BlackBerry Z10 available again in India at low price

BlackBerry Z10 available again in India at low price

The BlackBerry Z10 was the first touchscreen handset to launch the new BB10 operating system early last year, and now the handset is available again for consumers in India at the same low price that was announced last month.
Last month we heard how the BlackBerry Z10 was cut in price to Rs. 17,990 and would be available on the offer for sixty days starting on February 25th. This low price obviously saw a rush to pick one up with stocks quickly running dry.
Now though the company has confirmed that it has restocked the handset in the country and it is still available at this low price, but again will be available while stocks last even though the promotion should last until the end of next month.
Will you be picking up a BlackBerry Z10?

SwitchEasy Canvas Folio for iPad 2 Review

SwitchEasy Canvas Folio for iPad 2 Review

Folios are a dime a dozen these days, and when it comes time to search for that perfect folio case for your iPad 2, you want to make sure you choose the best one available. SwitchEasy has long been in the case business and strictly makes cases for Apple mobile products such as the iPad. Like many of you, I've been a big fan of SwitchEasy's cases for a few good years now and I've loved almost every single case that has come out. Our good friends over at SwitchEasy have sent over the Canvas, the latest and greatest folio case in black for the iPad 2. The Canvas for the iPad 2 has come a long way since it was introduced for the first gen iPad. Will the new and improved Canvas folio be worthy of your iPad 2? That and much more in the full review right after the jump!

The Canvas folio case for the iPad 2 is going to set you back $49.99, and it's available in black, brown, charcoal and gray. As the name implies, the Canvas' exterior is made out of a matte canvas material that is also scratch and water-resistant. The canvas material feels very good in the hand and adds a whole lot of grip when carried around. The Canvas isn't your typical folio case for the iPad 2 as it has a dual layer design that features an inner polycarbonate shell that is both strong and durable that will keep your iPad 2 protected in case of an accidental drop. What SwitchEasy has done differently with the Canvas is that it used a NUDE-like polycarbonate shell as the cradle for the iPad 2 instead of a bezel covering frame that most other folios for the iPad 2 employ.

The Canvas is really a NUDE wrapped with a thick nylon canvas outer layer that feels both very durable and protective. This also creates a secondary layer of protection that is slightly padded and is lined with a velvety soft microfiber interior to keep your iPad 2's screen scratch-free. The low-profile form factor of the NUDE-like shell that houses the iPad 2 makes for a comfortable  user experience when holding and using the touch screen. It feels very free and unconstrained like other folio cases that cover up the iPad 2's front bezel and create a frame around the iPad 2. The Canvas looks and feels like it presents your iPad 2 to you. I really like that in the Canvas.

The cutouts on the Canvas are just as good as any other SwitchEasy case with precise cutouts that make ports and buttons easily reachable thanks to the slim inner polycarbonate shell that makes the iPad 2's buttons and ports flush with the shell itself. The back facing camera is also fully usable within the Canvas. You can even create a hand grip using the front cover of the Canvas as a comfortable hand grip for when you want to take a few pictures and videos. SwitchEasy thinks about every little detail, which brings me to yet another point. The Canvas also comes bundles with the SwitchEasy care package of port plugs as well as a front screen protector.

The Canvas has that double-layer design, look and feel to it. Your iPad 2 is fully protected all the way around while it's inside of the Canvas. But with all of this layers of protection comes a price. And that is weight. The Canvas adds a considerable amount of weight to the iPad 2 while increasing its bulk. That isn't necessarily a bad thing for those who want that extreme amount of protection this folio has to offer. Not only is the Canvas one of the best protective folios you can buy, it has this very solid look that is very clean and streamline. The Canvas feels incredibly durable and solid in the hand. It's unlike any other folio case I've ever set my hands on. The build quality will take you by surprise once you touch it. I'm very impressed by what SwitchEasy has done with the Canvas.

What kind of a folio would the Canvas be without some sort of stand capabilities right? Well, the good news it that the Canvas does indeed have some stand features behind its back, and I mean literally behind its back. The Canvas utilizes a smart and discrete way of access its stand functions by releasing the left half of the polycarbonate shell that is held by a strong Velcro strip, apart from the outer canvas layer. The polycarbonate shell incorporates two kickstand-like pegs that dig into the grooves that are located on the inner side of the front cover of the Canvas, and act as the stand angle levelers.

The Canvas folds into a landscape viewing stand in 3 separate levels of angles using the grooves on the inside front cover. The first level I've tested out seems to be as steep as to what the Apple Smart Cover creates while the two lower levels provide a much better viewing angle and are very sturdy. However, the first, much steeper viewing angle isn't as sturdy and will tend to just out of its position and onto the following groove when using the iPad 2's touch screen.

Instead of using magnets to secure itself onto the iPad 2, the Canvas uses a good olf hinge clap closure that latches onto the hard polycarbonate inner shell instead of the actual iPad 2. You thought SwitchEasy will hold back on the iPad 2's magnetic on/off function? No way. The Canvas does in fact utilize magnets that perform as they should to wake and put the iPad 2 to sleep when opening the front cover without accidentally triggering the magnetic sensor while the front cover is flipped back. The only minor drawback I found with the Canvas' closure latch that is used to secure the front flap covering the front of the iPad 2 is that it take a bit of force to get the latch over the hard polycarbonate inner shell. Although this will insure that the front cover won't just open easily when you're traveling, it does take some getting used too. I've noticed that if you tug and pull the front cover to the side a little, you'll have a much smoother latch closure. I do wish that SwitchEasy would address this minor issue though.

After I've spent my time using the Canvas with my iPad 2, I can confidently say that this is in fact one of the best folios I've ever had for the iPad and iPad 2. Its form and function make it suitable for both casual and professional everyday usage. SwitchEasy has really created an impressive piece of folio with the Canvas for the iPad 2. It's both an elegant and up-to-date folio case that not only looks fantastic, but also feels and provide an incredible amount of protection for the iPad 2. Considering the very few drawbacks that the Canvas has, I would highly recommend the Canvas to anyone looking for a solid folio case for their iPad 2.

Gionee Elife S5.5 vs Micromax Canvas Knight A350: Octa-core smartphones specs face-off

Specs battle!

Gionee has just launched the sleek Elife S5.5 in the Indian market priced at Rs 22,999. Gionee has named the device thoughtfully, highlighting the device’s unbelievably thin 5.5mm profile. Along with a slim form factor, the device is packed with a large 5-inch display and an octa-core processor.  Looking at the specs, it clearly competes with Micromax’s Canvas Knight. We’ve put both Elife S5.5 and Canvas Knight in the ring for a specs battle to see who emerges as the winner, on paper.

Gionee Elife S5.5
Gionee launches the S5.5 in India today The Gionee Elife S5.5, sportng a large 5-inch display, is claimed to be the slimmest smartphone in the world and boasts a thickness of just 5.5mm. Its full HD Super AMOLED display is one of the first to be featured on a non-Samsung phone. Performance should be top-notch considering the octa-core 1.7 GHz processor, in keeping with the octa-core trend of today. The chipset has not yet been specified, though it’s likely to be MediaTek’s MT6592, which is also seen in the Elife E7 Mini. On the camera front, the device gets a 13-megapixel rear snapper and a 8-megapixel front-facing camera. Just like all other Gionee phones, it runs on company’s Amigo OS, a heavily-skinned version of Android 4.2, which adds some interesting shortcuts and homescreens in addition to the standard Android screens. While we didn’t exactly enjoy the skin on the Elife E7. The connectivity options include 3G, Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi hotspot, Bluetooth and GPS/A-GPS. All of this is fuelled by a  Li-Ion 2300 mAh battery.

Micromax Canvas Knight A350
The Canvas Knight is packed to the gills with features The Canvas Knight A350 is the first phone from Micromax to feature a MediaTek MT6592T 2GHz octa-core processor, Mali 450 GPU and 2GB of RAM. On the front is a 5-inch display with full HD resolution, manufactured by SHARP, and with a pixel density that goes all the way up to around 441ppi. Micromax has also made sure the camera specs are top-notch. There’s a 16MP rear camera paired with OmniVision’s CameraChip sensor and a new generation M8 Largan Lens. The device also gets an 8-megapixel front-facing camera. Like most of Micromax’s recent releases, this one too runs Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean, which is a shame given that it’s more than capable of running Android 4.4 KitKat. In terms of connectivity, one will find Bluetooth 4.0, Wi-Fi and 3G cellular data. The 32GB onboard storage does not come with support for expandable memory. All of this is fuelled by a 2,350mAh battery.

Take a look at the specs stable below:
The bottom line
This is a tough one and boils down to the battery life, and price. the Canvas Knight has an early mover advantage and a lower price to begin with. It also has a higher-resolution camera on the back, which will no doubt be a big factor in this battle. Not much separates these two phones otherwise.

We have a big problem with the way Gionee’s custom UI works. While some may enjoy the iOS-like approach, widgets are an especially bad omission, as that sets Android apart from the competition. It remains to be seen what Gionee has changed in the UI, though we don’t expect too many revisions. This can be mitigated with a replacement launcher.

As we saw the octa-core processor had an adverse effect on the battery life of the Canvas Knight and also brought up some extreme heating issues. With the S5.5 being even thinner, heat dissipation might be an even bigger problem. So we are interested in finding out how the Elife S5.5 perfroms in terms of battery life. The Elife S5.5 has a marginally smaller battery, which would show in the final analysis. As we know Gionee packs in a power-management tool for its phones, so it could help in preserving battery life out of the box, but there are many apps in the Play Store which do the same. So again, there’s no clear advantage for either phone.

In terms of fit and polish, the Elife S5.5 definitely looks a wold apart from the Knight, which is essentially a re-badged smartphone, available under other brands as well. That’s not the case with Gionee, who has designed the phone. So you will be getting a more unique experience with the S5.5. But there’s still no clear winner in terms of battery life, yet.

So finally the price. And here Micromax has a clear advantage, having launched the Canvas Knight for well under Rs 20,000. The Elife S5.5 will take some time catching up to that, so we think Micromax has a better shot in this octa-core battle, for now. The final judgement can only be delivered once we have the new Gionee in our labs.

Micromax A110Q Canvas 2 Plus: A Specifications Review

#Smartphones

Micromax recently pulled off a stealthy launch of its new phone, dubbed the A110Q Canvas 2 Plus. Apart from having a long name, there are other interesting features of the handset, such as the quad-core processor. However, the low-resolution on the display does seem like a letdown. Lets take a look at what makes the phone tick.
OS – Android 4.2 Jelly Bean
The A110Q Canvas 2 Plus will run on Android 4.2 Jelly Bean right out of the box. This is a great thing, since that means the handset is essentially just one step behind the latest version of Android. Android 4.2 brings many features, including expandable notifications and Daydream, which is essentially a screensaver. Since this is Jelly Bean after all, Project Butter will help make the phone better with Google Now and a better camera interface, among other things.
Cellular network – Dual-SIM GSM and 3G
The A110Q Canvas 2 Plus will retain the dual-SIM functionality and will support GSM and 3G networks. You should be able to use both SIMs simultaneously as well.
Display – 5-inch IPS
The display is a 5-inch IPS panel, which would give great viewing angles. However, all of that is offset by the fact that the handset runs on a resolution of 854 x 480, which is rather disappointing. The low resolution will be even more obvious because of the giant display, since the handset has a very low pixel density of 195.93 ppi.
Connectivity – Standard fare
Connectivity options on the A110Q Canvas 2 Plus include all the standard fare that one can expect from an Android handset. This includes 3G, 2G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0 and GPS. Bluetooth will undoubtedly have support for A2DP. As of now, it is unclear whether the GPS will run on A-GPS or GLONASS.

The Micromax A110Q Canvas 2 Plus

SoC– MediaTek MT6589 (quad-core)
The A110Q Canvas 2 Plus features MediaTek’s MT6589 SoC, which contains a quad-core ARM Cortex-A7 CPU and PowerVR Series5XT GPU. While the CPU uses the slightly older architecture from ARM, the SoC is built using the newer 28nm fabrication process, so it should do well in terms of power efficiency. Micromax hasn’t detailed all the multimedia capabilities of the A110Q, but digging a little deeper into the chipset's capabilities, we find support for 1080p video recording. Whether or not Micromax chooses to use this is yet to be seen. Nevertheless, the four cores should easily help in gaming and even the general responsiveness of the UI.
Storage – 4GB on-board with room for expansion
The A110Q is equipped with a paltry 4GB of on-board memory, with 1.4GB taken up by any apps that you might want to download and 1GB usable as mass storage. Luckily, however, there is a microSD slot where you can stick in a 32GB microSD card.
Primary Camera – 8MP sensor with dual-LED flash
The main camera on the back of the handset is a hefty 8 megapixel shooter, like the one found in the A116 Canvas HD; there's no BSI sensor.
Front Camera – 2 megapixels
The 2 megapixel camera on the front is much better than the VGA cameras we’re used to. Video calls and self-portraits should be serviceable.
Sensors – Proximity, gravity and motion
The A110Q is equipped with the standard proximity sensor, which is used to tell when the phone is close to your head during a call so that the display can turn itself off. Other sensors include a gravity sensor and a motion sensor.
Battery – 2000 mAh
The A110Q is equipped with a beefy 2000 mAh battery. While this wouldn’t have been enough because of the quad-core processor, the lower screen resolution ensures that the handset isn’t too power hungry. Micromax quotes a standby time of 280 hours and 6 hours of talktime.
The bottom line
On paper, the A110Q Canvas 2 Plus seems a lot like an older phone from Micromax – the A116 Canvas HD. Both phones even use the same SoC. However, the A110Q has a considerably worse screen. The A110Q Canvas 2 Plus has been launched with a price tag of Rs 12,100, so assuming a street price of Rs 10,000, buying the phone doesn’t seem to be that bad of a deal. It’s also bound to have a decent battery life because of the low-res display.

Rdio buys Dhingana, Coming Soon to India

International Music Streaming Service Rdio acquired recently closed Indian Music service Dhingana, International Music streaming company Rdio Announced today that They will be launching operation in India later this year. This is after Dhingana recently closed its service recently.
Dhingana has its own problems, While the Company hired its first external CEO in 2013 and then the Dihngana partner T-Series refused to renew its license,
The acquisition makes a lot of sense. Rdio is already present in 51 countries and its CEO Anthony Bay has spoken at length about going global. “We are one of (the) very few global companies that can provide a great music experience to an expanding international audience, and it is our objective to bring that experience to India and to non-resident Indians and fans around the world,” Bay says.
With this aquisation Rdio will scale fast in the Country easily, as it has now acess to 1 million songs in 42 languages and Indian genres, and not  starting from Scratch.
Rdio India will be joining competitors including Saavn and Times India’s Gaana.com. It remains to be seen how successful Rdio will be in India.

Moto G: Force 3G connection On Dual Sim Moto G

Hey, Guys if you owe a Moto G you might probably have seen the 3G bug in the Moto G Indian version, I have faced that issue that on the dual sim version the 3G don’t work, Phone’s forced to use the 2g connection i.e. is the EDGE connection, and the 3g i.e. is the HSPA and HSPA+, If you face that issue we’ll be solving that right here and that too without rooting the phone and without spending a single buck.

HSPA is good

• To force your phone to use 3G connection you must download the PHONE TESTING app, if you don’t want to download the app you might dial *#*#4636#*#*.
• After dialling click on the Phone Information.
• Scroll down and you will see a list of prefered networks .
• From there select WCDMA only.
• Click Turn Off the Radio and then turn it on .
• Vola! Your phone is now using 3G connection.

Have fun at high speeds, For any queries and feedback feel free to comment below.

Karbonn Titanium Hexa, Octane Plus and Octane Now Official

Karbonn Mobiles has announced three new smart phones – Titanium Hexa, Titanium Octane Plus and Titanium Octane. These phones will be available by end of the April.
Lets Check What these Phones have in there Core,

Karbonn Titanium Hexa

Titanium Hexa is the smart phone with MediaTek’s newest MT6591 hexa-core processor clocked at 1.5GHz. The chipset is based on the Dual-Cluster, Dual-Active architecture, which allows all the six cores to run simultaneously.
The Titanium Hexa come with a 5.5-inch display and support a resolution of 1920×1080(full HD) and 2 GB RAM, 13megapixel rear camera with 16 GB in-built memory which can be expend it via micro SD card.
Titanium Hexa support dual-SIM and run on Android 4.4 kitkat and packs a 2050 mAh battery.

Karbonn Titanium Octane Plus

The Octane Plus comes with a 5-inch Full HD display and is powered by MediaTek MT6592 octa-core processor running at 1.7 GHz. There is 2 GB of RAM to help the device run smoothly and 16 megapixel rear camera along with the 8 megapixel front facing shooter to let you capture high quality images.
Titanium Ocatane also come with 16 GB of inbuilt memory and can be expending by micro SD card. As usual, there are wide range of connectivity option, but the device lacks 4G LTE connectivity. Just like the Titanium Hexa, the Octane is also powered by the Android 4.4 KitKat. Lastly, the juice for the smart phone is provided by a 2,000mAhbattery.

 Karbonn Titanium Octane

The Titanium Octane support 5-inch and 720p display and powered by same chipset MT6592 octa-core processor with 1 GB RAM.
The 13 megapixel rear camera and a 5 megapixel front facing shooter complete the camera department. Titanium Octane’s connectivity options include WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0 and HSPA+ (42.2 Mbps down) and come with 2,000mAh battery.

Price

Karbonn has already announced the price of all the three devices. The Titanium Hexa will cost INR 16,990 (about $280), while the Titanium Octane Plus and Octane are priced at INR 17,990 (about $295) and INR 14,490 (about $240) respectively