Mobile News India - Mobile Phone News, News on Mobile
Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0, after taking a round to many national markets, has finally arrived India, but with a new name. The company announced Samsung Galaxy Note 510 aka Note 8.0 for the Indian market, but zipped its mouth on pricing and availability of this tablet in the country. Galaxy Note 8.0 was released a few days back at the Mobile World Congress (MWC), 2013 and stands in competition to Apple iPad Mini, but the former has voice calling facility over GSM band. Though the tablet has been announced officially, its pricing and availability are still big questions to be answered. Galaxy Note 510 is believed to be the bigger version of Galaxy Note II, but apart from having a big screen, the former falls short in terms of specifications and features than that of the latter.
The third member of the Lumia family, which was announced few months back and launched in January 2013, has been finally made available online for pre-order. Launched with the flagship Nokia Lumia 920 and Lumia 820, Lumia 620 was expected to hit the Indian shelves in the month of February, but the release got delayed and now it is expected to touch the ground in the second week of March. Running on the Windows 8 phone OS, the new Lumia 620 is now up for online pre-order for Rs. 15,199, so no further delay is conjectured. Earlier the rumors were hinting towards its availability at the MWC 2013 but in spite of this, the company showcased Nokia Lumia 520 and Lumia 720. Though Lumia 520 will be the cheapest Windows phone 8 OS based smartphone, as of now, Lumia 620 is the only contender of this position. Lumia 520 is going to be cheaper than that of Lumia 620, but its announcement in the country is still awaited with bated breath, though it has been made available in Europe for $183.
On one side tech savvies are pronouncing this year to be a blessing for the mobile segment, as lot of major announcements and launch are expected in the year 2013, while on the other hand, the recent union budget 2013 by the government seems to be a spoil sport. According to the budget, all the phones that are priced above Rs. 2,000 will get more expensive from this fiscal year. The hike in price is due to the lift in the excise duty. Previously, this excise duty was standing at 1 per cent only but this year, the duty jumps to 6 per cent. A sudden increment of 5 per cent is a matter of concern for those mobile manufacturers who creates entry level and mid-range phones, as the rise in excise duty would result in negative impact on their prices. This step might lead a huge disturbance in the mobile arena, specially on those gadgets that are to be priced below INR 10,000.
A big treat for all the Android users spread all across India! Google has finally launched its Play Books store in India, which can now be accessed on Android and iOS smartphones and tablets apart from obviously being made available on PCs and Macs.
Every buzz in the gadget-town in today’s world seems to be linked with three heavy Operating Systems named: Android, Mac and Windows. Somewhere in the sudden outburst of these three giants, RIM (Research In Motion) has lost its flamboyance, and it aims to get exactly that panache back with the launch of the much rumoured BlackBerry 10 powered tablet, which will be arriving this year. During the recent BlackBerry Z10 unveiling in Mumbai, head of developer relations Asia Pacific at Blackberry confirmed the news, backing it up with the statement that “the BB10 tablet is definitely coming later this year.”
Few weeks ago, we reported that LG Optimus G will be released by the end of February in the Indian market. And now finally, the flagship Droid of LG, Optimus G, is available in the market at INR 34,500 tag. Earlier, Optimus G proved its eminence in popular countries like Singapore and now it is expected that this killer droid will overtake the Indian smartphone market.
Asus officially unveiled two of its products, FonePad and PadFone Infinity at Barcelona’s event. The company has tried to enter in budget tablet segment with the launch of FonePad that is priced at $249 (Rs. 16,105) whereas PadFone is a high-end full HD smartphone, gaining a price tag of Euro 999 (Rs. 71,391). FonePad will hit the US markets in March and Europe in April while PadFone is expected to land Europe by the month of April. However, there is no word about the launch and pricing of both the gadgets in India, but they will enter the global market soon.
Trio Mobiles, a brand owned by Mak Mobility, brings a completely new series of mobile phones in India, dubbed as Agni T 2626, Aakash Y 2424, and Prithvi T2020, at very low prices. MAK Mobility, the distributor and marketer of mobile phones in India, has launched these handsets focusing over innovative multimedia phones with a sleek and compact body at budgeted price. All the three handsets feature a well catalogued web store, Trio Hub that will enrich the user’s experience with selected web services and applications. The company claims that the Trio phones are opted for simplicity and inexpensiveness. The price of these feature phones swings between the brackets of INR 1,200 and INR 3,000.
Konka, a Chinese electronics and Telecommunication firm which is, by now, ready to make a debut in the Indian smartphone market in partnership with the MAK Mobility for distribution and marketing of smart phones in India. Konka has been selling its products to over 50 countries counting USA, Europe and India, and has a fine understanding of market trends and consumer behavior.
Amidst huge round of applause, the 21st generation heart-throb of the Indian film industry, Ranbir Kapoor, finally brings breaths of the tech enthusiasts back to normal by unveiling the highly awaited BlackBerry 10 operating system based BlackBerry Z10 smartphone in India today, that is, 25th February, at a grand event held in Mumbai. This Bollywood star was signed as a brand ambassador for BlackBerry devices in India back in December last year and BlackBerry Z10 is the first smartphone to be endorsed by Ranbir Kapoor. In fact, this is also the first time that BlackBerry has fired the gun using the shoulder of a celebrity. The price of this droid in India is Rs. 43,490 and for the same the company has also started taking pre-orders. It is the flagship smartphone of the company and supports fully touch screen.
Nokia is still the single top selling mobile manufacturer in India albeit Samsung swooping the global market by a huge margin. Reason: Nokia always finds ways to keep all the economy groups happy, be it exceptionally low budget candybar phones or the high end smartphones, and that it does simultaneously as well. Take of instance Nokia's new voyage. The launch of four phones together:
Sony was in highlight after announcing its high-end Xperia Z line-up of smartphones at CES this year, which now goes on a global sale as conveyed from Mobile World Congress 2013. A quick look over the specs, Xperia Z smartphone features 5-inch 1080p full HD display, Android 4.1 Jelly Bean OS and an impressive 1.5GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro processor with a pair of camera, 13MP rear and 2MP front-end for video chats. Sony set a price tag for a 16GB version of Xperia Tablet Z at $499 or INR 26,946 (approx.) and $599 or INR 32,346 (approx.) for 32GB variant, though no information has been provided on its releasing plans in India.
While unveiling three new Android tablets, the Chinese manufacturer, Lenovo, announced that these tablets will meet the demands of those active customers wanting for extreme mobility and high functionality. The line-up includes three tablets dubbed as Lenovo A1000, A3000 and S6000. The portfolio for these tablets will be available starting from the second quarter of this year.
Chinese mobile maker, Huawei, has officially announced its newest smartphone, dubbed as Huawei Ascend P2, at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. Considered as a successor of Ascend P1, Huawei P2 holds up scaled specifications, newer body profile and supports LTE connectivity. Remarkably thin and light, Huawei Ascend P2 supports LTE network and attempts up to 150Mbps speeds, as claimed by the company. The device sports a large 4.7inch IPS HD in-cell touch (1280×720 pixels) display coated with Corning Gorilla Glass, quiet similar to Samsung Galaxy S3.
The long rumoured Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 has been officially announced at MWC, 2013. This 8-inch variant of Samsung Galaxy Note line-up is assumed to stand against Apple iPad Mini, however, Note 8.0 comes with voice-calling facility over GSM capabilities. After the remarkable success of Galaxy lineup, Samsung is now hoping to take on iPad Mini with this bigger version of Galaxy Note II. Crafted in a slim and aesthetic profile, Note 8.0 measures 135mm x 211mm x 07.6mm and weighs 337g, making it wider to comfortably hold in a hand while receiving the calls.