Big announcements this week came from the biggest computing giant Microsoft. Company at its Windows 10 devices event in New York unveiled its first ever Laptop Surafce Book, the new Lumias, upgraded convertible Surface Pro, and a lot more.
The Microsoft Surface Book is the first ever laptop made by Microsoft. It is essentially a high performance laptop machine which is also has a detachable form factor. You can separate the keyboard and it can be used as a standalone tablet. The display is 13.5-inch in size and has the same 267ppi as the Surface Pro 4. The screen has an aspect ratio of 3:2, a contrast ratio of 1800:1 and a resolution of 3000×2000 pixels. The tablet alone is just 7.7mm thin and with the keyboard, the entire device is around 22.8mm thick.
The device will go on-sale from October 26th onwards starting at US$ 1499 but pre-orders begin from October 7th onwards. Checkout complete details here, and the variants configuration and pricing here.
Microsoft alongside unveiled the latest generation of their Surface Pro dubbed the Surface Pro 4. It brings on board the latest Intel Skylake processors and Windows 10 in a thinner and lighter yet more powerful form factor that starts at US$ 899.
The Surface Pro 4 looks very much identical to the Surface Pro 3 from last year, however it does manage to pack a larger 12.3-inch display in the same footprint.The display has 5 million pixels (2160×1440 pixels) that translates to roughly around 267PPI.
Similarly, the Type Cover for the Surface Pro 4 is also lighter and thinner but features a larger trackpad and more space between keys. There is a new Surface dock as well that has 4 USB 3.0 ports, 2 Display Ports (supports up to 4k resloution) and an Ethernet port. Both the Type Cover and new dock are backwards compatible with the Surface Pro 3 as well. The device will support up to 16GB of RAM, 1TB of storage and will start at US$ 899. It will be available from October 26th onwards.
At the same event, company also showcased its two new Windows 10 powered Lumia smartphones – the Lumia 950 and Lumia 950 XL priced at $549 and $649 respectively.
The Microsoft Lumia 950 packs a 5.2-inch (1440×2560 pixels) AMOLED display, is powered by an hexa-core Snapdragon 808 processor coupled with 3GB of RAM, and runs Windows 10 out-of-the-box. It packs a 20-megapixel autofocus rear camera with ZEISS optics, with 5th Optical Image Stabilization (OIS), triple LED flash and a 5-megapixel front-facing camera. There is also Lumia 950 Dual SIM, which as name suggests is a dual-SIM variant.
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The Microsoft Lumia 950 XL packs a 5.7-inch (1440×2560 pixels) AMOLED display, is powered by an octa-core Snapdragon 810 processor and runs Windows 10 out-of-the-box. It packs a 20-megapixel autofocus rear camera with ZEISS optics, 5th gen Optical Image Stabilization (OIS), triple LED flash and a 5-megapixel front-facing camera, same as Lumia 950. There is also a dual-SIM variant of the smartphone.
The Redmond giant alongside unveiled its next generation fitness tracker dubbed as Microsoft Band. It is sleeker than the original Band and features a curved display and comes with 11 advanced sensors. The new Microsoft Band is equipped with a Cortana integration. In case of Windows Phone 8.1 or later, users can ask Cortana to type or dictate responses with your voice.
The new Microsoft Band is priced at $249.99 and is up for pre-order. It will start shipping from October 30. Read full details here.
Microsoft also showcased its future tech – the Hololens Developer Kit at the event. The kit will be available for developers in Q1 of 2016. The Windows 10-powered augmented reality device is priced at $3000.
The HoloLens is a fully standalone device that includes a custom “holographic processing unit,”. It is a wearable headset with a lens that combines virtual reality, augmented reality and video. Microsoft claims that HoloLens is world’s first untethered holographic computer that does not need any wires, phones or connection to a PC.
Lastly, Microsoft introduced a new Display Dock HD-500 that will offer PC-like experience using Continuum for Phones when connected an external monitor.
Company did not announce the pricing of the dock at the event, but later in the week the pricing was revealed. The Microsoft Display Dock HD-500 will be priced at $99 (Rs. 6410 approx.) excluding taxes, when it goes on sale along with the Lumia 950 and 950 XL sometime in November. Some retailers will also bundle it will these smartphones.
Weekly Launches in India
Motorola finally launched the Moto X Style in India this week. The smartphone was announced back in July along with the Moto X Play that was launched in India recently starting at Rs. 18,499.
The Moto X Style packs a 5.7-inch (1440×2560 pixels) Quad HD display, is powered by a 1.8 GHz hexa-core Snapdragon 808 processor with Adreno 418 GPU, runs on Android 5.1.1 (Lollipop) OS, has a 21-megapixel rear camera with dual LED flash 4K video recording and a 5-megapixel front-facing camera with LED flash. Motorola has recently promised Android 6.0 (Marshmallow) update for the smartphone.
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The Motorola Moto X Style comes in Black and White colors and is priced at Rs. 29,999 for the 16GB variant and the 32GB variant costs Rs. 31,999. It will be available for pre-order exclusively from Flipkart from midnight of October 14th.
Meizu launched the successor of the Meizu m1 in India dubbed the Meizu m2. The smartphone was announced back in July. It packs a 5-inch HD screen with a screen-to-body ratio of 75.6%, is powered by a 1.3 GHz quad-core 64-bit MediaTek processor coupled with 2GB of RAM, and runs on Android 5.1 (Lollipop) with FlyMe OS 4.5. It has a 13-megapixel rear camera with LED flash and a 5-megapixel front-facing camera.
The Meizu m2 comes in White, Grey, Blue and Pink colors and is priced at Rs. 6,999. You can register for the sale on Snapdeal. Registration closes on 11th October at 4pm and the sale will commence on October 12th, Monday.
Coolpad launched its Note 3 smartphone in India exclusively on Amazon.in. The Coolpad Note 3 comes in White color and is priced at Rs. 8,999. The first flash sale is scheduled for October 20th at 2PM. Registrations for the sale has already started on Amazon.
The Coolpad Note 3 packs a 5.5-inch HD display, is powered by an Octa-Core 64-bit MediaTek MT6753 processor coupled with 3GB of RAM, and runs on Android 5.1 (Lollipop) with company’s Cool UI on top. It has a 13-megapixel rear camera with LED flash and a 5-megapixel front-facing camera.
Huawei introduced the Honor 7 smartphone in China back in July, and the international version of the smartphone was launched in Europe in August. This week, the company launched the Honor 7 in India. It packs a 5-inch 1080p display, is powered by an octa-core HiSilicon Kirin 935 SoC based on big.LITTLE configuration and runs on Android 5.0 (Lollipop) with Emotion UI 3.1 on top.
The company has promised to roll out Android 6.0 (Marshmallow) update for the smartphone in beta in January and stable update will arrive in February 2016. It has a 20-megapixel rear camera with Sony sensor, LED flash, Phase Detection Auto Focus that would let you focus a subject in just 0.1 second and a 8-megapixel front-facing camera with LED flash for capturing better selfies even in poor lighting conditions.
The firm had introduced its first Honor smart band called Honor Zero back in July, this week company launched it in India as Honor Band Z1. It looks like a smartwatch, shows time and has a 1.06 inch (128 x 128 pixels) OLED display. It has brushed metal bezel around the dial and doesn’t have any physical buttons. It works with both Android and iOS devices, will show message notifications and incoming call alerts.
You can also mute incoming calls easily. It is also water and dust proof with IP68 certification. It has pedometer and tracks your steps, calories burnt and other activities. It can also track your sleep and has silent alarm to wake you up from sleep. The Huawei Honor Band Z1 has textured rubber strap and comes in Black, Beige, White color band options. It is priced at Rs. 5499 and will go on sale in India sale by the end of October.
Gionee finally launched its flagship Elife E8 in India this week at Rs. 34,999. The smartphone was announced back in June and packs a 6-inch (2560 x 1440 pixels) AMOLED display with Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection, is powered by a 2 GHz Octa-core MediaTek Helio X10 (MT6795) 64-bit processor and runs on Android 5.1 Lollipop with Amigo UI 3.1 on top. It has a 24-megapixel rear camera with Dual tone LED flash and a 8-megapixel front-facing camera with wide-angle lens.
It has aluminum magnesium alloy frame, NXP Smart PA audio chip, stereo speakers with DTS support and a fingerprint sensor on the back. It also has dual SIM support and 4G connectivity with support for 4G bands for India.
Micromax this week launched the Canvas Lapbook L1161 and Canvas Laptab LT777 with quad-core Intel Atom processors and Windows 10. The Canvas Lapbook has a 11.6-inch (1366 x 768 pixels) display and it is the company’s first clam shell laptop. The Canvas Laptab LT777 comes with a 11.6-inch (1366 x 768 pixels) display and has a detachable keyboard, similar to its Canvas Laptab 666. Check out the complete specifications here.
The Micromax Canvas Lapbook L1161 is priced at Rs. 13,999 and will be available from October 9th from Snapdeal. The Micromax Canvas Laptab LT777 is priced at Rs. 17,999 and will be available from Amazon.in from October 13th.
Lastly, Jabra launched its new Jabra Eclipse Bluetooth headset in India at Rs. 7,999. It weighs just 5.5 grams, has a sleek design, and are designed to block out background noise, has HD voice technology and the music-grade speaker transmits the full dynamic audio range with warmth, claims the company.
The Jabra Eclipse comes in Black and White colours. The Black version will be available online from Flipkart and also in stores by middle of October, and the white edition will be available by the October-end.