Sunday 15 November 2015

Best Phones Under Rs. 15,000: Diwali Gifts Shopping Guide

11/15/2015 07:25:00 pm TECHNOLOGY No comments

Best Phones Under Rs. 15,000: Diwali Gifts Shopping Guide

The Diwali season in India is a time for new things and these days that means new mobile phones more than anything else. Whether you're getting yourself a long awaited present, or gifting a phone to someone else in your family, there are plenty of great options out there today that don't cost half a lakh. We've listed out the ten best phones you can buy for between Rs. 5,000 and Rs. 15,000. All the phones in the list are pretty good devices though a few really stand out. We decided to stick to phones that have at least 3G support, and also phones that have been launched reasonably recently. Interestingly, it's the first time that we're looking at a list of phones under Rs. 15,000 that doesn't include anything other than Android phones, thanks to these filters.

Check out the full list below, to help you pick your phone. The detailed ratings of phones will help you quickly compare devices and help decide which phone you want to buy.

1) Yu Yunique
The Yu Yunique (Review) isn't a phone that is going to wow you, but if you're looking for a value for money phone that does a reasonable job on all counts, it's one to look out for. Just don't expect too much from the camera.

Yu Yunique

Rs. 4999

Design
Display
Software
Performance
Battery life
Camera
Value for money

Good
4G LTE support
Good looks, low weight
Good display
Near-stock Android

Bad
Mediocre camera
Limited availability

Read detailed Yu Yunique review

2) Yu Yuphoria
The Yu Yuphoria (Review | Pictures) edges just ahead of its sibling the Yu Yunique on this list. The Yuphoria's camera fared a little better in our testing, and it is also the better looking phone, for only a slight premium.

Yu Yuphoria

Rs. 6999

Design
Display
Software
Performance
Battery life
Camera
Value for money

Good
Good design
Sturdy build quality
2GB of RAM
Good pricing

Bad
Buggy performance
Average rear camera performance

Read detailed Yu Yuphoria review

3) InFocus M530
The InFocus M530 (Review | Pictures) is going to be a divisive pick here - you need to know that the battery life is really bad. On the other hand, the design and display are pretty good, and the camera and performance are well ahead of others at the same price.

InFocus M530

Rs. 10999

Design
Display
Software
Performance
Battery life
Camera
Value for money

Good
Power and performance far above its price category
Good rear camera
Among the better front cameras we've seen
Fairly customisable UI

Bad
Pathetic battery life
Average looks
Screen is too low-resolution compared to the competition

Read detailed InFocus M530 review

4) Lenovo A6000 Plus
Another good all-rounder, the Lenovo A6000 Plus (Review | Pictures) is a great buy if battery life is a priority for you, though the camera is still very average.

Lenovo A6000 Plus

Rs. 7499

Design
Display
Software
Performance
Battery life
Camera
Value for money

Good
Much-needed boost to internal storage and RAM
Excellent battery life
Good design
Excellent value for money
64-bit SoC

Bad
Camera is still average
Still no toughened glass
Vibe 2.0 UI could be improved

Read detailed Lenovo A6000 Plus review

5) Lenovo K3 Note
The Lenovo K3 Note (Review | Pictures) is a good all-rounder with great performance. For the price, you're getting good display and design, and the only (slight) quibbles we have are around the camera and battery life, but if it's in your budget, then this looks like a great pick.

Lenovo K3 Note

Rs. 9999

Design
Display
Software
Performance
Battery life
Camera
Value for money

Good
Great performance
Lots of software tweaks
Good screen and sound

Bad
Average camera quality
Battery life could have been better

Read detailed Lenovo K3 Note review

6) Coolpad Note 3
The Coolpad Note 3 (Review | Pictures) is a good middle of the road Android phone. It's nothing special, but for the price, it delivers good performance, great battery life, and a decent camera. So why is this phone on the list? There's one standout feature that makes it score high on many a wish-list, and that's the fingerprint scanner. This is one of the more interesting new features to come to Android, and makes the Coolpad Note 3 a very tempting buy for some.

Coolpad Note 3

Rs. 8999

Design
Display
Software
Performance
Battery life
Camera
Value for money

Good
Quick and accurate fingerprint sensor
Good performance
Good camera
Good battery life

Bad
Limited availability
Unappealing UI customisations

Read detailed Coolpad Note 3 review

7) Huawei Honor 4C
If you want excellent performance and a dependabe camera then the Huawei Honor 4C (Review |Pictures) appears to be a solid choice. Its rather average display and the fact that it doesn't support 4G in India are two things that keep it from being the top pick.

Huawei Honor 4C

Rs. 8999

Design
Display
Software
Performance
Battery life
Camera
Value for money

Good
Good camera performance
Affordable
Fast and capable SoC

Bad
Display should have been better
Too heavy
Doesn't support 4G

Read detailed Huawei Honor 4C review

8) Xiaomi Mi 4i
The Xiaomi Mi 4i (Review) is amongst the highest rated phones on our list, and it's easy to see why. It's a good looking phone with a great display, good battery life and performance, and a decent enough camera.

Xiaomi Mi 4i

Design
Display
Software
Performance
Battery life
Camera
Value for money

Good
Stunning display
Great build quality

Bad
MIUI has its quirks
Camera performance could be better

Read detailed Xiaomi Mi 4i review

9) Motorola Moto G (Gen 3)
Together with the Yu Yureka Plus and the Xiaomi Mi 4i, the Motorola Moto G (Gen 3) (Review) rounded out our top three phones under Rs. 15,000 in terms of ratings. Water and dust resistant, the phone has good battery life and performance, though its display and camera could be better.

Motorola Moto G (Gen 3)

Design
Display
Software
Performance
Battery life
Camera
Value for money

Good
IPX7 water resistance
Stock Android, timely updates likely
Reliable performer

Bad
Screen gets a bit warm at times

Read detailed Motorola Moto G (Gen 3) review

10) Xolo Black
The Xolo Black (Review | Pictures) is a decently built phone that offers a lot of UI customisation options, and reliable performance, but the custom UI can be sluggish at times.

Xolo Black

Rs. 12999

Design
Display
Software
Performance
Battery life
Camera
Value for money

Good
Decently built and looks good
Hive UI has plenty of customisation options
Good cameras, front camera has flash
Straightforward, reliable performance

Bad
Hive UI can be sluggish at times
Screen isn't quite up to the mark for full-HD
Notification light in the power switch makes no sense
Two separate camera apps make shooting a complicated affair

Read detailed Xolo Black review

11) Gionee Marathon M4
The Gionee Marathon M4 (Review) set a battery life record for us, justifying its bulk with a battery that kept going and going and going. The added bulk also has the bonus of making the phone feel well built and solid, and the camera is pretty good as well.

Gionee Marathon M4

Rs. 15499

Design
Display
Software
Performance
Battery life
Camera
Value for money

Good
Record-breaking battery life
Feels well-built and solid
Decent photos in daylight
Smooth performance

Bad
Bulky and heavy
Low-resolution screen
Lots of UI quirks and mangled English

Read detailed Gionee Marathon M4 review

Bonus
These are our top ten picks but you could also check out some other phones like the Xiaomi Redmi 2 Prime (Review, the InFocus M330 (Review), or the Asus Zenfone 2 Laser (ZE550KL) (Review), which are also within the budget. They all have their own pros and cons as well, and for our picks, we tried to stick to the most rounded choices, but if you have specific needs from your phone, do check out these alternatives.

Which phones caught you eye? Tell us via the comments.

Hi guys If u like this post please leave a comment in comment box... comment box will top right of every post and bottom of every post. its useful for me give a better information.. check top of the blog there is menu bar in that go to comments i replied for u r comments because there is no direct option for reply for u r comments. if u want to give any suggestion in bottom of blog there is contact information option please leave a msgs with u r mail id sure i will get u.

Best Headphones and Earphones Under Rs. 5,000.

11/15/2015 07:21:00 pm TECHNOLOGY No comments

Best Headphones and Earphones Under Rs. 5,000

Don't have a lot of money to spend on new personal audio kit? Don't let that get you down. No matter what you're looking for in a pair of headphones, there's definitely something interesting on offer at under Rs. 5,000.

It's possible to get good sound without breaking the bank. Whether it's looks, comfort, gaming or something else, we've compiled a list of great personal audio products for you. Take a look at our recommendations based on our own experiences, and cross referenced with professional and customer reviews, for all kinds of headphones and earphones priced at less than Rs. 5,000.

(Also see: Tech 101: Things You Need to Know Before Buying Headphones)

Best for comfort

Beyerdynamic DTX 910 - Rs. 3,500

The Beyerdynamic DTX910 has an around-ear design with comfortable and plush padding. It also has swiveling ear pads and an open-backed design, meant to provide a more open and detailed sound. The headphones are also fairly light, thanks to a plastic build, which makes them easy to wear over long periods. The headset has accurate responses, tight bass and decent mid-range performance. However, the open-backed design makes the DTX 910 suitable only for home use, as the sound leaking from them would doubtlessly annoy fellow colleagues or commuters.

Also consider: Audio Technica ATH-AX1iS - Rs. 1,498

Best for looks

Sennheiser PMX 95 - Rs. 4,939

Considered to be a budget headphone work of art, the Sennheiser PMX95 is beautifully stylish thanks to its fabric-coated mesh and sparkling finish. It also uses a neckband rather than a headband for a more urban look and feel, slotting behind your ears for a secure fit. The fit isn't quite as secure and tight as you'd expect with headband-style on-ears, but it offers a laid back, spaced out sound signature.

Also consider: AKG K77 - Rs. 2,299

Best for customisability

Rock Jaw Alfa Genus V2 (Review) - Rs. 4,999

The Alfa Genus V2 in-ears from Rock Jaw aren't like most ordinary pairs of earphones. This headset comes with an interchangeable tuning filter system, which lets you customise the sound to boost part of the frequency range. You can choose to have the bass or treble boosted, or opt for a flat signature, all with the same pair of in-ears. It's also built well, and ships directly from Great Britain.

Also consider: Brainwavz S0 (Review) - Rs. 2,399

Best for wireless

Jabra Move - Rs. 4,592

Among the cheapest wireless options around, the Jabra Move is an on-ear Bluetooth headset that's made with convenience and comfort in mind. It's got a great industrial design and doesn't weight much, but falls a bit short in sound isolation. It has decent sound quality and battery life as well, and comes from a brand with years of experience in wireless audio.

Also consider: Sony MDR-AS600BT - Rs. 4,990

Best for gaming

Steelseries Siberia V1 - Rs. 2,699

Steelseries is a brand known and loved the world over for its dedication to gaming and related peripherals and accessories. The Siberia V1 headset is the perfect entry point into the world of gaming audio, thanks to its comfort, long 2.8m cable and excellent microphone. Unfortunately, the microphone is not retractable, and can only be folded up when not in use. It's one of the best audio options for serious gamers looking to get started.

Also see: Razer Kraken - Rs. 4,975

Best for pure audio

Audio Technica ATH-M30X - Rs. 4,279

Part of Audio Technica's popular M-series of monitor headphones, the M30X is one of the best on-ear headsets you can buy for under Rs. 5,000. Promising a neutral sonic signature which aims to please and excel with practically every genre, the M30X is also comfortable and well-built. It has 40mm dynamic drivers, and also comes with a 3m cable, which makes it ideal for home and studio use.

Also consider: Soundmagic E10S (Review) - Rs. 2,089

That's it for this edition of Headphones 101. For more in our series of headphones basics, visit ourHeadphones 101 page. Do you have any recommendations for great headphones under Rs. 5,000? Let us know via the comments.

Five Engineers, 42 Days: How Flipkart Built an 'App' for the Mobile Web

11/15/2015 07:16:00 pm TECHNOLOGY No comments

Five Engineers, 42 Days: How Flipkart Built an 'App' for the Mobile Web

Flipkart's new mobile web experience Flipkart Lite, which launched on Monday, brings an app-like experience to the mobile Web.

Amar Nagaram, Director - Engineering at Flipkart gave Gadgets 360 a behind the scenes look at how Flipkart Lite was built, including an account of the low-level APIs used to create the advanced Web app, which enables instant access, offline functionality, push notifications, and a rendering performance of 60 fps, in standard test conditions.

"We know a thing or two about Web technologies," says Nagaram, explaining how Flipkart managed to pull off what's being seen as a global exclusive, at least in terms of scale.

"It was all done by five engineers in a matter of 42 days," he says. "There was a lot of learning in the process. It was not like we discovered the silver bullet, and it was all hunky dory from there. There was a lot of back and forth, the Google team was very helpful. We gave a lot of suggestions, they were very quick in turning things around for us,"

"What we did, along with Chrome was to bring these technologies to the mobile, to the browser, and we showed what that can do to a mobile site," Nagaram adds. "We want to bring whatever is on the native app onto Lite. The idea is that Flipkart Lite will drop its Lite tag at some point in the future."

"In terms of feature parity, not in terms of its lightness in terms of memory footprint," he quickly clarifies.

One of the many strengths of Flipkart Lite, Nagaram says, is that its behaviour is network strength agnostic; it was designed to work consistently and reliably on all networks. "If you see Flipkart Lite on a 2G network, there's not much of a difference in its performance," he claims.

Nagaram goes into the details of some of the tools used in Flipkart Lite in a blog post - Service Workers, a scriptable network proxy, can be used to serve a response from the cache when the user is offline. Web Push API was used to enable Push Notifications even when the browser is closed. He also provides links to specific features like Add to Home Screen, detailing GPU friendly animations used to keep rendering performance at 60 frames per second.

"Native apps use splash screen to hide the slow loading of home screen. Web never had this luxury and there was a blank page staring at the user before home screen could load up. Good news is the latest version of Chrome supports generation of a splash screen that radically improves the launch experience and perceived performance of the Web app," the blog post explains.

"We are 60 frames per second on many devices, but due to Android fragmentation we cannot say it out loud on all devices. That is something we are striving continuously to work towards," Nagaram later told Gadgets 360.

Flipkart's future roadmap includes bringing features like Ping and visual search on the mobile Web. "What we've done so far is just the beginning. There's a list of about five or six things that we wanted from browser vendors," says Nagaram. "The idea is to get as close as we can to the native app. So we want much richer and much deeper access to hardware which can make search and Ping possible. We want much richer and contextual permissions from the user, unlike Android, where you take a blanket set of permissions."

"What we are proposing to the Web community, to the browser community - we want to take contextual permissions so the user knows why he's giving the permission," he adds, hoping browsers will one day have access to the same kind of device information and resources that a native app does today. "The user has an option to say no if he doesn't want it."

And there are some definite advantages to this approach. Unlike apps that need to be updated, Web experiences carry a lesser security burden, and bear a smaller memory footprint. The question is whether such functionality can be extended to other browsers as well, or whether it will be locked to Google's Chrome.

According to data provided by Statcounter, which tracks usage share for browsers, UC Browser has a dominating marketshare of 54.4 percent in India, Opera has a 20.21 percent marketshare, Chrome comes third, with 13.46 percent marketshare, while Android's default browser comes fourth, with 5.21 percent marketshare. With Flipkart Lite's technology dependent on the Chromium engine, the user experience is currently limited to only a small subsection of people who use Opera, Chrome, or Android's default browser. It's also worth noting that Chrome on iOS does not support Flipkart Lite. All things considered, Flipkart Lite will benefit less than half of India's mobile browsers right now, though Flipkart insists "it will be extended to other browsers as well in future."

Nagaram didn't want to comment on whether the Flipkart-owned Myntra, which is currently app only, would follow suit and return to the Web. "I head the technology team on Flipkart [and can't speak for Myntra], but there's no reason why not," he says. "We are hoping many app-only companies will follow. There is no reason for Uber to be only on your app."

Trai's Draft on OTT Regulations Goes Far Beyond Telecom for No Reason

4/03/2015 07:56:00 am TECHNOLOGY No comments

Trai's Draft on OTT Regulations Goes Far Beyond Telecom for No Reason

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) released its draft consultation paper on the regulatory framework for over the top (OTT) services last week. There are severalissues with this paper ranging from language that hides its meaning, cherry picking examples of net neutrality while ignoring those that don't agree with its ~~decisions~~proposals, and drawing inferences about losses to telecom providers without real justification.

The problem is that the term OTT, as defined in the paper, is far reaching and refers to all apps and services you can access online - from Gmail, to Facebook, to news websites like NDTV.com or even apps like Uber or Foodpanda.

The issue goes beyond simply net neutrality, though that is an important one for all Indians. However, Trai's guidelines go well beyond the telecom industry, and start to look at things like health, social sentiment, and the concerns of brick and mortar businesses. This does not really seem relevant in a paper that is meant to understand the impact of Internet businesses on telecom providers.

You can read the consultation paper yourself on the Trai website. The regulator is seeking the views of all stakeholders by April 24 - that includes consumers like you and me - and we would strongly urge our readers to go read this article and then send your comments to advgos@trai.gov.in to let your government know what you want from it.

We read through the complicated 118 page document and while we certainly won't call ourselves experts on the subject, there are some passages that seemed particularly worrying, and didn't seem to belong in this discussion at all. We already highlighted the biggest telecom related issues in the paper, but here are some of the passages from the draft that seem completely tangential.

The argument that Internet services disrupt brick and mortar businesses, and therefore need to be regulated by Trai seems pretty random. That online businesses are disrupting traditional models is clear. Discounts have reportedly cost e-commerce sites around Rs. 1,000 crore in losses and this behaviour appears in many ways anti-competitive.

However, these are questions that have little to do with telecom, which is Trai's mandate, and don't belong in this paper. An app shouldn't require a green-light from Trai before it can be distributed in India.

Trai also raises the dreaded spectre of hacking - and describes the Internet as a car parking lot that a thief is prowling through - this kind of alarmist language is misleading, and perhaps even more importantly, simply allowing people to access apps and websites can't be blamed for these things. Unless the Trai is suggesting some sort of a safety net, the overall implication of these two points is that we should just not have Internet access in India.

Apart from thieves in parking lots, predators, stalkers, bullies and con artists fill the Internet in Trai's eyes. Children need to avoid file sharing, chat rooms, and online gaming. You can almost imagine someone saying: "When we were kids we didn't have any of this Internet stuff. If you wanted to play, you went outside and had fun."

Cyberbullying and (gasp!) "sexting" (their quotation marks, not ours) are the scary phrases of the day, that are apparently made possible by OTTs. Of course, you could argue that it's the prevalence of smartphones that has caused this in the first place, so perhaps Trai can issue a mobile license, which will be required to operate a smartphone, much like a driving license.

Companies like Ola and Uber are also disrupting the taxi industry, and this, Trai believes, should be regulated. We agree wholeheartedly. However, taxi companies should be regulated as taxi companies - the fleets that these companies are hiring operate very differently from their business in the West, and come closer to acting like radio taxi fleets than private car hire.

This seems to be an issue for the Transport department - which is in fact already looking into taxi apps - and not Trai.

Trai also seems to believe that consumer protection laws do not apply to e-commerce websites, which is quite strange. If a site is the seller, why can't you name it as the respondent in case of any issues? And in the case of a marketplace model, the seller is still made clear, and contactable, when you make a purchase. The laws of the land shouldn't cease to exist simply because something is online, and you shouldn't require special laws for the Internet, as was proved by the Supreme Court of India recently.

It is also quite interesting that while Trai in other parts of this document complains that OTT services make it hard for the government to access your data, in this point, it goes so far as to say that Big Data (not Big Brother) is watching. The use of term 'Big Data' aside, this is actually a point we are in agreement with Trai - not that OTTs shouldn't collect data, but the government should have some provisions guaranteeing the privacy of citizens. The catch is that this should be universal, and not something that the government can violate on whim.

Here, we see Trai worrying that tech-savvy thieves will use your GPS information to rob your house while you're out. As you can see though, the regulator is a little conflicted because it says that these apps could be useful for law enforcement. These are actual concerns that need to be debated, but again, Trai does not seem to be the ideal forum to debate issues of national security.

Cultural sensitivity is a bogey that is raised fairly often in Trai's draft consultation paper. Here, the regulator talks about how social media was used to send inflammatory photos targeting students from the North East in 2012. This is problematic because Trai seems to be suggesting that we should not have the option to communicate quickly on social platforms that allow messages to disseminate quickly, in the name of cultural sensitivity. In a paper whose main thrust is that OTTs are hurting telco revenues, this feels like an emotional point being scored that isn't really relevant to the key argument in the first place.

These are just a few samples of how the Trai paper seems to want to focus on all issues that are not related to net neutrality and telecom. At a time when our providers use Fair Usage Policies to offer limited plans they call "Unlimited", where Airtel was considering special fees so that Skype calls aren't cheaper than voice calls, when billing is often erroneous, never transparent, and our call and data services are barely acceptable, it seems that Trai should be looking at what the telcos can do better, instead of helping them to do nothing new and still make more money.

Once again, please read the paper and write to Trai before April 24. It's for all of us.

Samsung Gives Away Free Galaxy S6 Phones to Loyal Galaxy S Owners

4/03/2015 07:54:00 am TECHNOLOGY No comments

Samsung Gives Away Free Galaxy S6 Phones to Loyal Galaxy S Owners

Samsung Korea is giving away its new flagship smartphone to loyal Galaxy S owners in South Korea, a local newspaper reports. The company offered the new Samsung Galaxy S6 to SK Telecom customers who either bought all Galaxy S-series smartphones or were still using the Galaxy S1, which was launched back in 2010.

The South Korean electronics giant on Tuesday held an event to reward its loyal customers, and the report adds the customers were also given one year's worth of free calls on SK Telecom. The South Korean mobile operator claimed that 15 million customers of its customers had used at least one Galaxy S-series smartphone while 17,000 were still using the Galaxy S1.

Additionally, the operator revealed that more than 1,600 consumers bought all the 13 Galaxy S-series handsets unveiled in the country, while 2,400 people bought more than 10.

Samsung's new flagship Galaxy S6 was initially unveiled at MWC and was launched in India last month at Rs. 49,900 for the 32GB variant.

The Galaxy S6 feature 5.1-inch Quad HD (1440x2560 pixels) Super Amoled display with a pixel density of 577ppi. The new Samsung Galaxy S6 runs Android 5.0 Lollipop and is powered by a 64-bit octa-core (quad-core 2.1GHz+ quad-core 1.5GHz) processor coupled with 3GB of RAM (LPDDR4). Three storage variants are available: 32GB, 64GB, and 128GB.

There is a 16-megapixel rear camera with OIS (optical image stabilisation) and LED flash while there is a 5-megapixel front camera on board. The new premium Galaxy handset also packs fingerprint scanning with an enhanced touch-type fingerprint scanner on the home button. Additionally, the handset comes pre-installed with upgraded Samsung Knox. It also comes preloaded with Microsoft apps such as OneNote and OneDrive with 115GB cloud storage free for 2 years.

The Galaxy S6 is backed by a 2550mAh battery and for connectivity supports LTE Cat. 6 featuring up to 300Mbps download speeds and support for India's 4G LTE networks as well.

Samsung Galaxy S6

Display

5.10-inch

Processor

1.5GHz

Front Camera

5-megapixel

Resolution

1440x2560 pixels

RAM

3GB

OS

Android 5.0

Storage

32GB

Rear Camera

16-megapixel

Battery capacity

2550mAh

Sunday 15 November 2015

Best Phones Under Rs. 15,000: Diwali Gifts Shopping Guide

Best Headphones and Earphones Under Rs. 5,000

Five Engineers, 42 Days: How Flipkart Built an 'App' for the Mobile Web

Friday 3 April 2015

Trai's Draft on OTT Regulations Goes Far Beyond Telecom for No Reason

Samsung Gives Away Free Galaxy S6 Phones to Loyal Galaxy S Owners

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