Micromax Windows Phones to arrive mid of next year, says co-founder

Is Micromax working on a Windows Phone? Well, the second largest smartphone manufacturer in Indiaby volume recently made big news when it unleashed a series of promotions featuring Hugh Jackman for the Micromax Canvas Turbo, and also announced its plans to enter the European markets like Russia and Romania, but a Windows Phone that is currently dominated by Nokia? The company’s co-founder Rahul Sharma has admitted in an interview that they are indeed working on them, and claims to have them ready for a launch mid next year. Above image is just a mock up we did to see how Windows Phone might look on the recently launched Micromax Canvas Turbo.


Here’s the exact snippet where the co-founder has admitted that they are working on a Windows Phone. It’s an interesting answer to an interesting question -Do you think Nokia’s sale to Microsoft has had any impact on players like yourself? Are you planning to make Windows smartphones sometime in the future?

It has been good for us because they have chosen to stick to the Windows operating system. Had they chosen Android, it would have been a threat for us. But now we’re certain that they will not look at Android, which means lesser competition for us. We are working on a Windows phone and you might see something from us around mid of next year.

It’s clear that they are working on it. Even the question to “when” is partially addressed but how and what are two huge questions that intrigue us. It’s no secret that Steve Ballmer has been recently courting various OEMs from China, who are reportedly being the ODMs for Indian OEMs like Micromax. It was also reported that Microsoft is loosening up the requirements for a hardware based shortcut arrangement, making it easier for Android manufacturers to target Windows Phone with similar hardware, but the question is, will Windows Phone get the widely used MediaTek SoC support? Or has it already? Because, it’s been a Snapdragon monopoly on Windows Phone so far, but Chinese OEMs, and of course many Indian OEMs are major consumers of the MediaTek chipset and if Microsoft is making it easier for Android hardware to support Windows Phone, the popular SoC support is surely in the works. Or may be Snapdragon is still the one, we don’t know for sure.
Nevertheless, Micromax admitting they are working on Windows Phones is really intriguing. With their momentum in India, it is highly possible that they topple Samsung, but cheap and powerful Windows Phone, which have the ability to run smooth on lower end hardware will have interesting implications on the ecosystem, especially now that India, as a country is used to Windows Phone thanks to Nokia. Anyways, what do you think? Is a Micromax Windows Phone good for the ecosystem and good for you? Will you buy one?

Nokia Asha 503 Hands On

Nokia said an interesting good-bye at the Nokia World Event, Abu Dhabi before being taken over by Microsoft by announcing a few Lumia smartphones and Asha feature phones. Nokia Asha 503 was the high-end phone among three Ashas that were launched. Asha 500 shares the same design language as the other Asha 500 series devices, but comes with a new crystal-clear look fusion of ice-like transparency and bold inner color. The Nokia Asha 503 comes with a bigger 3inch display, 5MP rear camera with LED flash and 3G connectivity.

You can check out our quick hands-on video right below.

There is a 3inch QVGA (320 x 240 pixels) touch-screen display and there is a single back button at the center below the display. In terms of software, it runs on the latest Nokia Asha software platform with Swipe UI and Nokia Fast lane multi-tasking screen that brings all the recent activities together. There is a 5MP camera on the back that comes with an LED flash but there is no front camera. As far as connectivity is concerned, it comes fully equipped with 3G, WiFi, Bluetooth, FM Radio and there is a dual-SIM Variant as well.

Nokia Asha 503 will come with 10 free downloadable games from the Nokia store. There is a Nokia Express Browser that compresses data up to 90%. It comes preloaded with apps like WhatsApp,  Foursquare, Facebook and  Twitter apps. The pricing of Nokia Asha 503 was announced as USD99, but when it comes to India, we can expect be it be around Rs. 6,500. The device is expected to be released before the end of this year.

Nokia Lumia 1320 Hands On

Nokia announced their budget phablet Nokia Lumia 1320 along with the Nokia Lumia 1520 at the Abu Dhabi Nokia World event. The specifications of the budget phablet include a 6-inch (1280 x 720 pixels) HD LCD IPS Super sensitive display and Gorilla Glass 3 protection, 1.7GHz dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 processor and Windows Phone 8 OS with the latest Lumia Black update. There is a 5-megapixel rear camera with LED flash and a 0.3-megapixel (VGA) front-facing camera. Nokia Music is available for free streaming of ad-free music along with Nokia HERE maps and location services.

You can check out the quick hands 0n video right below.

Nokia Lumia 1320 specifications

• 6-inch (1280 x 720 pixels) HD LCD IPS Super sensitive display and Gorilla Glass 3 protection
• 1.7 GHz dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 400processor
• Windows Phone 8 OS
• 5MP Auto Focus camera with LED flash, 1080p HD recording at 30 fps
• VGA front-facing camera
• Dimensions - 164.25 x 85.9 x 9.79 mm  Weight - 220 grams
• 1GB RAM, 8GB internal memory, micro SD card support up to 64GB
• 3.5mm audio jack, FM Radio,
• HD Voice, HAAC mic
• 4G LTE/ 3G HSPA+, WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0 + LE, GPS / aGPS, NFC
• 3400 mAh (integrated)

Like most Lumia phones, Nokia Lumia 1320 too comes in a wide variety of colors which includes Orange, Yellow, White, and Black colors and is priced at US$ 339 (~Rs. 20,900) before taxes and subsidies. The phone is expected to be available in India from starting of 2014.

Apple iPhone 5c Dock Unboxing

Every iPhone needs its own dock, that’s Apple’s mandate and the newly launched iPhone 5c is no exception. But there are a couple of reasons why there’s a new dock for the iPhone 5c, which is seemingly just a plastic shell with the same internals as the 5. Well, technically yes and I have answered the question right there. It’s a new plastic shell and with difference in build comes difference in thickness and weight. But the thickness is more of the concern here. While you might be able to use the iPhone 5′s dock for the 5S, it is impossible to do so for the 5c, and hence why we picked one up from Hong Kong for our blue iPhone 5c. Take a look at the unboxing and hands on video here -

The dock works as you’d expect. It has a lightning connector to connect your iPhone to. The iPhone 5c slides in without any problem, but unlike some docks, this one doesn’t support different “seats” for using with a case. Apparently, Apple still thinks people use iPhones without a case, even after releasing its own official cases. Oh well.

A snuggle-y fit -

The bottom of the dock is made of a rubber grip. It’s virtually identical to the iPhone 5′s dock except for the variations in size.

The back of the dock has the 3.5mm jack and the lightning connector. It is advisable to use this dock with a Mac instead of connecting it directly to a wall socket, for the obvious advantage of syncing.

A closer look at the lightning connector of the iPhone 5c dock.

Well, that’s about it really. If you are looking to pick one up, the photos might help. 

Nokia Lumia 1520 launching in the UK next week?

The first Windows Phone phablet, the Nokia Lumia 1520, could launch in the UK this month, less than two weeks after its announcement. According to Carphone Warehouse’s Coming Soon page, the UK retailer will launch the Full HD Lumia 1520 by the end of October and if accurate, this could be the first time Nokia has bought a handset to market within a fortnight of announcing it.

The Lumia 1520 is the first Windows Phone device to feature a 6 inch screen, Full HD resolution and a superfast quad-core processor. The 6 inch 1080p display offers 367 pixels per inch and the 2.2GHz quad-core processor is accompanied by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 chipset and Adreno 330 GPU. The Lumia 1520 comes with Nokia’s imaging prowess as the 20MP camera offers ZEISS Optics, PureView oversampling technology, Optical Image Stabilisation and a dual-LED flash.

At Nokia World 2013 yesterday, where Nokia announced the Lumia 1320 and Lumia 2520 tabletalongside their flagship, the company said it expected the Lumia 1520 to go on sale later this quarter and listed the UK as one of the launch countries. The Nokia 1520 comes with a recommended retail price of $749 (INR 46k) before taxes and subsidies and in the UK it’s expected to retail for around £500 (INR 50k) SIM free and unlocked.

At the moment Carphone Warehouse have only listed it as coming soon without any pricing and this is a tentative release date that is subject to change – we’ll let you know when we have more information on release dates and pricing.

Samsung reports record profit of $9.6 billion in Q3 2013

Samsung just reported its Q3 earnings for 2013, in which the company has managed to make operating profit of 10.16 trillion won (~US$9.6 billion), which is the highest Samsung has ever posted in a single quarter and a 7-percent increase compared to last quarter. It has reported net profit of 8.24  trillion won (~US$7.76 billion) and revenues of 59.08 trillion won (~US$55.6 billion). Mobile phone sales accounted for 35.20 trillion won (~US$33.1 billion), which is 2-percent increase compared to last quarter.

Mobile phone sales were strong in the premium segment with steady increase in sales of the Galaxy S4, Galaxy S3 and Galaxy Note series of smartphones. Sales of low-end Galaxy smartphone increased in the quarter. The Galaxy Tab sales significantly increased compared to the previous quarter due to the new Tab 3 line-up, says Samsung. Samsung expect more sales in the fourth quarter with the Note 3 and the Galaxy Gear launch, which would also be expanded to more countries.

Samsung expects balanced growth in both developed and emerging market  for smartphones and expects an increase in LTE smartphone sales in North America and Korea with affordable LTE plans. It also expects increase in sales of mass-market smartphone and tablets.

Reliance Jio gets unified telecom license across India

Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited (RJIL), a subsidiary of Reliance Industries Limited has announced that it has received unified License for all 22 Service Areas across India. This would allow RJIL to offer all telecom services including voice telephony under a single license. It is the only pan India operator with Broadband Wireless Access (BWA) spectrum across 22 circles capable of offering fourth generation (4G) wireless services.

The Cabinet has approved the New Telecom Policy 2012 back in May 2012 which was the main reason for the introduction of free roaming across the country at a nominal cost and the upcoming Full Mobile Number Portability (MNP). It also stressed on single license across India under a new unified licence regime that prevents a separate license for the operators. MTS India, which operates under Sistema Shyam TeleServices (SSTL) got Unified Telecom License earlier this month.

Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited (RJIL) signed the Unified License Agreement with Government of India, Ministry of Communication & IT, Department of Telecommunication (Access Service Division) on 21st October 2013 after submission of desired documents and payment of requisite entry fee.

With grant of Unified License, RJIL has migrated its existing ISP license along with Broadband Wireless Access (BWA) spectrum to the Unified License with authorisation for all services except Global Mobile Personal Communication by Satellite Service (GMPCS) under Unified License in all service areas.

Reliance Jio Infocomm tied up with Reliance Communications recently to get access to the latter’s optic fiber network. It also signed Rs. 12000 crore Tower deal with RCom for 4G roll out.

Vodafone announces the winner of Drive into the Big League Season 3 contest

Vodafone announced the Vodafone Drive into the Big League contest for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) back in August. Now it has announced Havmor Ice Cream Limited  as the winner of the contest after  two months. This allowed medium enterprise (a company with a turnover of Rs.100-500 Cr) a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity of getting its company logo take prestigious place on the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes cars that will race at the Indian Grand Prix 2013. 

Regarding the contest, Naveen Chopra, Director, Vodafone Business Services, said,

We are overwhelmed by the tremendous response to this unique initiative since the time we started in 2011. The first two seasons of Vodafone Drive into the Big League were aimed at SMEs, but with the third season we decided to give this opportunity to a medium sized enterprise. This initiative has helped Vodafone Business Services understand the goals and challenges of medium sized enterprises and in turn connect with them to provide tailor made business solutions that meet their requirements and expectations.

Vodafone has also announced 4 lucky winnders of the Vodafone SuperFan contest. They  win an all-expense sponsored trip to Delhi, stay with Vodafone McLaren Mercedes team and Jenson Button. These winners would get access to the pit lane and join the on and off-track activities of the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes team.