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Intex has been on a hit and trial path as last year it partnered with Mozilla to bring in the first and the most affordable Firefox OS based smartphone in India. While that smartphone didn’t gain any perspective in India, it seems that Intex is not going to give up that easily. The company has just announced its official partnership with Jolla at the MWC (Mobile World Congress) Asia 2015 in Shanghai, China and has confirmed that the Indian brand will be making smartphones in the future which will be running on Jolla’s Sailfish OS. This makes Intex the first device maker that will be licensed to use the Sailfish OS.Jolla has been around in the smartphone market for a couple of years now and has been popular because of the fact that the company grew out of a side project from Nokia. Jolla already has one smartphone selling in India with its own mobile system called Sailfish which is based on swipes and gestures and aesthetically looks quite good. Sadly neither the smartphone nor the mobile system has gained any popularity. Intex, however, believes that the mobile system has potential and has confirmed they will be making smartphones with Jolla’s mobile operating system. Intex also showed a reference design model of the smartphone that the company will be bringing to India in November. The new devices will be launched under the Aqua Fish series and will come with Qualcomm Snapdragon 200,600 and 800 series processors.Jolla showcased its new updated mobile platform which is called Sailfish 2 OS and a customised version of the mobile system will be used in the upcoming smartphones from Intex. The new update, like the previous version supports Jolla and Android apps and the customised version will have integrated apps on the homescreen including Snapdeal and Gaana. These will customisable to any other app. Intex will be selling its first Sailfish based smartphone in November through Snapdeal and the first device will be under the 10k segment. Keshav Bansal, Director of Intex officially said that Intex is experimenting with the new mobile system and doesn’t have plans on launching a variety of devices until they get a feedback from the consumers.
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Intex has been a well known Indian IT brand which started off in the year 1996 by making the world’s first ethernet card with a lifetime warranty. The company has now moved on to make smartphones and claims to be the second largest smartphone maker in India in terms of volume. With smart wear catching up globally, the company has taken the advantage and has joined Spice Mobiles to announce its very own Android based smartwatch called the iRist. The new smartwatch was unveiled at MWC (Mobile World Congress) Asia 2015 in Shanghai on the 15th of July. Mind you, this is not the same as Android Wear but it is a standalone device which runs on a tweaked version Android 4.4.2The watch has a basic design with a rubber strap which comes in three colours. It is not the best looking smartwatch out there, but not the worst one either. The display measures in at 1.65-inch and is sharp, however the content on the small display doesn’t look impressive and Intex has said that they are working on it to make the experience better in the coming days. The iRist comes with a microSIM card slot which supports calling as well as 3G data and there is Wi-Fi as well, so apart from making calls, you can actually browse the web on its tiny display which seems over-ambitious. There is also a 5MP camera on the device with face-detection which sounds something from a spy movie, but practically it doesn’t seem like a very good idea on such a small device.One can download apps directly on to the smartwatch as there is 4GB of memory as well as a memory expansion slot of up to 32GB. The memory expansion option also enables you to load and store your music library and listen to it via the supplied Bluetooth headset or any other speaker or headset by pairing it to the watch. It is also water resistant and can withstand small splashes or a little rain. Intex also confirmed that this smartwatch can also act an extension for your smartphone through an app, to only give you notifications, like most of the smartwatches in the market.The price for the iRist has been set at Rs. 11,999 and will be sold exclusively on eBay for the first few months and then eventually hit retails stores after August. Intex says they have been developing this product for some time and are still working on it to improve the experience, but the fact of the matter is that the iRist is actually a rebranded smartwatch developed by a Chinese vendor. The same watch is available on certain Chinese shopping portals like Aliexpress for a much lower price. This is the same scenario with most of the Indian smartphone brands where they buy smartphones from Chinese vendors and sell them by slapping their own badge. The product could attract a small audience who are looking for a unique product, but catering such a product to the masses could be a difficult task for Intex.
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Tennis mania is back thanks to Wimbledon and if you love the sport then you should definitely try 'Stick Tennis' which is a simple yet addictive game. Developed by Stick Games, the same developer that made 'Stick Cricket', this game includes simple swipes to perform your strokes in the game.The game comes with a training mode where you can learn how to play the game called Casual Sets Tennis Club. Other than that there are there are some other modes including World Domination, in which you take on well known Tennis stars like Steffi Graf, Pete Sampras, John McEnroe, etc. in their virtual avatar; Daily Challenges, where you get to have new set of games every day and finally The Slams where you can play tournaments from four countries (Australia, France, USA and England). The game-play doesn’t involve a lot of skill, but it is quite a good game to enjoy the sport virtually.There are a bunch of in-app purchases as well but if you don't feel like shelling out money then there is plenty of non paid Tennis action to enjoy. The app is available for free on the Google Play store for Android devices as well as on the iTunes store for iOS devices.
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DSLR cameras are still the pioneers when it comes to photography, and while professionals still prefer using them, the quality of mirrorless cameras is slowly improving entering the DSLR territory. Mirrorless cameras are not only improving on providing a great picture quality, but are also comparatively smaller, offer faster focusing speeds and along with that, manufacturers also provide a good range of interchangeable lenses. So, why not?A mirrorless might not completely replace a DSLR, but here are some affordable mirrorless cameras that can definitely give a mid-ranged DSLR a run for its money.Sony Alpha 6000The Alpha 6000 from Sony is a great little performer and comes with an APS-C sensor which is the same size as a mid-ranged DSLR. Despite its small size, the Alpha 6000 is an excellent performer and Sony also provides a decent variety of changeable lenses. It is also one of the fastest shooting mirrorless cameras with frame rates of upto 11 FPS. Price: Rs. 38,000 (Body only)Nikon 1 J4Nikon is well known for its DSLRs, but the company started making mirrorless cameras just a couple of years back. The latest offering is the Nikon 1 J4, and while it doesn’t offer a sensor as big as a DSLR, it is still a great mirrorless to get your hands on. Nikon already has about 10-12 supported lenses which makes it’s a great deal. Price: Rs. 23,000 (With 10-30mm lens)Olympus PEN Lite EPL-6Olympus offers some of the sturdiest and finest cameras in the market along with an excellent picture quality. A fine example is the PEN Lite EPL-6, which offers a touchscreen display that can be tilted. It comes with a one-inch sensor and if you are looking for a DSLR replacement, this has to be on your list. Price: Rs. 29,000 (With 14-42mm lens)Fujifilm X-A1If looks are that you are looking for, then this mirrorless is the one to go for thanks to it’s a retro finish along similar dials that one might find on a DSLR. The X-A1 offers a relatively large APS-C sensor which means great picture quality and with high-ISO sensitivity of 25600, shooting in low light is never an issue. Price: Rs. 38,990 (Body only)
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Spam text messages are on the rise and while there are certain services offered by mobile operators to block them, a large number of texts still manage to reach your smartphone. Not only that these messages clutter your SMS inbox, but at times they also include links to malicious websites. A new app called Truemessenger has just been launched that helps users to completely block text messages from unwanted numbers, especially advertisers. The app is developed by the same company that created Truecaller, a similar app to block unwanted and spam phone calls. The new message blocking app allows you to put a name to a number on your SMS messages and automatically filter out spam. In order for the app to work, one has to replace your default SMS messaging app with the Truemessenger app through your device settings. Once that is done all your SMS messages are categorized into your Inbox and Spam folders. You can add or remove any number from either of the folders. Apart from completely moving to a new messaging app, the major downside of the app is that once you have installed it onto your smartphone, it accesses your contact list and other private information, just like Truecaller. If you don’t mind sharing your contact list, and want a simple solution to block spam messages, then Truemessenger is worth a try.
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For the past few years BlackBerry has managed to hang around in the market with their production cycle going on an all-time low. The company’s last handset was the Leap which was an expensive deal and didn’t manage to grab any attention. However, according to a well known source on Twitter, BlackBerry might be preparing to launch a flagship device very soon and surprisingly it will not be running on BB OS. The BlackBerry Venice could come in as the first ever device from the company that will run on Android and will also boast some high-end features. The handset is said to feature a curved 5.4-inch QHD (2560x1440) display and will have a slider form factor with a full QWERTY keyboard, something that BlackBerry fans can’t live without. Other features point to a 16MP rear camera, a 5MP front camera, 3GB of RAM, and a hexa-core CPU by Qualcomm. The Venice might not be the only one as there is a possibility that the company might be launching more than just one Android based handset. This news comes from the same source and suggests that another device looking similar to the BlackBerry Passport could see the light of day. BlackBerry couldnt manage to catch up to Android, iOS or Windows Phone even after tweaking their mobile system to support Android apps last year. The company’s 43% US market share in the year 2010 has now slipped to just 1.5% and it is similar around the global market. It seems that experimenting with the new mobile system is another attempt from the company to regain its loyalty among its fans. This move could turn out to be a wise choice as Android is statistically the most used mobile operating system and moving to it might improve BlackBerry’s dwindling sales. Having said that, BlackBerry is still one of the top makers of secure and high reliability software for industrial applications and mobile device management. If thecompany can manage to provide a seamless integration of all its services and software along with the Android ecosystem, it could be a win-win situation for BlackBerry. Not to mention, Google could definitely use BlackBerry’s proprietary software to improve certain features on Android.
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The selfie craze has been going on for quite a while and according to the American Psychiatric Association (APA) taking selfies is a mental disorder. You may or may not like taking selfies, but this mental disorder might just become the newest security method for consumers to approve online payments as MasterCardis said to be working on a mobile app that requires users to use their smartphone’s camera take a selfie to make secure payments.The new software is being tested by the company and will basically scan the user’s face from the selfie, to confirm the identity to authorise payments. This new method is an upgrade to the ‘SecureCode’ password system for online payments and the company hopes by adding the two methods they will reduce password theft. Talking to CNN, Ajay Bhalla, President, Enterprise Safety and Security at MasterCard, believes that passwords can be a pain and forgetful, the new generation is into selfies and they will love it and embrace it.Facial recognition might not be the best or the most secure way as there are ways by which one can bypass this system. To address this issue, MasterCard will be using a system where the face scanner will require the user to blink to confirm that the person is actually real at not just a picture. Apart from facial recognition, the application will also be able to use the smartphone camera to identify a customer’s fingerprint. Even this method does not sound very promising as there could be concerns as to how efficient the scanning of fingerprints via a camera will be when compared to traditional hardware based fingerprint scanners.Using biometrics to confirm one’s identity definitely seems very fascinating, but there are a plenty of security concerns before they could be implemented in our daily lives. It is the initial phase and hopefully in a couple of years, software developers will make biometric verification safe and secure.
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If you thought smartphone displays are too small to enjoy videos, then brace yourselves as a new app now enables you to watch YouTube videos on any Android Wear device. An app called Video for Android Wear & YouTube (Yes, that’s the full name) lets users watch videos from YouTube on the tiny displays of their smart watches. It does sounds impractical, but the developers are said to have done a fine job with the app.The app lets you search for videos via voice and gives all the relevant videos in a list. You can play, pause, seek through the videos and even control the volume. However, Android Wear based smart watches do not come with a built-in speaker so one has to connect a speaker wirelessly via Bluetooth to the watch itself and not to the phone. The app also with options to show the video description, suggest relevant and related videos and (ironically) an option to cast or beam videos on to a larger display or to the Chromecast. Doing so makes the smart watch act as a remote. This is probably the only useful feature of this app as you can quickly search and cast videos right from your wrist.The app comes right after Apple announced that its new watchOS 2 for the Apple Watch will support video playback. However, how seamless the experience will be is yet to be seen.
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We recently reported that OnePlus will be announcing a new flagship smartphone, the OnePlus 2 on the 27th of July. The company has already given hints to some of its feature including a fingerprint scanner, a Snapdragon 810 processor and a USB type-C port. But the biggest piece of information was that the announcement will be the first event ever which will be completely done in VR. OnePlus also showed off its very own branded Cardboard VR headset and interestingly, the company has just announced that it will be selling it in India via Amazon for just Rs.99 a piece. The simple but innovative idea made its first presence at Google I/O last year and is just a cardboard box which can accommodate a smartphone on one end and the other end has eye-holes to give you an experience that is similar to virtual reality. According to OnePlus the headset meets the specs of the new version of the headset that was unveiled at Google I/O this year and includes some upgrades like a stronger and thicker material, compatibility of devices up to 6-inches, a spill resistant coating and strong and high-quality Velcro.The headsets will be available in the third week of July from Amazon.in which will be just in time for the official launch of the OnePlus 2 and assumingly this strategy will draw in more participation for the launch event.
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HTC has already announced two flagship smartphones for India and it seems that the company is not quite done. The One M9+ was a full metal flagship and the One E9+ was a larger plastic version of the device, but now there is another high end device which is a combination of the two. The One ME is brand new high-end device from the Taiwanese smartphone maker priced at Rs. 40,500 which falls between the M9+ and the E9+.The HTC One ME uses the metal finish from the One M9+ on the front and the plastic finish at the back from the One E9+. The One ME runs on the same hardware as the One M9+ and even features the same fingerprint scanner below the display. The blend of plastic and metal is done well and HTC has used a seamless design. Even the flaps covering the slots (SIM and MicroSD) flush in with the body. The back is just like the E9+ and also houses the same 20MP camera with a dual-tone LED flash, ditching the dual-lens system from the M9+, which is a good decision by the manufacturer. The display is also the same as the One M9+ (5.2-inch, 2650x1440) so you can expect a sharp and vibrant picture on it.The octa-core MediaTek chip works well just like the M9+ and doesn’t heat up all that much. You also get all the same software goodies including the new Sense UI over Android Lollipop, BlinkFeed, Zoe and so on. The camera performance is similar to the E9+, so it isn’t the most impressive camera out there, but definitely a fast one. Overall the experience on the One ME is exactly the same as the previously announced flagships apart from the looks. The One ME is just another high-end option for consumers if they weren’t impressed with the looks of the One M9+ or the E9+. It is priced slightly higher than the E9+, but this is the HTC flagship that you should consider as the design feels a bit more refined than the other two.
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