LG Gx with 5.5-inch full-HD display, quad-core Snapdragon 600 launched

LG seems to be in no mood to rest after the laurels earned by its flagship smartphone, the LG G2, as the company has now launched the LG Gx.

LG announced its new entrant in G series at an event in Korea and also confirmed that the phablet will be initially available in Korea only, with no word on global availability. Further, the South Korean handset maker has not revealed the prices for the LG Gx.

The newly launched LG Gx packs almost identical specifications to the LG Optimus G Pro. The new LG phablet runs Android Jelly Bean with no word on the exact version. It features with 5.5-inch IPS full-HD display with a resolution of 1080x1920 pixels. The LG Gx is powered by a quad-core Snapdragon 600 processor (unspecified clock speed) along with 2GB of RAM.

It sports a 13-megapixel rear autofocus camera and also houses a 2.1-megapixel front-facing camera. The LG Gx includes 32GB of inbuilt storage, which is non-expandable. It comes with dimensions 150.6x76.1x9.2mm and weighs 167 grams. Much like the LG Optimus G Pro, it packs a 3,140mAh removable battery. Connectivity options on the phablet include Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Micro-USB, NFC, 3G and LTE. The LG Gx will be available in two colours - Black and White.

The LG Gx comes with some preloaded apps that have been seen on devices like the LG Optimus G Pro and the flagship, the G2. Some of the popular preloaded features included in the new phablet are KnockON, Pause and Resume Recording, QRemote, QSlide, QuickMemo and QTranslator.

Micromax A114 Canvas 2.2 quad-core Android phablet available online at Rs. 12,999

Micromax seems all set to introduce a new mid-range phablet for the Indian market, dubbed A114 Canvas 2.2. The Micromax 114 Canvas 2.2 is now available at an online retailer at Rs. 12,999.

The Micromax 114 Canvas 2.2, first spotted by Gogi, runs Android 4.2 Jelly Bean and is a dual-SIM phablet (GSM+GSM) with support for micro-SIM cards instead of regular SIM size. It features a 5-inch qHD IPS display with a 540x960 pixels resolution. The phablet is powered by a 1.3GHz quad-core MediaTek MT6582M processor along with 1GB of RAM.

It sports an 8-megapixel autofocus rear camera accompanied by a flash and also includes a 2-megapixel front-facing camera. It comes with 4GB inbuilt storage, which can be expanded up to 32GB with the help of a microSD card. The Micromax 114 Canvas 2.2 packs a 2000mAh battery which, as per the online retailer's listing, can deliver up to 7 hours of talktime and up to 290 hours standby time. Connectivity options on the phablet include Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, GPRS, EDGE, GPS/ AGPS and 3G. The Canvas 2.2 measures 145x73x9.7mm and weighs about 147 grams. It also includes a host of sensors like G sensor, light sensor, and proximity sensor.

The Micromax 114 Canvas 2.2 is now available via online retailer, Flipkart.

Earlier, Micromax launched a budget smartphone, the Bolt A61. The entry-level Micromax Bolt A61 runs Android 4.1 Jelly Bean out-of-the-box. Micromax's new budget Android smartphone is a dual-SIM

(GSM+GSM) device with dual standby support. It comes with a 4-inch TFT display with 480x800 pixels resolution, and is powered by a 1GHz Spreadtrum SC7710 processor along with 256MB of RAM.

It includes 512MB of inbuilt storage, which is further expandable up to 16GB via microSD card. The Micromax Bolt A61 sports a 2-megapixel rear camera with LED flash and also includes a VGA front-facing camera. The device packs a 1500mAh battery that the company claims can give a standby time of up to 160 hours, and up to 3.5 hours of talktime.

Nokia Lumia 525 budget Windows Phone price revealed at Singapore launch

Nokia's new budget Windows Phone, the Lumia 525, is now available in Singapore. Nokia announced the pricing for the Nokia Lumia 525 to be $249 Singapore dollars, which translates to roughly Rs. 12,300 (excluding taxes).

The Finnish handset maker revealed the pricing on its Nokia Singapore's Facebook page. The company had unveiled the Lumia 525 globally in November this year, without availability and pricing details.

The major highlight of the Nokia Lumia 525 is that the smartphone features 1GB of RAM, which is twice the 512MB of RAM found on other budget Lumia smartphones (Nokia Lumia 520, Nokia Lumia 620 and Nokia Lumia 625). Other specifications of the Lumia 525 are identical to the Lumia 520.

The Nokia Lumia 525 runs Windows Phone 8 with the Lumia Black update. It features a 4-inch WVGA (480x800) IPS LCD display, translating to a pixel density of 235ppi. The Lumia 525 is powered by a dual-core 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 processor alongside 1GB of RAM. It comes with 8GB of inbuilt storage, which can be expanded up to 64GB with microSD card.

The Lumia 525, much like other Nokia Lumia smartphones, comes with 7GB of free SkyDrive cloud storage. It sports a 5-megapixel rear camera with no flash or front-facing camera. The primary camera on the Lumia 525 features Nokia Smart Camera Cinemagraph lens, Panorama lens, and Bing vision with other image tweaking options namely touch to focus, landscape orientation, auto and manual exposure, and geo-tagging.

The Nokia Lumia 525 packs a 1430mAh battery which according to the company can deliver up to 17 hours of talktime and up to 336 hours of standby time. Connectivity options on the smartphone include Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, A-GPS, A-GLONASS and 3G. Much like other Nokia Lumia smartphone, the Lumia 525 also includes popular location and navigation apps such as HERE Drive, HERE Maps, and HERE Transit.

Xolo Play Tegra Note 'world's fastest tablet' launched at Rs. 17,999

Xolo has launched its 7-inch Nvidia Tegra 4-powered tablet in India, the Xolo Play Tegra Note, at Rs. 17,999.

The tablet will be immediately available online and off-the-shelves beginning from Monday. The Xolo Play Tegra Note is a Wi-Fi only tablet and runs Android  4.2.2 out of the box, which will be later upgraded to Android 4.3 and 4.4 KitKat, as per company's website.This will most likely be via over-the-air software updates directly from Nvidia.

The Xolo Play Tegra Note tablet is based on Nvidia's Tegra Note reference design. It comes with a 7-inch HD IPS LCD (1280x800) display and is powered by a 1.8GHz Tegra 4 processor with a 72-core GeForce GPU and quad-core Cortex-A15 CPU. The tablet also packs in 1GB of RAM, coupled with 16GB of

inbuilt storage that is expandable up to 64GB via microSD.

Xolo claims that the Nvidia Tegra 4-powered Xolo Play Tegra Note is the 'world's fastest tablet' and that's certainly the case as far as synthetic benchmarks are concerned. The tablet comfortably beat other tablets and its performance was comparable, and in some cases, even exceeded that of Qualcomm Snapdragon 800-powered smartphones.

The Xolo Play Tegra Note features a 5-megapixel rear camera and a VGA front-facing camera. It also sports front-facing HD audio stereo speakers with bass-reflex port.

The various connectivity options on the tablet include Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi Hotspot, WLAN, Bluetooth 4.0 and USB 2.0. The tablet's battery is rated at 15.17wH / 4100mAh, which according to the company can deliver up to 8.2 hours of web browsing over Wi-Fi and up to 10 hours of HD video playback.

The Xolo Play Tegra Note tablet measures 199x119x9.6 mm, and weighs in at 320 grams.

Few other features in the Xolo Play Tegra Note tablet are the DirectStylus technology for the bundled stylus, Nvidia PureAudio technology, SmugMug Camera app (one of the camera apps on iOS comes to Android), and Nvidia TegraZone that provides access to Tegra-optimized games and apps.

LG G Flex with 6-inch curved display coming to India in February 2014

LG announced in New Delhi on Wednesday that its much-anticipated curved display smartphone, the G Flex, will be available in India in February 2014. The South Korean manufacturer did not reveal the India pricing of the G Flex however, though Amit Gujral, general manager at LG Electronics, said the phone can be expected to be priced between Rs. 60,000 and Rs. 65,000.

The Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean-based G Flex is powered by a quad-core 2.26GHz Snapdragon 800 (MSM8974) processor with an Adreno 330 GPU, and 2GB of RAM. It features a 13-megapixel rear camera, and a 2.1-megapixel front-facing camera. The G Flex is powered by a 3,500mAh battery, weighs 177 grams, and is 7.9mm at its thinnest, while being 8.7mm at its thickest.

As for the 6-inch curved display, LG has used a curved OLED panel, which is also built on plastic substrates instead of glass, supposedly giving the phone better durability. The display features Real RGB technology to provide all three sub-pixels in one pixel, thereby making it "brighter and more precise."

LG has also included a new 'self-healing' coating on the back cover, an elastic coating that supposedly has the ability to "recover from the daily wear-and-tear scratches and nicks that un-cased smartphones are likely to receive." The LG G Flex's self-healing capabilities have also been creating a buzz worldwide.

Apart from the 'Rear Keys' introduced with the G2, the LG G Flex also incorporates the some new user interface features, such as QTheater for quick access to photos, videos and YouTube from the lock screen; Dual Window for multitasking with two windows; Swing Lockscreen for a dynamic lockscreen image based on the way the phone's held; as well as three Rear Key LED indicators - Face Detection, Camera Timer and Urgent Call Alert.

LG launched its first curved display smartphone, the G Flex in October this year with much fanfare, and it was rolled out only in South Korea initially. Recently, the company announced that the LG G Flex was ready for a global roll-out, starting with Singapore and Hong Kong.

Sony PlayStation 4 launching in India on December 18

Sony India has sent out media invites for the December 18 launch of its next-generation console, the PlayStation 4, in the country. Notably, the PlayStation 4 was launched in the US on November 15.

On Tuesday, Sony had revealed that it has sold more than 2.1 million PlayStation 4 consoles after less than three weeks on the market. This follows Sony's statistic that it had sold 1 million consoles on launch day.

The latest PlayStation, which will be released in its home market Japan in February, is now being sold in 32 countries.

Sony also announced that looking at the current PlayStation 4 sales figures, it was on track to hit its worldwide target of 5 million units by March 2014.

"PS4 delivered the best launch in PlayStation history with the North American release and we've continued this incredibly successful start in Europe, Australasia and Latin America," Andrew House, President of Sony Computer Entertainment, said in a statement.

Sony's latest sales figures come after Microsoft said its new Xbox One  console also sold over one million units in 24 hours following its November 22 release.

The Sony PlayStation 4 for the first time in the console's history has been priced below Microsoft's counterpart, at $399 compared to the $499 Xbox One. The $399 launch price translates to roughly Rs. 25,000, but we expect the console to be priced slightly above Rs. 35,000 when it hits the Indian market.

A forecast by the research firm Gartner shows game console sales of hardware and software are likely to grow to $44 billion worldwide in 2013 from $37 billion last year.

Track, remote wipe your lost Android device for free with new Google utility

Google has finally rolled out its Android Device Manager app on Play Store. The app can be downloaded for free and can be used on Android devices running Android 2.3 Gingerbread or higher.

The availability of the Android Device Manager app was announced by Google via its Android Google+ page, saying, "Now you can find your lost Android phone or tablet with the new Android Device Manager app, available starting today on Google Play."

The new Android Device Manager app works like the web version and lets users ring linked phones at maximum volume, so that users can find their missing phones even if they've been silenced. Users will also be able to locate their smartphones on a map, in realtime. Google further added, "It's one app we hope you never have to use, but at least now you have the peace of mind if you find yourself in a bind."

In addition, it also allows users to protect the details stored inside an Android phone or tablet by remotely adding a screen lock or performing a factory reset to erase content. Google announced the Android Device Manager Web version in August this year.

Notably, Apple, Microsoft and BlackBerry have been offering online utilities, namely Find My iPhone, BlackBerry Protect, and Find My Phone, respectively, that let owners of phones track the location of their handsets, lock them, trigger an alarm and wipe data remotely, for a long time. Sony had also started rolling out its remote security service "my Xperia," in July.

While third-party services offered by companies like McAfee, Norton, Quickheal and Kaspersky, among others also offer mobile security services, they charge users a one time or recurring fee.

Lenovo S650, Lenovo S930 mid-range dual-SIM Android smartphones launched

Lenovo has expanded its S range with the introduction of new mid-range smartphones, the Lenovo S650 and Lenovo S930. The Chinese manufacturer announced the new S series smartphones in Russia, and also revealed the prices for the new phones, although it has not detailed the global availability of the Lenovo S650 and Lenovo S930 smartphones.

The Lenovo S650 will be available at 11,990 Russian rubles (Rs. 22,600 approximately), while the Lenovo S930 will be available at 13990 Russian rubles (Rs. 26,500 approximately).

The Lenovo S650 runs on Android 4.2 Jelly Bean and is a dual-SIM device with support for GSM+GSM. It comes with a 4.7-inch qHD (540x960) display. It is powered by a 1.3GHz quad-core MediaTek MT6582 processor with 1GB of RAM. There is 8GB of inbuilt storage which can be expanded via microSD, though there is no word on the maximum storage supported. There is 2000mAh battery onboard, and the phone measures 138x69.8x8.7mm, while weighing 126 grams. Unfortunately, there is no word on the main camera and front camera.

The Lenovo S930 on the other hand is an Android 4.2 Jelly Bean dual-SIM (GSM+GSM) phablet and features a 6-inch HD (720x1280) display. It is powered by a 1.3GHz quad-core MediaTek MT6582 processor with Mali-400 MP and 1GB of RAM. The Lenovo S930 sports an 8-megapixel rear camera and also includes a 1.6-megapixel front-facing camera. The phablet includes 8GB of inbuilt storage, and support expandable storage (unspecified maximum storage). It packs a 3000mAh battery and weighs 170 grams. It comes with dimensions 170x86x8.65mm.

In November, Lenovo expanded its Vibe smartphone line-up and announced the Vibe Z in China.

The Lenovo Vibe Z is powered by a 2.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor, the same processor found on flagship devices such as Samsung Galaxy Note 3 and Sony Xperia Z1. The Vibe Z comes with 2GB of RAM, Adreno 330 GPU and runs Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean. It features a 5.5-inch full-HD display and is a dual-SIM device. The phablet sports a 13-megapixel rear camera with f/1.8 aperture and dual-LED flash. It also includes a 5-megapixel front-facing camera.

Lenovo S930 detailed specifications

General
Release date	December 2013
Form factor	Touchscreen
Dimensions (mm)	170.00 x 86.50 x 8.65
Weight (g)	170.00
Battery capacity (mAh)	3000
Removable battery	Yes
Colours	Silver
SAR value	NA
Display
Screen size (inches)	6.00
Touchscreen	Yes
Touchscreen type	Capacitive
Resolution	720x1280 pixels
Colours	16M
Hardware
Processor	1.3GHz  quad-core
Processor make	MediaTek
RAM	1GB
Internal storage	8GB
Expandable storage	Yes
Expandable storage type	microSD
Camera
Rear camera	8-megapixel
Flash	Yes
Front camera	1.6-megapixel
Software
Operating System	Android 4.2
Java support	Yes
Browser supports Flash	Yes
Connectivity
Wi-Fi	Yes
Wi-Fi standards supported	NA
GPS	Yes
Bluetooth	Yes
NFC	No
Infrared	No
DLNA	No
Wi-Fi Direct	No
MHL Out	No
HDMI	No
Headphones	3.5mm
FM	Yes
USB	Micro-USB
Charging via Micro-USB	Yes
Proprietary charging connector	No
Proprietary data connector	No
Number of SIMs	2
SIM 1
SIM Type	Regular
GSM/ CDMA	GSM
2G frequencies supported	GSM 900/ 1800
3G	Yes
3G frequencies supported	2100
SIM 2
SIM Type	Regular
GSM/ CDMA	GSM
2G frequencies supported	GSM 900/ 1800
3G	Yes
3G frequencies supported	2100
Sensors
Compass/ Magnetometer	No
Proximity sensor	Yes
Accelerometer	Yes
Ambient light sensor	No
Gyroscope	No
Barometer	No
Temperature sensor	No