Xiaomi Redmi Note 4G Price in India Slashed by Rs. 2,000

The Xiaomi Redmi Note 4G will now be available at a price of Rs. 7,999, down from its launch price tag of Rs. 9,999. The price cut is applicable starting Tuesday and the Xiaomi Redmi Note 4G can be grabbed at its new price from Mi.com, Flipkart, Amazon, and Snapdeal, as well as The Mobile Store and Airtel retail stores.

Xiaomi says "lower costs" enabled it to reduce the price of the handset. The price cut seems to be an attempt to make the Redmi Note 4G more competitive against the likes of other affordable 4G LTE smartphones available in the Indian market.

For specifications, the Xiaomi Redmi Note 4G is powered by a quad-core 1.6GHz Snapdragon 400 CPU coupled with 2GB of RAM, and is a single-SIM device. It comes with Android 4.4.2 KitKat and MIUI v5 skin. It comes with a 5.5-inch 720x1280 pixel IPS LCD screen and features 13-megapixel rear autofocus camera with LED flash as well as a 5-megapixel front-facing camera. It is powered by a 3100mAh battery with support for fast charging. The Redmi Note 4G features 8GB built-in storage and microSD card slot for expansion, with support for cards up to 64GB. Connectivity options include GPRS/ EDGE, 3G, 4G, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n with Wi-Fi Direct and hotspot functionality, Bluetooth 4.0, a Micro-USB port with OTG support, and A-GPS.

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HTC One ME Dual SIM With 20-Megapixel Camera

HTC One ME Dual SIM's claim to fame is the 64-bit MediaTek Helio X10 processor, which was launched during MWC 2015 in March. The handset also appears to be the first smartphone announced to be powered by the Helio X10 processor. The SoC features eight Cortex-A53 cores clocked at 2.2GHz and is clubbed with 3GB of RAM.

The smartphone sports a 5.2-inch QHD (1440×2560 pixels) resolution display and runsHTC Sense 7 UI on top of Android 5.0 Lollipop. The smartphone, like the flagship HTC One M9, comes with 32GB of inbuilt storage, which can be further expanded via microSD card (up to 2TB).

The 4G-enabled HTC One ME Dual SIM also includes NFC, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS/ A-GPS, dual-band Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n/ac, DLNA, and Micro-USB 2.0 connectivity. As with most of the HTC smartphones, the handset features HTC BoomSound dual-front speakers powered by Dolby Audio.

Measuring 150.99×71.99×9.75mm and weighing 155 grams, the HTC One ME Dual SIM is backed by a 2840mAh battery that is rated to deliver up to 23.3 hours of talk time and 598 hours of standby time on 3G networks.

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Samsung Galaxy J5 and Galaxy J7 Selfie

Samsung Galaxy J5 and Galaxy J7 Selfie

Samsung, a day after launching its two mid-range tablets in India, has now launched two new Galaxy smartphones under its J-series in China - the Galaxy J7 (seen above) and Galaxy J5 (seen below). The smartphones are priced at at CNY 1,798 (roughly Rs. 18,400) and CNY 1,398 (roughly Rs. 14,300) respectively.

The Samsung Galaxy J5 features a 5-inch TFT display with a HD screen resolution of 1280x720 pixels. The smartphone is backed by 1.2GHz quad-core Snapdragon 410 SoC coupled with 1.5GB of RAM. There is 16GB of built-in storage, which is further expandable via microSD card (up to 128GB).

It packs a 2600mAh battery, which is rated to deliver standby time of 342 hours. It sports a 13-megapixel rear autofocus camera with f/1.9 aperture and 5-megapixel front camera. Apart from 4G, the handset supports 3G, Bluetooth v4.1, Wi-Fi, NFC, GPS, Glonass and Micro-USB. The Galaxy J5 measures 142x73x8.5mm and weighs 149 grams.

The Samsung Galaxy J7 comes with most of the similar specifications as the Galaxy J5. The only difference in the Galaxy J7 is a larger 5.5-inch TFT display with the same resolution, an octa-core Snapdragon 615 (four 1.4GHz cores + four 1GHz cores), and a 3000mAh battery rated to deliver 354 hours of standby time. The smartphone measures 152.2x79.1x7.9mm and weighs 168 grams.

Samsung on Thursday launched two new mid-range tablets in India, the Galaxy Tab Aand Galaxy Tab E, priced at Rs. 20,500 and Rs. 16,900 respectively.

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PC-on-a-Stick With Windows 8.1 Launched

PC-on-a-Stick With Windows 8.1 Launched

iBall in partnership with Microsoft India has launched its first PC-on-a-stick device, dubbed Splendo. The Windows-based mini computer, which is meant to turn a TV into a PC or Smart TV, has been priced at Rs. 8,999.

The iBall Splendo will go on sale in early July across the country and will also be available via online and TV retail channels.

Much like other PC-on-a-stick devices, the iBall Splendo can also fit in a pocket. It is powered by an Intel Atom quad-core processor and runs Windows 8.1. It comes with 2GB of RAM while packing 32GB of inbuilt storage.

The device is just required to be plugged into the HDMI input of the TV for a complete Windows PC experience. Some of the features offered by the Splendo include HD graphics, multi-channel digital audio, a microSD card slot, regular USB port, Micro-USB port, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.0. The device has a fan-less design and comes with a one-year warranty from the company.

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Tech Deals

Tech Deals

This week we have big discounts on LG Nexus 5, the latest MacBook Pro 13-inch, Lenovo ThinkPad Edge, and a whole lot more.

1. LG Nexus 5

Google did not announce a fresh Nexus device at I/O this year, and the Nexus 5 is already a hot-favourite amongst Android consumers. The LG Nexus 5 is now available at a low price of Rs. 19,537 (effective after cashback) at Paytm. Use the coupon codeGET15 to get a 15% cashback in your Paytm Wallet. The Nexus 5 features a 4.9-inch full HD display, and is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 SoC. It comes with an 8MP primary camera and a front-facing camera for video calls. It runs Android 4.4 (KitKat) out of the box, and you will be able to upgrade it to Android M when it releases later this year. At its current price, the Nexus 5 is a great choice if you're a fan of the pure Android experience in terms of user interface and consistent over-the-air upgrades.

Price: Rs. 19,537 (MRP Rs. 29,990)

Link: Paytm

2. Apple MacBook Pro 13-inch (2015 variant)

Amazon has added fresh stock of the latest MacBook Pro 13-inch with higher specifications. This variant comes with 8GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD, and is available at a discounted price of Rs. 89,345 (MRP Rs. 109,900). The stocks will be limited at this price, so don't waste a lot of time thinking if you're looking to buy one. The 2015 MacBook Pro 13-inch is powered by Intel Core i5 processor, and the graphics are run by an Intel Iris Graphics 6100. It runs OS X Yosemite out of the box which can be upgraded to OS X El Capitan later this year. The MacBook Pro offers a battery backup of around 10 hours, which varies depending on your usage. It includes the new Force Touch trackpad which offers multiple gestures that help you save time. Amazon sells genuine Apple India units that come with complete 1-year manufacturer warranty.

Price: Rs. 89,345(MRP Rs. 109,900)

Link: Amazon

3. Lenovo ThinkPad Edge E431

If you're in the market for a powerful laptop that can play a few games, the Lenovo ThinkPad Edge E431 is available on Paytm at a sweet price tag of Rs. 57,000 (effective) this week. Use the code LAP7000 to get a cashback of Rs. 7000 (on the base price of Rs. 64000) in your Paytm Wallet. The Lenovo ThinkPad Edge is powered by the Intel Core i7 (third generation) processor, supported by 8GB of RAM. It comes with a 1TB hard disk drive, and runs Windows 8 out of the box. There's a dedicated graphics card with 2GB of RAM to handle heavy graphics load. The laptop comes with full 1-year manufacturer warranty.

Price: Rs. 57,000 (MRP Rs. 69,990)

Link: Paytm

4. Nokia Lumia 1320

A power seller on eBay India is getting rid of his Lumia 1320 stock, and is offering the lowest price ever. He's selling the Lumia 1320 at Rs. 10,747 this week, promising a full 1-year manufacturer warranty. Going by the ratings you can be rest assured this seller is not joking around. The Lumia 1320 normally retails online at the Rs. 13,400 price point. Lumia 1320 features a 6-inch display, running a resolution of 720x1280 pixels. The display is coated with the Corning Gorilla Glass 3 to ensure it can survive day to day usage. The smartphone runs Windows Phone 8 which can be upgraded to Windows Phone 8.1. The Lumia 1320 is powered by the dual-core 1.7GHz Krait 300 based processors, and the Adreno 305 GPU. The smartphone comes with a 5MP primary camera, and a small front-facing camera for video calls. At its current price, the Lumia 1320 is a decent big-screen phone you can gift your parents who would appreciate a simple device that just works, and don't care much about having a lot of apps.

Price: Rs. 10,747 (regular Rs. 13,400)

Link: eBay

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Google India to Offer Faster Access to Mobile Webpages

Technology giant Google on Thursday announced it would soon roll out optimised webpages for Google Search users on Android smartphones using the Chrome or Android browser. The feature, called which will also be made available in Brazil soon, will start rolling out in India in the next two weeks.

The new feature, which was field tested in Indonesia last month, and is available only for smartphones, is designed to make mobile webpages faster and lighter when accessed from Google's search results.

"We believe everyone should have fast and easy access to information online. However, many people still have slow and costly mobile connections. In two weeks, we'll start to roll out a new feature that will help pages load a whole lot faster, while using far less data, via Chrome or Android browser from Google's search results,"Google Search Product Manager Hiroto Tokusei told reporters via a video conference.

In a blog post, Tokusei added, "If you're in India, with an Android phone and on a slow connection, like 2G, you should start to see pages loading a whole lot faster, while using far less data, via your Chrome or Android browser from Google's search results."

Tokusei said that while the optimisation technology is in its early days, Google's field test in Indonesia found the light webpages to load four times faster and use 80 percent less data than before, and that they saw a more than 50 percent increase in traffic. Users can visit the original unoptimised page by choosing the option at the top of the page.

The optimisation is done through transcoding or converting wepages on the fly, and websites can opt out of the service. Google adds that some pages will remain unconverted, including "video sites, pages that require cookies (such as personalised sites), and other websites that are technically challenging to transcode." More details are provided for webmasters, and the optimisation framework is internally being called Google Web Light.

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Gionee Elife E8 With 24-Megapixel Camera

Gionee at its Beijing event on Wednesday launched the Elife E8 and Marathon M5 smartphones. The Elife E8 is priced at CNY 3,999 (roughly Rs. 40,000), and will go on sale in China on July 15. The Marathon M5 on the other hand is priced at CNY 2,299 (roughly Rs. 23,000), and will go on sale in China on June 25.

The highlight of the Gionee Elife E8 is its 24-megapixel rear camera that with software can stitch together and produce images up to 120 megapixels in resolution. Gionee is also touting a six-element lens with sapphire glass, optical image stabilisation, lossless zoom at up to 3x, 4K video recording, a dedicated camera button, dual-tone LED flash, and phase detection autofocus for speeds up to 0.08 seconds. The smartphone also has a 'biological' fingerprint reader, but details of type and placement are still not known. It has an 8-megapixel front-facing camera.

The Elife E8 runs Android 5.1 Lollipop-based Amigo 3.1, and is a dual-SIM 4G smartphone. It sports a 6-inch QHD (1600x2560 pixel) Super Amoled display with a pixel density of 490ppi. Powered by a 2GHz octa-core MediaTek Helio X10 (MTK6795) SoC coupled with 3GB of RAM, it comes with 64GB of inbuilt storage (no details about storage expandability as yet). Connectivity options include NFC. The smartphone is powered by a 3520mAh battery, and it supports fast charging. More details are limited as of now.

The Marathon M5 also runs on Android Lollipop (version unspecified), and is a dual-SIM smartphone with 4G LTE functionality on both SIM card slots. It features a 5.5-inch HD (720x1280 pixel) Amoled display, and is powered by a 64-bit 1.5GHz quad-core MediaTek MT6735 SoC, coupled with 2GB of RAM. It sports 16GB of built-in storage that can be expanded via microSD card (maximum capacity unspecified). It features a 13-megapixel rear camera, and a 5-megapxiel front camera. More details are not known at the moment.

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Microsoft Launches 'Portable Dual Charger' Power Banks 

Microsoft on Wednesday launched a set of three power banks with 5200mAh, 9000mAh, and 12000mAh battery capacities in the accessory market. The Microsoft Portable Dual Chargers will arrive in select regions in the "next few weeks" with an estimated retail price of $35 (roughly Rs. 2,200), $45 (roughly Rs. 2,900) and $55 (roughly Rs. 3,500) respectively.

The Microsoft Portable Dual Chargers sport the same "pocketable" shape like Xiaomi Mi Power Banks but are available in Black colour variant only. While the three portable chargers measure the same 100mm and 25mm in width and thickness respectively, they differ in length and weight based on different battery capacity versions. While the 5200mAh variant weighs 141 grams and is 50mm long, the 9000mAh and 12000mAh versions weigh 215 grams and 275 grams and are 68.5mm and 87mm long, respectively.

Microsoft claims the power banks can also charge the smartphones and tablets as quickly as the company's AC-60 wall charger accessory. Like most of the other power banks in the market, the Microsoft Portable Dual Chargers feature four LED lights for indicating the power left in the device.The company has also announced a competition to win the power bank, for which more details are available on the blog post.

As the name suggests, the power banks house two USB ports, letting users charge two devices at a time and are said to hold their charge for months at a time.The Microsoft Portable Dual Chargers have 5V - 1.5A input and offer 5V - 2.1A output. Furthermore, in case users need to charge both the handset and the portable charger simultaneously, they can make use of the 'daisy-chain' feature, in which they would need to plugin the power bank to a source and then the handset with the power bank.

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ZTE Blade Qlux 4G

ZTE has launched a new budget 4G-enabled smartphone, the Blade Qlux 4G, at Rs. 4,999. The smartphone will be exclusively available via Amazon.in starting Tuesday. ZTE is also offering double data offer from Airtel; though details about the offer have not yet been revealed by the company.

The highlight of the ZTE Blade Qlux 4G smartphone and it supports both 1800MHz (Band 3) and 2300MHz (Band 40) 4G bands in India, and data speeds of up to 150Mbps on LTE Cat. 4 networks.

It comes with a 4.5-inch (480x854 pixels) FWVGA IPS display and is powered by a 1.3GHz quad-core MediaTek (MT6732M) processor coupled with 1GB of RAM. It comes with 8GB of inbuilt storage, which is further expandable via microSD card (up to 32GB).

The Blade Qlux 4G sports an 8-megapixel rear autofocus camera with LED flash, while there is a secondary 5-megapixel front-facing camera also on board. On the connectivity front, the smartphone apart from 4G option offers 3G, GPRS/ EDGE, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Micro-USB, and Bluetooth options.

The Blade Qlux 4G is a dual-SIM (GSM+GSM) smartphone which runs Android 4.4 KitKat out-of-the-box. The company claims that the handset is upgradable to Android 5.0 Lollipop; though no time-frame for the availability of the update has been revealed.

he smartphone packs a 2200mAh battery, which according to the company is rated to deliver up to 12 hours of talk time, and up to 250 hours of standby time. The Blade Qlux 4G smartphone measures 134.5x67.4x10.3mm and weighs 154 grams. It features ambient light sensor, proximity sensor, and accelerometer sensors.

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