Micromax launches Dual 5 for Rs 24,999

Home-grown smartphone brand, Micromax on Wednesday announced the launch of a new smartphone Dual 5. The phone will be available in offline as well as online stores including Flipkart from 10th of April and the company is offering a one-year replacement warranty on the phone, in case of any damage.

Dual 5 packs in a 4.7 mm thin chassis and is crafted from a single stab of aluminium. It has a 3D antenna technology, which the company claims offer 20 per cent better network and WiFi reception. The phone has a 5.5 inch display with Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection, it runs on Qualcomm Snapdragon 652 octa-core processor paired with 4GB of RAM and has been provided with an internal storage of 128GB with expandable memory. Dual 5 has an IR Sensor for universal remote and a Freezer app for disabling memory intestine apps and restricting background processes.

Motorola to launch Moto G5 in India on April 4. Here's how you can get one

Motorola launched the Moto G5 Plus in India this month and now the company has announced the launch day of its younger sibling Moto G5. The company has started sending media invites for the launch event on April 4.

Moto G5 will be the successor to Moto G4 that was launched last year and will fit in the 5-inch segment of smartphones.  The device will be available exclusively on Amazon India from 12am on April 5. Amazon Prime members will get  special offers on the launch of the device.

In terms of size, the Moto G5 is just 0.2 inches smaller than the Moto G5 Plus but the internals differ from each other. The Moto G5 comes with a milder Snapdragon 430 chipset where as the Moto G5 Plus is powered by the Snapdragon 625.

In the camera department, the Moto G5 features a 13-megapixel rear camera with PDAF, f/2.0 aperture, and dual-LED flash, and a 5-megapixel wide-angle front camera for selfies.

 The device runs on Android 7.0 Nougat out of the box, and comes in Lunar Grey and Fine Gold colour variants. The Moto G5 is powered by a 2800mAh removable battery with support for quick charging.

The device comes will come with 2GB or 3GB of RAM and 16GB or 32GB of internal storage, with the option to expand further via a a microSD card slot.

Xiaomi launches Redmi 4A for Rs 5,999

After selling over one million Redmi Note 4 units in 45 days in India, Xiaomi India has announce the launch of the Redmi 4A. The new smartphone belongs to the company's budget Redmi smartphone range and features a 5inch HD display. This is a dual SIM smartphone powered by 1.4GHz qual-core Snapdragon 425 processor and is paired with 2GB of RAM. It will be available in 16 GB storage capacity with expandable storage of up to 12GB. The Redmi 4A packs in a 3,120mAh battery and includes connectivity options such as 4G, VoLTE, WiFi, Bluetooth 4.1, GPS, IR port and FM radio. It boasts a 13MP rear camera with f2.2 aperture that is capable of full HD video recording and a 5MP front facing camera. It runs on MIUI 8 based on Android 6.0 and has support for 13 Indian languages.

The device has been priced at Rs 5,999 and will go on sale starting March 23 on Amazon and Mi.com. The Rose Gold variant of the device will be launched on April 6, during the Mi Fan Festival

Looking at the increasing demand for the Xiaomi smartphones, the company is also launching a pre-order feature on its Mi.com portal where the consumers will be able to pre-order smartphones even when they are out of stock.

Apple announces new 9.7-inch iPad priced at Rs 28,900

Along with the Red Special Edition iPhone, Apple has also introduced a new 9.7inch iPad. It features a brighter Retina display and has been priced at Rs 28,900 onwards. Last year, Apple has announced the iPad Pro 9.7 inch on 64-bit A9X chip with a starting price of Rs 49,900.

Enclosed in a thin aluminium unibody enclouser, this new 9.7inch iPad features a bright Retina display with over 3.1 million pixels. It runs on Apple-designed A9 chip with 64 bit desktop-class architecture.

There is a front and back camera for HD video recording and FaceTime video calling. It has also got Touch ID, which gives iPad users a simple and secure way to unlock iPad. It can also be used to approve purchases from the App Store and iTunes Store. The new iPad comes with iOS 10, with features such as Slide Over, Split View and Picture-in-Picture help you do even more.

"iPad is the world's most popular tablet. Customers love the large, 9.7-inch display for everything from watching TV and movies, to surfing the web, making FaceTime calls, and enjoying photos, and now it is even more affordable," said Philip Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing.

"New customers and anyone looking to upgrade will love this new iPad for use at home, in school, and for work, with its gorgeous Retina display, our powerful A9 chip, and access to the more than 1.3 million apps designed specifically for it."

The new 9.7inch iPad will come in silver, gold and space gray with a starting price of Rs 28,900 for the 32GB with Wi-Fi model and Rs 39,900 for the 32GB Wi-Fi + Cellular model. 

Apple launches Red iPhone 7

Apple has announced a special edition of iPhone 7 and iPhone 7Plus. The new red aluminium iPhone will be available in 128GB and 256GB capacities and will be available starting March 24 in select countries. The Red Special edition of the iPhone will be priced in India starting Rs 82,000 and upwards and will be available in April.

The Red Special edition of the iPhone has been launched in recognition of more than 10 years of partnership between Apple and (RED). Apple believes that this will give customers an unprecedented way to contribute to the Global Fund and bring the world a step closer to an AIDS-free generation.

"Since we began working with (RED) 10 years ago, our customers have made a significant impact in fighting the spread of AIDS through the purchase of our products, from the original iPod nano (PRODUCT)RED Special Edition all the way to today's lineup of Beats products and accessories for iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch," said Tim Cook, Apple's CEO.

He further added, "Apple is the world's largest corporate donor to the Global Fund, contributing more than $130 million as part of its partnership with (RED)," said Deborah Dugan, (RED)'s CEO. "Combining the global reach of the world's most loved smartphone with our efforts to provide access to life-saving ARV medication in sub-Saharan Africa, customers now have a remarkable opportunity to make a difference and contribute to the Global Fund through the purchase of this new beautiful (PRODUCT)RED iPhone."

The iPhone 7 and iPhone 7Plus in Red continues to have the same specifications as on the models launched in September last year. The iPhone 7 and an iPhone 7 Plus, measuring a 4.7inch and a 5.5inch display (respectively) runs on Apple A10 chipset  along with iOS 10 and are water and dust resistant.

The iPhone 7 packs in a 12MP new rear camera whereas the 7Plus has a dual camera system with an additional telephoto lens. Both the phones have optical image stabilization. The iPhone 7 32GB is available for Rs 60,000, 128GB for 70,000 and 256GB for 80,000. The iPhone 7Plus 32GB has been retailing for Rs 72,000, 128GB for 82,000 and 256GB for Rs 92,000. The Red Special Edition will start retailing for Rs 82,000 onwards.

This is how Facebook wants to make money using WhatsApp

WhatsApp used to be a simple instant messaging application a couple of years back. The revenue system of the chat was not well defined. However, after Facebook acquired the application at a hefty amount ($19 billion), it's making sure the app can start generating revenue. In last year's Facebook conference, the company had outlined a few methods to make WhatsApp a more investor friendly entity.

Company chief, Mark Zuckerberg mentioned that through WhatsApp, companies will be able to interact with their desired customer in a very personal and direct way. The feature is finally seeing the light of the day and is being tested by WhatsApp.

According to a report by Reuters, there is no official announcement about the tests, but the feature is being used by business ventures like Y Combinator, a United States based seed accelerator, which helps promising young tech firms grow rapidly.

This new feature falls perfectly in line with what WhatsApp's promise to focus on rolling out commercial messaging this year for businesses as it looks to tap into enterprises for monetising its platform.

The business model has previously been put to use on Facebook's Messenger. The user can not only interact with various businesses but also complete the payment with the application. The same chat-bot model might come into play with WhatsApp.

WhatsApp hardly used to benefit from its subscription charges, which does not justify Facebook's mighty investment in the application. This new feature will turn that around and help WhatsApp generate revenue by giving businesses direct access to over 1 billion users.

India is also the biggest market for WhatsApp. Of its over one billion users, about 200 million are here. Last month, Brian Acton, co-founder of popular messaging app WhatsApp, called IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad to discuss ways in which the company can contribute to Indias vision for digital commerce.

Highlighting the countrys importance, Acton said WhatsApp hopes to contribute more to "Indias vision for digital commerce in future".
Facebook-owned WhatsApp has almost become the default messaging application for people in countries like India and Brazil. In India, it competes with the likes of Hike, Snapchat and Viber.

WhatsApp to bring back text status in both Android, iOS

Last month WhatsApp took a shot at becoming more than just an instant messaging application by launching Snapchat-like 'Status' feature. The feature had not generated much excitement among the WhatsApp user base.

The problem started when an average consumer couldn't find the conventional text status. WhatsApp had traded the text status for something more visual, pictures as status that lasted for 24 hours. 

However, according to a report by The Independent, the company has faced a huge backlash by the consumers leading to a roll-back of the status feature. The text-only status will now be back. But the new stories-like feature will also continue alongside the text status.

A spokesperson from WhatsApp stated, "we heard from our users that people missed the ability to set a persistent text-only update in their profile, so we've integrated this feature into the 'About' section in profile settings. Now, the update will appear next to profile names anytime you view contacts, such as when creating a new chat or looking at Group info. At the same time, we're continuing to build on the new Status feature that gives people fun and engaging ways to share photos, videos and GIFs with their friends and family throughout their day."

According to the report, the change has already been implemented in the beta version of the Android app and will come to the final version by next week. With iOS, the time isn't mentioned specifically but it  is likely get the update soon.

WhatsApp started out as a way for people to let their friends know what they are up to - at work or available, for example. Instant messaging, now the app's main function, was added later.

But it's also a sign that the Facebook-owned app is expanding the amount of features it has, just as Instagram, another Facebook subsidiary, has been doing over the years.

WhatsApp has more than 1 billion users. The company says its users spend more than 50 billion messages each day, including 3.3 billion photos, 760 million videos and 80 million GIFs - the animated images that make many popular internet memes.

Coolpad launches Note 5 Lite for Rs 8,199

Coolpad has launched Note 5 Lite, a pocket-friendly, mid-segment smartphone. A basic version of Coolpad Note 5 that was launched last year, the Note 5 Lite costs Rs 8,199. It will be available only on Amazon India and will go on sale from March 21.

The Coolpad Note 5 Lite features a 5-inch HD display and is covered with scratch-resistant 2.5D cured glass on the top. It measures 145.3x72.3x8.7mm and weighs 148g. With 1GHz Mediatek quad-core processor under the hood, it offers 3GB RAM and 16GB of internal storage with support for expandable memory card. This dual-SIM device comes with Android 6.0 Marshmallow, with Cool UI 8.0 skinned on top of it. There is a 13MP rear camera with dual-LED flash and an 8MP front camera with LED flash. Additional features include a fingerprint sensor at the rear and USB OTG support. Connectivity options include 4G LTE, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS, micro USB port and a 3.5mm audio jack. It packs in a 2,500 mAh battery, with standby time of up to 200 hours.

"Our endeavour will be to unveil products that empower our esteemed customers. In line with this commitment, we also plan to unveil a strong future product line, to be up by pre-Diwali," said Syed Tajuddin, chief executive of Coolpad India.