Nokia India recently hosted an event to showcase the Lumia 1020, the WP8-powered smartphone with a 41MP rear camera. However, it disappointed attendees and gadget lovers by not disclosing the price of the smartphone.
The wait is over, as the company has started taking bookings for Lumia 1020 on its official website. Nokia Lumia 1020 is available for pre-orders at a price of Rs 49,999. The listing says that the phone will be released by the third week of this month, though the company has earlier said that it will hit the stores on October 11.
Online retailer Snapdeal is also taking advance bookings for Lumia 1020 at Rs 48,778. However, the phone is now sold out on the e-commerce website. As per the listing, the official price of the smartphone is a whopping Rs 62,999.
The company showcased a camera grip (worth Rs 7,500) and wireless charging back cover (priced at Rs 3,200) compatible with the Lumia 1020 at the launch event.
The 41MP camera of Lumia 1020 has a Carl Zeiss lens and Nokia's proprietary PureView imaging technology. This camera also has optical image stabilization as well as six element lens and uses oversampling technology to process images, according to Nokia.
Nokia Lumia 1020 has lossless zooming technology, where the phone captures images first and then allows users to zoom into it later without losing clarity. Photos taken by most smartphones get pixilated upon zooming and cropping.
This smartphone also features a technology called Dual Capture, which takes two shots at the same time, one at 38MP resolution and the other at 5MP. The former is meant for photo editing, while the latter is ideal for social media uploads, said Nokia.
Other hardware specs of the Lumia 1020 include 4.5-inch PureMotion HD+ Amoled display, 1.5GHz dual-core processor, 2GB RAM, 2,000mAh battery and 32GB internal storage.
Despite buying Nokia's mobile phone arm, Microsoft is trying to push itsWindows Phone mobile operating system on devices made by other manufacturers. The company is reportedly in talks with Taiwanese company HTC to provide Windows Phone as an option on phones powered by Android.
The software giant is offering to waive off the licensing it levies for using its mobile OS in HTC's Android smartphones, reports Bloomberg. Terry Myerson, head of Microsoft's operating systems unit, asked HTC last month to load Windows Phone as a second option, it says. However, these are only preliminary talks and a decision is yet to be made, say Bloomberg's sources.
According to the report, "It's willingness to add Windows as a second operating system underscores the lengths to which Microsoft will go to get manufacturers to carry its software. HTC, the first company to make both Windows and Android phones, hasn't unveiled a new Windows-based handset since June and has no current plans to release any more, said one person."
Microsoft wants to keep working with partners other than Nokia, and expects to be able to sign accords with some phone makers who previously have focused on Android, says the report citing sources. It also says that it remains unclear whether an HTC phone would run Windows and Android at the same time or let users choose a default.
No confirmation regarding the talks over the matter has been given by either Microsoft or HTC.
Nokia, HTC and Samsung are the three biggest manufacturers working on the Windows Phone platform. Other companies that also make WP-powered smartphones include the likes of Huawei,Fujitsu etc.
According to an earlier report, Nokia makes 80% of the Windows Phone smarphones and its low-cost Lumia 520 is the highest selling handset for this smartphone.
As per an IDC report, Windows Phone OS has a 3.7% market share, while Android and iOS hold 79% and 13% of the market, respectively. HTC's smartphone business is not doing well and the company recently posted global declines in sales, marking its first quarterly loss since going public in the July-September quarter of 2013.
Curved screen smartphones seem to be the next big thing in the technology world. Close on the heels of Samsung announcing its curved smartphone, comes the news that its south Korean rival LG too plans to launch a curved screen smartphone in November.
According to media reports, LG is working on a 6-inch curved smartphone being dubbed as theG Flex, which the company plans to bring launch next month. The phone is speculated to have an OLED display and use LG's new Plastic OLED (POLED) technology.
For users, a curved display does not mean that that they will be able to bend these smartphones. Curved display means screens which will be slightly curved but not bendable.
Recently, Samsung Electronics said it will introduce a smartphone with a curved display in October. Apple's much-rumored smartwatch too is expected to sport a flexible display.
Curved display is already commercially available in large-screen televisions. Samsung and its home rival LG Electronics had started selling curved OLED TV sets this year priced at about $9,000.
The digital domain is creeping off our desktops and onto our bodies, from music players that match your tunes to your heart beat, to mood sweaters that change color depending on your emotional state - blue for calm, red for angry. There are vacuum shoes that clean the floor while you walk and fitness bracelets, anklets and necklaces to track your calorie burning.
"Everyone agrees the race is just beginning, and I think we're going to see some very, very big leaps in just the next year,'' said tech entrepreneur Manish Chandra at a wearable technology conference and fashion show in San Francisco Monday that was buzzing with hundreds of developers, engineers and designers.
Wearable technologies have long been a sideshow to mainstream laptop and smartphones, but this year Google's glasses and rumors of Apple's iWatch are popularizing the field. Analysts forecast swift growth. Last year the market for wearable technology - encompassing everything from hearing aids to wristband pedometers - totaled almost $9 billion. That should climb to $30 billion by 2018, said analyst Shane Walker at IHS Global Insights.
Humans have been wearing technology for centuries, from strapped-on compasses to pocket watches. The current surging industry is centered in the Silicon Valley and San Francisco Bay area, where mostly smaller startups design their products locally and have them manufactured in Asia to take advantage of cheap labor. Monday's conference was one of several focusing exclusively on wearable technology in recent years.
As wearable technologies proliferate, humans will need to adapt, said Georgia Tech professor Thad Starner. He advises Google on its glasses, which are lightweight frames equipped with a hidden camera and tiny display that responds to voice commands. Starner has worn his for several years.
"We're talking about paradigm changing devices,'' said Starner. "Capabilities that people haven't thought of before.''
He said that, unlike computers and tablets that people engage with, wearable computers are designed to be in the background, secondary to the wearer's attention.
"It seems like a paradox, but when you pull the technology closer to your body, there's a seamless interaction, it's more an extension of yourself,'' he said.
But there are sure to be cultural and social issues. Google Glass - and some emerging competitors - have raised concerns of people who don't want to be surreptitiously videoed or photographed. And what about interacting?
At a recent conference, attendees slipped on monitors that measured their heart rates and temperatures to reflect whether they really were enjoying a movie, and shot photos through their Google Glasses of Vibease, the world's first wearable vibrator controlled by smartphones, promising long distance intimacy.
"Do you really want a touch screen on the front of your t-shirt? Is it socially acceptable to be poked all over your body for somebody to use your wearable computer?'' asked Genevieve Dion, who directs a fashion and technology lab at Drexel University.
The answer, for some, is no.
In a newly released survey from Cornerstone OnDemand, 42% of workers said they would not be willing to strap on wearable tech for their jobs, with older and more traditional employees more reluctant than their counterparts. The survey polled 1,029 Americans aged 18 and over in August, and had a 3.1% point margin of error.
And then there's an issue of bandwidth, said Ritch Blasi, a consultant with SVP-Comunicano who researches the wearable technology market. At this point, there simply isn't enough network service to support universal and constant wireless use, he said. But that too will catch up.
"It almost makes you think everyone is going to turn into a cyborg,'' he said, referring to a fictional, prosthetic-laden high tech comic book superhero.
And will they?
"When you look at the world and everything people are doing?'' said Blasi, pausing for a moment. "I think the answer to that is yes.''
Consumers have been lining up worldwide to buy Apple's new iPhones, even braving a typhoon in Japan. The new phones are also running on new software, the iOS 7 operating system. If you are among the nine million people who bought a new iPhone 5S or 5C during the first weekend of sales, or have just updated your old device's software, you will want to try some new apps that make the most of the new capabilities.
One of the best tests for the new iPhones is the graphically intensive game Infinity Blade III. It's a 3D fantasy-battle game in which you fight your way through a mystical world, slashing with a sword controlled by finger swipes.
The game is exciting, and the graphics are its most impressive feature. They are highly detailed and are about the same quality as graphics on a gaming PC a few years ago. Infinity Blade III's battles are a little repetitive, but the game is remarkable enough to warrant its $7 price.
Testing the new phones' camera is also a must. But no matter how good the camera is, there's always room for improvement. For editing photos or adding special effects like filters, try Aviary's Photo Editor app. This app is one of my favourites for photo-tweaking thanks to its straight-forward interface and powerful effects, like blurring of images or adjusting their contrast.
The app's interface has been improved to align with iOS 7's clean, simple look. A few improvements have made it easier to use, like putting the special filters, photo frames and customizable stickers in one location — the new "Supply Shop." Best of all, the app is free, although many effects add-ons are not.
It's around $2 for a pack of filters.A different but cool photo-effects app is TiltShiftGen 2, which adds a special distortion to a photograph so it looks like an image of a miniature or model, instead of a photo of the real world. The app looks great on iOS 7, and the controls are all simple, with intuitive gestures.
LG launched its G2 smartphone in India today, bringing yet another powerful handset to the already burgeoning Indian smartphone market. This device is a powerful competitor to the Samsung Galaxy S4, Sony Xperia Z1, HTC One and Nokia Lumia 925.
It has all the makings of a champion, from a powerful chipset, gorgeous screen, unique software, and a great camera. No doubt, LG G2 has us intrigued, especially when it comes to design. The company has done away with hardware keys altogether, placing the power and volume keys at the back instead of left or right side as it happens in conventional design.
We were not sure if this new positioning for the keys will make smartphone usage easier, or if it will make it much too difficult to hold the phone, let alone operate it with one hand. We played with the device for some time at the launch event to see what the LG G2 is all about. Here is what we experienced...
LG G2 looks much too similar to the Samsung Galaxy S4 despite a minor difference between screen size (5.2-inch for G2 vs 5-inch for S4). However, a closer look reveals that the new LG phone bears some differences compared to the now six-months-old S4, such as on-screen keys, no hardware buttons on the sides and overall a bigger device.
The screen of LG G2 is as good as it gets, with beautiful and vibrant colours and crisp text and videos. Around the screen are very thin bezels, helping the phone keep dimensions to a minimum.
Coming to the buttons on the back. Below the camera you will find here keys - Volume Up, Power/Lock and Volume Down, in that order. After using the phone for about 15 minutes straight, it stopped feeling outlandish as we could get a hang of the keys and using them to do common tasks. More on what these keys do below.
Overall, we like the design and look of the G2. The only grouse? Plastic does not feel fantastic, especially after having used the glass-bodied Optimus G earlier.
While you can press the power key on the back to turn on the phone, another option is to tap on the touchscreen twice quickly. This is same as the functionality we have seen in some of the newer Nokia and Samsung phones.
Inside, the software is similar to the Optimus UI we have seen in previous LG phones. However, this time it looks a little less childish, which is the only issue we had with the Android skin.
The phone seems extremely fast, a result of the combination of the light Optimus UI and powerful Snapdragon 800 chipset. All tasks we performed in quick succession went off without a hitch, showing exactly how powerful the chipset is.
We checked out some of the software features of LG G2. Many we had seen in previous phones (placing phone next to the ear to answer calls without pressing any keys in Samsung Galaxy S3and supersensitive touchscreen in Nokia Lumia 920).
One feature that caught our eye was Slide Aside, where you can use a three-finger swipe from right to left to push a running app to the sidelines. This feature allows users to move or retrieve a maximum of three running apps from the sides. Though not as good as Samsung's multi app view, it is still worth checking out.
Using G2 for a little more time gave us an idea of how to use its rear-positioned keys for doing more. While the volume and power/lock functions were quite expected, we also used it to access QuickMemo app and turn on the camera when the phone's screen was turned off. However, you cannot take screenshots with the handset without using both your hands, something we can easily do with a single hand in other Android phones.
During our short time with the G2, we found it to be a very capable smartphone that can stand neck-and-neck with any top-end smartphone in the market. Its unconventional design is quite good and does not hinder functionality, even though it does not add much value to the usage. Perhaps, we will know more about this when we do a full review.
