Korean Smartphone giant Samsung launch one more Galaxy handset in market, Korean handset maker Samsung Electronics on Monday announced the launch of its Galaxy Grand Quattro, priced at Rs. 17,290.
With a 4.7-inch display, the dual-SIM handset is powered by 1.2GHz quad-core processor, has Android 4.1.2 (Jelly Bean) operating system and a 5 megapixel camera. It comes with an internal memory of 8GB.

“Following the success of the Galaxy Grand introduced in January this year, we are confident that the Galaxy Grand Quattro will meet the needs of consumers looking for the ‘Grand’ experience in a slightly smaller display,” Samsung Mobile Country Head Vineet Taneja said in a statement.

With the launch of this device, Samsung now has a portfolio of 14 Smartphones priced between Rs5,990 and Rs41,500, he added.
As a special introductory offer, the device will come with a digital wallet of Rs3,000 valid for 90 days applicable on games.

Its range of Galaxy devices includes Galaxy S, Galaxy SII, SIII and now SIV, Galaxy Note, Galaxy Note 2 and Galaxy Y.

Key Specifications of Galaxy Grand Quattro:

Body: 133.3 x 70.7 x 9.7 mm (5.25 x 2.78 x 0.38 in)
Weight: 143.9 g (5.04 oz)
Display: TFT capacitive touchscreen, 480 x 800 pixels, 4.7 inches (~199 ppi pixel density)
Memory: Card slot: microSD, up to 32 GB
Internal: 8 GB, 1 GB RAM
Camera: Primary 5 megapixel, 2592×1944 pixels, autofocus, LED flash, front VGA camera
OS: Android OS, v4.1.2 (Jelly Bean), Qualcomm MSM8625Q Snapdragon 200, Quad-core 1.2 GHz Cortex-A5
Battery: Li-Ion 2000 mAh battery

Phablets are the latest gadgets to hit the shelves in the mobile department. The word, ‘Phablet’ is a portmanteau of two words- Phone and Tablet. In the beginning, there were smartphones which revolutionized the mobile phone industry with their bigger screens and much better hardware. They were followed by tablets which took the game to the next level with even bigger screens and slightly better hardware. Phablets however have not generated that big a stir as its predecessors. There are reasons for that, starting with the fact that there is not much appreciable difference between this latest genre of gadgets and the ones that inspired it.

What are Phablets?

Smartphones generally come in a size between 3 to 5 inches. Many of them now possess 1080p full HD display and processors churning out more than 1 GHz in terms of speed. Tablets also have these features but boast of a ridiculous screen size which is greater than 7 inches. The so-called phablets fall into the grey area between these two devices having a screen size between 5 to 7 inches. This is the only feature that separates phablets from the smartphones and tablets. Apart from the screen size there is nothing in these devices that makes it stand out in a world filled to the brim with a wide array of mobile devices.

Is there any Necessity for Phablets?

A phablet’s screen size is the only selling point that it possesses. Since it is smaller in size compared to a tablet, it is easier to carry around than a tablet which tends to be bulky. Due to it being bigger than a phone, tying, reading and other multimedia based tasks become much more pleasurable. Many people find carrying a tablet and a smartphone
at the same time too much of a hassle and this is where a phablet truly shines in all its glory. Phablets combine the best of both the mobile devices and becomes a great device rising from the pits of mediocrity. It has a bigger screen and the portability of a phone along with the latest Operating Systems found in any tablet or smartphone. This is what makes the phablets click with a large crowd and is borne out the popularity of the Samsung Galaxy Note series, the first ‘phablet’ to be launched.

The Future of Phablets and the Mobile Industry

Even though the phablet genre has seen quite a number of sales happening and some new models are being launched, it is a drop in the ocean when compared to the huge number of smartphones and tablets being sold every day. Phablets have definitely carved a niche for themselves but there is still a lot of confusion regarding the exact definition of it and in fact the word ‘phablet’ is not even an official title. Due to these problems it is hard to make an accurate prediction as to the future of these devices and their fate lies in the hands of the customers. For the present moment there are customers opting for the gadgets but it is anybody’s guess as to how long this trend will last.

Author Bio – Sunil Khale
The author is a B.Tech in Mechanical Engineering following which he has been an avid technology blogger with PriceCheckIndia. Enjoys responding to articles he has written whether compliments or insults, so make sure to add your comments below.

Top Four team of Windows AppFest organized by Microsoft in collaboration with the Government of Maharashtra in March were showcased on the Asian Development Bank (ADB) Summit as part of the Apps for Asia initiative.

One of them was Path Finder, created with the idea of promoting public transport. It may be just what many Asian cities need. In fact, Priyank Raj Katariya and Vivek Sharma, founders of Pune-based HAMS Technologies which created it, say this mobile app will just use existing systems more efficiently to plot the best routes and waiting times for public buses. The duo accept that the experience in a city like Bangalore will be different from that in Pune as the latter has much better data on offer. The app also lets you choose the best route taking into account the time taken, the least amount of walking involved and so forth.

Another one was called Jeevan Pani. This offers a solution for water problems across the globe. Created by Abhijit Junagade, Sanket Khandare and Jagdish Chopde of Nasik-based Winjit Technologies Pvt. Ltd, it enables users to alert authorities about water wastage and also understand better the importance of using this increasingly precious commodity better. The app can show you your daily usage of water and analyse where you are wasting it. The app will go live in coming weeks and the first to use it will be the Nasik Municipal Corporation.

A third app, called Help-Me, by Ashish Agrawal and others from Infosys is a one-button access point to emergency services. Agrawal says India has multiple emergency numbers and often this confuses a person in the time of need. Their app informs the agency required adding the location. The person can provide additional information if needed, but if that is not possible there is a panic button to call for help right away. The app is activated by keying in vital information about the user and his family, so the agencies that respond to the calls for help have a good quantum of info even before they reach the spot. There is a backend to the app which helps the agencies, or a control room, keep tabs on calls and respond at the earliest. However, Agrawal clarifies that he does not want the app to become a parallel system.

The fourth one, the Tablet Observed Treatment System (TOTS) app, helps health-care providers ensure that patients are taking their medicines on time. Those using the app will need to take their pills on camera so that the doctor has a record of it. The app also alerts the user about his dosage times across multiple devices. All information is stored on the cloud for the doctor to access when needed. The app has been created by Sanket Shah and Prabhjot Bakshi.

Winning apps from Australia, Korea, Malaysia and Philippines were also showcased at the ADM Summit. In a release Bindu N. Lohani, vice president for Knowledge Management and Sustainable Development, ADB, said Apps For Asia was a great showcase of the power of technology and the role it can play in fostering social and economic development. “With new technologies like cloud services and a range of mobile devices, apps can be developed quickly to reach more people in more ways,” John Cann, director, International Organizations, Microsoft added.

Micromax’s recently launched Low cost Android Smartphone A91 Ninja, an Android ICS smartphone with dual SIM support, Ninja A9 available online for just Rs 8,499.
If you are searching for Android price below Rs 10,000.Micromax ninja is good option.It comes with good specifications that will attract people who want to go for their first smart-phone. It comes with rather good 4.5-inch TFT LCD display with 480×854 pixel resolution. As far as processor is concerned it comes with MediaTek MT6577 1GHz dual-core processor and 512MB RAM. Its 4 GB internal storage can be expanded via microSD card to 32 GB. It runs of Android 4 Ice cream Sandwich.
The specs and pricing suggest that Micromax offering the handset at a lesser price than the Galaxy S Duos, which is good for budget conscious consumers.
The A91 is available with Saholic keeping its price at Rs 8,499 and the ManiacStore at Rs 8,990. Sulekha.com has kept Ninja A91’s price at Rs 9,000.

Micromax A91 Ninja Specs

Display: 4.5-inch TFT LCD, 854×480 pixels resolution
Processor: MediaTek MT6577 1GHz dual-core
RAM: 512MB
Internal storage: 4GB can be expanded to 32 GB via microSD
5MP rear camera, 0.3MP front camera
Dual SIM.
Android 4 Ice Cream Sandwich

HTC and Facebook unveiled the new Facebook-HTC First smartphone. HTC First is a new integrated Facebook phone that is going to use the newly-revealed Facebook Home user interface.
The Facebook-inspired HTC First phone comes preloaded with the newly-announced Facebook Home, a new user interface overlay that replaces the Home screen of select Android smartphones such as the Samsung Galaxy S III, Samsung Galaxy S4, HTC One, HTC One X and HTC One X+ with Facebook’s software.

The HTC First smartphone features the Snapdragon 400 dual-core processor and Android 4.1 Jelly Bean OS. The device features a 4.3-inch display with 1280 x 720 pixels resolution. It has a 5-megapixel camera with 1080p HD video capture, a flash, and 4G LTE from AT&T.

HTC first will also come preloaded with Instagram, and will come in four different body colors. This mobile phone will be sold exclusively by AT&T in the United States for $99.99 with a 2-year contract.

HTC First Specifications

• 4.96 x 2.56 x 0.35 (in) (LxWxT)
• 4.3 inch, HD 720p, 341 PPI
• Weight: 4.37 oz
• Android 4.1 Jelly Bean
• Facebook Home UI
• Qualcomm 8930AA, dual core 1.4 (Snapdragon 400 MSM8930)
• Internal storage: 16GB, available capacity varies (this spec suggests different editions are on the way)
• NFC, Bluetooth 4.0
• 5-megapixel camera on back, 1.6-megapixel camera on front, both front and back with BSI sensor
• 2000 mAh battery

BBC World Service take one more step in its content availability in Hindi. For this BBC launch new free Android App in Hindi. Free app offers easy access to news content from BBC Hindi. This app available on Android smartphone v 4.1 and above.

BBC Hindi Editor, Nidheesh Tyagi, claimed, “The bbchindi.com mobile audiences are growing steadily. The traffic to the bbchindi.com mobile website has risen by more than 330 per cent in the past year, and accounts for nearly a third of our total direct traffic to the website – up from about a fifth a year ago. The development of apps such as these improves the user experience of a greater number of Hindi-speakers, wherever they are, as they come to the BBC news and information via their mobile phones.”

Stories, offered via the new BBC Hindi Android app, are arranged into categories, including Top News Videos and Picture Galleries, India, International, Entertainment, Sport and Science.
The BBC Hindi app can be downloaded from the Google Play store

Idea Cellular the leading telecom service provider has extended its services in the smartphone market and launched the Zeal, a dual-SIM Android smartphone running on Android for Rs. 5,390.

If you are searching Android under-price Rs10,000. This might be your choice.Let check the specification of Zeal, the Zeal has a 3.5-inch display with a 320×480 pixel resolution. It runs on the older Android 2.3.6 Gingerbread OS. The rear of the smartphone houses a 3MP shooter. The Zeal also has 256MB of RAM and 512MB of ROM with expandable storage up to 32GB via a microSD card slot. It runs on a 1GHz Snapdragon processor.

The Zeal also supports Wi-Fi, A-GPS, MP3 Player, Bluetooth, and built-in social media apps such as Facebook, Twitter, Orkut, unlimited SMS/MMS and phone directory, and pre-loaded apps such as Google, YouTube and Idea TV.
The Zeal comes with a bundled data plan. For a pack of Rs. 261, Zeal users can get 1GB of free data every month for first 3 months, and free Idea TV for first 3 months.

Nokia’s Cheapest Windows Phone 8 phone Lumia 620 is now available for pre-orders in India. Online retailers are pre-booking this smartphone for Rs 15,199 and say that it will be available from the second week of March. The device was launched in December 2012 and is the cheapest smartphone to run Microsoft’s mobile operating system.

Lumia 620 features a 3.8-inch TFT screen with Nokia’s ClearBlack Display technology. It has pixel density of 246ppi and resolution of 800x480p. It is powered by a dual-core 1GHz processor coupled with 512MB RAM and comes with 8GB in-built memory and microSD support up to 64GB. The phone also offers 7GB of free cloud storage in Microsoft SkyDrive.

Lumia 620 has 5MP camera with LED flash on the back and a VGA front camera on front. Connectivity features of this phone include 2G, 3G, Wi-Fi, NFC, Bluetooth 3.0 and microUSB 2.0 It comes with apps like Cinemagraph, Smart Shoot, City Lens, Microsoft Office, Nokia Music, OneNote, Lync, Skype and Nokia Maps. . Phone has a 1,300mAh battery that offers talk time of 14.6 hours over 2G networks.

Nokie Lumia 620 is available in white, black, green, cyan and magenta colours in the India .

After many speculations, Samsung finally unveiled its Galaxy Note 8.0 on Sunday, a day ahead of the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona beginning on February 25.

The eight-inch tablet powered by a 1.6GHz A9 quad-core processor. It runs on Android 4.1.2 Jellybean version and sports a 5 megapixel rear camera and a 1.3 megapixel front camera.
The tablet with phone call capability is an S Pen enabled tablet that has a WXGA TFT screen with a resolution of 1280×800 pixels. It has 2GB RAM and will come in- 16GB and 32GB variants with an expandable memory of up to 64 GB.

Its connectivity options include Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n (2.4 & 5 GHz), Wi-Fi Direct, AllShareCast, BT4.0, and USB2.0.

Key Specifications of Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0:

• 8-inch TFT display with 1280 x 800 pixels (WXGA) resolution, 189 ppi pixel density
• Android 4.1.2 (Jelly Bean) OS
• S Pen Integration
• Voice Call support over GSM network
• Exynos SoC with 1.6GHz quad-core Cortex-A9 CPU
• 2GB of RAM, 16GB/32GB internal storage with microSD card expansion support
• Bluetooth 4.0, dual-band Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, GPS/A-GPS, USB 2.0
• IR port with Smart Remote support
• 5MP rear camera, 1.3MP front camera
• Accelerometer, Digital Compass, Proximity Sensor
• 4,600mAh Li-Ion battery
• Dimensions: 210.8 X 135.9mm
• Weight: 338 g

Micromax’s  is ready with their first quad core processor Smartphone, A116 Canvas HD, has officially out on sale in India.  The phone with price tag of Rs 13,990 will currently be available only through the company’s website.

Let’s take a view of Micromax Canvas HD Specification. The phone have a 5 inch touchscreen, is powered by MediaTek’s MT6589 1.2 GHz quad-core processor and is run on Android Jelly Bean 4.1.

Its HD screen has a resolution of 1280×720 pixels and a colour depth of 16.7 million, providing the user with superior graphics and HD viewing experience. Supported by a 2000mAh battery, the phone will be delivered between 5-7 working days.

The phone decorated with an 8MP rear camera with LED flash, multiple camera settings, 4X zoom and auto focus. It is 3G enabled, with memory expandable up to 32GB.

Micromax with its aggressive strategy of launching 30 smartphones this year to expand the portfolio of handsets and tablet PCs is set to give tough competition to the other mobile maker gaints.

The Canvas HD smartphone will be in the “phablet” category — a cross between a phone and a tablet.