Monday, 30 June 2014
Microsoft to release Windows Phone 8.1 in the first two weeks of July
Microsoft will roll out Windows Phone 8.1 starting next month, according to the company itself. In response to a user query asking the release date of Windows Phone 8.1, Microsoft India tweeted that the update will start rolling out in the first two weeks of July, and of course, it will be available to all existing Windows Phone 8 handsets.
We recently saw information about Windows Phone 8.1 listed on the update history page. Plus, some regions including Finland and Argentina have started getting the Lumia Cyan updates on their devices already.
Though, how soon the update will reach your handset depends on the manufacturer and carrier. People living in India should be able to get the update a little faster, as the smartphones are usually sold unlocked here, thus carrier doesn't play much role.
Nokia Lumia and other handset users might have to wait a bit longer, as the mobile manufacturer will pack operating system updates and exclusive features depending on your hardware, for example Lumia owners will be getting the Lumia Cyan update, which will most likely be pushed together.
Saturday, 28 June 2014
Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini vs Nokia Lumia 620 – Price and Top Specs Comparison
There are so many similarities between the Galaxy S3 Mini and its bigger brother that you could easily confuse them if they wouldn’t be both in front of your eyes, to notice the difference of sizes. The Lumia 620 is one of the best low-cost phones, offering many variants of cheerful colors for the polycarbonate back cover. So, if you’re a sad person, buy a Lumia 620 to cheer you up!
Displays and Sizes
Both of these smartphones render a low resolution of 480x800pixels and their screens have almost the same size. The Galaxy S3 Mini’s Super AMOLED display has the size of 4inches, while the Nokia Lumia 620 has a TFT display with the size of 3.8inches.
The Galaxy S3 Mini is bigger (121.6x63x9.9mm), but it’s over 15grams lighter than the Lumia 620, which is weighting 127grams and it measures 115.4×61.1x11milimeters.
Hardware and OS
The Galaxy S3 Mini is powered by a 1GHz dual core cortex A9 processor on a NovaThor U8420 chipset. The 8GB and 16 GB of internal memory are expandable up to 32GB.
The Lumia 620 has a 1GHz dual core krait processor which teams up with a Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 chipset. The internal memory is of 8GB, also expandable, but up to 64GB.
The Galaxy S3 Mini is running on the Android Jelly Bean OS with 1GB of RAM, while the Lumia 620 is running on the Microsoft Windows Phone 8 OS, upgradeable to the WP8 Amber version, and it has 512MB of RAM.
Cameras
Both of these phones have primary cameras of the same resolution – 5MP (Led flash and autofocus) and VGA secondary camera.
Batteries
The Galaxy S3 Mini has a Li-Ion battery with the capacity of 1500mAh, which allows you to talk 7 hours on 3G. The Lumia 1020’s Li-Ion 1300mAh battery lasts almost 3 hours more when talking on 3G.
Prices
The Galaxy S3 Mini 8GB variant costs 197 dollars on amazon.com, while the Nokia Lumia 620 is 20 dollars cheaper.
Friday, 27 June 2014
Google targets affordable smartphones with Android One
NEW DELHI: In a bid to target price-conscious consumers in emerging markets like India, Google on Wednesday unveiled Android One, a programme that will see the company partner with local phone makers to create and sell affordable yet fully-functional Android phones.
Sundar Pichai, the influential Google executive, who heads Chrome and Android divisions at the company, said that Android One devices will see their global launch in India in "fall" and will be priced below $100. He added that Google was already working with three Indian phone companies — Micromax, Spice and Karbonn for Android One phones.
The move is significant because Microsoft, which so far has failed to notch up significant market share with its Windows Phone (WP) mobile operating system, too is eyeing the price-conscious consumers in emerging markets. According to IDC, 78% of all smartphones sold in India belong to sub-$200 category.
While $100 smartphones are already available in India and other countries, most of them offer poor experience, have buggy software and underpowered hardware. According Pichai, Android One will address the problems that existing low-cost smartphones suffer from.
"When I go back home to India... and other countries like that, it is exciting to see the impact phones have on people's lives but it is disappointing that only less than 10% of population has access to smartphones. We want to change that," said Pichai. "We are going to launch (Android One devices) across the world but we are going to start the journey in India. We are also working with telecom operators in India to provide affordable connectivity options for these devices."
Currently, buying a low-cost Android smartphones for consumers is a leap of faith. Most of the phones sold for less than Rs 10,000 have poor hardware and poor software performance. They also don't get adequate Android updates.
Pichai said that as part of Android One programme, Google would select the hardware. "We identify the components that go in the next-generation smartphones. These (Android One devices) are high quality, affordable smartphones," he said. "They will have the stock Android software similar to what runs on Nexus phones will receive automatic updates directly from Google."
The approach is similar to what Microsoft has in place. Microsoft recently tied up with Karbonn and Micromax to launch affordable WP smartphones. However, even though these WP phones - Micromax will start selling two in the coming weeks -- will be sold by local companies they will use hardware and software selected and controlled by Microsoft. Manasi Yadav, senior market analyst at IDC, said Android One looks like "a very good decision by Google" considering this is the time when majority of consumers are moving from a feature phone to a budget smartphone.
Wednesday, 25 June 2014
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