Apple iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus official India prices revealed, starts at Rs 53,500 and Rs 62,500 respectively

A day after Apple announced that the iPhone 6 will launch in India on October 17, the official prices of the forthcoming smartphones are out. Prices for the iPhone 6 start at Rs 53,500, while the prices for the iPhone 6 Plus start at Rs 62,500. Preorders for the new iPhones kick off tomorrow.

The iPhone 6 16GB variant is priced at Rs 53,500, which is the same price tag at which the iPhone 5S was launched last year. The 64GB variant is priced at 62,500, and the 128GB variant is priced at Rs 71,500. As mentioned above, prices for the bigger iPhone 6 Plus start at Rs 62,500 for the 16GB variant. The 64GB variant is priced at Rs 71,500, while the 128GB variant is priced at 80,500. These pricing are in line with what leaked over the weekend.

Last night, Apple put all speculations to rest by announcing that the new iPhones will go on sale in India on October 17. The launch date is consistent with what BGR India reported last week. As mentioned above, preorders for the new iPhones will start from tomorrow onwards, and the phone will be available at Apple Authorized Resellers including Ingram Micro, Redington, Rashi Peripherals and Reliance. The company further revealed that those who preorder the new iPhones, will get their hands on the device on the night of October 16 itself.

Moto 360 smartwatch launched today at FLIPKART

Motorola has finally announced it will begin the sale of its Android Wear based Moto 360 smartwatch today at Rs 17,999. The smartwatch will be available for purchase on Flipkart this afternoon.

Moto 360 sports an elegant circular backlit display with a diameter of 1.56 inches and comes with a 320 x 290 resolution that uses a pixel density of 205ppi. It also gets a layer of Corning Gorilla Glass 3 to protect it from minor scratches and bumps.

The smartwatch is powered by the TI OMAP 3 processor coupled with 512MB RAM. It also gets 4GB internal memory for saving music and photos. For tracking activities, it is fitted with a pedometer and optical heart rate monitor (PPG). The IP67-certified Moto 360 is water-resistant and also supports wireless charging.

The support for voice control makes it easy to get things done, even when your hands are full. Users can send texts, set a reminder, check the weather, and even ask for directions by saying ‘Ok Google’. Also, MOTO VOICE  has been updated to bring the features found in the second generation Moto X to the original Moto X device.

Motorola claims the Moto 360 will work on all smartphones running Android 4.3 or higher.

The Moto 360 will be competing with the current top-dogs in the smartwatch market – LG G Watch R  and SAMSUNG GEAR LIVE. The Moto 360 is currently priced higher than its rivals, which are currently selling for 14,999 and 15,999 respectively.

AOL to Feed More Video, News to Microsoft’s MSN

AOL will provide Microsoft’s MSN with more video and additional news stories from popular sites such as The Huffington Post and TechCrunch in an expansion of a deal aimed at selling more digital advertising.

The arrangement announced Tuesday builds upon a partnership that AOL Inc. and Microsoft Corp. struck in April.

AOL already has been distributing clips from its collection of nearly 900,000 videos on MSN’s web sites and apps built for Microsoft products such as Windows phones. NowMicrosoft will be getting even more material, including text, from AOL’s stable of online services and will be able to feature the content on other apps built for Apple’s iPhoneand iPad as well as devices running on Android.

Financial terms of the expanded partnership weren’t disclosed.

Besides drawing upon material from The Huffington Post and TechCrunch, Microsoft will also receive content from AOL-owned Engadget, StyleList, KitchenDaily, Autoblog, DailyFinance, Parentdish and Joystiq.

Both AOL and Microsoft are trying to bring in more revenue from a digital advertising market led by Google Inc. and Facebook Inc.

Google is expected to collect nearly one-third of the $141 billion spent worldwide on digital advertising this year while Facebook’s share is projected at about 8 percent, according to the research firm eMarketer Inc. Microsoft ranks in a distant third place with a roughly 3 percent share of the digital ad market while AOL has a share of roughly 1 percent, eMarketer estimates.

Starboard Value LP, an investment fund that tried to overthrow part of AOL’s board in 2012, is now trying to convince Yahoo that it could do a better job selling digital ads if it bought AOL. Starboard revealed it had become a “significant” Yahoo shareholder last week, without specifying the size of its stake.

Apple to Launch iPad Air 2 With Gold Colour Variant!

which is expected to unveil the anticipated new iPad Air model, the iPad Air 2, at its rumoured October 21 event, may finally introduce a GOLDcolour variant for the tablet, according to a new report.

Interestingly, the reports are only focussed on the new 9.7-inch iPad Air models while the iPad mini goes without mention, as per sources close to company’s plans to Bloomberg.

The rumoured introduction of the GOLD back cover for Apple iPad Air 2 would bring its colour palette in line with the iPhone 5s handset, which comes in three colour variants of Space Gray, Silver and Gold.

If the rumours from earlier this year are to be believed, the iPad Air 2 would include a Touch ID fingerprint sensor and would be around 1mm thinner than the existing iPad Air tablet. Also, the speaker grills on the bottom might be changed to bigger circles in one row from the smaller circles in two rows.

The company is also expected to use the new Apple A8X processor on the iPad Air 2 alongside 2GB of RAM, supposedly meant to enable its split-screen functionality – which has been widely-anticipated.

Apple is also expected to roll out a larger, 12.9-inch version of its iPad for 2015, with production set to begin in the first quarter of next year. The rumoured 12.9-inch iPad Pro might only launch sometime in the second quarter of 2015, probably after theanticipated Apple Watch launch, as per the reports.

In the meanwhile, Samsung is reportedly gearing up to provide its rival 9.7-inch and 12.9-inch iPad panels, reports Digitimes. While Samsung is said to ship the panels in the second half of this year, LG Display’s small sized panels are already being shipped to Apple for iPhone 6 and Apple Watch.

The recently announced OS X Yosemite, along with the new Mac Mini, is also anticipated to be launched at the October event.

Samsung Galaxy Alpha With Metal Frame Launched in India

Samsung has launched the Galaxy Alpha smartphone in India. The Samsung Galaxy Alpha, which comes with a metal frame around a plastic body, will be available in India starting first week of October at Rs. 39,990.

The alpha  runs the latest Android 4.4.4 KitKat out-of-the-box. It features a 4.7-inch HD (720×1280 pixels) Super AMOLED display. The handset sports dimensions of 132.4×65.5×6.7mm and weighs 115 grams.

The Galaxy Alpha is powered by an octa-core chipset, with 2GB of RAM and 32GB inbuilt storage, which is non-expandable. The Galaxy Alpha sports a 12-megapixel rear camera and also includes 2.1-megapixel front-facing camera. It packs an 1860mAh battery.

Connectivity options include Micro-USB, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, GPRS/ EDGE, 3G, 4G/ LTE, and NFC. Samsung says the Galaxy Alpha is compatible with 4G/ LTE bands in India. The Galaxy Alpha also comes with fingerprint scanner and heart rate monitor.

Samsung notes that the Galaxy Alpha at launch will be available in India in Charcoal Black, Dazzling White and Frosted Gold colour variants. The Samsung Galaxy Alpha was unveiled in August.

Commenting on the launch, S.K. Kim, Managing Director, Sales, Samsung Electronics, India said, “As the market leader, Samsung has significantly contributed to the market growth by setting new benchmarks in offering the best-in-class technology and products. With the launch of Galaxy Alpha, Samsung is announcing a new design approach to satiate customer demands for an irresistibly stunning and stylish product. This revolutionary product will change the dynamics of the premium smartphone segment in India.”

“The Galaxy Alpha was built and designed based on the specific desires of the consumers,” said, Asim Warsi, Vice President, Mobile & IT, Samsung India. “With an entirely new appearance, the Galaxy Alpha focuses on both beauty and functionality combining a stunning metal frame and slim, light weight design with the same powerful hardware and features users expect from a flagship Galaxy mobile device.”

Sony Xperia Z3 Compact review: This is Sony’s finest hour

Sony has been releasing a flagship smartphone in its Xperia Z series every six months rather than the annual cycle that most other tier one brands follow. Every iteration is a slight improvement on its successor that don’t exactly set the market on fire. While Sony has been focusing on positioning its flagship smartphones at a premium with its OmniBalance design and extensive use of glass and metal, the strategy hasn’t quite worked in the commoditized Android ecosystem where hardware specs win over design and functionality. However, Sony had also launched a “Compact” version of the Xperia Z1, which floored us enough to call it the iPhone of Android smartphones. Today Sony has launched the second variant, which it calls the Xperia Z3 Compact (it being the compact version of the Xperia Z3) with the same philosophy of giving top-of-the-line hardware in a handy form factor. Can the Xperia Z3 Compact have us fall head over heels for it again?

 

Hold the Xperia Z3 Compact and you will know that Sony’s designers have put their heart into designing it. The phone might look as if someone trained the shrink gun from “Honey, I shrunk the kids” on to the Xperia Z3 but there are a lot of subtle tradeoffs that work in its favor. The front and back are covered with Gorilla Glass, which make the phone appear premium but at the same time sturdy enough to withstand sharing the same pocket space with keys and coins. The side trimmings are no longer metallic and have been replaced with soft touch plastic, which makes sense as you can actually wrap your hand around the device and the soft plastic feels much better on the skin than metal.

 

The left edge has those familiar flaps, one for the micro-USB charging port and microSD card slot and another for a nano-SIM card slot. Yes, the Xperia Z3 Compact has a nano-SIM card slot. My gripe with Sony’s SIM card trays continue as the tiny rubber tray is extremely difficult to use. It beats me why Sony won’t spend time redesigning it when it is improving every other aspect of the phone. The right edge has the power button slightly above the centre, followed by a slightly tiny volume rocker buttons and the dedicated camera button at the bottom. Ideally the volume buttons should have been above the power button as it is more intuitive to use. In the present configuration, the buttons feel cramped and counter intuitive to muscle memory.

 

That said, Sony’s designers have managed to cram in a bigger display and more features in the same footprint as the Xperia Z1 Compact, which was launched earlier this year. In fact, the Xperia Z3 Compact is thinner than its predecessors and that says a lot. The Z3 Compact has a 4.6-inch display against the 4.3-inch display on the Xperia Z1 Compact and it now has much narrower bezels. Like always, the phone is water and dust resistance and this time it is IP68 certified and can be submerged in water up to one meter for up to 30 minutes.

Coming to specifications, the Xperia Z3 Compact is almost the same as the Xperia Z3 barring the display, of course. We are talking about a Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 2.5GHz quad-core processor with Adreno 330 GPU, 2GB of RAM, 16GB of internal storage along with a microSD card slot that can accommodate cards up to 128GB. There is a 20.7-megapixel camera on the rear that can now also record 4K videos at 30fps and a 2.2-megapixel front-facing camera.

The Xperia Z3 Compact has a 4.6-inch 720p display, which many might find low resolution. However, I found no major qualms with the display resolution. Sony has finally managed to come with a good display in terms of viewing angles, brightness and visibility under sunlight.

 

One of everyone’s constant complains with Sony’s Xperia Z smartphones was the camera performance. Sony was the first Android smartphone maker that not only offered a high resolution camera but also manual controls. However, it never got it right and clicking great shots was always a hit and miss affair. Sony has fixed it with the Xperia Z3 Compact to a great extent.

You no longer have to resort to manual mode to get good shots. The superior auto mode also detects scenes accurately and the post processing is a vast improvement from earlier. By default, in superior auto mode you get photos in 8-megapixel resolution and you can get full 20.7-megapixel photos in manual mode where you can also adjust the exposure value. Apart from the minimal controls, the full resolution photos are good for clicking first, zooming later scenarios. Finally, Sony has a decent camera worthy of being on a flagship smartphone.

 

In terms of performance, the Xperia Z3 Compact is probably one of the few smartphones that truly surprise. The 2,300mAh battery easily lasts for close to two days with moderate usage of an hour of calls, two hours of Internet browsing and two email accounts. Double the voice calling and Internet browsing duration and still the Xperia Z3 Compact easily saw me through 24 hours without seeking a charger.

While the Sony Xperia Z3 Compact is almost perfect, it won’t be the only compact high-end Android smartphone in the market for long. On September 27 Samsung is expected to launch the Galaxy Alpha in India. Given Samsung’s brand value and its marketing might, the Galaxy Alpha would be the Xperia Z3 Compact’s biggest hurdle.

more info @ http://www.sonymobile.com/global-en/products/phones/xperia-z3-compact/

BlackBerry launches Passport smartphone

BlackBerry launched an unconventional new smartphone dubbed the Passport on Wednesday as it embarked on what may be the most critical phase of its long turnaround push.

At simultaneous events in Toronto, London and Dubai, BlackBerry showed off the device, which is the size and shape of a closed passport, with a large square touchscreen as well as a keyboard.

The Passport comes to market as the phones of BlackBerry’s rivals converge on a single profile, with tall, rectangular screens and smooth corners. Users can type on the Passport’s keyboard to enter text, or swipe lightly across it to navigate through the phone.

BlackBerry recently concluded a three-year restructuring process, and it is now up to chief executive John Chen to prove that the company’s new devices and services are capable of generating sustainable new streams of revenue and returning it to profit.

“BlackBerry is still fighting for survival. They still need to turn around and develop a viable ongoing business model,” said Brian Colello, analyst at US investment firm Morningstar.

“Their products are certainly pointing toward that and the new strategy makes sense, but there is still a lot of execution risk at this point in a very competitive market.”

At the Toronto event Chen brought out retired National Hockey League star Wayne Gretzky to talk up the Passport’s features. The device has a suggested introductory retail price of $599 (£367) in the United States.

BlackBerry said the new smartphone should be available in more than 30 countries by the end of the year. It will be carried by AT&T in the United States.

Passport users will be able to download apps from Amazon’s app store, previously only available for Android-based phones. BlackBerry announced the deal that cleared the way for its customers to access Amazon’s store in June.

The launch kicks off a busy period for Ontario-based BlackBerry. The company is set to report its second-quarter results on Friday and within a couple of months it is also expected to launch the long-awaited BlackBerry Classic, which bears similarities to its once wildly popular Bold smartphone.

“BlackBerry just needs one hit phone for now,” Colello said. “It doesn’t quite matter whether it is the Passport, the Classic or anything else, but they do need one device to jump-start the hardware business again.”

The company hopes the Classic and the launch of its new mobile device management system – BlackBerry Enterprise Service 12 (BES12) – will help it claw back ground ceded to rivals in both the hardware and services market.

The BES 12 platform will allow IT managers at large companies and government agencies to not only manage and secure BlackBerry devices, but also manage Windows-based devices, and more easily administer Android and iOS devices.

Chen, a well-regarded turnaround expert in the tech sector, wants BlackBerry to remain a competitor in the smartphone arena, but he is focused on reshaping the company to build on its core strengths in areas such as mobile data security and mobile device management.

BlackBerry is betting that the enhanced security features on its BES 12 platform, coupled with a range of value-added services, will help revive revenue growth and stem its slide

MORE INFO global.blackberry.com/en/smartphones.html 

iPhone 6, 6 Plus launch weekend sales hit 10 million, break record!

NEW DELHI: Apple has announced it has sold over 10 million new iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus models, just three days after the launch on September 19.

Last year, Apple had sold 9 million iPhone 5S and 5C phones during the launch weekend. In 2012, the Cupertino giant had sold 5 million iPhone 5 units in the first three days of launch but the figures also included China. It is worth pointing out that this year’s sales numbers do not include China as the phones are still not available in the region.

Just like last year, Apple has not disclosed individual sales figures for the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus.

Apple had also announced that pre-orders for iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus smartphones touched 4 million within 24 hours.

“Sales for iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus exceeded our expectations for the launch weekend, and we couldn’t be happier,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “We would like to thank all of our customers for making this our best launch ever, shattering all previous sell-through records by a large margin. While our team managed the manufacturing ramp better than ever before, we could have sold many more iPhones with greater supply and we are working hard to fill orders as quickly as possible.”

iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus are available in the US, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Puerto Rico, Singapore and the UK.

The two new iPhones will hit retail stores in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Isle of Man, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Turkey and United Arab Emirates on September 26.

E-Zone to Open E-Commerce Website by Month-End!

Future Retail has said it will be introducing an online platform ‘omnichannel’ for its electronics store E-Zone in a fortnight to cash in on the festive season.

“We will introduce omnichannel to E-Zone by this month-end through which we sell electronic products like cellphones and television sets as people mostly buy these items during the festive season for gifting purpose,” Future Retail Joint Managing Director Rakesh Biyani told PTI in Mumbai.

Omnichannel involves selling products through multiple platforms like mobiles, online and brick and mortar stores.

Biyani said the company earlier this month tied up with German enterprise resource planning company SAP to facilitate the launch.

“Keeping the forthcoming festive season in mind, we have created a huge space for our customers through omnichannel.”

Meanwhile, flush with funds, the e-tailing segment is gearing up in a big way for the festive season by launching aggressive offers and discounts for customers. Snapdealkicked off its festive season’s bumper sales.

“We are starting off our bumper sales from today. We will bring great products, great offers to our customers during this festive season,” Snapdeal founder Kunal Bahl said.

One-and-a-half years old e-grocery firm, Localbanya, plans to diversify its range of products.

“We are planning to increase the number of products to 20,000 over the next six months from the current 14,000. We do believe that the festive season increases the need for staple products,” Localbanya co-founder Amit Bhartiya said.

Sony Unveils Google Glass Alternative; Asks Developers to Make Apps

Sony has already announced its interest in virtual reality, with its Project Morpheus VR headset, and now, the company is getting into the augmented reality game, with its prototype SmartEyeglass. Similar to the Google Glass eyewear, Sony is working on a smartphone-powered solution that superimposes information such as text, symbols, and images, onto the user’s field of view.

First showcasing the SmartEyeglass as a prototype at IFA, the company on Friday released the SDK developer preview for app makers to create content for the new platform when it releases sometime next year. Sony says it plans to offer SmartEyeglass for sale to developers by the end of FY2014, “with the intention of further promoting the development of applications and accelerating the commercialization of the product for consumer use.”

Sony announced the SmartEyeglass eyewear’s SDK Developer Preview for app developers via a blog post on Friday, saying, “The software development kit will enable developers to build apps for the SmartEyeglass platform, ensuring the foundations are set for a varied, exciting ecosystem of experiences to support the product at launch,” added the Japanese firm.

SmartEyeglass Project Head, Hiroshi Mukawa, added, “releasing the SDK early means that both our industry’s most established and up-and-coming developers will help shape what SmartEyeglass is capable of. ”

Showcased in IFA Berlin earlier this month, the Sony SmartEyeglass is transparent lens eyewear that connects with the users’ Android devices and uses the appsavailable to deliver the desired results in front of the users’ eyes.