HTC launches Desire 10 Pro in India at Rs 26,490

HTC India has announced the launch of its new smartphone, the Desire 10 Pro for Rs 26,490. Claiming to offer flagship-level features, the highlight is the 20-MP rear camera and 13-MP front-facing camera with features such as laser auto focus, BSI sensor, auto HDR, panorama mode and continuous shooting for the rear. There is a voice selfie and love make-up modes for capturing selfies.

Featuring a 5.5-inch full-HD display, HTC has opted for Corning Gorilla Glass protection. It runs on MediaTek Helio P10 64-bit Octa-core processor and is paired with 4 GB of RAM.

It has internal storage of 64 GB and expandable memory of up to 2 TB. It has Android 6.0 onboard with HTC Sense user interface.

HTC has also added its own BoomSound profile headset and a dual microphone with noise cancellation. Connectivity options include Bluetooth 4.2, Wi-Fi, 4G LTE and HTC Connect for wireless streaming media from the phone to compatible multi-room audio system, TVs, etc.

There is a 3,000-mAh battery onboard and it supports fast charging.

OnePlus 3T specifications, price and availability in India

OnePlus 3T is the latest device launched by the Chinese company but they are not touting it as the flagship device. The company is playing it fair by calling the device just an upgrade instead of a new flagship as the device will hardly change externally.

The new device will come with a boost in all specifications that matter the most, for every smartphone user.

The OnePlus 3T will come with an updated device with a new and powerful Snapdragon 821 chipset. Other than that the device will come with an improved front facing camera with a resolution of 16 MegaPixel.

The third prominent and most advertised feature is the new battery and its faster capability to dash charge. The company claims to provide a day's charge in 30 minutes.

The availability of the new model in India has not been specified but the company did mention that India will be among the first countries to receive it along with US, China and Hong Kong. The device is scheduled to launch in US on November 22 and on November 29 in China.

The new OnePlus 3T will come in two variants. The 64GB variant will come at a price of $439 (Roughly Rs 29,800) and the 128GB will be priced at $479 (Roughly Rs 32,500). Considering that the current version is mostly low on stock, the company might replace it with the newer version.

Jio might soon launch 4G feature phones with free voice calling at Rs 1000

Jio will be launching a series of cheap 4G feature phones that will come with VoLTE capability.  This can be another groundbreaking achievement if the Mukesh Ambani-owned company is able to deliver.

The Indian phone user base is still governed by feature-phone users. Despite the smartphone revolution in the past couple of years, 65 per cent of phone users are still sticking to feature phones as their daily drivers.

According to a report by Economic Times, Reliance Jio will soon launch a new product category.Given that 2G feature phones still sell in high-numbers, these devices are similarly priced and yet offer much more productivity in the form of 4G capability and free voice calls.

The telecom company will be partnering with Indian smartphone manufacturer Lava for the hardware and might also sell with dual branding.

In the current market for 4G phones, the cheapest devices are selling at a minimum price of Rs 3,000. Jio plans to bring that bracket lower to Rs 1,000-Rs 1,500 by launching an this new product category.

YouTube launches YouTube Kids in India

YouTube on Wednesday announced the launch of YouTube Kids in India, an app the company has built with parents and children in mind that makes it easier for kids to find videos.
 
YouTube has already launched the app in over 20 countries and it has seen over tens of millions downloads so far, the company said. The standalone apps makes it easier for children find videos on topics they want to explore and is available on Google Play and App Store.
 
"YouTube Kids is our first step in reimagining YouTube for families. YouTube Kids comes to India at a great time for millions of India families, as it provides children access to content that will enrich their lives abs create new opportunities for learning, " Malik Ducard, YouTube's Global head of family and learning said at the launch.
 
The app has been designed keeping children in mind and has a bright and playful design. The kid-friendly app has larger images, bold icons and also offers voice search to let children find videos even if they can't spell it.  Users can browse channels and playlists in four categories: Shows, Music, Learning and Explore.
 
There are some parental control features also on the app such as -- Search Settings, which allows parents to make a choice about how broadly they  their child to explore; built-in timer, sound settings, passcode etc. Kids can also stream the YouTube Kids on big screen using Chromecast, Appple TV, game consoles or smart TV.
 
Kids shows is one of the most popular original content category on YouTube and popular channels like ChuChu TV, Videogyan, Wow Kidz etc. have millions of subscribers on the platform. Most India YouTube and learning creators will be adding new shows exclusive to the platform on the occasion of the launch, the company informed.

BlackBerry launches two new Android handsets, DTEK50, DTEK 60

BlackBerry has announced the launch of its two new handsets in the Indian market - the DTEK 60 and DTEK 50. After failing to win the customers with its BB 10 operating system, BlackBerry adopted Android OS and had launched Priv last year. 

The two new smartphones are touted to be the world's most secure Android smartphones with the security aspect built-in to the root level. Although running on Android OS, the smartphones will continue to have special features such as BlackBerry Hub, BlackBerry's security, privacy and more.

The BlackBerry DTEK50 features a 5.2-inch full HD display and runs on Qualcomm Snapdragon 617 octa-core processor along with 3 GB of RAM. It has a 13-MP rear camera and an 8-MP front facing camera. It comes with 16 GB of internal storage with support for expandable memory of up to 2 TB. The DTEK50 is powered by a 2,610-mAh battery and runs on Android 6.0 Marshmallow and has been priced at Rs 21,990.

Priced at Rs 46,990, the DTEK 60 boasts a 5.5-inch Quad HD display. It has a metal frame and looks premium. This is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 64-bit quad-core processor paired with 4 GB RAM. The internal storage is 32 GB with support for 2 TB external memory through microSD card.

DTEK60 also features a 21-MP auto-focus rear camera and an 8-MP front facing camera with front flash. Support Type C connector for charging, it packs in a 3,000-mAh battery with Quick Charge 3.0.

With the launch of DTEK50 and DTEK 60, BlackBerry has announced Optiemus Infracom Limited as the distribution partner for promoting BlackBerry handsets in the Indian market.

Lenovo launches Phab 2 Plus for Rs 14,999

Lenovo has launched the Phab 2 Plus for Rs 14,999 in the Indian market. Touting a dual camera at the rear, it is not the same 'Phab 2 Pro', the first Google Project Tango enabled smartphone, yet comes with the Augmented Reality mode in its camera app.

The Phab 2 Plus features a 6.4-inch full HD display with the 2.5D glass at the top. It is powered by MediaTek MTK8783 octa-core processor with 3 GB RAM. It has 32 GB internal storage and 128 GB expandable storage.

It packs in a dual 13-MP rear cameras with Futjitsu Milbeaut Image Signal Processor that gives professional features like Augmented-Reality special effects, instant focus and fast F2.0 lenses. Lenovo claims that it can be used for capturing images crisp low-light  shots,  high  contrast  while retaining lifelike colors, high detail in the shadow areas and a captivating background blur. The camera software also incorporates a manual mode as well as other special effects. It packs in a 4050mAh battery and comes with fingerprint scanner, and built-in apps including McAfee security, Netflix and Swiftkey. It has also got Dolby Atmos and Dolby Audio Capture 5.1 surround sound support.  Priced at Rs 14,999, it will be available exclusively on Amazon India.

The launch of Phab 2 Plus comes after the launch of the Xiaomi Mi Max measuring a 6.44inch full HD display. The Mi Max powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 650 processor with 3GB RAM and 32GB onboard storage is priced at Rs 14,999.The Prime version of the Mi Max packs in Qualcomm Snapdragon 652 processor with 4GB RAM and 128GB internal storage. Unlike the Phab 2 Plus, the Mi Max packs in a 16MP rear camera.

No WhatsApp for these Android, iOS, Windows phones after December 31

WhatsApp has revealed that it will be stopping support for a number of devices by the end of this year. Before smartphones, Nokia's Symbian was one of the most dominating operating system in the phone market. Despite featuring on legendary Nokia devices, the operating system seems to be coming to an absolute end very soon.

The most popular instant messaging application, WhatsApp has released a statement mentioning the operating systems that won't receive support from the company after the end of 2016. The announcement was made back in February this year.  

The Facebook-owned company believes that the technology needed to incorporate the latest features and security within the app is not available on these operating systems. The blog post stated, "while these mobile devices have been an important part of our story, they don't offer the kind of capabilities we need to expand our app's features in the future." 

These are the operating systems that will not have access to Whatsapp after December 31:

BlackBerry OS and BlackBerry 10

Nokia S40

Nokia Symbian S60

Android 2.1 and Android 2.2

Windows Phone 7.1

iPhone 3GS/iOS 6

The instant messaging company recommended upgrading to a newer Android, iPhone, or Windows Phone before the end of 2016 to continue using WhatsApp.

Samsung wants its employees to learn from the Note 7 crisis

Samsung Electronics wants its employees to be more careful with their work. The South Korean Giant's Chief Executive Kwon Oh-hyun on Tuesday said, "We have a long history of overcoming crises."

Though the company head did not mention the Note 7 debacle in particular, the inference was pretty clear when he mentioned the word "crisis".

In a Thomson Reuters report the head is stated saying, "Let us use this crisis as a chance to make another leap by re-examining and thoroughly improving how we work, how we think about innovation and our perspective of our customers."

Samsung Electronics has been facing the heat of explosive Note 7s as they still haven't figured out the specific reason behind the failure of those handsets. The investigation, that was being focussed on batteries alone, has now expanded to other components of the smartphone.

The biggest recall in the history of modern technology and the eventual halting of productions is estimated to burn a $17 billion hole in Samsung's pocket. The company has registered the lowest earnings from the mobile division since the past eight years.