Zopo Mobiles has launched ZOPO Speed 7 Plus through e-commerce major amazon.com. The phones will be available for sale in offline stores by 22 October and online on Amazon.com by 25 October.Kevin Xu, Founder ZOPO Mobiles, said, "ZOPO Speed 7 Plus is the upshot of our innovative endeavours. The mini machine with its ultra-narrow bezel is power-packed with the latest features that enables handling multiple complicated tasks simultaneously and comes handy not only at work but is also perfect for fun."ZOPO recently entered the Indian Territory to address the next-gen needs of the tech-savvy consumers brings an impactful combination of superior visual features and high end technology to provide multi-functionality for work as well as pleasure. ZOPO Speed 7 Plus handset is an upgrade to Speed 7 handset launched by ZOPO this August. It encases a 5.5 inch frameless screen displaying superior visual effects. This near borderless perfection with high end technology brings 1080 P, which is more vivid than one can imagine. With this launch, ZOPO has also caught up with the trend of technology into gaming. It has 3 GB RAM with a 64-bit Octa-core CPU, which makes playing games a breeze.ZOPO Speed 7 Plus brings a brand new Android experience with Z-UI, which is a simple yet powerful user experience. It has Android 5.1 which utilizes power saving mode, many bug fixes and improved face recognition technology. Its whopping 13.2 MP camera captures every moment in stunning details. Furthermore, this is an enhanced smartphone with super features like face Beauty 4.0, 4G LTE with dual SIM, GPS/GLONASS and offers intelligent experience gesture sensing, smart awake and double-tap wake.ZOPO Speed 7 Plus comes with a 3000 mAh high endurance li-polymer battery, super power-saving chip, professional power management IC and a more energy efficient CPU. Following the Speed series, the latest ensemble of technology combined with elegance is compressed in a brushed metal look which is slim and stylish too.(BW Online Bureau)
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Simar SinghAfter Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Facebook’s California headquarters, the billionaire founder of the world’s largest social network is now headed to India. Mark Zuckerberg, in a post on his Facebook profile, said, “I'm heading to India and I'll be hosting our next Townhall Q&A in Delhi on Wednesday, October 28 at 12 pm IST.” After the US, India is home to Facebook’s largest user base with over 130 million active users. The company believes that the country offers a huge potential for a growth in its numbers as more Indians gain access to the internet. Facebook’s internet.org initiative to increase access to basic internet facilities has over the past year received a heavy amount of criticism for being against net neutrality. However, the company has not given up, running full-page advertisements in national dailies and rebranding the offering as ‘Free Basics’ In the post, Zuckerberg further said, “I’m looking forward to hearing directly from one of our most active and engaged communities.If you have a question, please ask below in the comments. To vote for a question, just like it. I'll be answering questions from across Facebook as well as from a live audience at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi.” While hosting Modi last month, Zuckerberg had emphasized the importance and commitment that Facebook had to India saying that it was very important to the company’s history. Zuckerberg had also changed his profile photo to one with a filter created in support of the Modi administration’s Digital India initiative. This had drawn mixed reactions with many skeptical because of the debate around net neutrality.
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Arshad KhanNobody does it better than Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg. If there is one person who changed how social media used to function, its Zuckerberg and he is all set to arrive in India's national capital New Delhi on October 28 and will hold an interactive session at IIT campus. Zuckerberg, on his FB page, also invited questions, saying he would like to hear directly from active and engaged communities. "If you have a question, please ask below in the comments. To vote for a question, just like it. I'll be answering questions from across Facebook as well as from a live audience at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi. I'll post the live video of the event on the day": He posted. Based on what keeps Zuckerberg in news, we have compiled 4 questions we would like him to answer. Next Big Acquisition- Facebook is to known to acquire any venture which it perceive as a competitor. Anything buzzing in or around internet will be subsequently merged with Facebook. We all remember what happened with Whatsapp when it surpassed FB’s messenger service. FB bought the emerging Whatsapp for a whopping $ 18 billion. Post the big purchase, we all are waiting when Zukerberg will announce his next mega acquisition. Internet.org- Imagine a condition when people will get to use selective portals on internet free off cost. Many people agree that it will be nothing less than a revolution but we cannot deny a fact that the poor and the one who is not listed in the internet will suffer. Do you really believe that internet.org will transform the internet of things and at the same time will help the underprivileged in India? Majority of tech experts are claiming that it will violate principles of net neutrality. Zuckerberg has serious question to answer. Dislike Button- We all know there is a ‘dislike’ atmosphere in the Indian social media. One can continue non-stop for weeks to prove their point on any random issue, be it the beef-ban, selective outrage etc. When there is so much dislike in the Indian social media, do we not need a dislike button. Also, Facebook said it was testing 'Reactions' the dislike button garnered from test which was launched in Ireland and Spain. Let's see what Indians have to ask or give their inputs on the same. Modi Photo Op - The video with you and the Indian PM pushing you for a better click went viral- do you think Mr Modi was trying to ensure that he is more prominently visible in the photo up. Also, was the one on one chat with the PM gone too emotional?
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Simar SinghIntroducing a new mail app for its email service, Yahoo is looking to dismantle password regimen, addressing the frustration of users who are weighed down by multiple passwords, often having to create those which meet the variant specifications of different portals. Yahoo’s new app marks the introduction of ‘Yahoo Account Key’ which the company describes as a more simple and futuristic alternative to the old password. This simplifies the sign-in process by allowing users to access their accounts by tapping a notification which is sent to their smartphones. Of course, those who prefer can continue typing in their passwords. “Passwords are difficult to remember and secondary sign-in verification is inconvenient and confusing,” said Dylan Casey, vice president of product management at Yahoo. “Earlier this year we launched on-demand passwords using an SMS code. We’re now taking a major leap towards a password-free future with the launch of Yahoo Account Key, which uses push notifications to give users simple and secure access using their mobile device.” Apart from this novelty, the overhauled application has included a number of new features including smarter search, contacts management and rich compose. “Email is the most prevalent way people communicate online. However, what we want from our inbox is evolving. Mobile use requires a faster and smarter inbox,” said Jeff Bonforte, senior vice president of communication products at Yahoo. “Both of these needs are at the centre of our new app.” Recognising that users today have multiple email accounts across various providers, Yahoo Mail now gives customers the ability to integrate and manage their Outlook and AOL accounts from Yahoo on mobile or desktop. Currently, Yahoo is rolling out this feature on the app only with the desktop feature being only available in the US but says that this will soon be available to the rest of the world as well. This upgrade is clearly a major move for Yahoo which has been struggling for years to revitalise its sliding market share. According to data released by Litmus Email Analytics for September 2015, has only 3 per cent of the email client pie, well behind rivals like Gmail. However, email continues to remain one of Yahoo’s more popular products and with more than half of their users accessing this service through mobile devices, this upgrade will be pivotal for client retention at the least.
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Make school fun by downloading the Khan Academy app, get news on the go with News 360 and bring a bit of Google to your iPhone through Google Keepby Mala BhargavaGo To The Khan AcademyThe revolutionary khan Academy now has a free app on Android and has redesigned its iOS app. Ten thousand videos on a variety of educational topics going out to over 30 million students are now available to anyone using an Android device — and that's a lot of people. Videos are so much more enjoyable than textbooks, so it should be a treasure trove for both students and teachers. There are articles as well, of course. Videos can also be made available for offline viewing, but yes, we're going to need all the Internet connectivity we can get in the country, especially in small towns and rural areas. The exercises from the website are not in the app — yet. But as far as the videos go, they are neatly listed according to topics and load quickly. On Wi-Fi, using the Khan Academy is a total breeze.News At Your Fingertipsthere are a lot of news apps floating around on every app store. Some, like Flipboard, Pulse, Zite, etc., are right on top. Others like InShorts have some distinctive feature that users like. Interestingly, we may soon need no news apps with tech giants like Facebook and Apple vying to be the conduit for news. In all of this is an app called News 360 that's actually very old but keeps redesigning radically. It's free on iOS and Android and is worth checking out because of the visual way it lets you get through news. It's particularly good for those who like to glance at news quickly. It's got big pictures and a reader with large text. Sometimes I've felt it doesn't really have the very latest news, but I still keep it around to look at content sometimes.Googlizing The iphoneif you wanted to take quick notes or make a to-do list real quick on Android, Google's Keep app and widget have been one of the fastest and most convenient ways to do it. Meanwhile, Evernote has been the reigning king of note taking apps on iOS although it's to be found on every platform. Now Google Keep is available on the Apple Store and although I wouldn't say it's a real competitor to Evernote whose users are completely loyal to it, but it has a big advantage. It's part of Google services and will get your iPhone to become a little Googlized. All of the Keep app's handy tools like location-based reminders, shared lists and quick search and filtering come to the iPhone and iPad. On top of that, the data you enter there talks to any Android devices you use.(This story was published in BW | Businessworld Issue Dated 02-11-2015)
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The Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge+ is a beautiful phone and it charges as fast as advertised. But the dual wrap-around edges also make it a slippery customerBy Mala BhargavaNot long ago, Samsung was being bitterly criticised for the unchanging plasticky design of its smartphones. Today, many are saying the Galaxy S6 Edge+ is possibly the best-looking smartphone on earth. Truly, if you see the Gold Platinum or Silver Titanium versions, they’re dazzling, all glass and gloss. It’ll be a crying shame to have to put it away into a case, which you may well have to do because the beautiful wrap-around screen flowing off both edges makes the device as slippery as an eel. You have to be a very careful person to live with this slippery stunner.The dual edges and overall smoothness on the sides is so pronounced it makes the expensive piece of gadgetry feel like it’s going to slip away from your hands. One reviewer went so far as to call it a “usability nightmare” because you couldn’t rest easy at any point while holding it. Taking it out of a bag or pocket quickly is just not recommended. I wouldn’t dare drop-test it but have seen demonstrations of how tough it actually is compared with the iPhone 6, though in real life, people have reported cracks.What the Edge does is very little, sadly. One would have thought that there would be dozens of new functions added to the spill-over screen after it first appeared on the Note 4 Edge, but it still shows the time in its night clock mode, lets you swipe a news ticker, acts as a little app drawer for apps you use often, and lights up in colours selected to go with your favourite contacts. It adds hugely to the overall aesthetics, giving the phone a tapered sleek look found nowhere else, and it somehow makes watching video a more pleasurable experience — but that’s about it. But what it doesn’t do, it makes up for in looks.The front and back of the S6 Edge+ is glass but on the back and on two strips in front it looks like shiny glass-metal. It’s not easy to play with gold and silver and keep the cheesiness out, but Samsung manages it here. There will be finger smudges though and you’ll want to wipe them off immediately to get the phone back to its pristine beauty. The phone actually looks like a bigger version of the S6 Edge, and yet it doesn’t. Perhaps it’s just that there’s more of it. This time around, the back isn’t removable. That annoys some power users who want more storage and the freedom to swap batteries… for instance, I have three whole batteries for my Note 4. On the other hand, you have special fast charging, a fact that Samsung has been advertising heavily in its ads. And it works as advertised. The battery is smaller than the phone deserves, but I was able to get 12 hours of heavy use, much of it watching video, and 24 hours of lighter use, doing a smattering of things that included some video watching too. It charges so fast I found myself getting a kick out of powering it down and checking the battery indicator for progress. Its wireless charger is optional at Rs 1,700. 16MP and 5MP cameras with F1.9 lens, OIS and 4K recording with direct broadcast to YouTube(Photograph: Ritesh Sharma, Model: Ankita Singh)The Home button doubles as a fingerprint sensor and this is a job it does very well. I didn’t get a single rejection. The button triples up to open the camera, when pressed twice, and this too is extremely fast.The S6 Edge+’ screen is the best there is. They say the human eye can’t really tell the difference beyond a point but I beg to disagree as one can tell immediately that one is looking at a crystal clear display with great colours, no sign of distortion when tilting angles and legibility even in sunlight. Photos, videos and games look fantastic on this screen and the wrapping edges give a feeling of seamlessness. This time around, the speaker is not under the phone where it’ll get muffled but on the bottom and it’s much better than previous models.This phone has all the power it needs to make using its lovely display a sheer pleasure. It doesn’t have a whole lot of storage space and no expansion with a card so you’ll have to use cloud storage more than you ever did. This omission is a big grouse with power users especially since you need space for photos and videos more than ever on this phone.Performance is just smooth all the way. Samsung’s famous interface, TouchWiz, has seen some tweaking and is much lighter and there was no lag I could detect at this initial point. The jewel in the crown of the S6 Edge+ is its camera. For the most part it shares the same camera as the S6 and S6 Edge, but with this size of screen (also on the Note 5) the results of your camera work look spectacular. The camera is fast and gives great images (which you can even save as RAW files if you’re a photo geek) with lots of detail, sharpness and brightness. In low light, it keeps the noise down while maintaining sharpness and images don’t look horribly artificially boosted. It takes stunning 4k videos with its optical image stabilisation helping the quality greatly. The camera app is one of the best and there are lots of modes to work with, including a Pro mode that gives you full control over settings. With this device and the Note 5, you can broadcast video straight to YouTube, bypassing the need for Periscope. But beware that the camera lens does jut out on the back and so that’s another thing you need to be careful about.If there were five things I would buy this device for, it would be the camera, the beauty, the screen, the fingerprint sensor (which enables the use of Samsung Pay) and the power. Make that six as there’s also its flagship feature, fast wireless charging. If there were one reason I wouldn’t buy it, it’s the sheer vulnerability of the device, though there are fancy cases that will help counter that. It’s also an expensive phone, but so is everything else in the flagship category.Bose Sound True ultra In-ear headphonesFor such a feather-light piece of kit, Bose SoundTrue Ultra In-Ear Headphones is a mouthful and almost longer than the gadget itself. But it gives you something not easy to find at a low price. Or should I say relatively low price, for these phones cost Rs 11,139. And what they give you is noise reduction. On the face of it, the SoundTrue Ultra looks like some of Bose’s other in-ear headphones such as those from the Quiet Comfort range. BOSE SOUND TRUE ULTRA IN-EAR HEADPHONESFor such a feather-light piece of kit, Bose SoundTrue Ultra In-Ear Headphones is a mouthful and almost longer than the gadget itself. But it gives you something not easy to find at a low price. Or should I say relatively low price, for these phones cost Rs 11,139. And what they give you is noise reduction. On the face of it, the SoundTrue Ultra looks like some of Bose’s other in-ear headphones such as those from the Quiet Comfort range.But this pair doesn’t have a little box attached to it with buttons for levels of noise cancellation. Instead, the noise isolation is built-in and it’s passive. You can’t control and adjust it. It’s just there and although it isn’t as effective as active noise cancellation, it’s pretty good.The earbuds have the signature Bose translucent rubbery hooked piece on them: they stabilise the earbuds and help them not to fall out. In fact, although they didn’t feel as if they were a great fit for my ear canals, they stayed firmly in once in place and wouldn’t budge even when I gave my head a big shake. They’re very comfortable and you can use them easily for many hours, should you want to.To clarify, this isn’t a Bluetooth set of headphones, so you do have to connect in the regular way. The wires are long enough and come with a little clip so you can stick them on your shirt. On the right is a small thin controller for volume and on or off. Other than that, it’s all very minimalistic and comes with a small case.The earphones sound pretty good but are on the flat or balanced side. It’s the kind of sound that doesn’t necessarily make your eyes widen in amazement but nonetheless feels like good quality. You have to really want noise reduction though, if you want to pay the asking price. If it’s just fantastic sound you’re after, there are other options.But this pair doesn’t have a little box attached to it with buttons for levels of noise cancellation. Instead, the noise isolation is built-in and it’s passive. You can’t control and adjust it. It’s just there and although it isn’t as effective as active noise cancellation, it’s pretty good.The earbuds have the signature Bose translucent rubbery hooked piece on them: they stabilise the earbuds and help them not to fall out. In fact, although they didn’t feel as if they were a great fit for my ear canals, they stayed firmly in once in place and wouldn’t budge even when I gave my head a big shake. They’re very comfortable and you can use them easily for many hours, should you want to.To clarify, this isn’t a Bluetooth set of headphones, so you do have to connect in the regular way. The wires are long enough and come with a little clip so you can stick them on your shirt. On the right is a small thin controller for volume and on or off. Other than that, it’s all very minimalistic and comes with a small case.The earphones sound pretty good but are on the flat or balanced side. It’s the kind of sound that doesn’t necessarily make your eyes widen in amazement but nonetheless feels like good quality. You have to really want noise reduction though, if you want to pay the asking price. If it’s just fantastic sound you’re after, there are other options.(This story was published in BW | Businessworld Issue Dated 02-11-2015)
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India finally witnessed the launch of the latest iPhone 6S and the 6S Plus yesterday at midnight with eager fans waiting outside various Apple retail stores to get their hands on the latest piece of technology. The new smartphones coming with the ‘S’ badge are an improvement over the last year’s models and bring in a variety of new features including an updated camera, new 3D touch and the latest iOS 9 software. If you are looking forward to buying either of the smartphones, here are all the details you need to know before you take a decision.
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Ever since Lenovo took over Motorola, the Chinese company has been focusing on budget smartphones in the Indian market. Prior to that Lenovo had some good looking flagship smartphones in the Rs. 20,0000-25,000 range including the Vibe X and Vibe Z series last year. However this year, the series is making a comeback with the Vibe Shot which is a camera centric smartphone from the company.
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