OnePlus Launches the One Starting US$ 299

OnePlus plans to “kill the flagship” market with their new One smartphone. The handset is a top tier flagship with high end specs, and a price that will compete with midrange products.

Specs feature the all new Snapdragon 801 Processor, a big 5.5” 1080p Display and a 3100mAh battery.

By paying attention to the smallest details, taking a holistic approach to product design, and working with the best partners such as Cyanogen Inc. and Qualcomm Technologies, we have been able to create the greatest day to day user experience in a smartphone without compromise. : Pete Lau, CEO of OnePlus.

Debuting with the One is the all new CyanogenMod 11S, a special release designed specifically to work with the hardware of the new handset. Android 4.4 KitKat comes out of the box, along with 4k video capture.

A Sony Exmor IMX214 13 megapixel camera with f/2.0 aperture and dual LED flash with 6 physical lenses and a 5 Megapixel – Distortion free for the front.

The handset will be available in two variants, 16GB Silk White for $299/€269 and in 64GB Sandstone Black for $349/€299.

ONEPLUS ONE SPECIFICATIONS

Color	Silk White/Sandstone Black
Dimensions	152.9 x 75.9 x 8.9 mm
Weight	5.71 ounces (162g)
Operating System	CyanogenMod 11S based on Android 4.4
CPU	Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ 801 processor with 2.5GHz Quad-core CPUs
GPU	Adreno 330, 578MHz
RAM	3 GB LP-DDR3 @1866MHz
Storage	16/64 GB eMMC 5.0, available capacity varies
Sensors	Accelerometer, Gyroscope, Proximity and Ambient Light
Battery Capacity	Embedded rechargeable 3100 mAh LiPo battery

Display

Size	5.5 inch JDI
Resolution	1080p Full HD (1920 x 1080 pixels), 401 PPI
Type	LTPS IPS with TOL
Protection	Corning® Gorilla® Glass 3

Cameras

Sensor	13 Megapixel – Sony Exmor IMX 214
Lenses	6 lenses to avoid distortion and color aberration
Flash	Dual-LED
Aperture	f/2.0
Front Camera	5 Megapixel – Distortion free
Video	4K resolution video with stereo recordingSlow Motion: 720p video at 120fps

Connectivity

Frequencies

GSM: 850, 900, 1800, 1900MHzWCDMA: Bands: 1/2/4/5/8

LTE: Bands: 1/3/4/7/17/38/40Wi-FiDual-band Wi-Fi (2.4G/5G) 802.11 b/g/n/acBluetoothBluetooth 4.1NFC65T (software card emulation, payment methods and multi-tag support)PositioningInternal GPS antenna + GLONASSDigital Compass

Audio

Speakers	Built-in Stereo Speakers
Microphones	Tri-microphone with noise cancellation

Ports, Slots, Buttons and Indicators

Ports	Data & Charging: Micro USB 2.0Audio: Jack 3.5mm
Buttons	Power ButtonVolume Rockers

Capacitive / On-screen buttonsSIM1 slot – Micro SIMIndicators1 LED notification light (multicolored)

Multimedia

Audio supported formats:	Playback: MP3, AAC, AMR, OGG, M4A, MID, WMA, FLAC, APE, AAC, WAVRecording: AAC, M4A
Video supported formats:	Playback: MP4, H.263, H.264, RMBB, FLV720PRecording: MP4
Image supported formats:	Playback: JPEG, PNG, GIF, BMPOutput: JPEG, RAW

In the Box

1x OnePlus One

1x Wall Charger

1x USB Cable

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Top 5 Tech This Week

Every week the Technology world shows us the reason why we love tech so much. In this ever changing tech world , its almost impossible to stay on top of things. However here is the tech thats worth notice this week.

1. LYTRO ILLUM

When Lytro first introduced their light field camera, it looked and worked like a toy.This time around the company has taken a more serious approach to design and optics, also adding better materials and larger sensors. New software and a new way to click pictures lets users think of Lytro Illum as a more usable camera. Or so the company claims anyway. The Illum is currently on Pre-Order for US $ 1599.

2. THE HTC ONE M8

The HTC One M8 has been launched in India, at a price of Rs. 49,900, an impressive price for an impressive handset. The Qualcom Snapdragon 801 powered HTC One M8is not only snappy on the inside its beautiful on the outside. The HTC One M8 brings Lytro’s tech seen in the camera above into a more usable day to day scenario. The HTC One M8 has a dual camera setup that lets users refocus images, after the fact.

3. THE GL 63 AMG

As far as vehicles go the new GL 63 AMG takes the centre stage. Announced to be made available in India for a whopping Rs. 1.66 Crore as the starting price, the new GL 63  5.5-litre V8 BITURBO engine, which develops a peak output of 410 kW along with a torque of 760 Nm. Pure Power Anyone?

4. THE LG CURVED TV 55EA9800

Its a massive 55 inch TV with an OLED display that is not only curved but also bendable. Costs are upwards of 6 Lakh, but for those looking to set a trend this might just fit in beautifully in your manor. The 1920 x 1080p display is Fully 3D compliant and comes with a Motion eye camera, an Air Mouse capable Remote and 4 3D Glasses.

5. BUDGET : MICROMAX CANVAS DOODLE 3

The last spot in this series is taken by Micromax’s new budget entrant. A dual-SIM (GSM+GSM) “phablet” (for lack of a better call sign), the Canvas Doodle 3 is powered by a 1.3GHz dual-core MediaTek (MT6572) processor alongside 512MB of RAM. Runs on Android 4.2 and features a 5 Mp + VGA camera setup. What makes it really exciting is the 6 inch 480×854 pixel display and a price tag of Rs. 8200.

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Top 4 Places To Buy Cool Cases Online

Nothing feels worse than when our phone/laptop/tablet slips out of our fingers and crashes face down. It takes a few seconds to shake it around, jab a few buttons, before you realize that its still alive and kicking. However in those few seconds, the life of the gadget flashes before our eyes. The thought of surviving for a few hours without emails, pictures, memos and all the contacts!

Sorry to state the obvious – we have deep love and respect for the gadgets in our life. To avoid scratches, bumps and other possible mishaps, we choose to wrap them up stylishly. Here is our list of favourite sites to shop from:

COCAINE

Other than its bold name, what fascinates us about the store is the beautiful way their products were showcased.  Through the years, there are certain interior tricks retailers have developed to influence customers and increase sales. Cocaine is using them online. Don’t think we’re complaining. They’ve set up a sleek website, which makes the experience of browsing far better than any other. They have a carefully curated collection of the hippest cases; edgier than the rest.

DAILY OBJECTS

Their USP is giving shoppers an option to customize designs for their cases. You can dabble around with colour, images and text. Daily Objects seems pretty confident about their quality – they offer a ‘one year manufacturing defect and print’ warranty. If the printing wears off within a year, they promise to replace it. Considering the everyday wear and tear of our phones, that sounds like an amazing offer. This website attempts to “cover” it all.  Other than fun phone cases, their extensive collection includes screen guards, car chargers, car phone holder, portable chargers and other tech accessories.

MAALGADI

It’s a one-stop online shop for cases by kitschy Indian brands. Chumbak, Happily Unmarried, Pink Jalebi and more, under one digital umbrella.  Each of their products celebrate desi-ness with a sense of humour. Maalgadi aims to provide a platform to young upcoming designers, so watch their Facebook page for frequent updates.  They also sell coasters, beer mugs, shot glasses, key chains, dresses, fridge magnets, boxers and bags.

LOVE 4 APPLE

This one caters to Apple loyalists. Love 4 Apple offers a large variety - from simple simple clean cases to original intricate designs. The tab dedicated to cases designed by artists features a varied selection. From doodles of a 12th grader to ones inspired by works of Vincent Van Gogh. Other than the covers, they have a vast collection of accessories. Docking station, external batteries, printers, docks, cables –  basically anything and everything that can support your Apple device.

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HTC One M8 vs the Galaxy S5 vs the Xperia Z2 vs iPhone 5s

With the HTC One M8 officially announced, the list of flagship devices for many companies is now complete. The HTC One M8 sees only a few changes vs the previous generation and a lot of difference between the two main competition for this year the Galaxy S5 and the Xperia Z2. 

The HTC One M8 misses out on few things that the company could have simply added. 4K video recording is one thing that HTC should not have left out on, the other being a fingerprint sensor. The HTC One Max had it and naturally the M8 should have had it as well.

The HTC One M8 also misses out on being a water resistant device like the Z2 and now the S5. check out the full breakup of differences below

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Nokia’s Refocus App comes to all Lumia Phones on WP8

Nokia Lumia phone running Windows Phone 8? Its time to hit the App store and download the Nokia Refocus app. The app was earlier thought to be reliant on the Pure View Camera tech. But it appears that Nokia has made the App available to all.

How the picture can be refocused is reliant on the apps ability to scan the area, a Focus Sweep while you hold the camera steady. The phone camera and app will then capture multiple images at various focal lengths and combine into one dynamic image which can then be refocused later. Sort of like the Lytro camera.

In other news it looks like the new HTC One (aka M8) will also have this functionality inbuilt.

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WhatsApp’s VOIP functionality for iOS Leaked in a Screenshot

During WhatsApp’s recent Facebook acquisition, CEO Jan Koum hinted that WhatsApp may get voice call functionality by the summer. This new leaked screenshot of the App’s upcoming update for iOS shows off those supposed calling capabilities, designed to work along with iOS 7′s design layout.

The camera button on the top also hints at video call functionality. WhatApp will allow free voice calls and video calls with your friends on your WhatsApp list over Wifi and Cellular.

It is also rumored that this functionality comes via Skype or using Skype’s voip technology as Facebook currently integrates Skype calling within its chat windows.

With this feature WhatsApp may become the single point of social networking that everyone has been looking for. Now if only they could work out their battery drain.

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Moto X is Now Available in India, Starts at 23,999 INR

Ok Google Now- Where is my Moto X? The famous always aware smartphone has been launched in India in partnership with Flipkart. The sale of the Moto X has begun at a starting price of Rs. 23,999.

Motorola probably has no plans to bring the 32 GB variant in the Indian market, for now the 16 GB variant is available in Black and White and can even be delivered using “in a day delivery”. 

Other color options which include Red, Blue and Turquoise are on Pre-order and are estimated to be available by the second week of April. The higher price variants include the wood back Moto X in either Walnut or Teak finish. And Unlike the US we only get two pre made Back Finishes for a price of Rs. 25,999. 

The wood back Moto X will also be sold along with the other color options, which is by the second week of April. alongside the Moto X itself, Flipkart has also introduced three new launch day offers, which include 70% discount on accessories, Rs. 1000 cash back when the handset is bought with a 6 months EMI option and 10 lucky people will get 100% cash back.

Flipkart has said that the Moto X is available in limited quantity, and they expect the units to sell out really soon, Stating similarities to what happened with the Moto G.

Moto X features a 4.7 inch display with a resolution of 720 x 1280 pixels. The device is powered by a 1.7 GHz dual-core Qualcomm MSM8960Pro Snapdragon processor coupled with a  2 GB of RAM.  The device comes with a 16 GB of inbuilt storage which is not expandable.  

Moto X sports a 10 MP rear camera with a LED flashlight and a  2 MP secondary front-facing camera. Moto X is expected to be available with Android 4.4.2 out of the box.  Hit the source link below to get your hands on one now.

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Oppo Find 7 has a 2K Display and a 13 MP Camera that click 50 MP Images

Oppo has officially unveiled the long rumored and much awaited smartphone the Find 7  at an event today in China. Two variants of the Find 7 have been announced, the Find 7 and Find 7a. The Find 7 has been launched at a price of  3498 Chinese Yuan and has a 5.5 inch Quad HD display with a resolution of 2560×1440 pixels, 538 ppi with Corning gorilla glass protection and a Touch-on-Lens technology.

The Oppo Find 7 is powered by the new 2.5 GHz Snapdragon 801 MSM8974AC processor along with Adreno 330 GPU. This new smartphone runs on Android 4.3 Jelly Bean along with company’s own skin Color OS 1.2.  It has a 3 GB of RAM and 32 GB internal memory which is expandable upto 128 GB.

The USP of this device is the 13 MP camera, which has a Sony IMX214 sensor with a six element lens and f/2.0 aperture. Furthermore, the device uses softwares to enhance the images upscaling them to a 50 MP size and an image resolution of 8,160 x 6,120 pixels. The camera on the Find 7  is capable of shooting RAW images and 4K video. The secondary camera is a 5 MP with f/2.0 aperture.

The Find 7 has a 3000 mAh battery which can be charged upto 75% in just 30 minutes, this is possible with help of the 7-Pin  VOOC fast charging technology.

The Oppo Find 7 and the Find 7a share alot in common, but the Find 7a is a lite/mini variant of the Find 7. The Oppo Find 7a has been priced CNY 2,998 and will go on sale in China starting Thursday.

The Oppo Find 7a sports a 5.5 inch full-HD IPS display with a resolution of 1080 x 1920 pixels with pixel density of 403 ppi. The device is powered by a  2.3 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 and runs on runs Color OS 1.2, which is based on Android 4.3 Jelly Bean. 

It is packed with a 2 Gb of RAM and 16 GB of inbuilt storage which is expandable via MicroSD card.  The Find 7a is equipped with a 13 MP Sony Exmor IMX214 sensor with LED flashlight, while there is no word on the front camera. It packs a 2800 mAh battery with Rapid Charge technology.

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5 Things You Should But Don’t Know About Buying a New Phone

Buying a new phone is always cumbersome, and unless you spent the past few months researching up on what the tech world is all about, you probably have a few misconceptions in your head. Here is a list of the most common confusions and beliefs that we think need to be set right.

1. WHICH PHONE CAN I BUY, THAT WILL BE FUTURE PROOF?

Answer : No technology is future proof, no matter what the manufacturer says. In fact its bound to get dated even so more if the manufacturer says that its future proof. The reason why technology advances is because there will be someone buying whatever is new. Because there will always be demand for new things, more resources are put into creating a better technology, all so that something can be sold and a profit can be made.

Projects like the Motorola Ara provide hope for a future proof phone, but once we think about it, it essentially  ends up being the same thing. The Motorola Ara is comprised of the phone’s exoskeleton and various modules that “can be anything” according to Motorola. The modules could include anything from a new processor or display to a pulse oximeter or an extra-large battery. But every module will need to be bought and there is a high chance that the owners will get bored of the design or looks of the concept. In that situation a newer phone would make more sense vs buying newer modules.

2. DOES BUYING AN EXPENSIVE PHONE MEAN I WILL NOT HAVE ANY PROBLEMS?

Answer : Not everything expensive is perfect. At the end of the day every phone consists of hardware, which can fail due to a number of reasons. Buying a more expensive phone may reduce the chance of issues, but may not remove it completely. Companies like Apple, Samsung etc have various quality standards that they enforce on their products. While some lower level companies who sell “cheaper” phones (read : import and sell Chinese handsets) many not have any standards of their own what so ever. Most of these “cheap” phone sellers rely on standards set by the manufacturers they buy their products from. 

Buying an expensive handset from a well known manufacturer mostly ensures good after sales support and maybe relatively less problems.

3. SHOULD I BUY MY PHONE NOW OR WAIT FOR THE NEXT VERSION/ NEXT BIG THING?

Answer: There are two ways to look at this and two possible answers. The first answer is Yes, Buying a newly launched phone means that you get the latest in technology, the newest features and the “coolest”, newest phone on the block. 

However, the Second answer is No, every time you buy a new phone, there will be something newer that will be launched. Unfortunately thats how it works!

So if you want to buy a new phone, the time is when you have the money and the intent.

4. I HAVE A BUDGET OF X, IF I EXTEND THIS WILL I GET A BETTER PHONE?

Answer : Again the answer is Yes and No. This truly depends on what your initial budget is and how much you are willing to extend it. For example if you extend your budget from a Galaxy Grand to a Galaxy Note 3 then yes you will get a better phone. But unless you are willing to drastically extend your budget, any other device around your original price bracket, even if its slightly more expensive may be no better than the other.

Q. MY SON / DAUGHTER WANTS TO BUY AN IPHONE, IS IT A GOOD INVESTMENT?

(iPhone is purely for reference, it could be any other phone)

Answer : If your Son/ Daughter wants to buy a particular phone they have their reasons for it, so the best possible thing to do is to let them buy it. It will be the easiest decision to make without any repercussions and hey, If they don’t like the phone at a later stage, they can’t blame you. 

Whatever their reason for selecting the phone; be it the way it looks or a special feature it has, is probably a good reason. Yes your job is to guide them and yes there may be a better phone or a better investment to be made, but it won’t be their choice and they won’t be happy.

So, If your budget permits buy them the damn phone.

BONUS QUESTION : CAN MY NEW PHONE FACETIME ? WILL I BE CHARGED FOR IT?

Answer : FaceTime is an Apple only VOIP service, that works between iPhones, iPads, iPods and Macs. So if your new phone is going to be an iPhone, Yes you will be able to FaceTime. That being said you can always use other services like Tango, Skype and possibly upcoming WhatsApp on any new phone that has a front facing camera and supports the said service. 

Most of these services rely purely on the device being connected to a data network like 3G or Wifi, so all you will be charged for is your data connection or whatever you already pay for your Wifi.

In other words ; No, you will not be charged for the service.

There are several other questions or myths people have about new technology, do you have any myths to bust, or suggestions for more myth busters. Drop them in the comments below. 

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Gionee Launches Elife S 5.5 in India for Rs. 22900

Gionee has officially launched the new Gionee Elife S 5.5 in India for a price of Rs. 22,900/- at an event held in Goa. The ELife S 5.5 comes just weeks after its global launch at MWC 2014 in Barcelona. 

The Gionee S5.5 sports a 5? display with a resolution of 1920 x 1080p, a 1.7Ghz Octa Core chipset from MediaTek 2 GB of RAM and 16 GB Of storage. The Sleek phone has a 13 MP rear camera, and 5 MP  front shooter.

The Gionee Elife S5.5 is the slimmest smartphone yet and measures only 5.5 mm. Retaining the slim structure, the devices manages to be equipped with a 2300 mAh battery. 

The phone has been launched in India in all five colors, and will be available starting April 27th.

SPECIFICATIONS

5.0” Super AMOLED Plus display
Octa- Core 1.7GHz CPU
Single SIM
13.0MP AF +5.0MP AF Camera 95 Degree Ultra-Wide Angle
AMIGO OS 2.0 (based on Android OS, V4.2)
Memory: 16GB+2GB
Ultra slim 145.1 x 70.2 x 5.55mm
GSM-850/900/1800/1900MHz
WCDMA-850/1900/2100MHz or 900/1900/2100MHz
3.5 mm Earphone Jack
WIFI/GPS/BT4.0/FM/G-sensor
Non-removable 2300mAh Battery
OTG

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Sony steals the 2nd place spot from Apple in India

Sony India has overtaken Apple in their sales for smartphones in India becoming the second largest mobile phone shipper in 2014. This aggressive movement has been rewarded to Sony thanks to the company’s focus largely on the Rs 10,000-20,000 smartphone space, backed by Rs 300-crore marketing spend.

The number one spot was retained by Korean smartphone giant Samsung with 43% market value share. Sony took second place with 9.1% value share in the Indian smartphone market in the October-December quarter of 2013 against Apple’s 7% share.  

This decline in Apple’s sales has been thanks to the company’s decision to withdraw sales of their largest selling unit the iPhone 4, and hence the disappearance of Apple from the under Rs. 20,000 price bracket. Apple did relaunch the iPhone 4 specially for the Indian market but failed to gather any response from the market who were hoping for a cut on the price of the iPhone 4s.

Sony Executives claim : 

While this loss of sales prompted Apple to relaunch iPhone 4 once again in India in January, sales have not picked up since it is not at all spending on marketing or offering any buyback offer and even the initial euphoria around iPhone 5S has sobered down,

Kenichiro Hibi, managing director at Sony India, said the company’s smartphone business has attained similar revenues as its flagship television business in the fiscal ended March 31. 

The smartphone business doubled in last one year which led to 20% growth in overall sales in 2013-14. We expect to grow at a similar pace this fiscal as well to touch Rs 12,000 crore sales

Kenichiro Hibi,

Managing Director at Sony India

While this may be considered a big loss for Apple, the company has seen decline of sale during the months that lead up to the launch of their next flagship.

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5 Things you should know about the HTC One M8

HTC’s recently launched the new One aka M8, which could possibly be the sole reason that the company struck a profit this quarter. Despite its instant availability and fanfare around the launch, here are a few things that you really must know about the HTC One M8. (Especially if you didn’t already know them)

1. BUILD QUALITY :

Carving a phone structure out of a single block of metal is now really old news, and especially after Apple’s iPhone 4 and iPad, this process was repeated time and again. The HTC One M8 takes the candy bar form factor to the next level. The M8 has been punched out of a single sheet of metal alloy, that not only covers the back of the phone, but also curves around to the front. Anyone who has worked with metal would know what a difficult process this is, even with todays available technology. 

2. HARDWARE

Last year, when HTC launched the HTC One, they decided to stick it with an underpowered chipset, the Snapdragon 600, even though a better and more powerful snapdragon 800 was available. This time around however, HTC has thrown in the best of the lot, the Snapdragon 801 which puts it right up there with the competition. 

3. CAMERA

Even though it feels under-rated the M8 has possibly the most advanced camera on a Smartphone today. Sure you have the Lumia 1020 and the Xperia Z series phones with their high MP camera shots. The HTC One M8 takes the focus selection to another level al together. It’s excellent in low light and even though their software is relatively amateur the use of the hardware in the future may do wonders. The fact that the company has opened the dual camera API to developers means that the hardware may be put to excellent use in third party apps.

4. NEW SENSE

Although Sense 6.0 looks like a minor change on Sense 5.0 its a whole new world in there, the UI functionality has been improved, nifty shortcuts and good looking icons make a world of a difference. Quick launches from the lock screen make it really usable and exciting. Overall HTC has managed to give an exciting new look to something which used looked really bland to us, make it fast, responsive and more functional. 

5. AWESOME FIRST PARTY ACCESSORIES

HTC did it with the HTC One Max when they launched the extended battery case, they basically proved to us that they can make excellent accessories for their own devices. They have done it again with the HTC One M8 and the Dot View case. This case itself deserves an award for how simple and noble the idea behind it is. it gives protection and functionality to the phone. thanks to the touch sensitive design it gives you the ability to use the phone with the cover still on. Simply Genius!

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