Nokia Lumia 925 preview

Introduction

Nokia refined the design of the Lumia 920 flagship, but didn't fundamentally change it - the Lumia 925 is, in essence, the 920S. The number of changes might be small, but their magnitude isn't. With a better body, screen and software, the Nokia Lumia 925 is a more desirable device than its 920 sibling.

  
Nokia Lumia 925 official photos

Let's break down the changes. The thick and heavy polycarbonate unibody is gone, with an exposed aluminum frame and polycarbonate back taking its place. The diet has shaved 36g and 2.2mm off the waistline of the Lumia 925.

Part of that is the new AMOLED screen, which is thinner than the LCD of the older phone. It has the same basic specs - a 4.5" diagonal, WXGA resolution, Gorilla Glass 2, ClearBlack and Super sensitive touch. But we believe that AMOLED is a better match for Windows Phone - LCDs just don't do the interface justice . AMOLEDs simply render colorful squares on a black background better.

There are some other changes too, like the added Nokia Smart Camera app and FM radio support.

Nokia Lumia 925 at a glance:

• General: GSM 850/900/1800/1900 MHz, UMTS 850/900/1900/2100 MHz or 580/900/1700/1900/2100; HSDPA 42.2 Mbps, HSUPA 5.76Mbps; LTE 800/900/1800/2100/2600 or 700/1700/2100; LTE Cat 3 100Mbps down, 50Mbps up
• Form factor: Touchscreen bar
• Dimensions: 129 x 70.6 x 8.5 mm, 78 cc; 139 g
• Display: 4.5" 16M-color WXGA (768 x 1280 pixels) ClearBlack AMOLED capacitive touchscreen; Gorilla glass 2; Super sensitive touch
• Chipset: 1.5GHz dual-core Krait processor, Adreno 225 GPU, 1GB of RAM
• OS: Windows Phone 8
• Memory: 16/32 GB of built-in storage
• Camera: 8 megapixel auto-focus camera with Carl Zeiss lens, OIS, face and smile detection; 1080p video recording at 30fps; 1.3MP front-facing camera with 720p video
• Connectivity: dual-band Wi-Fi a/b/g/n, stereo Bluetooth 3.0, standard microUSB port, GPS receiver with A-GPS and GLONASS, HERE Drive+ free worldwide navigation, 3.5mm audio jack, NFC
• Misc: Exclusive Smart Camera app, FM Radio, built-in accelerometer, multi-touch input, proximity sensor

Samsung Galaxy S4 Active : preview

Samsung to cutoff the competition thrown by its rival Sony, launched its flagship variant in waterproof style. The new Samsung Galaxy S4 Active is there to prove its efficiency underwater as well. All set to take on, here it goes: -

Samsung Galaxy S4 Active at a glance:

• General: Quad-band 2G/quad-band 3G/LTE connectivity
• Form factor: Water resistant touchscreen bar phone, I657 certification
• Dimensions: 139.7 x 71.3 x 9.1 mm, 151 g
• Display: 5" 16M-color TFT LCD capacitive touchscreen with a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels (441ppi); Glove touch
• Chipset: Snapdragon 600
• CPU: 1.9GHz Krait 300
• GPU: Adreno 320
• RAM: 2GB
• OS: Android 4.2.2 (Jelly Bean)
• Memory: 16GB storage, microSD card slot
• Still camera: 8 megapixel auto-focus camera, face detection, touch focus and image stabilization, Cinema Photo; 2MP front facing camera, video-calls
• Video camera: Full HD (1080p) video recording at 30fps
• Connectivity: Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac, Wi-Fi hotspot, Bluetooth 4.0, standard microUSB port with MHL features (TV Out, USB host), GPS receiver with A-GPS and GLONASS, 3.5mm audio jack, NFC, Infrared port
• Battery: Removable 2600mAh
• Misc: TouchWiz UI, Impressively rich video/audio codec support, built-in accelerometer, Smart stay and Smart rotation eye-tracking, Smart pause, Smart scroll, S Health, Air Gestures
  

BlackBerry Q10- a review

Doing at what they are best in, BB challenges the business by its qwerty baby. However, the Canadians are still lacking at what they were, as business is not the same anymore. Even BlackBerry has gone under hectic revolutions. The new OS10 is all new gesture loaded OS, coming out of the conventional cage.  However talking to the new Q10, here we are..

Key features

• Four-row hardware QWERTY keyboard
• Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE, tri/quad-band UMTS/HSPA, 100 Mbps LTE
• 3.1" 16M-color 720p (720 x 720 pixels) Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen
• Dual-core 1.5 GHz Krait, 2GB RAM, Adreno 225 (LTE version) /Dual-core 1.5 GHz ARM Cortex-A9, 2GB RAM, PowerVR SGX544 (non-LTE)
• BlackBerry 10.1 OS; Office document editor
• BlackBerry Hub is a unified inbox of all your communication and social networking accounts
• BBM with video chat and screen sharing
• Impressively good 8 MP auto-focus camera with face detection and Time Shift; LED flash
• Full HD (1080p) video recording at 30fps; 720p on the front-facing camera
• 2MP front facing camera
• 16GB of storage, microSD card slot; Dropbox and Box.NET integration
• Wi-Fi a/b/g/n, Wi-Fi hotspot; Wi-Fi sync
• Bluetooth 4.0
• NFC
• standard microUSB port, microHDMI
• 3.5mm audio jack
• GPS receiver with A-GPS

Main disadvantages

• Brand new UI has a steep learning curve
• BlackBerry Maps may be even worse than Apple Maps
• No FM radio
• BlackBerry World is still missing key apps
• Screen size is too small by today's standards and the 1:1 aspect is awkward for video watching  
  

Sony Xperia Ultra- may be specs

With Xperia Z claiming to be the survivor of Sony in smartphone industry, Sony is eyeing to dictate a larger portion of this smarter gadget industry. With phones going as powerful as your laptops, Sony aims this new breed loaded with a powerful processor of approximately 2.2 GHz clock speed.

May Be Features:-

Display :                     6.44 inch IPS LCD (1920X1080p), 332 ppi

Processor :                quad-core 2.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor

RAM :                         2GB

Memory:                    16 GB internal, 64GB expandable

Camera :                   8-megapixel Exmore RS camera, 1.3 MP secondary cam

Battery :                     3000mAh

First appearing in a sideways profile shot on a French press invitation to a Sony event on July

 4, the Sony Xperia Z Ultra was shown to be an ultra-slim, stylus packing device that has a 

headphone jack relocated on the side of the device. 

A full frontal picture of the Sony Xperia Z Ultra then leaked online, revealing the handset to be a 

super-sized version of the Sony Xperia Z smartphone. 

Despite the picture stylus in the French press invite though, the ePrice site suggests the Xperia

 Z Ultra won’t ship with a stylus, but will be compatible with third-party options.

Interestingly no mention of the Xperia Z and Xperia Tablet Z’s waterproof or dust-resistant 

qualities for the Xperia Z Ultra.

Apple iOS 7- Review

The iOS 7 is among the largest upgrades the OS has ever been given - not quite the game changer that the iPhone OS 2 and the App Store were, but it certainly took a lot of effort. It not only brings some key new features and a few cool system apps, but it also completely overhauls the user interface and tweaks the right things under the hood.

Key features

• Complete UI overhaul with adaptive colors and system-wide Back swipe gesture
• New system icons and folders, animated icons available
• System-wide parallax effect
• Dynamic wallpapers
• Control Center with toggles, multimedia controls and shortcuts
• Updated Notification Center with three tabs
• All apps multitasking with new card interface
• Updated Safari browser with unified search filed
• iTunes radio
• AirDrop file sharing
• Inclinometer within the Compass app
• Camera filters with live preview and new square mode
• New Photos app with better photo organization, picture editing
• Weather app with live weather animations
• Updated Maps with Night mode and Turn-by-Turn walking directions
• New Siri interface, new supported commands, new voices
• Contact Blacklist
• FaceTime audio
• Activation lock
• Automatic app update
• Cellular data usage breakdown
• Chinese-English, Italian, Korean and Dutch dictionaries
• iOS in the Car coming in 2014 in selected cars
  

Main disadvantages

• Very iTunes dependent for uploading files and multimedia
• No open file system means you often have to duplicate files
• Limited integration of 3rd party social networks and services
• No widgets
• Air Drop works only between selected iOS 7 or later running devices
• No lockscreen shortcuts (besides those in the Control Center)
• Very basic camera UI with limited features and settings
• Limited codecs support
• iTunes radio only works in the US

Samsung Galaxy Note III - may be specs

Samsung is all set for the big show again. As it is very well said that Samsung experiments in its S series and perfects the NOTE series, samsung would throw this masterpiece into the smartphone market to bag the remaining competition in in the phablet segment as well. As its flagship Galaxy S4 is doing wonders for it, the Note III is very much expected to set the trends and barriers.

The all new Samsung Galaxy Note III is expected to have the new generation of exynos processors that will be clocked at about 2.5 GHz. Yes, now it will be as powerful as your laptops.
The display is supposed to be a 6 inch super amoled fullHD. However, may people believe that samsung can even unveil its "Q" concept of fold able screen. Imagine a 6 inch screen that can be folded into 4'' and 2'' segments, and as you need for larger display it can be a dashing 6 inch fullHD, or at times when you go handy it could b an around 4 inch display as well.

The camera is also supposed to be of 13 MP, with great low light capabilities.

Rest, the truth will be unfolded when this device sees the light of the day.

Here are some leaked images of the device..

Micromax A 120 - Pro HD

Micromax suddenly took it all from the leaders and innovators at once. Launching its masterpiece with  2Ghz Quad core Cortex A7 processor, micromax showed that the cpu speed could now be measured in "2" as well. The best part of this device is that it do not pain your pockets a lot. Just at INR18000, in India it is the best buy in the city at the moment.

The device contains 5.5 inch fullHD i.e. 1920X1080p display, and is powered for its graphics by effective PowerVR series 5XT GPU. the beautiful just went more astonishing.

Also the incredible 2 GB RAM and 8 GB ROM, powers this monster's fluency and multi tasking.
Showing its excellence with latest Android Jelly Bean 4.2, this phone gives the very delicious smartphone market a yummy competition.

Talking about camera, this phone features  a good 13 MP primary cam and 3.2 MP secondary cam. The picture quality is also kinda awesome.

Sony Xperia Z - A Review

Introduction

The Xperia Tablet Z gets a prominent spot in a long list of iconic designs by Sony. Easily one of the best looking tablets around, the Z inherits the slim, water-resistant design of its smartphone counterpart, which earns it extra points with the outdoor-loving crowd.

  
Sony Xperia Tablet Z official images

The angular OmniBalance design is all the more impressive given Sony has managed to shave down the thickness to the mere 6.9mm. Not that it matters much in actual use - this isn't a gadget to put in a pocket, slim or not, but we have been programmed to believe that "thin = cool" and the Tablet Z is keen to take advantage. On a more practical side, the tablet weighs under 500g, at least 100g less than its direct competitors.

The folded magazine design of previous Sony tablets may be gone, but the media playing spirit is not - the Xperia Tablet Z has an IR blaster to control home equipment, alongside a custom Sony music player (Walkman) and a video player with solid DLNA credentials.

Here are the other highs (and lows) on the Sony Xperia Tablet Z spec sheet:

Key features

• 6.9mm slim tablet with IP57 certification, dust and water resistant (up to 1m for 30 minutes)
• 10.1" 16M-color TFT capacitive touchscreen of WUXGA resolution (1920 x 1200 pixels); Sony Mobile BRAVIA Engine 2
• 1.5 GHz quad-core Krait CPU, Adreno 320, 2GB RAM, Snapdragon S4 Pro APQ8064 chipset
• Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean
• Optional Quad-band GPRS/EDGE, tri-band 3G with HSPA connectivity (HSDPA, 42 Mbps; HSUPA, 5.76 Mbps), penta-band 4G LTE (100Mbps down, 50Mbps up)
• 16GB of built-in memory
• microSD card slot
• 8 MP autofocus camera
• 2.2MP front-facing camera
• 1080p HD video recording @ 30 fps with stereo audio
• Dual-band Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n Wi-Fi Direct, Wi-Fi hotspot
• Stereo Bluetooth v4.0
• MHL microUSB 2.0
• • Standard 3.5 mm audio jack
• Infrared port
• GPS with A-GPS support; digital compass
• 1080p MKV and SD XviD/DivX video support
• Accelerometer, gyroscope and magnetometer
• 6,000mAh Li-Po battery

Main disadvantages

• Runs an older Android version
• Screen has poor outdoor visibility
• Audio output quality is not on par with other tablets on the market
• Uses a previous generation chipset, slightly slower than the current best
• 6,000mAh battery isn't very big for a 10.1" tablet

WUXGA resolution on the 10.1" screen with 224ppi is a lot better than what Samsung have on the Galaxy Note 10.1 (149ppi) and quite close to the iPad 4 screen (264ppi). The chipset and Android OS version are a bit behind the times, but neither is a deal-breaker in our books.

We have to mention the water resistance, of course, which very few tablets have. The Tablet Z's predecessor, the IPX-4 certified Tablet S, was only splash-proof. An IP57 tablet like the Tablet Z on the other hand can withstand water jets and even submersion.

   
Sony Xperia Tablet Z in our office

Sony has delivered a premium package with the Xperia Tablet Z, at least on paper.