Xolo Q3000 with 5.7-inch full-HD display, Android 4.2 launched at Rs. 20,999

The Xolo Q3000 has been launched in India, at a price of Rs. 20,999. The 5.7-inch Android 4.2 Jelly Bean phablet will be available in Black and White variants.

The Q3000 was listed earlier on Tuesday on an online retailer, at a lower price of Rs. 18,849, and that listing is still there at the time of writing this article. Notably, another online retailer had put the Q3000 up for pre-order last week, at the same selling price Xolo is quoting now.

The Xolo Q3000 is a dual-SIM (GSM+GSM) device which runs Android 4.2 Jelly Bean. It comes with a 5.7-inch (1080x1920 pixels) full-HD IPS display, translating to a pixel density of 386ppi. It is powered by a quad-core 1.5GHz MediaTek MT6589T processor that is coupled with 2GB of RAM.

The phablet features 16GB of inbuilt storage, which is further expandable up to 32GB via microSD. The Xolo Q3000 sports a 13-megapixel rear camera with LED flash and BSI 2 sensor, while there is a secondary 5-megapixel front-facing camera which also features BSI sensor.

On the connectivity front, the Xolo Q3000 includes 3G, Wi-Fi, Micro-USB, and Bluetooth.  Also onboard is an accelerometer, gyroscope, magnetometer, proximity, and ambient light sensor.

The phablet packs a 4000mAh battery, which according to the listing, delivers up to 33 hours of talk time and up to 667 hours of standby time on 2G network. The Xolo Q3000 measures 164.8x81.6x8.9 mm.

Interestingly, Xolo also announced its first 4G-enabled smartphone on Tuesday, the Xolo LT900, which is listed on the company's site with a pricing of Rs. 17,999, but without availability details.

Xolo LT900 is the first 4G smartphone of XOLO

Xolo, one of the popular smartphone manufacturers in India will soon be coming up with a 4G LTE enabled smartphone, a first of its kind by the manufacturers in the country.

Xolo's first 4G LTE smartphone will be dubbed as LT900 and the device is expected to be formally introduced in the first week of November. We have also received an alleged press render of the upcoming smartphone, which reveals its design and confirms the presence of dual-LED flash.

                 

In addition to the high-speed cellular connectivity, the LT900 will offer a 4.3-inch HD IPS OGS display with a pixel density of 341 ppi.

The Xolo LT900 will be powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 processor clocked at 1.5 GHz and the device will feature an 8 megapixel BSI sensor at the back.

Unfortunately, we don't have any information on the pricing details of the device. But, we will know more about the smartphone when it goes official.

Nokia Lumia 1520 now available for just $50 on contract

Judging by its performance in our Smartphone Champions League, the Nokia Lumia 1520 is a favorite to quite a few of our readers. And the great news to those of you based in the US is that the phablet is now available for the tempting $50 on contract through Amazon.

Of course, AT&T is still your only option (unless you pay the full $629 price), but that’s quite a lot of savings to be had if you don’t mind going with it. The promo is available on all available colors of the Nokia Lumia 1520 – black, red and yellow and white, so you don’t need to make any sacrifices there.

Micromax Launches Canvas Juice A77 at Low Price i.e 7999/- INR

Micromax A77 Canvas Juice detailed specifications

General
Release date	November 2013
Form factor	Touchscreen
Dimensions (mm)	150.50 x 76.20 x 10.20
Weight (g)	100.50
Battery capacity (mAh)	3000
Removable battery	Yes
Colours	White
SAR value	NA
Display
Screen size (inches)	5.00
Touchscreen	Yes
Touchscreen type	Capacitive
Resolution	480x854 pixels
Colours	16M
Hardware
Processor	1.3GHz  dual-core
RAM	1GB
Internal storage	4GB
Expandable storage	Yes
Expandable storage type	microSD
Expandable storage up to (GB)	32
Camera
Rear camera	5-megapixel
Flash	Yes
Front camera	0.3-megapixel
Software
Operating System	Android 4.2
Java support	Yes
Browser supports Flash	No
Connectivity
Wi-Fi	Yes
Wi-Fi standards supported	NA
GPS	Yes
Bluetooth	Yes
NFC	No
Infrared	No
DLNA	No
Wi-Fi Direct	No
MHL Out	No
HDMI	No
Headphones	3.5mm
FM	Yes
USB	Micro-USB
Charging via Micro-USB	Yes
Proprietary charging connector	No
Proprietary data connector	No
Number of SIMs	2
SIM 1
SIM Type	Regular
GSM/ CDMA	GSM
2G frequencies supported	GSM 900/ 1800
3G	Yes
3G frequencies supported	2100
SIM 2
SIM Type	Regular
GSM/ CDMA	GSM
2G frequencies supported	GSM 900/ 1800
3G	Yes
3G frequencies supported	2100
Sensors
Compass/ Magnetometer	No
Proximity sensor	Yes
Accelerometer	Yes
Ambient light sensor	No
Gyroscope	No
Barometer	No
Temperature sensor	No

LG G Flex: First Look

LG finally introduced its first curved display smartphone in India, the G Flex, at an event in New Delhi. Indian consumers will have to wait till next year to get their hands on the device, as the G Flex will be available in India only in February 2014.

The G Flex is curved on its horizontal axis which gives the device's top and bottom edges a curl shape. The biggest perceived advantage of the G Flex's curve in our limited period usage, is while talking on the device - the design definitely better hugs your face, much like an old landline phone. In terms of gripping, the curve also helps to comfortably hold the device, but the rear is made of plastic, so it can also slip out during long usage. When compared to some of its close competitors like HTC One Max and the Galaxy Mega 6.3, the G Flex (160.5x81.6x8.7mm) is better to hold and move around thanks to the curve design. 

Next big thing which is very much noticeable in the G Flex is its size, the 6-inch display does puts it in the phablet category and does looks like a large device in hands. Notably, we were unable to easily use the G Flex with one hand, as we found it difficult to stretch our thumb across the device. When talking about phablets, we still believe that Samsung's Galaxy Note 3 (151.2x79.2x8.3mm) and Sony's Xperia Z Ultra (179.4x92.2x6.5mm) were better in terms of daily usage because of a more lightweight and sleeker profile.

At the event, we were told that the G Flex can actually 'flex' until it's totally flat, and one of the company representatives even claimed that the South Korean manufacturer has tested the flexibility of the G Flex up to 100 times with about 40 kilograms of weight putting on the device without damaging the G Flex's screen. Let's say in the case, when accidentally sitting on the G Flex. While we couldn't test it with 40 kilograms of weight, we did press the curve of the G Flex, and it did stretch to be flat. While the display didn't crack, it's not really advisable to do this on a daily basis.

Following closely on the lines of LG's current flagship smartphone, the LG G2, G Flex also features rear physical keys for power and volume controls. LG has equipped the LED light on the rear power key which comes handy for notifications and while taking a selfie. The keys are metallic and offer good tactile feedback, very much like the LG G2. The volume-up button also doubles up as a shortcut key to launch the Quickmemo app on long press and the volume-down button acts as a camera shortcut key on long press when the phone is locked.

The G Flex also includes a number of ports around the edges including the 3.5mm audio jack and the charging port that sits at the bottom panel, while the micro-SIM card slot sits at the left panel of the G Flex. The rear panel includes the primary 13-megapixel camera with an LED flash, which is accompanied by an IR Blaster.

It would be unfair to end the design part without talking about G Flex's self-healing back that has been creating a buzz worldwide. When we wanted to test the self-healing capability of the G Flex, we were sure we needed a scratchy material; unfortunately we didn't carry a knife so we tried our key chain to rub the rear panel and gave it a surface level scratch which was very much visible initially. After some time, we noticed that the scratches were reduced but not completely eliminated. While looking the G Flex from a certain angle, it looked that the scratches were gone, although it was pretty much noticeable. However, we must confess we were impressed and believe that the G Flex can easily handle day-to-day bruises. Coming to the hardware of the G Flex, it is powered by a quad-core 2.26GHz Snapdragon 800 (MSM8974) processor with an Adreno 330 GPU, and 2GB of RAM. The G Flex easily handled multitasking with ease, and the apps opened and closed instantaneously. Performance wise, the G Flex fared well in our limited testing.

The G Flex sports a 13-megapixel rear camera, and a 2.1-megapixel front-facing camera. During our usage, the camera app opened instantly and did click at good speed without any shutter lag. The G Flex is powered by a 3,500mAh battery and weighs 177 grams. The LG G Flex comes with 32GB inbuilt storage, which is non-expandable. The LG G Flex runs Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean, which is a disappointment as we expected LG to ship Android 4.3, the most recent iteration of the OS with the phone. However, with LG finally revealing plans for rolling out the Android 4.4 KitKat update for the flagship smartphone, the G2, we expect that the G Flex will also get the KitKat treatment soon.On the software department, the G Flex borrows many things from the G2. The company has added the same LG G2 UI layer on top of the G Flex, majorly changing the look and feel of the interface and enabling users to customise the phone according to their liking.

The LG G Flex also features the KnockON, which is LG's version of double tap to unlock and even lock the smartphone. In our limited testing, we found that at times while trying to unlock the phone it didn't register our taps. In fact, it was annoying at times. 

Other features on the G Flex include Slide Aside which is a way to multitask by moving between three apps at once via a three-finger swipe gesture; Guest mode, which allows you to create a guest mode with pre-selected apps for times when your friends or family want to use your phone; Dual Window, which divides the screen into two panels for multitasking and QuickTheatre that gives direct access to gallery, videos and YouTube icons.

HTC ONE GPE will get Android Kitkat 4.4 Update

After the Google Nexus the HTC has made it for Android Latest version i.e Kitkat. The HTC has officially announced that the code is been fully developed and submited to google. Its all on Google to approve to approve the code and start seeding the code.

Samsung to Launch Wraparound Displays Next Year

The bloomberg tv has released a report saying that the samsung may launch a wraparound display somewhere in next year, the screen will allow the users to look up for messages from thier side angels.

Speculation points that the new three-sided display can be seen in ether a Galaxy S, or a Galaxy Note device. An altogether new model family is also not out of question.

Ascend P6S to have Octa-Core confirmed by Huawei

It is the best looking phone and the slimmest in its family of smartphones. Everything is very cool except the chipset part which gets quickly heated up with its processor.

The Chinese Manufacturer has obviously acknowledged the world that it is coming to the game of smartphones with the bang of Octa-Core CPU. So the powering of the Octa-Core CPU comes with advantage that all the 8 Cores will work simultaneously at the same time, just as like the Exynos chipset of Samsung which allows 4 cores to work simultaneously.

BharatMatrimony launches app for Android

Online matrimony service site BharatMatrimony has reportedly come up with an Android app to help users find their soulmates in an easier manner. 
The BharatMatrimony app is compatible with 4,000 devices and members can easily shortlist, express interest to prospects, send mails and edit profiles with a simple swipe. 

The app has array of features such as new user interface, new gestures, shake to view matching profiles, chat and the option of 'action button' in search results. 

The BharatMatrimony app is the first of its kind in the matrimony domain in India, is user-friendly and highly secure. 

Chief portal and mobile officer, BharatMatrimony, Saichithra said that there are 738 million mobile users currently in India, 94 million people have access to internet, of this 23 million access the net through mobile phones, and that is the company's primary focus. 

The app also has new features such as search results with action buttons, push notification with member photos, action buttons and sound, complete registration with instant login, chat with enhanced UI, full profile with backgrounds that change according to the time of day. 

Saichithra further said that the company is early adopter of mobile and have moved to a mobile first strategy now, adding that the initial feedbackusers has been good.

Samsung Galaxy S5 & Note 4 to have 16MP cameras

After not-so-impressive sales of Galaxy S4, Samsung seemsset to start 2014 with a bang. The company will launch the world's first smartphone with a bendable screen next year, but that's not all.

The top-tier Samsung handsets will get a camera upgrade next year and will feature a 16MP Isocell sensor. Thus, Galaxy S4 and Galaxy Note 4 - the company's top two models - will get this high resolution camera at launch. This was revealed at Samsung's recent Analyst Day conference,the company also revealed the roadmap for other technologiesdisplays, processors and memory.

Isocell technology ensures better light sensitivity on backside illuminated (BSI) sensors and delivers more natural colours as well as better low-light performance. The company has also revealed that its 16MP Isocell sensors will have 1.12micron pixels, lower than the ones in the new Apple iPhone 5S.

Currently, the only Samsung smartphone to have a 16MP camera is Galaxy S4 zoom. Among other smartphone makers, Nokia and Sony are the two companies with plus-16MP cameras in their portfolio.

This also means the end of the road for 13MP cameras as a premium feature in Samsung's line-up. The manufacturer used the 13MP sensor for the first time in 2013 when it debuted Galaxy S4. It was later also used in Galaxy Note 3. ManufacturersLG and Sony also use 13MP camera sensors in their top-end phones.

At the Analyst Day conference, co-CEO JK Shin said that the Galaxy Note series will touch sales of 100 million units by the end of 2013. Samsung also said that the smartphone race is now transitioninga competition between hardware specs to software features.

The company's roadmap has also revealed that it plans to introduce the first foldable screen phones in late-2015.

Google launches new commerce platform

Google today launched a new online service called "Helpouts," aiming to connect businesses and consumers to solve problems or get advice on a range of issues.

The service is similar to Google's "Hangouts" with live video for paid services in areas rangingcomputer tech support to weight loss.

"What if getting help for a computer glitch, a leaky pipe, or a homework problem was as easy as clicking a button?" Google's Udi Manber said in a blog post announcing the new service.

"What if you could get someone knowledgeable to get you 'unstuck' when you really need it?"

Manber said some of the services now are "how to fix your garage door, or how to remove a computer virus; or it might be guidance completing a project,building a deck. "

But he added that "today is just the beginning. We're starting small and in a few categories."

The categories being offered initially include art and music, computers, cooking, education and careers, fashion and beauty, fitness and nutrition, health and home and garden.

The Helpouts rangefree to USD 240 or more. Some examples include chemistry tutoring and homework, learning to play guitar, yoga instruction, French language lessons, fixing computer problems or refrigerator repair.

"With Helpouts, you can choose who you get helpbased on their qualifications, their availability, their price, their ratings and reviews," Manber said. 

Unbreakable Security Passwords

Scientists, including one of India-origin, claim to have developed a new 'inkblot' password system that could provide near-unbreakable layer of security against on-line password thefts. 

The new password system called GOTCHA developed at the Carnegie Mellon Universitycould secure high-value information such as bank accounts - even if the password leaks as part of a large-scale site breach. 

To create a GOTCHA, a user chooses a password and a computer then generates several random, multi-coloured inkblots. 

The user describes each inkblot with a text phrase. These phrases are then stored in a random order along with the password. 

When the user returns to the site and signs in with the password, the inkblots are displayed again along with the list of descriptive phrases; the user then matches each phrase with the appropriate inkblot. 

"These are puzzles that are easy for a human to solve, but hard for a computer to solve, even if it has the random bits used to generate the puzzle," said Jeremiah Blocki, who worked on the system along with professor Manuel Blum, and Anupam Datta, associate professor of computer science. 

These puzzles would prove significant when security breaches of websites result in the loss of millions of user passwords - a common occurrence that has plagued such companies as LinkedIn, Sony and Gawker. 

These passwords are stored as cryptographic hash functions, in which passwords of any length are converted into strings of bits of uniform length. 

A thief can't readily decipher these hashes, but can mount what's called an automated offline dictionary attack. 

Computers today can evaluate as many as 250 million possible hash values every second, Blocki noted. 

Given the continued popularity of easy passwords, such as "123456" or "password," it's not always difficult to crack these hashes. But even hard passwords are vulnerable to the latest brute force methods, Blocki said. 

In the case of a GOTCHA, however, a computer programme alone wouldn't be enough to break into an account. 

"To crack the user's password offline, the adversary must simultaneously guess the user's password and the answer to the corresponding puzzle," Datta said. 

"A computer can't do that alone. And if the computer must constantly interact with a human to solve the puzzle, it no longer can bring its brute force to bear to crack hashes," said Datta. 

Because the user's descriptive phrases for inkblots are stored, users don't have to memorise their descriptions, but have to be able to pick them outa list.

Internet Explorer 11 for Windows 7

Microsoft has officially announced the launch of Internet Explorer 11 especially for Windows 8 Platform.

Microsoft has said that it has made its latest browser,   Internet Explorer 11, available to users of Windows 7 machines. 
The new browser had already been part of the Windows 8.1 upgrade the company released last month. 

The browser, available as a free download, improves the performance of websites that use JavaScript. Microsoft says the browser is 9% faster than Internet Explorer 10. 

It also enables better 3D graphics rendering in websites, allowing users to manipulate 3D objects on-screen.

Adobe hacking may be biggest ever

A computer security firm has uncovered data it says belongs to some 152 million Adobe user accounts, suggesting that a breach reported a month ago is far bigger than Adobe has so far disclosed and is one of the largest on record. 
LastPass, a password security firm, said that it has found email addresses, encrypted passwords and password hints stored in clear textAdobe user accounts on an underground website frequented by cybercriminals. 

Adobe said last week that attackers had stolen data on more than 38 million customer accounts, on top of the theft of information on nearly 3 million accounts that it disclosed nearly a month earlier. 

The maker of Photoshop and Acrobat software confirmed that LastPass had found records stolenits data centre, but downplayed the significance of the security firm's findings. 

While the new findingsLastPass indicate that the Adobe breach is far bigger than previously known, company spokeswoman Heather Edell said it was not accurate to say 152 million customer accounts had been compromised because the database attacked was a backup system about to be decommissioned. 

She said the records include some 25 million records containing invalid email addresses, 18 million with invalid passwords. She added that "a large percentage" of the accounts were fictitious, having been set up for one-time use so that their creators could get free software or other perks. 

She also said that the company is continuing to work with law enforcement and outside investigators to determine the cost and scope of the breach, which resulted in the theft of customer data as well as source code to several software titles. 

The company has notified some 38 million active Adobe ID users and is now contacting holders of inactive accounts, she said. 

Paul Stephens, director of policy and advocacy for the non-profit Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, said information in an inactive database is often useful to criminals. 

He said they might use it to engage in "phishing" scams or attempt to figure out passwords using the hints provided for some of the accounts in the database. In some cases, people whose data was exposed might not be aware of it because they have not accessed the out-of-date accounts, he said. 

"Potentially it's the website you've forgotten about that poses the greater risk," he said. "What if somebody set up an account with Adobe ten years ago and forgot about it and they use the same password there that they use on other sites?" 

Forgot the salt?
LastPass chief executive Joe Siegrist said that Adobe failed to use best practices for securing the stolen passwords. 

The ones in the database were not protected with a technique known as " salting," which means adding a secret code to every password after it is scrambled and before it is stored in the database. That way multiple encrypted versions of the same password never look the same. 

Because the passwords were not salted, Siegrist said he was able to identify the most frequently used password in the group, which was used 1.9 million times. The database has 108 million email addresses with passwords shared in multiple accounts. 

"I'd say 108 million people fall into the range of likely very easily guessable passwords," he said. 

The number of records stolen appears to be the largest taken in any publicly disclosed cyberattack to date. 

The largest cyberbreach previously reported was a 2009 attack on Heartland Payment Systems in which more than 130 million credit card numbers were stolen, according to Privacy Rights Clearinghouse data. Hackers accessed more than 100 million recordsthe Sony PlayStation Network in 2011 in another notorious attack. 

Mike Spanbauer, managing director of research at the security firm NSS Labs, noted that the impact of the Adobe breach might not be as significant as oneslarge numbers of financial records were stolen. 

Still, he said that the attack was a strong reminder that consumers and businesses need to be vigilant about making sure they do not reuse passwords.

Micromax Canvas Turbo with 5-inch full-HD display launched at Rs. 19,990

And Yes Micromax has Finally done it with Full HD display with the Canvas Turbo is pricing around Rs.19,990. The smartphone will be available in retail outlets starting Saturday and will be come in two colour variants, Blue and White. The specs are as follows

• 5-inch full-HD CGS (Continuous Grain Silicon) display
• 1.5GHz quad-core MediaTek 6589T processor
• 2GB of RAM
• Android 4.2.1 Jelly Bean with FOTA support
• 16GB of inbuilt storage
• 13-megapixel rear autofocus camera
• 5-megapixel front-facing camera
• 2000mAh battery

The Micromax Canvas Turbo features a 5-inch full-HD CGS (Continuous Grain Silicon) IPS display with 1080x1920 pixels resolution. It is powered by a 1.5GHz quad-core MediaTek 6589T (Turbo) processor along with 2GB of RAM. The smartphone runs Android 4.2.1 Jelly Bean and comes with FOTA support. It features 16GB of inbuilt storage, though there is no word on expandable storage.The Canvas Turbo sports 13-megapixel rear autofocus camera and also houses a 5-megapixel front-facing camera. The company mentions in a press note that the Canvas Turbo's camera includes a number of features like Panorama, Cinemagraph and Object Eraser.

The Canvas Turbo packs a 2000mAh battery. On the app front the Canvas Turbo includes BBM, hike, Spuul, Kingsoft Office, M!Security, M!Unlock, M!Live and Game-hub. Interestingly, Micromax's dedicated site for Canvas Turbo notes that the smartphone supports dual-SIM with one regular SIM and other micro-SIM.

Commenting on the launch, Rahul Sharma, Co-founder, Micromax said, "At Micromax, our focus has always been to keep innovating to democratize technology for masses by offering seamless experience through a combination of great hardware and enhanced software capabilities. Canvas Turbo further builds on our promise to constantly empower our users with superior technology. This is complemented by a refreshed ecosystem of applications enabling users to multitask offering great value to them."

Shubhodip Pal, Chief Marketing Officer, Micromax, said at the announcement, "The launch of Canvas Turbo would be accompanied with our association with Hugh Jackman, one of the biggest names in world entertainment industry as the new brand ambassador of Micromax Canvas series of smartphones. The overwhelming response to the Canvas series has clearly established us as the leader in the phablet category, and the Canvas turbo will further reinforce our aim to be the number one smartphone player in India."

Apple iPad Air & iPad mini 2 is official now

The wraps are off, the new Apple tablets are official. Say hello to the new 9.7" model, iPad Air (not 5), and the new 7.9" model, the iPad mini 2. The big news, of course, is that the mini model now has a Retina display.

Apple iPad mini 2

The Apple iPad mini 2 still has a 7.9" screen with a 4:3 aspect ratio, but the resolution has quadrupled to 1536 x 2048 pixels and the pixel density has doubled to 324ppi.

The chipset was another part where the iPad mini lagged behind with a lowly dual-core Cortex-A9 processor. Apple has used its own Apple A7 chipset with ARMv8-based Cyclone cores, a couple of generations ahead of A9. The GPU got a major boost too and is a PowerVR SGX 6th series. The M7 motion co-processor is on-board too.

The TouchID rumors didn’t pan out and the mini 2 has a regular Home button. Another disappointment is that it's 0.3mm thicker (7.5mm) and 23g heavier (331g).

The Apple iPad mini 2 runs iOS 7 out of the box (of course) and storage options range from 16GB all the way to 128GB. Color options are just Silver & White and Space Grey & Black. As usual there will be Wi-Fi and 3G/LTE versions.

The Apple iPad mini 2 will be available in November starting at $399, which is notably higher compared to the $339 starting price of the first iPad mini last year.

Apple iPad Air

The Apple iPad Air brings a new name, new design and more power. It received the new Apple A7 chipset along with the M7 motion co-processor. The other major upgrade is the design – it's based on the iPad mini and has narrower bezels (43% smaller) that make the tablet easier to handle.

The tablet is 20% thinner and now measures just 7.5mm, thinner than the iPad 2. The weight also went down big time - from 653g to 469g.

The Apple iPad Air will be available on November 1 starting at $499.

By the way, the iPad 2 is still alive and will continue selling at $399 (it's three generations old now).