curved edge "infinity display" covered with pristine glass and a 12MP rear camera with multi-frame processing and optical image stabilisation. It has an 8MP auto-focus front shooter.

The device is IP68 rated, meaning it is water and dust resistant. The company has also upped the security feature with iris scanner, face recognition and fingerprint scanner - moved to the back of the device - to unlock the device.

The home button has been shifted beneath the "infinity display".

Available in five different colours, the device has a Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 Octa core (2.35 GHz Quad + 1.7 GHZ Quad) processor. For models that will be available in countries other than the US, Samsung has used Exynos Octa core (2.35 GHz Quad + 1.9 GHZ Quad) processor.

According to The Verge, while Galaxy S8 comes with a 3,000 mAh battery, the Galaxy S8 Plus is fitted with 3,500 mAh battery pack. The devices run on Android 7.0 Nougat and have USB-C and 3.5mm headphone jacks.

The company also launched Samsung Connect app that would allow users to control a number of internet-connected home devices such as TVs or refrigerators. It also unveiled new Gear 360 camera.

There's a lot riding on Samsung S8 devices due to the Galaxy Note 7 fiasco. Samsung ultimately killed that smartphone after two recalls, both related to issues with faulty batteries.

Earlier this month, Samsung launched two new smartphones in 'Galaxy A' series -- 5.7-inch Galaxy A7 and 5.2-inch Galaxy A5 in India which were priced at Rs 33,490 and Rs 28,990, respectively.

Samsung also joined the 'go digital' bandwagon, and last week unveiled Samsung Pay, the company's flagship mobile payments service, in India.

At MWC in Barcelona this year, Samsung announced its innovative "I&G (Infill & Growth) Project" for Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd that will help expand both the current network capacity as well as network coverage. (READ MORE)

Zen Mobile launches VoLTE ready 'Admire Swadesh' at Rs 4,990 in India

Domestic smartphone manufacturer Zen Mobile on Thursday launched the Admire Swadesh smartphone at Rs 4,990 that supports 22 regional languages.

The device is powered by 1.3GHz Quad Core processor and runs on Android Marshmallow 6.0 operating system, blended with 1GB RAM and 8GB on-board memory, which can be expanded up to 32 GB.

The dual-SIM smartphone sports a 5-inch display and 5MP rear camera with flash. With its 2,000mAh battery, the device can run up to 30 hours on standby mode.

"The Admire Swadesh is yet another 4G-VoLTE device for the consumers who are looking at upgrading to 4G enabled smartphones," Sanjay Kalirona, CEO Zen Mobile, said in a statement.

Admire Swadesh also supports twin WhatsApp feature and is available in champagne and blue colour variants. (READ MORE)

Gionee launches A1 smartphone in India with selfie-focused 16 MP camera

Chinese smartphone maker Gionee on Tuesday launched a new selfie-focused smartphone in India that comes with a 16MP front camera with selfie flash and houses a 4,010 mAh battery.

While the pre-booking for A1 started from March 3, the price of the device is yet to be announced.

"Today's generation views the world from their front camera and they live for creating and celebrating experiences out of moments," said Arvind R Vohra, Country Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Managing Director (MD), Gionee India, in a statement.

The device is powered by 2 GHz octa-core P10 Helios processor paired with 4 GB RAM, has 64 GB internal memory that can be expanded up to 256 GB and runs on Amigo 4.0 on top of Android 7.0 Nougat.

A1 is equipped with a fingerprint sensor and claims to unlock the phone in just 0.2 seconds. For humid conditions, the sensor unlocks the device even with moist fingers.

A1 has a full-metal body made out of "A6000 aircraft grade material" that is used in making premium cars and aircraft.

The 4G and VOLTE enabled smartphone also offers a host of amazing features such as Split Screen, Maxx Audio and Virus detection among other key features. (READ MORE)

WATCH: Flipkart electronics sale begins tomorrow; here are the best deals

he logo of India's largest online marketplace Flipkart is seen on a building in Bengaluru. Photo: Reuters
Flipkart is back again in the news for its much-awaited sale offering discounts on electronics and mobile phones.

The sale period begins from midnight at 12 am on March 22 and ends on 11:59 pm on March 24.

Catch the best deals CLICK HERE.

Xiaomi launches Amazon exclusive VoLTE ready Redmi 4A, priced at Rs 5,999

China’s smartphone manufacturer Xiaomi on Monday launched Redmi 4A -- a latest entrant in Xiaomi’s entry-level Redmi series. The Xiaomi Redmi 4A will be available exclusively on Amazon and will be sold at a jaw-dropping price of Rs 5,999.

The latest Xiaomi Redmi 4A, being an entry-level budget smartphone, offers spectacular features. The device flaunts 5-inch HD display, which is enclosed in a polycarbonate body. The dual-sim smartphone is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 425, 64-bit quad-core processor and sports 16 GB internal storage – expandable up to 128 GB via microSD card – coupled with 2 GB of RAM.

The Redmi 4A boots Android 6.0 out of the box covered under Xiaomi’s MIUI 8 theme. On the camera front, the smartphone features 13-megapixel (MP) rear camera and 5 MP front-facing selfie camera. The device is powered by 3,120 mAh battery that keeps the show running.

Xiaomi has been quite successful in India and to cement its position even further, the company is commencing operations at its second manufacturing plant in India.

The company claims to employ 5,000 employees in the manufacturing plant that produces  one smartphone every second. Manu Jain, managing director, Xiaomi India claimed that more than 95 per cent of Xiaomi smartphones sold in India come from its Sri City unit manufacturing plant. (READ MORE)

Coolpad launches VoLTE ready Note 5 Lite in India; priced at Rs 8,199

China’s smartphone manufacturer Coolpad on Thursday launched the Coolpad Note 5 Lite in India. The device is the latest addition to the note series, which is known for elegant design, superior features and affordable price tag.

The Coolpad Note 5 sports metal body and features 5-inch IPS HD display. On the camera front, the device offers a combo of 13 megapixel (MP) rear camera and 8 MP front-facing selfie camera, both assisted with LED flash for low-light photography. The device is powered by Mediatek MT6735P, which is a quad-core processor ticking at 1.0 GHz. There is 16 GB of internal memory, expandable using microSD card of up to 64 GB, and 3 GB of RAM. The device boots Google Android 6.0 out of the box covered under the skin of Cool UI 8.0. For enhanced security, the device sports fingerprint sensor as well.

Powering the device is moderate 2,500 mAh battery that keeps the show going and promise to provide a stellar stand-by time of up to 200 hours.

The Coolpad Note 5 Lite uses an aluminium magnesium alloy that makes it durable and sturdy yet light weight at 148g. The device will be available in Gold and Grey colour options.

The Coolpad Note 5 Lite will go on sale starting 21 March, 2017, exclusively on Amazon India. The device is priced at Rs 8,199. (READ MORE)