After bringing a revolution in the smartphone arena at the CES 2013 by launching Huawei Ascend Mate that has the world's largest 6.1 inch display uptil now, along with the dust free and water resistant Ascend D2, this Chinese multinational giant again scented the air with the rumors that the company might launch Huawei Ascend W3 with Ascend P2 and W2 at an event on 24th February, ahead of MWC 2013 and now it has again entered into the world of rumors with the expected launch of a pint-sized version of Ascend P2 – Huawei Ascend P2 Mini. Both the versions are expected to have interaction with the whole world on 24th February, for which we have already seen a leak shot of Huawei Ascend P2 images on some trusted sites. The company seems to be a good competitor for the existing major players like Samsung, who has just launched its one of the best creations, Samsung Galaxy Grand Duos and Apple, who is planning to unveil the next generation Apple iPhone 5S during summer breaks.
Similar to last year, Samsung is again planning to load the market with versatile handsets belonging to each price range, starting from entry-level to full-fledged high-end smartphones or from regular screen size to bigger sized phablets. After being in rumors for its flagship device, Samsung Galaxy S IV, which is expected for March or April launch, and announcing some tablet PCs, the Korean manufacturer is now coming with a slew of new Galaxy smartphones, as spotted on a benchmarking website. Most of the smartphone’s from the leaked information are expected to be announced either at Mobile World Congress 2013 or prior to that. Currently, six of Samsung Galaxy series handsets have been discovered on a trusted site.
HTC M7 is expected to make a public appearance with an official announcement on February 18th at an special event in New York and London but HTC’s list is not ending here. The company has got two more queued up devices at be unveiled, probably with HTC M7. According to the reports, HTC is planning to ship HTC M4 and HTC G2 sometime after M7's launch later this spring.
Micromax Ninja A89 is now officially available with online retailers in India for INR 6,299. Recently spotted on the company’s website, this smartphone packs 1GHz dual-core Mediatek MT6577 processor at a competitive price range. This is one of the major handset among 30 expected devices that could be launched in the country by current year. Micromax also released some low-cost smartphones this year, under the price tag of INR 5,000 which includes Smarty A54 and A65 alongside a mid-range smartphone, Micromax A116 Canvas HD.
Amidst all the applause on the night of 30th January in News York City, the CEO of RIM, Thorsten Heins, announced the renaming of the company to BlackBerry officially. At the event, which was held to release the new BlackBerry 10 operating system along with two smartphones based on it – BlackBerry Z10 and Q10 – the company makes it official that from now onwards it will call itself BlackBerry, the name for which RIM is known for. The two smartphones that are expected to turn the tables for BlackBerry's position in the market will hit the market soon in the coming months. The company has even confirmed the availability of BlackBerry Z10 from March 2013 at an expected price of Rs. 35,000, though BlackBerry Q10 might hit the stores from April 2013.
LG is reportedly planning a dual SIM version of its latest L-series smartphone, LG Optimus L7. The Korean manufacturer prefers to release dual SIM handsets, especially in emerging markets like India and China. LG has already introduced dual SIM variants for couple of smartphones from its popular L-series, LG Optimus L3 and LG Optimus L5. Now, the dual SIM variant of Optimus L7 is ready with its first look as spotted on a website. The LG Optimus L7 II Dual was recently leaked with technical spec-sheet and some images.
Research in Motion (RIM), which has renamed itself to BlackBerry, has recently released a couple of BlackBerry smartphones alongside with latest operating system, BlackBerry 10. The company organised a special event in New York City, where it revealed the BlackBerry 10 OS in addition to two smartphones, BlackBerry Z10 and BlackBerry Q10. Now, after the grand launch of the flagship device, Z10, BlackBerry is planning to make an official availability of this smartphone. BlackBerry Z10 will be going on sale in UK from 31st January while India has to wait for a month to hold this exquisite handset. According to the reports, the full touch screen flagship model with dual-core processor will hit the Indian shores as early by March, 2013 at an expected price of Rs. 35,000.
Videocon Mobiles added another budget tablet to its portfolio with the recent launch of Videocon VT71 tablet PC, which has been unveiled in India for INR 4,799. After launching several mid-ranged smartphones, the company is trying its hands in affordable tablet segment of the country from quite a while now. A month back, Videocon came with 10-inch VT10 android tablet with latest Android Jelly Bean and a powerful 1.5GHz dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, though the price is almost double comparing this latest launch.
Acer is a well-established name in the laptop segment and with the launch of Acer Iconia B1 low-budget tablet for Rs. 8,000 only a few weeks back, the company has marked its presence in the tablet arena also. Following the same low cost strategy, without compromising on the specifications front, the company is moving ahead and is planning to launch more tablets with 7 inch and 10 inch display at a feasible price of around Rs. 10,000. These tablets are expected to be powered by a quad-core processor, which is an integral part of a high-end gadgets now-a-days.
Micromax is constantly working over a series of handsets and seems in hurry after the frequent launches along with its queued up releases. The company recently revealed its plan to launch around 30 devices in India by end of the current year. The Indian smartphone maker is now all set to announce another Android smartphone, dubbed as A89 Ninja, which has been spotted on company’s official website under the coming soon tag with no pricing information.
Research in Motion, producing phones in the name of BlackBerry, has finally launched two smartphones in an event held yesterday. Both the phones are based on the new BlackBerry 10 operating system. The company, last night, held a special event in New York City for introducing a new operating system, BlackBerry 10, and as a complimentary gift, two smartphones based on this platform were also unveiled – BlackBerry Z10 and Q10. Not only this, with the increasing popularity of BlackBerry in the consumer market, RIM finally changed its name to BlackBerry, which can be treated as a branding strategy of the company. The long wait has been over now with the official launch of BlackBerry 10 OS along with the announcement of two smartphones based on it. Currently the smartphone market is dominated by Samsung and Apple and with these two smartphones, BlackBerry is trying to bring its aura back in the arena, of which it was once a leader. There are no words on the price brackets for these smartphones in India but they are expected to be a bit reasonable.
Apple has announced the launch of 128GB version of its fourth generation iPad with Retina display, which was rumoured from last few days. Currently, Apple iPad 4 has been available in 16GB, 32GB and 64GB models and now with the addition of 128GB version, users can keep more valuable data including pictures, documents, presentations, music files, apps and other multimedia content. This newest device doubles the memory storage as compared to present top-end iPad. The Wi-Fi only model of iPad with Retina display will be available for INR 49,900, while for the cellular model users have to spend Rs 56,900, all inclusive of VAT.
Putting an end to the never-ending wait, HTC India has finally launched their flagship smartphone, the Butterfly in India today for Rs. 45,990, pretty much close to the expected price. Two weeks earlier, we reported that the company would launch its next flagship droid in the Indian market at an expected price of Rs. 44,000. This droid was announced globally last month and its teasers started appearing on the official Indian Facebook page for the past few weeks. Blessed with Android Jelly Bean version 4.1 operating system, HTC Butterfly is powered by a quad-core Krait processor clocked at 1.5GHz. This is the first full HD 1080p smartphone in India, though other rivals like Samsung, Apple, etc.
The new Android smartphone from Chinese manufacturer, Huawei, is now officially launched in the country, earlier it was available with online retailers in India. The smartphone, dubbed as Huawei Ascend G330 was announced earlier this year at IFA. Huawei priced the handset at Rs 11,990, which makes it much economical, considering the Android smartphones from Samsung, Sony and the other popular international brands. Furthermore, the device could give tough competition to the smartphones from Indian manufacturers like Micromax, iBall and Karbonn, as this smartphone also falls in the same price range that these producers are offering.
iBall is a renowned name in the computer peripherals, which is trying its level best to establish the same name in the smartphone segment too. The Andi series by the company is doing a good business in the market and moving further, the company has added one more sibling in the line-up, named as iBall Andi 4.5Q, which has been launched today. Adopting the low cost strategy, the company has very reasonably priced this droid for Rs. 11,490 and not only this, the beast has also been loaded with a cluster of features that are mostly found in the high-end smartphones. The Indian smartphone manufacturers are achieving a good pace in the market and consumers are too giving them a try. Behind this, the major reason might be their low cost, but still these producers, including iBall, Micromax, Lava and Karbonn, are giving some good products in the market with powerful set of features.