Thursday, 30 January 2014

Oppo N1, smartphone with rotating camera launched @ Rs 40k

1/30/2014 12:37:00 pm TECHNOLOGY No comments

Oppo N1, smartphone with rotating camera launched @ Rs 40k

Chinese handset maker Oppo has launched Oppo N1 in the Indian market at Rs 39,999.

NEW DELHI: Chinese handset maker Oppo has launched Oppo N1 in the Indian market at Rs 39,999. The launch marks the entry of the brand in Indian smartphone market.

Launched in September 2013 in China, Oppo N1 boasts of a swivel camera and offers a variant that runs Cyanogenmod (an alternative version of Android) out of the box.

Oppo N1 sports a large 5.9-inch full-HD IPS display. Powered by a 1.7GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 processor and 2GB RAM, the smartphone runs a highly customised version of Android 4.2 (Color ROM). It sports a 13MP camera placed on a rotating swivel capable of rotating 206 degree with a dual-LED flash.

The smartphone is backed by a 3610mAh battery and comes in 16 and 32GB storage variants. Connectivity options include WiFi, Bluetooth 4.0, NFC and DLNA.

The company has appointed film actors Hrithik Roshan and Sonam Kapoor as brand ambassadors as part of its marketing push.

Oppo is not the only Chinese brand vying for the Indian market. Gionee is also betting big after it launched its smartphones in the Indian market, last year. The company aims to capture 10% share of the Indian market in the next two to three years and the top smartphone vendor in the next five years. The company recently launched its Elife E7 and E7 mini handsets in the market.

It would be interesting to see how the company prices its smartphones in India as it will not just compete with tier-1 brands like Sony and Samsung but also with domestic players like Micromax and Karbonn.

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Samsung named India's most trusted brand

1/30/2014 12:35:00 pm TECHNOLOGY No comments

Samsung named India's most trusted brand

Samsung has emerged as the most trusted brand in India, followed by Sony and Tata, says a report.

NEW DELHI: South Korean electronics majorSamsung has emerged as the most trusted brand in India, followed by Sony and Tata, says a report.

Last year, these three brands had been ranked second, third and fifth respectively, as per theBrand Trust Report 2014.

"Samsung has emerged as India's most trusted brand this year. Sony ranks as India's second most trusted brand followed by Tata which was ranked third this year," the report said.

The Brand Trust Report has been brought byTrust Research Advisory (TRA) annually since last four years to rank top 100 companies.

Another South Korean firm, LG has been ranked fourth in the list. Finnish telecom equipment and handset maker Nokia is placed at fifth.

US-based computer maker Hewlett Packard has moved up 14 places in the annual report becoming the sixth most trusted brand, while Hero has leaped 79 ranks to number seven.

Other firms in the top ten are Honda, followed by Reliance and Mahindra & Mahindra.

Commenting on rankings, TRA CEO N Chandramouli said:" When a brand focuses on its trust with intensity, apart from trust the brand gains in market-share, product premium and acceptance of new products as an automatic by-product."

According to him, the 2014 list of top 100 has 11 diversified firms, 10 consumer electronics maker, nine from bath and beauty segment.

"Among the top 100 Most Trusted brands, 75 were net gainers while 25 took a fall," said Chandramouli
.

India look for consolatory victory in final ODI against New Zealand

1/30/2014 12:34:00 pm CRICKET No comments

India look for consolatory victory in final ODI against New Zealand

Dhoni and his men need to view this fifth ODI in singularity and not as part of the already lost contest. (Getty Images)

WELLINGTON: Their morale dented after losing the series, India would be desperate to salvage some lost pride by notching their maiden win on the tour when they take on a sprightly New Zealand in the fifth and final one-dayer on Friday.

The Men in Blue have lost much in the past two weeks, in lieu of a 3-0 series loss as also the climb-down from their number one ODI ranking.

The visitors lost the first ODI in Napier by 24 runs, then went down in Hamilton by 15 runs, tied the third ODI in Auckland, but lost the fourth in Hamilton by seven wickets to squander the series.

At the Westpac Stadium on Friday then, they will be playing for more than just pride.

A consolation win will mean that the series will end at 3-1 rather than 4-0, the latter a very embarrassing score-line if it indeed comes to pass.

Even so, victory will only restore so much respectability for the reigning world champions, considering how awfully wrong things have gone for Mahendra Singh Dhoni and his team ever since they stepped out of home in early December.

In seven ODIs since, they are yet to win a single match, losing five and tying one (one no-result).

If they indeed want to register their first win across all formats in nearly two months, they need to view this fifth ODI in singularity and not as part of the already lost contest.

The fourth ODI at Seddon Park was a must-win game to keep the series alive, but India were not up to the mark. In a desperate bid to come back in the series, they made a plethora of changes, and most of them didn't work out as intended.

If the Wellington ODI is considered a one-off match, then the team think-tank will be able to address the various issues that have arisen in the last two limited-overs series that they have played here, and in South Africa previously.

There are many questions that need to be answered and as always it begins at the top.

In his post-match comments, after the fourth ODI loss, Dhoni had stated the need to "rest players and allow them time to think about their game", thus justifying the double-dropping of Shikhar Dhawan and Suresh Raina.

Dhoni also highlighted the team management's decision to "keep playing Ajinkya Rahane in the middle order" and that "Virat Kohli's move up the order was only a one-off thing".

But Dhawan might to the top spot given that this shuffle of the batting order misfired pretty badly. It will also be instigated by the fact that Rohit Sharma has finally found his bearings, converting a start into a crucial 79 runs in the last match.

It could mean that Stuart Binny would sit out after a none-too-noticeable debut outing, because Ambati Rayudu looked good in his cameo knock of 37 runs at number four.

It was his first chance batting in an ODI since mid-2013. Suresh Raina has previously been given a very long rope and Dhoni has always stressed on the "need to learn from mistakes".

In the bowling attack, Amit Mishra was seen warming up in the nets today, and could be a shoe-in to replace R Ashwin who has been off-colour recently.

Mishra was given the odd-chance to play against Australia in the ODIs in October and then resigned to the bench again after he was smacked for 0-78 in that one outing.

He did play all five ODIs in Zimbabwe prior, when Ashwin was rested, and took 18 wickets there. It may not be of much consequence, but in those same five matches, Jadeja -- India's best spinner at the moment -- only returned five wickets.

Mohammad Shami has been a work horse for the team on its two tours. He has taken wickets but has also given away too many runs.

A rest at this moment, ahead of the crucial Test series, will be very welcome. Bhuvneshwar Kumar has been off-colour while Varun Aaron is seen to be quite raw on his return to international cricket.

Dhoni had also spoken about a bowling pool talent, from which to pick for the 2015 World Cup, and it only makes sense to give Ishwar Pandey a go in that light, particularly since he is also part of the Test squad here.

Meanwhile, New Zealand will only be too happy to change their line-up. They have successfully completed the job with one match to play, and it is a success that should be celebrated for quite some time in their cricketing ranks.

Yet, 4-0 is their obvious target against one of the top-ranked ODI sides in the world and they will look to play the majority of their best and fit players in this last match to continue to impress.

22-year-old fast bowler Matt Henry has been drafted into their squad as a late addition, since Corey Anderson and Tim Southee are both carrying niggles.

Anderson missed the last match in Hamilton and both he and Southee are in the Test squad as well, thus making this an obvious move on their selectors' part.

It remains to be seen if the untested Henry, who bowls between 140 and 145 km/hr, will be unleashed on the Indian batting like the injured Adam Milne previously.

Teams (from):

India: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (Capt.), Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, Stuart Binny, Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Ishant Sharma, Mohammad Shami, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ishwar Pandey, Varun Aaron, Amit Mishra.

New Zealand: Brendon McCullum (Capt.), Corey Anderson, Martin Guptill, Mitchell McClenaghan, Nathan McCullum, Kyle Mills, James Neesham, Luke Ronchi, Jesse Ryder, Tim Southee, Ross Taylor, Kane Williamson, Hamish Bennett, Matt Henry
.

iPhone 5c to get a price cut? Tim Cook is not ruling it out

1/29/2014 04:20:00 pm TECHNOLOGY No comments

iPhone 5c to get a price cut? Tim Cook is not ruling it out

Apple said on Monday that record sales of iPhones drove revenues to new heights in the past quarter, resulting in a profit of $13.1 billion.

The California tech giant revealed it had record quarterly revenues of $57.6 billion, helped by selling 51 million iPhones. The company said it sold 26 million iPads during the quarter to December 28, also an all-time quarterly record, as well as 4.8 million Macs.

While Apple remains the most valuable and among the most profitable companies, some analysts are concerned it is losing its edge and failing to keep up with rivals in the smartphone and tablet markets. One such analyst, Keith Bachman of BMO Capital Markets, asked Tim Cook whether he was 'happy' about the 'pricing umbrellas' of the two iPhones, specifically the iPhone 5c, which had been 'panned' for not having 'enough features for that price point.'

The Apple CEO said that the company had done a 'tremendous' job last quarter but admitted that the 'mix' between the iPhone 5c and iPhone 5s demand was 'very different than we thought', hinting the company expected the cheaper iPhone to have recorded better numbers that it did. Addressing the possibility of a pricing change, Cook added, "We obviously always look at our results, and conclude what to change moving forward. And if we decide it's in our best interest to make a change [in the price], then we'll make one. Obviously I'm not going to predict price changes on the earnings call."

Cook also confirmed that Apple is looking into the mobile payments sphere with interest.

Written with inputs from AFP

Apple iPhone 5c

Rs. 41900

Design
Display
Software
Performance
Battery life
Camera
Value for money

Good
Solid in all departments
iOS ecosystem remains unrivaled

Bad
Not as future-proof as the 5s
Questionable value for money

Read detailed Apple iPhone 5c review

Apple iPhone 5s

Display

4.00-inch

Processor

1.3GHz

Front Camera

1.2-megapixel

Resolution

640x1136 pixels

RAM

1GB

OS

iOS 7

Storage

16GB

Rear Camera

8-megapixel

Battery capacity

1570mAh

See full Apple iPhone 5s specifications

BlackBerry says BBM for Android 2.3 Gingerbread will launch in February

1/29/2014 04:18:00 pm TECHNOLOGY No comments

BlackBerry says BBM for Android 2.3 Gingerbread will launch in February

BlackBerry, the popular Canadian smartphone brand, is all set to bring its BBM or Blackberry Messenger service to Android-powered handsets running the OS version 2.3 Gingerbread. The messaging service was earlier only available for devices running Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich or higher.

"We've got some exciting BBM news for Android Gingerbread users - you've been asking and we've heard you loud and clear. We're now pleased to announce that BBM will soon also be available on Android Devices running Gingerbread (v2.3.3+)," stated Jeff Gadway, head of product and brand marketing of BBM, on Blackberry's official blog.

BBM for Android Gingerbread OS is currently moving into an external Beta testing ahead of its launch next month. Gadway also mentioned that currently "Gingerbread represented about 21 percent of the total Android platform" which is quite a good number to rollout the BBM, according to the firm.

It has been previously reported that as early as February, BlackBerry may introduce the missing BBM Voice and BBM Channels features on both the Android and iOS platforms.

Additionally, the Canadian mobile maker is said to have revealed recently that it does not have plans to launch the popular BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) app on Windows Phone-based smartphones.

Trusted Reviews quotes BlackBerry's Senior Director of BBM Business Development, David Proulx, as saying the nonexistence of a BBM application for Windows Phone was "entirely market driven," and stated that the decision is not a "religious thing," but is instead merely a choice made on the basis of a lack of consumer demand.

Samsung sells record 86 million smartphones in Q4, widens lead over Apple: Report

1/29/2014 04:17:00 pm TECHNOLOGY No comments

Samsung sells record 86 million smartphones in Q4, widens lead over Apple: Report

Samsung Electronics Co Ltd sold a record 86 million smartphones in the fourth quarter and widened its lead over Apple Inc even after the U.S. firm reached a new iPhone sales high, data from research firm Strategy Analytics showed.

Samsung took 29.6 percent of the global smartphone market in the fourth quarter, ahead of Apple's17.6 percent, as strong low-end market growth led by Chinese vendors continued to shake up the smartphone industry, the data showed.

Apple sold a record 51 million iPhones in the year-end quarter although its market share slipped from the previous year's 22 percent, as Huawei Technologies Co Ltd and Lenovo Group Ltd rose to become the world's No.3 and No.4 respectively.

Huawei sold 16.6 million smartphones and Lenovo sold 13.6 million, each taking 5.7 percent and 4.7 percent of the market.

"There is clearly now more competition coming from the second-tier smartphone brands. Huawei, LG Electronics and Lenovo each grew their smartphone shipments around two times faster than the global industry average," Strategy Analytics analyst Linda Sui said.

"Samsung and Apple will need to fight hard to hold off these and other hungry challengers during 2014."

For the entire 2013, global smartphone shipments grew 41 percent to reach a record 990 million. Samsung sold 319.8 million units to take 32.2 percent, up from 30.4 percent in 2012.

Apple sold 153.5 million iPhones with a 15.5 percent market share.

2014 is to be Apple Inc's watershed moment in China, when a long-awaited deal with the nation's largest carrier was to have propelled it back toward the top ranks of its most crucial market, clawing back ground from rival Samsung Electronics.

Trai bars leasing of spectrum, recommends outright transfer

1/29/2014 04:15:00 pm TECHNOLOGY No comments

Trai bars leasing of spectrum, recommends outright transfer

Telecom regulator Trai Tuesday recommended allowing outright transfer of spectrum by telecom companies to other operators, but has suggested a bar on its leasing for now.

"Under spectrum trading, only outright transfer of spectrum is permitted, ie the ownership of the usage right is transferred to the buyer. Spectrum leasing is not permitted at this point of time," Telecom Regulatory Authority of India said in its recommendations on spectrum trading.

Inter-ministerial panel Telecom Commission had in October given in-principle approval to spectrum trading and it was cleared by the Empowered Group of Ministers. Trai was then asked to provide detailed guidelines for trading.

As of now, only government is allowed to allocate spectrum to telecom firms through auctions. Once the trading is allowed, it is expected to increase efficient use of radiowaves by enabling telecom operators, who have a lower subscriber base or unutilised spectrum, to trade in it.

"The Authority analysed the draft guidelines submitted by the Steering Committee (of Trai, which included telecom firms) and has finalised recommendations on 'Working Guidelines for Spectrum Trading'," Trai secretary Sudhir Gupta said in a letter to Telecom Secretary MF Farooqui.

The regulator has recommended that only telecom operators should be allowed to trade the spectrum that has been purchased through the auction in 2010 and later. It has also allowed trading of those radiowaves for which telecom operators have paid the market rate.

Trai has suggested that telecom companies will have to trade spectrum at service area level and not a portion of it.

As per the recommendations, telecom operators holding spectrum across services 2G, 3G, 4G (BWA) and CDMA should be allowed to trade the radiowaves.

For entering in trading agreement, telecom operators will not require prior permission from government but the company will have to inform licence issuing authority, at present Department of Telecom, six week before effective date of trading spectrum.

Spectrum trading will not change its original validity period for which it has been allocated to a telecom company.

Trai has recommended a lock-in period of 2 years on spectrum that a company acquires through auction or trading before it can trade in it further.

The trading is also expected to indicate market rate of radiowaves. At present it is determined only through auctions.

As per the process, a DoT committee will now examine Trai's guidelines after which Telecom Commission will take a call on it.

Samsung Galaxy Grand Neo with 5-inch display listed on company's website

1/29/2014 04:14:00 pm TECHNOLOGY No comments

Samsung Galaxy Grand Neo with 5-inch display listed on company's website

Samsung's much-anticipated smartphone, the Galaxy Grand Neo, has been listed on the Samsung Jordan website, along with the handset's specifications.

The Galaxy Grand Neo has not been given a price yet, though the smartphone quite obviously falls into the mid-range segment based on the specifications. The availability of the handset is only shown for the city of Amman as of yet.

Samsung Galaxy Grand Neo's Android version has not been mentioned on the official page but,based on previous rumours, the handset is expected to come with Android 4.2 or 4.3 Jelly Bean. The device is also known as the Galaxy Grand Lite in some regions, with the model number GT-I9060 common for both.

The smartphone also supports dual-SIM with no word on dual standby functionality. The Galaxy Grand Neo features a 5.1-inch TFT screen with WVGA (800 x 480 pixel) resolution. An unspecified quad-core processor clocked at 1.2GHz powers the device alongside 1GB of RAM.

The camera options for the handset includes 5-megapixel rear and a VGA front-facing camera. Galaxy Grand Neo also features LED-flash support and auto-focus feature for the rear shooter along with the 720p video recording capability.

Samsung Galaxy Grand Neo will arrive with a 16GB in-built storage, which can be expanded up to 64GB via microSD card. The handset also has a support for 3G networks along with Wi-Fi b/g/n (2.4GHz support), Wi-Fi Direct, Bluetooth 4.0 LE, GPS/AGPS and more under its connectivity options.

The smartphone is powered by a 2,100mAh battery, which can run up to 8 hours on 3G Internet usage and up to 10 hours under Wi-Fi Internet usage. Samsung Galaxy Grand Neo measures 143.7 x 77.1 x 9.6mm in dimensions, and weighs in at 163 grams.

Galaxy Grand Neo additionally features a multi-window functionality, which has been previously seen in Samsung Galaxy Grand 2 and Galaxy Note 3. The handset also comes with a modified one-handed operation keypad designed to make calls and send texts without using both the hands.

While the Galaxy Grand Neo's price remains unannounced, a Dutch online retailer is quoting an unlocked price of 260 euros, or roughly Rs. 22,200.

Mobiles launched in January 2014