Samsung REX 90 Hands On

Samsung has recently unveiled it’s new REX series of smartphones in the Indian market which is aimed at the users looking for an entry-level/budget phones. The Company calls the phones under new REX series as ‘Smart Feature Phones’ and all the devices under the REX series run on a Java-based operating system but still, the UI is quite similar to the TouchWiz interface you would find on Samsung devices running on Android.

Samsung pits the new REX series against Nokia’s Asha range of smartphones which has been quite successful in the Indian market and has helped Nokia stay afloat in the mobile phone space. But Nokia isn’t the only manufacturer Samsung has to worry about as of late, a lot of Indian manufacturers too have offered devices with decent specifications running on Android at this price point.

The Samsung REX 90 is the most feature-packed phone in the REX series and comes with a price tag of Rs.6,490. The REX 90 comes with a 3.5-inch capacitiv touchscreen display with a resolution of 480 x 320 pixels. The Samsung REX 90 comes with dual-SIM card slots which support Smart Dual SIM and True Hot Swap. The Smart dual-SIM would allow users to receive calls on both the SIM’s simultaneously whereas True Hot Swap would enable users to change SIM’s without restarting. One of the biggest disappointments here is that none of the SIM card slots support 3G connectivity.

The REX 90 houses a 3.2 megapixel rear camera which has nothing to boast about. The connectivity options on the REX 90 include Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and EDGE and the phone also houses a 1,000mAh battery, which Samsung claims can provide a talk time of up to 15 hours. You also get the option to expand the storage space on the device by up to 32GB using a micro-SD card, but it’s quite unlikely you would utilize such large storage space on the REX 90 considering the multimedia capabilities of the phone, which are quite basic.

Stay tuned as our hands-on video would be up shortly!

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Samsung shows off strong 2013 Smart TV line-up

Samsung has had a busy day in Hyderabad, with a whole host of announcements regarding the 2013 range of Smart Televisions.

First up were the new flat panel televisions. Samsung has been the global leader in the flat panel television market, globally, for 7 years in a row, the last being in 2012. The company gave us some insights into the changing consumer trends, as seen on the shop floor. First is the increasing preference of bigger sized televisions, particularly the 40-inch and around display size. Consumers are demanding better picture quality and more connectivity options on the televisions, which have now become a part of the living room. Samsung also highlighted the rise in the usage of a second screen, like a smartphone or a tablet, while watching TV. In 2012, the market for the 60-inch TV grew around 20%.

Samsung has officially launched the F8000 LED television. This is the world’s first television with a quad core processor, letting you shift between tasks on the TV very quickly. The F8000 will be available in sizes of 46-inches, 55-inches and 65-inches, and has a thin bezel – quarter inch only. The Arc stand is aimed at making the television look even better in the living room.

The remote that comes with the 2013 range of Smart TVs has also been redesigned. The new Smart touch Control sees a touchpad replace what was essentially the number pad on the remote, and allows users to use the touchpad to make the gesture for the number they wish to enter.

The Smart Evolution Kit, announced last year, is now going to officially hit the markets now. This kit will be compatible with the 2012 range of Smart TVs from Samsung, and will seamlessly add the features of the 2013 series to those televisions. Series 7, Series 8 and the high-end Series 9 Smart TVs are capable of the upgrade.

Also showed off was the Ultra HD TV. The 85S9 UHD TV is essentially an 85-inch display with the 4K resolution. The television stand packs in 120-watt array speakers. The UHD TV has the ability to upscale current 1080p content to 4K, on the fly.

Samsung also showed off the F5100 LED television specifically made for the Southwest Asia region, with the key feature being ConnectShare Transfer. The idea is to allow users to share content directly from any device like the tablet or the smartphone to the TV, without the need for any intermediary device. There also 2 USB ports on the TV for connecting the external drives to, for media playback.

The pricing of these televisions will be announced closer to the actual arrival of the products in the market.

LG To Release Optimus L3 2, L7 2 Smartphones In India In April

Recently, LG announced, the newly introduced Optimus L3 2 smartphone, would be out for retail, starting from Brazil, fallowed by other countries, including South and Central America, Europe, Asia, Middle East and Africa. The Optimus L7 2 is already out for sale in Russia.

In more resent news, the South Korean based company in a launch event announced, it would be releasing it's Optimus L3 2 and L7 2 smartphones, in India, this month. However the pricing and launch dates of the smartphones have not been mentioned by the company.

LG Optimus L3 2

The LG Optimus L3 2 , is a low-end handset comes with a 3.2-inch IPS LCD display, 5-mega pixel rear camera, powerful 1 GHz processor, 384 MB of RAM, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 3.0, Dual SIM, A-GPS ,1540mAh battery, expandable memory expansion (up to 32GB ). The device supports Android 4.1 Jelly Bean.

The Optimus L7 2

The Optimus L7 2, LG's new mid-range smartphone sports a 1GHz dual-core processor (powered by - Qualcomm MSM8225), 768 MB of RAM, 4GB of ROM, an expandable memory via micro SD card , a large 4.3-inch WVGA IPS LCD display, an 8-mega pixel rear camera with LED Flash and a VGA camera on the front panel for long video chat and lastly a promise of 2460mAh battery. The device will be powered by Android 4.1 Jelly Bean.

There are also reports suggesting that the low-end smartphone Optimus L5 2 will be releasing next month.

The Optimus L5 2

The LG Optimus L5 2 will come with a 4.0-inch WVGA display, 1GHz Cortex-A9, 5-mega pixels rear camera, 512 MB of RAM, Dual SIM, Wi-Fi, 3G, Bluetooth 3.0, 1700mAh battery. The device will be powered by Android 4.1 Jelly Bean.

All three of these phones will be available in both Single-SIM and Dual-SIM variants.

LG Optimus G: Pros and cons to consider before you buy

LG has quietly launched the Optimus G in India,  and the smartphone is available through retail outlets as well as stores across the country.

The Optimus G is an Android Jelly Bean based smartphone with a 4.7-inch IPS display with a 1280×768 pixels resolution. The Optimus G is powered by a 1.5GHz quad-core Qualcomm Krait processor, 2GB of RAM and an Adreno 320 GPU. The Optimus G comes with 32GB of built-in storage but doesn't support external memory cards. In terms of connectivity options, the smartphone supports 3G, 4G LTE, Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi Direct, DLNA and Bluetooth 4.0. The rear of the device has a 13MP camera with an LED flash and with 1080p@30 fps videos recording. The device is powered by a 2100mAh battery.

The Optimus G was launched in September in Korea and has just seen the light of day in India. It is quite similar to the Nexus 4 not only because both the devices are made by LG but also the Optimus G was used as a reference design for the Nexus 4. The specifications of the two devices are exactly the same except for the built-in storage and the resolution of the camera.

The Optimus G also has the ability to hold its own in front of the current leading Android smartphones such as the Samsung Galaxy S III, HTC Butterfly, HTC One, Sony Xperia Z and more. You can take a look at our specifications comparison of the Optimus G vs the competition here.

If you are in the market to pick up your next premium Android smartphone, we suggest you take a look at some of the pros and cons of the Optimus G before making your purchase decision.

Pros of the LG Optimus G

LG has made the Nexus 4. That should say something about not only the company but also the brand and its ability to make great products as well. The Nexus 4 is a very well received device and the first Nexus phone to receive the traction that it did. The Optimus G was used as a reference design to make the Nexus 4 so it can be considered as the father of the Nexus in a way.

The hardware under the hood of the Optimus G is at par if not better than what the competition has to offer. On paper it has a better camera, an IPS Plus display and runs on Android 4.1 Jelly Bean straight out of the box. Not to mention the 2100mAh battery that has the ability to last users for the entire day.

LG Optimus G and Nexus 4

The LG Optimus G is a bang for your buck as it gives users the premium hardware at a cheaper price than the competition. The Optimus G is available for a street price of Rs. 30,990 making it one of the cheaper premium smartphones. The Galaxy S III is priced at Rs. 29,990, which is relatively close. Other devices are priced quite high such as the HTC One X+ at Rs. 38,500, the HTC Butterfly at Rs. 43,000 and the Xperia Z at 43,000. The price and the features along with the specifications on offer make this device a bang for the users buck.

The LG Optimus G is a tried and tested smartphone. It has launched in Korea and global reviews of the device suggest that it has the ability to stand tall when compared to other flagship smartphones.

Cons of the LG Optimus G:

The biggest disadvantage of any Android powered LG smartphone is that it is notorious when it comes to Android updates. The LG Optimus 4X HD was launched in mid-2012, running Android 4.0 ICS. Only recently has the device received the Android 4.1 Jelly Bean update. The update came much later when compared to other smartphones in its price bracket, namely the S III and the HTC One X+. If you are one who is finicky about receiving Android updates on time, you may want to look elsewhere.

The 13MP camera though impressive on paper may not be the best there is in real world usage. At best, its performance can be compared to the 8MP shooters housed on the iPhone 5, Samsung Galaxy S III, HTC Butterfly and the HTC One X+ and the Optimus G wouldn’t rise as a winner. If having the best camera on you smartphone is a requirement, you may want to consider your options.

No matter what brand you choose, one of the important distinguishing factors of an Android smartphone is the skin overlaying the OS. Samsung’s TouchWiz and HTC’s Sense UI have established themselves not only as some of the best skins to be preloaded on a smartphone, but come with a bunch of features, both aesthetic and utility that distinguished them from the plethora of other smartphones out there. The skin overlaying LG smartphones hasn’t been well received because of the bloatware it brings with it. The skin overlaying the 4X HD was considered one of LG’s better skins over Android as it not only removed the bloat ware but also kept the skin to a minimalistic level. You may want to take a close look at the UI of the smartphone before making your purchase decision.

Every smartphone has its own share of pros and cons and the utility derived from a device is very subjective. As always, we suggest you get some hands on time with the smartphone before you make your final purchase decision.

Sony to launch Xperia Z in India on March 6

It seems that Sony is gearing up to launch the Xperia Z smartphone in India on March 6. Indian arm of the  Japanese electronics giant has posted a few teaser images on it’s Facebook page  and the cover photo of Sony Mobiles India reads 06/03/13 and in the background, one can spot what appears to be the Xperia Z. The other image posted by the company shows a smartphone with a shining button on the side, and the caption reads, “Coming soon the best of Sony”.

The Sony Xperia Z was announced at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas back in January and the smartphones boasts of quite impressive specifications.

The Xperia Z features a 5-inch Full HD (1080p) display which is almost a benchmark for all the flagship smartphones in 2013 and is powered by a 1.5GHz Qualcomm’s Snapdragon S4 Pro quad-core processor along with 2GB of RAM. It comes with 16GB of internal storage with a micro-SD card slot for storage expansion, which is quite a relief as more and more flagship devices now a days tend to miss out on an additional card slot (HTC One, anyone?).

The Sony Xperia Z sports a 13-megapixel camera with an “all-new” sensor and is the first smartphone to introduce Video HDR (High Dynamic Range).  HDR in images basically combines 3 images taken at different exposures into a single image which has best detailed parts of each oh the image and somehow, Sony has managed to introduce this feature in videos as well. The snapper on the Xperia Z now also allows to click pictures while recording videos. The front of the smartphone also get’s a 2.2 megapixel camera.

The Xperia Z also boasts of some cutting-edge features like being water resistant till a depth of one meter and has front and back of the device is covered with glass, similar to the Nexus 4 while including many new features at the software front like ClearAudio+, Bravia Reality Display and the Bravia Engine 2, which will enhance the Xperia Z’s multimedia capabilities. The Xperia Z also works smartly to save the battery as it kills all the background processes when the screen is turned off, thus offering a 4 times greater battery life and helps in increasing the running time of the device, which comes with a 2,330 mAh battery.

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Samsung S9 Ultra-HD TV to go on sale in India in May

Samsung has announced that the 85-inch S9 Ultra-HD TV from the company, which was announced during the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in January will go on sale in the Indian market starting May 2013. The price in India is yet to be confirmed by the company, but considering that the S9 Ultra-HD TV available in South Korea for 40 million South Korean Won,  it is expected to cost nearly Rs.21 lakhs in India.

At the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Samsung announced it’s 85-inch S9 Ultra HD TV which comes with a ‘floating design’, wherein the screen rests between a metal frame and can be tilted up and down. Though, the complete assembly is quite big and might not accommodate in many living rooms.

The metallic frame that surrounds the TV isn’t just a show off and accommodates a mammoth 120 -watt 2.2 channel speaker system so you can be rest assured that along with spectacular video, you also get an equally amazing sound from the S9 Ultra-HD TV. Unlike Sony, which had promised it’s users native 4K content, Samsung is relying on it’s upscaling mechanism, which can enhance the content to 4K resolutions.

Samsung’s S9 Ultra-HD TV is powered by 1.35 GHz quad-core A15 processor and the company has included it’s new Smart Hub software in to the TV along with S-Recommendation and voice control. The TV also gets all the standard ports like 4 HDMI ports, optical audio port, etc.

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Nokia Lumia 620 now up for pre order online for Rs.15,199

Nokia announced the Windows Phone 8 powered Lumia 920, Lumia 820 and Lumia 620 in India in January and while the Lumia 920 and Lumia 820 were put up for retail sale soon after, Nokia said that the more affordable Lumia 620 will be up for sale in the month of February. Clearly, that wasn’t the case and there was some delay in the launch of Lumia 620, but now it seems that the phone is all set to go on sale.

Popular online retailer, Flipkart has put the Nokia Lumia 620 up for pre-order on it’s website for a price of Rs.15,199 and is promising a release date around 2nd week of March. The Nokia Lumia 620 is available in four color variants- Cyan, Magenta, Green and Black and Flipakrt is also offering a 16GB micro-SD card for free, if the customers pre-book the smartphone.

The Nokia Lumia 620 sports a 3.8-inch TFT WVGA ClearBlack display which is quite good to look at and honestly, any display on windows phone device looks good irrespective of the pixel density. The device is powered by a 1GHz dual-core Snapdragon S4 processor coupled with 512MB of RAM and during our initial test, we found the usage to be lag free and all the apps loaded up quickly, without much delay.

The Nokia Lumia 620 comes with 8GB of internal storage along with a micro-SD card slot for storage expansion by up to 64GB, which is a major plus point for the device as it is amongst the only few smartphones, which offer storage expansion till 64GB. Considering it’s expected price point, we aren’t really impressed with the 5 megapixel rear camera on the Lumia 620, but one area where the Lumia 620 scores over it’s closes rival, the HTC 8S is that while the 8S lacks a front-facing camera, the Lumia 620 sports a VGA camera which enables video-calling on the device and makes use of the tight Skype integration on Windows Phone 8, unlike the HTC 8S.

But a major area for concern is the Lumia 620′s petit 1,300mAh battery which may not be enough to easily last thorough a full day’s usage. If you’ve been waiting for the Lumia 620 since long, maybe you could just head over to Flipkart and book one for yourself right now!

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Samsung Galaxy S2 Plus Launched In India

Samsung has been enjoying a really successful time of things in the last year or so in the smartphone market with a number of hugely successful products on offer. Its recent successes were arguably built on the Samsung Galaxy S2 that was released in 2011 and is still available today. Now though the company has revealed the Samsung Galaxy S2 Plus and we have the official specs and details for you.

Initially outfitted with Android 2.3 Gingerbread, the original S2 received an update to Android 4.0 last June and is finally due up for Android 4.1 sometime soon.

Otherwise, most of the tech specs between the S2 Plus and the original S2 are the same.

Like its predecessor  the Samsung Galaxy S2 Plus will offer a 1.2 GHz dual-core processor, 1GB of RAM, and a 4.3-inch WVGA Super AMOLED Plus display. An 8-megapixel camera with an LED flash is on the back, while a 2-MP camera graces the front. But the rear camera now comes with a zero-lag shutter speed that can more easily capture fast-moving objects.

The Samsung Galaxy S2 Plus offers 3G in the form of 21Mbps HSPA+, dual-band Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth 3.0.The Plus’s built-in storage has been trimmed in size to 8GB from the original’s 16GB or 32GB. But the new model’s SD storage can handle up to 64 gigabytes of data, while the original maxed out at 32GB. The Plus also includes an option for near-field communications support so people can use the phone for mobile payments.

We will be back with the pricing details and a hands-on video soon, so stay tuned!

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Samsung Galaxy Note 510 (8.0) launched, an 8-inch tablet to take-on the iPad mini

Samsung has announced the launch of the Galaxy Note 510 tablet in India. The company made this announcement at the Samsung Forum 2013 event in Hyderabad today. This is the latest Android tablet to be launched by Samsung, in the Indian market, and runs Android 4.1.2 (Jelly Bean) out of the box.

The Galaxy Note 510 breathes fresh life into the category as it delivers the perfect fusion of portability and everyday productivity resulting in a pioneering, pocket sized solution that enhances and enriches our everyday lives, whether at work or play”, said Mr. B.D. Park, President and CEO, South West Asia, Samsung Electronics.

The Note 510 features an 8-inch display with a resolution of 1280 x 800 pixels with pixel density rated at 189ppi. A quad-core 1.6GHz processor powers the device, helped with 2GB of RAM. There will be two versions of the Note 510 in the market – one with 16GB internal storage and one with 32GB internal storage. Both versions will also have a memory card slot for storage space expansion. Samsung has packed in a 4600mAh battery, and the weight of the tablet is 338 grams.

When compared directly with the Apple iPad Mini, the Note 510 does have the additional feature of 3G capabilities and the ability to make and receive voice calls.

The Note 510 has carried forward a lot of features seen in the Galaxy Note II Phablet. The first is the S-Pen feature, along with the entire array of applications that are compatible with the stylus. Pop-up video lets you play a video in a smaller window anywhere on the display while you may be busy doing some other work. The multi-tasking feature – Dual View, is also integrated in the GALAXY Note 510.

The price of the Note 510 has not been announced yet, and we will update you the moment we get some confirmation from Samsung.

Samsung Series 7 Chronos notebook lineup launched in India.

Samsung has refreshed its portable PC range in India, with a new laptop and ultrabook series added to the portfolio. The announcement was made at the Samsung Forum 2013 event in Hyderabad today.

The new laptop launched is the Series 7 Chronos. The Chronos has a full aluminum body, and remains very slim at 0.82-inches. The Intel Core i7-3635QM processor, clocking at 2.4GHz with various configurations taking the maximum RAM up to 16GB, will provide the power. The 15.6-inch display has a 1920 x 1080 pixel resolution, and 10-point multi-touch. Samsung has packed in an AMD Radeon HD8870M graphics chip, with 2GB dedicated memory. JBL speakers make their way on to the Chronos, and should stand up to the likes of Beats Audio in HP notebooks and the Skull Candy option that Dell now offers.

No shortage of connectivity options either – 2 USB 3.0, 2 USB 2.0 and HDMI out. The backlit keyboard is a standard spec as well. Samsung claims that this machine will offer up to 11 hours of battery life. You will get the 1TB hard drive as standard across all versions.

Series 7 Chronos

The Samsung Series 7 Ultra, as the name suggests, is the latest ultrabook from Samsung. This joins the likes of the Series 5 and the Series 9 offerings in the Indian market.

The Series 7 will be available in Intel Core i5 and Intel Core i7 processor options, with RAM options going up to 16GB. The 13.3-inch display has a 1920 x 1080 pixel resolution. The machine also packs in an AMD Radeon HD8570M graphics chip, with 2GB dedicated memory. The storage space is provided by a 256GB SSD. The Series 7 Ultra will offer 1 USB 3.0 port, 2 USB 2.0 ports and HDMI out. Just like the Chronos, the Series 7 Ultra also gets backlit keyboard and 10-point multi touch on the display. This ultrabook weighs 1.46kg.

Series 7 Ultra

Both devices will come preloaded with Windows 8 (64-bit) operating system. We await the pricing confirmation for these two devices, along with their variants. We will keep you posted on any updates from Samsung regarding the price tag.