Nokia will make a major announcement in Delhi on May 9

Nokia will hold a major announcement in New Delhi on May 9. The Finnish manufacturer sent out invitations calling for a "time to shift gears".

Curiously, Nokia's Indian announcement precedes the company’s scheduled Lumia event in London by five days. The latter will likely be the place where the company's next Windows Phone flagship will break cover.

There's no word on the subject of Nokia's New Delhi announcement. Our guess is that it might be one or more new members of the Asha family, as it is quite popular in India.

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TCL S606 low-cost WP handset goes on sale in China

A low-cost TCL S606 Windows Phone 7.5 smartphone went quietly on sale in China. The handset is a product of the joint venture between TCL and Alcatel.

The TCL S606 packs a modest spec sheet to go with its clean design. It features a single-core 1GHz CPU and 512MB of RAM. There's 4GB of non-expandable storage on board. A 4" WVGA display, 5MP main camera, and a VGA front-facing unit complete the highlights of the phone's specs. Curiously, the device has done away with a dedicated camera button.

The TCL S606 is priced at CNY799 ($130) in China. The smartphone comes with a ticket for Iron Man 3, as its manufacturer is featured in the blockbuster movie.

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Alleged details on the camera sensor of Sony Honami emerge

Hot on the heels of the leak from a couple of days back, more alleged details on the upcoming Sony Honami flagship emerged. This time around, the rumor mill brings information on the camera tech of the upcoming Sony smartphone flagship.

Sony Honami will reportedly pack a Sony 1/1.6" Exmor RS stacked sensor and Cybershot G glass lens. A 1/1.6" sized camera sensor will be larger than any of its competitors', save for the one in the Nokia 808 Pureview. You can see how it stacks up against the current establishment in the graphic below.

An all new image processing algorithm and revamped camera UI, taken from the current crop of Sony Cybershot cameras are also rumored to be on board. Auto scene recognition is also said to be massively improved over the one found in the Sony Xperia Z.

The flash of the Sony Honami is reportedly either Xenon or dual-LED. It is said to be ten times brighter than a typical smartphone camera flash.

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Sony Xperia SP review: SPlendid

GSMArena team, 30 April 2013.

Introduction

It took some time but Sony had the big comeback many have been waiting for. The Xperia Z is selling well and we suspect it's been the driver for turning the company's fortunes around in the first quarter of the year. It's now time to carry that momentum over to the midrange and the Xperia SP looks like the right phone for the job.

Sony Xperia SP official photos

A nicely spec'd screen and an adequately powered chipset come together in a beautiful and well-built package, giving the Sony Xperia SP the right tools to survive in the cutthroat battle in this price bracket. The transparent LED strip, which now has even richer functionality, will definitely add character too to help it fight the last generation of flagships, fresh from relegation to the midrange.

Key features

• Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE support


• 3G with 42Mbps HSDPA and 5.8 Mbps HSUPA; 100Mbps LTE


• 4.6" 16M-color 720p TFT capacitive touchscreen with Sony Mobile BRAVIA Engine 2 and Corning Gorilla Glass protection


• Android OS v4.1.2 Jelly Bean


• Dual-core 1.7 GHz Krait CPU, 1 GB RAM, Adreno 320 GPU; Qualcomm S4 Pro MSM8960T chipset


• 8 MP autofocus camera with LED flash


• 1080p video recording @ 30fps with HDR mode, continuous autofocus and stereo sound


• VGA front-facing camera


• Wi-Fi a/b/g/n, Wi-Fi Direct and DLNA; Wireless TV out


• GPS with A-GPS, GLONASS


• 8GB of built-in storage


• MHL-enabled microUSB port


• Bluetooth v4.0


• NFC


• Standard 3.5 mm audio jack


• Accelerometer and proximity sensor


• Active noise cancellation with dedicated mic


• Solid build quality


• Ample 2370 mAh battery


• Dedicated camera key

Main disadvantages

• Screen has mediocre viewing angles


• Not particularly slim and quite heavy


• Non user-replaceable battery


• Will compete with a number of quad-core smartphones

The Sony Xperia SP is a well-rounded package that's making very few compromises, considering its standing in the pecking order. A 1080p screen is certainly a nice thing to have, but we can live with 720p at this size and, while the two extra CPU cores that today's flagships offer give a definite productivity boost, the 1.7GHz Krait should do just fine in day-to-day tasks. Not to mention that the Xperia SP GPU is of the class-leading Adreno 320 variety, so gaming performance should be as good as it gets.

The Sony Xperia SP studio shots

It seems then that Sony is ready to produce yet another gem in the midrange that offers a loud bang for your buck. The company has made this their specialty and we are certainly liking Sony's chances here. Besides, the Japanese are clearly fast learners - addressing the major issues of the Xperia P with its successor. The Xperia SP has the right-sounding battery backup (more than an Xperia Z, actually) and none of the WhiteMagic display trickery that compromised indoor performance to boost outdoor visibility.

Hopefully, there'll be no nasty surprises as we go and we'll be feeling just as positive about the Sony Xperia SP by the time this review is complete. Join us for the ride and find out - unboxing coming up right after the break.

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Samsung Galaxy S4 on Sprint gets its first OTA update

Samsung's latest flagship smartphone is now available across the globe and the smartphone is now up for grabs in the US after the initial delay. The good news for all the Galaxy S4 consumers on Sprint is that the device is now getting its first OTA update today.

The over-the-air update is about 24 MB in size and brings the software version to build L720VPUAMDL. Unfortunately, there is no change log available for the update, but we assume the update to be a last minute patch for the device's software.

A notification of the software update will pop up on your smartphones, but in case you missed it, you can update your device by going to Settings > More > System Update.

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Micromax A115 Canvas 3D goes official in India, priced at INR9,999

Images of Micromax A115 Canvas 3D leaked earlier and now, the company has officially launched the smartphone in India.

The first 3D smartphone from the firm will sport a 5" stereoscopic 3D display and features a 1 GHz dual-core processor, 1GB of RAM, 5 megapixel rear camera and a 0.3 megapixel front shooter. The built-in storage is 4GB and is expandable by up to 32GB via the microSD slot.

Micromax A115 Canvas 3D runs on Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean and is powered by a 2,000mAh battery. The dual-SIM smartphone comes with pre-loaded 3D games along with the company's 3D space app, which gives access to the 3D video player.

The A115 Canvas 3D is priced at INR9,999 (about $192) and the 3D smartphone will be available from the first week of May.

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Spice brings 5 inch phone for Rs 6,999

Spice has announced a 5 inch Android phone in the market, called Smart Flo Pace 2 Mi502, for just Rs 6,999. The phone is pitched directly against Micromax Canvas Viva A72.

The Dual SIM Android 4.0 based phone comes with a 5 inch display, 1 GHz dual core processor, 512 MB RAM, 5 megapixel rear camera and a 1.3 megapixel camera in the front.

The phone is a 2G only device and offers Bluetooth , WiFi connectivity but not 3G . The phone is 9.6mm in thickness which is quite on the lower side for a phone this big. The phone also has a 2100 mAH battery which is another big plus.

Spice has done well in creating a rival for Micromax Viva A72 which has only 256 MB RAM, Android 2.3, 3 megapixel rear camera, 0.3 megapixel front camera and a 200mAh battery.

The phone is available from Saholic.

Upcoming Sony Xperia handset to have most powerful Qualcomm chip

Sony is rumoured to be working on a new smartphone codenamed Honami, which will be the company's 2013 second half flagship.

According to AndroidOS, the phone will have all the best technologies from Sony including a new 5 inch HD display with TRILUMINOS technology, which as the name suggests comes with LED backlight in three colours rather than the normal white colour LED. This gives the display more colour gamut resulting in more accurate colour reproduction with more natural looking images.

The phone will also come with Walkman audio chip, which promises superb music experience, the best news is that we are not far away from the launch which is expected in July.

The phone will run on the most powerful chipset from Qualcomm's portfolio, the Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 which is yet to appear in a phone till now, the processor will be clocked at 2.3 GHz . The phone will also reportedly pack Adreno 330 GPU, 2GB of RAM and 2700/ 3100 mAh battery.

According to VR-Zone , Sony will put a 16 Megapixel with Xenon flash (same as in standalone cameras).

Spice to launch 5 inch phone for Rs 6,999

Spice is all set to launch an entry level 5 inch Android phone in the market, called Smartflo Pace2 Mi502. The phone is pitched directly against Micromax Canvas Viva A72 and will be priced at Rs 6,999.

The Dual SIM Android 4.0 based phone will come with 5 inch display, 1 GHz dual core processor, 512 MB RAM, 5 megapixel rear camera and a 1.3 megapixel camera in the front.

The phone is a 2G only device and offers Bluetooth , WiFi connectivity but not 3G . The phone is 9.6mm in thickness which is quite on the lower side for a phone this big. The phone also has a 2100 mAH battery which is another big plus.

Spice has done well in creating a rival for Micromax Viva A72 which has only 256 MB RAM, Android 2.3, 3 megapixel rear camera, 0.3 megapixel front camera and a 200mAh battery.

The phone will be available shortly in the market.

Spice reveals 3G SIM calling tablet for Rs 9,999

Spice has announced a new 7 inch 3G calling tablet, called the Slatepad. As per a listing on its website , the Spice Slatepad tablet comes with Android 4.1 operating system, 7-inch screen and voice calling functionality.

The tablet is also quite rich in terms of connectivity options with Bluetooth 4.0, GPS , 3G and WiFi . It is a fairly average tablet in terms of other hardware though which include 1 GHz processor, 512 MB RAM, 7 inch display with 1024x600 pixel resolution and 3000 mAH battery.

The tablet sports a 3.2-megapixel rear camera and a 1.3-megapixel front shooter. The rear camera feature auto-focus and night vision.

It comes with 4 GB of internal storage which is expandable up to 32 GB via a micro SD card. The tablet has been priced at Rs 9,999.

Its competitor, Karbonn Tafone A37 comes with 1 GHz dual core processor but with inferior resolution of 800x480 only and only a 2 megapixel camera despite being priced alike.

Quad core Samsung Galaxy Win Duos available for Rs 18,500

Samsung's entry level quad core smartphone, called Galaxy Win Duos, is now available in the market. The dual SIM phone is based on Android 4.1 Jelly Bean operating system.

The Samsung Galaxy Win features a quad core 1.2 GHz ARM Cortex-A7 mobile processor, 8 GB internal memory and 1 GB RAM. The phone has a 4.7 inch display with 480 x 800 pixel resolution as the Galaxy Grand.

Samsung Galaxy Win Duos has a 0.3 megapixel camera in the front and 5 megapixel camera at the back. It has a 2000 mAh battery to make it run longer. This smartphone appears to be a cheaper version of the Galaxy S III smartphone.

While the phone is based on Qualcomm MSM8625Q Snapdragon 200 chipset with Adreno 203 GPU which is not really in the same league as Snapdragon S4 Pro, or Snapdragon 600 but will definitely be giving tough competition to Mediatek's quad core chipset powered phones like Micromax Canvas HD, Xolo Q800 etc.

At Rs 18,500, the Samsung Galaxy Win is just slightly costly than Micromax's Canvas HD Rs 16,000.

Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 5100 now available for Rs 30,500

Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 n5100 is now available in India for Rs 30,500. Mahesh Telecom, a Mumbai based mobile retailer, has announced through its twitter account.

Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 was announced in February and comes with the S-Pen stylus and several features specially crafted to support it. Featuring a 720p HD display, the Galaxy Note 8.0 joins the club with Note, Note II and Note 10.1 tablets - all of which come with voice calling facility. The Galaxy Note 8.0 is a subtle take to compete with Apple iPad Mini which also comes in similar form factor.

The new slim Galaxy Note 8.0 arrives with an 8-inch TFT LCD display supporting native 1280x800 pixel resolution. Under the slim chassis, Galaxy Note 8.0 has a quad-core 1.6 GHz ARM Cortex-A9 based mobile processor and 2 GB RAM. The Galaxy Note 8.0 comes in 16 GB and 32 GB models - both with a memory card slot supporting up to 64 GB micro SD card. Also the tablet is available in WiFi and WiFi+3G models.

The Galaxy Note 8.0 features a 5 megapixel camera at the back with LED flash. There is also a front facing camera to engage in a video chat using select apps or click self-portrait images.

The S-Pen has been embedded on the Galaxy Note 8.0 tablet. When the S-Pen is pulled out, the tablet automatically detects the stylus and actives the S-Pen supporting menus as well as apps.

Samsung has gone a step ahead on S-Pen with the new Air View where in the user can simply hover the stylus in front of the screen to see previews of different apps. There are several applications such as S Planner, Awesome Notes, Page Notes and multiple apps specially optimized to be used with the S-Pen for improving productivity.

Samsung has added a dual-band WiFi (802.11 a/b/g/n) support to have 2.4 GHz and 5.0 GHz bands compatibility on this tablet. Also there is WiFi Direct feature to connect the device with other smartphone/tablet. The WiFi+3G version of the Galaxy Note 8.0 will feature GPS module with A-GPS and GLONASS support for more accurate and quicker location locking profiles.

Along with amazing hardware, Samsung has added all its software technologies such as AllShareCast, Samsung ChatOn and even the recently introduced feature - Smart Stay. Multimedia content can be downloaded from the Samsung Hub that includes Learning Hub, Game Hub, Music Hub, Reader Hub and Video Hub.

Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 features Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean with a layer of TouchWiz and L!ve Panel user experience. To make the tablet run for long time, Samsung has packed a 4600 mAh battery and there is a micro USB 2.0 port to charge it.

Kantar: WP on the rise in th US, BB down, Android ahead of iOS

Android and iOS are slugging it out for the top spot in the US smartphone market, but the OS that showed the biggest year over year growth for the first quarter was Windows Phone, according to the latest report from Kantar.

Microsoft’s mobile OS gained 1.9 percentage points for a market share of 5.6% at the end of March. This solidifies Windows Phone’s third place position, albeit a distant one.

The analyst firm also points out that WP is seeing more interest from former featurephone owners – 52% of newcomers to WP previously had a feature phone, while only 45% and 49% of iOS and Android owners respectively upgraded from a featurephone. Over half of US phone users are yet to jump on the smartphone bandwagon, so Windows Phone can probably expect to see even more growth.

Anyway, Android now commands 49.3% of the smartphone market in the US, up from 47.9%. Its chief competitor, iOS, went down a notch to 43.7% (from 44.6%).

BlackBerry lost more share though, 1.7 percentage points, and is currently down to 0.9% market share. “Other” smartphone OSes also declined and now sit at 0.5%.

The situation with carriers in the US meanwhile is more stable – Verizon remains on top with 37.2%, AT&T second with 27.9% and Sprint third with 12.3%. T-Mobile lost some ground (3.2 percentage points) and fell to 9.5%.

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HP working on high-end SlateBook 10 X2 tablet with Tegra 4

HP, which has recently made the Slate 7 tablet with Android OS in select regions, is planning to launch a new tablet with high end specifications, according to a report of German website Tabtech .

The website claimed to have spotted one HP SlateBook 10 X2 tablet in the popular AnTuTu Benchmark listing. As per the listing, this tablet has Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean and a 1.8 GHz Nvidia Tegra 4 mobile processor.

The HP SlateBook 10 X2 appears to be a premium quality tablet based on the hardware it packs inside. No other details about the tablet though are available as of now.

There are no more details available about the HP SlateBook 10 X2 as yet but we can safely assume that it is set to arrive sometime later this year.

Top 3 categories searched on Android phones in India

Most of the mobile internet users in India access social networking sites, mostly Facebook, through their mobile phones, according a survey of Opera - the web browser provider.

"The top 3 categories of domains based on data usage are social networking, search and cricket. Some 21.7 per cent of all data used by Opera Mini's Android users is for Facebook, followed by Google at 5.8 per cent and ESPNcricinfo at 1.7 per cent," said in its recently released survey.

"67 per cent of Opera Mini's Android users in India using the browser to access Facebook from their mobile devices, the majority number of webpages viewed are also from Facebook," the survey further added.

Almost 50 per cent of the top hundred domains visited by Opera Mini's Android users are found to be related to news and information, search, price comparison and e-commerce.

Interestingly, 9 out of the top-10 Android handsets which are found to be using Opera Mini are from Samsung. Also, the top-10 Android devices on which the Opera Mini browser was used cost less than Rs 10,000, the survey added.

Opera in its survey also said that mobile internet is mostly popular in Android users in India.

"Among Opera Mini users, the number of webpages viewed by an Android user is 29.5 percent higher than the monthly page views by an average user," it revealed.

Opera Mini claims to compresses webpages by up to 90 per cent before sending them to the device, as a result webpages open faster and users save on data costs.

US variants of Galaxy S4 ship with locked bootloaders

CyanogenMod developed Steve Kondik has confirmed in his post on Google+ that the AT&T version of the Samsung Galaxy S4 comes with a locked bootloader.

As you may know, an unlocked or unlockable bootloader is imperative if you want to run a custom ROM on a device. Without that you are stuck with whatever software that comes pre-installed on your phone. In case of carrier locked device this is especially necessary as they are often slow to update the device and you get updates much faster if you go through the custom ROM route. Not to mention, a lot of people prefer stock ROMs to Samsung's TouchWiz Nature UI whatchamacallit.

Kondik has only confirmed this for the AT&T model of the Galaxy S4 but according to AnandTech's Brian Klug other carriers are also selling the phone with a locked bootloader.

Samsung has so far been supportive of the developer community but this move is the complete opposite of that. In comparison, HTC also sells locked version of the One through the carriers but they have an unlocked developer edition available through their website, should someone want to be more adventurous with their phone. Samsung's and the carrier's move to lock the bootloader won't not go down well with Android developers, who are now likely to spring for the HTC One instead.

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Google Now for iPhone, iPad released

Google had offered the personal digital assistant service Google Now for the Android platform for almost a year. Now the Google Now service is made available for the Apple iOS platform as a part of the Google Search app update. The new Google Search app for the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad tablet brings Google Now integrated inside.

The Google Now user interface brings different information in a cards format. Each card pulls in data from Google and presents latest information about the weather, location, Flights, and sports. It also integrates maps to inform the user about the approximate commute timings. Google has also integrated Voice Search in it to make it similar to the Apple Siri.

Since the Google Now feature is now available along with Voice Search on the iOS platform, it would be interesting to see it compete with Apple Siri service. While Apple iOS based device users would be rejoicing, there are several users stuck on Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich waiting to hear from Google.

Google Now does not directly compete with Apple Siri but brings along several features in interesting presentation to be consumed quickly and efficiently.

Get the updated version of the Google Search from the Apple App store .

Idea to launch Android smartphone 'Whiz' for Rs 7,850 in 2 weeks

In quick succession of launching Android based 3G smartphone called Aurus 2 , Telecom operator Idea Cellular is all set to launch another Android 4.0 smartphone, Whiz, in India for Rs 7,850.

Spokesperson of Idea Cellular said to The Mobile Indian, "Idea will be launching WHiz in second week of May and it will be a non-bundled smartphone which could be used along with SIM from any operator of choice."

Idea Whiz a dual SIM smartphone will have a 4 inch WVGA display and will be powered by a 1GHz dual-core processor along with 512MB of RAM. On the memory front it will have 4G b internal menory that can be expanded to 32GB via a microSD card.

It will also have a 5-megapixel auto-focus rear camera and a VGA one on the front. A 1500 mAh battery will power up the device and company claims that it will have enough power to give 12 hours of talktime on 2G and 8.5 hours on 3G.

Interestingly, Aurus 2 which was launched earlier this month was the first Android 4.1 Jelly Bean based device from Idea.

Aurus 2 was a dual SIM phone, powered with a 1 GHz processor coupled with 512 MB RAM and 4 GB ROM (inbuilt memory, of which around 1.5 GB is usable,) and it also had .2 megapixel camera at the back and a VGA camera in the front. Idea has priced the phone at Rs 6,490. The phone had a 3.5 inch capacitive touchscreen with 320 x 480 pixel resolution.

Handsets and tablet whose prices were dropped in April: Part 1

Every month we see a new handset or tablet being launched in the country. The influx of so many devices in to the market is also forcing many manufacturers to slash the price of their devices in due course.

Here we present to you the first part the story in which we have tracked the handsets and tablets that saw reduction in price for the month of April.

Samsung

Four devices of Samsung saw a price cut in the month.

Samsung Galxy Tab P620

Old price: Rs 23,200

New Price: Rs 12,620

Samsung Galaxy Tab P620 comes with a 7 inch display with 3G calling functionality. It was originally launched on Android 3.2 but currently ICS update is available for the device.

Samsung Galaxy Tab P620 utilises an Exynos 4210 dual core processor running at 1.2 GHz . The processor is coupled with 1 GB of RAM. The device connects to the internet thorough WiFi and 3G. It uses a standard sized SIM slot so users won't have to upgrade to a micro SIM.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab P620 is a multimedia powerhouse and supports most audio and video codecs natively, plus users can easily download applications from the Android marketplace as well. P620 features 16 GB of internal storage which can be used to store movies, apps, music, pictures and documents, and if you run out of space you can expand it to 64 GB via a SDHC card.

The tablet's 2 megapixel front camera is good for high definition video calling. At its rear there's a 3 megapixel camera with inbuilt flash for illumination in low light.

Samsung Galaxy Ace Plus

Old price: Rs15,500

New price: Rs14,500

Samsung Galaxy Ace Plus (GT-S7500) is the enhanced version of the widely popular Samsung Galaxy Ace.

Galaxy Ace Plus has rounded edges and a 3.65 inch HVGA capacitive touchscreen. The smartphone is backed by a 1 GHz processor running on Android Gingerbread, and it features Samsung's TouchWiz user interface.

It comes with 2 GB of internal storage capacity, which is expandable up to 32 GB. For connectivity, it has WiFi and Bluetooth 3.0. Besides, it has a 5 megapixel back camera with single LED flash.

A 16GB HTC One will hit the store shelves in its homeland this week

A word has arrived that HTC One with 16GB of built-in memory will make it to its home market this week. All three major wireless service providers in Taiwan will offer the smartphone with the new, lower storage capacity.

The largest carrier in Taiwan, Chunghwa Telecom will begin selling the handset on May 1st. The remaining two carriers, Taiwan Mobile and Far EasTone Telecommunications have confirmed sales of the device this week, but without mentioning specific dates.

The 16GB HTC One will be priced at NT$19,900($675) in Taiwan, compared to NT$21,900($744) and NT$24,900($846) respectively for the 32 and 64GB versions of the handset.

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Top 5 shopping apps for Android and iOS smartphones in India

Online shopping is increasing in India and if you have a smartphone or tablet, you might not need a PC as there are numerous shopping related applications for smartphones/tablets that make the whole shopping experience all the more convenient. Here we have the top five such shopping applications for smartphone users (both Android and iOS ) that will surely be a boon for the smart shopper.

eBay India (Android/iOS)

The eBay app is available for both Android and iOS devices, and allows users to shop and sell their products. The app has a category-wise search as well as keyword search. Users can simply put in the word or the name of the product they want to buy and related results will appear.

Items can also be searched according to whether they fall under the 'buy now' or 'bid' categories for products that can be bought directly or on which bidding can be done. The product trading interface is neatly designed and prices along with the estimated time left are listed. Users get to search and sort the various results according to time left and lowest price as well as if they are searching for a particular product. Overall users can purchase a variety of products or bid on them right from their mobile.