This week’s biggest announcement was Samsung’s flagship phone Galaxy S8 and S8+. The company also introduced new Gear 360 and a VR with controller. Micromax launched the Dual 5, ACT Fibernet launched 1Gbps wired broadband service.
Samsung announced Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ smartphones at its New York event. Both the phones have Infinity Display – an end-to-end, bezel-less screen that extends to the phone’s sides. S8 comes with a 5.8-inch Quad HD+ screen and the S8+ comes with a 6.2-inch Quad HD+ screen, both with Corning Gorilla Glass 5 protection on the front and the back. The phones are powered by Octa-Core Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 with Adreno 540 GPU / Octa-Core Samsung Exynos 9 Series 8895 processor, depending upon the markets.
They come with Iris scanner, fingerprint sensor and heart rate monitor. It is water resistant up to 1.5 meters of water for 30 minutes with IP68 ratings. The Samsung Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ come in Midnight Black, Orchid Gray, Coral Blue, Arctic Silver, and Maple Gold colors. The Galaxy S8 is priced at $750 (Rs. 48,660 approx.) and the Galaxy S8+ costs $850 (Rs. 55,140 approx.).
Samsung also introduced new Gear 360 camera that offers 4K video recording. The 2017 model comes with 8.4 megapixel image sensors and Bright Lens F2.2 on both dual fisheye lenses, which enables the Gear 360 to create high resolution images.
The latest Gear 360 is compatible with Samsung Galaxy S8, S8+, Galaxy S7, S7 edge, Galaxy Note 5, Galaxy S6, S6 edge, S6 edge+, Galaxy A5 (2017) and Galaxy A7 (2017). The new Gear 360 is also compatible with iOS devices including the iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus, iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus and iPhone SE.
Samsung also announced DeX dock for Galaxy S8 and S8+. DeX provides an Android-based desktop-like experience that enables users to seamlessly access apps, edit documents, browse the web, watch videos, reply to messages and more, directly from the smartphone on a larger display, keyboard and mouse. It comes with an HDMI port, two USB ports, Bluetooth connectivity and a cooling fan.
Users will have to insert their Samsung smartphone into the DeX Station, which connects the smartphone to an HDMI compatible monitor, and connect to any Bluetooth-enabled, USB or RF-type keyboard and mouse. The DeX Station also features Adaptive Fast Charging (AFC) technology.
Movado announced Movado Connect Android Wear 2.0 smartwatch that sports an edge-to-edge, always-on display specifically. It will launch with 100 watchfaces. The Connect has always-on screen feature and support of NFC which means it will allow people to use Android Pay from the watch. The smartwatch will support Google Assistant and will get access to all Android Wear 2.0 apps.
Micromax launched Dual 5 smartphone in the new Dual series with dual 13-megapixel rear Sony sensors, one with monochrome lens for capturing details and other with RGB lens. It combines both the shots to creature a perfect image. The secondary camera also offers background blur. It has f/1.8 aperture. It also has a 13-megapixel front camera with soft LED flash.
It has a 5.5-inch 1080p AMOLED display with ultra thin bezels, is powered by an Octa-Core Snapdragon 652 processor, has 4GB of RAM and features a unibody metal design.
The Micromax Dual 5 comes in Gold color and is priced at Rs. 24,999. It will be available from April 10th through Flipkart, Micromax Store and offline stores across India.
ACT Fibernet launched its 1Gbps (Giga speeds) wired broadband service in Hyderabad, making it the first Internet Service Provider in India to launch Gigabit broadband for customers in India. It costs Rs. 5,999 per month and comes with 1TB FUP after that speed will be throttled to 10 Mbps. Installation charges is Rs. 5000 since 50 to 60 meters of wiring needs to be changed.
Sony launched new SF-G Series of SD card as the world’s fastest SD card with a write speed of up to 299 MB/s and read speed of up to 300MB/s last month. It supports 4K, 2K, Full HD and XAVCS Codec. These new SD cards will be available across India from April 3rd and is backed by a 5-year warranty.
Panasonic launched Eluga Ray Max and Eluga Ray X, its latest smartphones in the new Eluga Ray series that comes with Arbo, a smart AI assistant built by the company. Both the phones have a unibody metal design, features a fingerprint sensor, have a selfie flash and come with 4G connectivity with support for VoLTE.
The Panasonic Eluga Ray Max comes in Rose Gold, Space Grey and Gold and is priced at Rs. 11,499 for the 32GB version and the 64GB version costs Rs. 12,499. It will be available exclusively on Flipkart starting April 1st. The Eluga Ray X comes in Rose Gold, Space Grey, Gold and is priced at Rs. 8999. It will also be available exclusively from Flipkart.
Panasonic launched LUMIX GH5, the latest flagship model under LUMIX G DSLM cameras based on the Micro Four Thirds system standard. It has a large LVF (Live View Finder) and sports a 3.2-inch free-angle rear screen in 3:2 aspect with 1,620K-dot high-resolution.
With LUMIX GH5, users can shoot a 6K photo at 30fps and 4K photo at 60fps under three exclusive modes — 6K/4K Burst, 6K/4K Burst (Start/Stop) and 6K/4K Pre-burst. In terms of connectivity, this camera supports Bluetooth 4.2 and Wi-Fi 5GHz (IEEE 802.11ac) options.
The Lumix GH5 Body is priced at Rs. 1,43,990 and DC-GH5 Kit with 12-60 mm F2.8-4.0 costs Rs. 1,88,990. It is available from Panasonic stores across the country.
DataWind has launched Punjabi Education Tablet VidyaTab-Punjabi in partnership with Vismaad Inc., leading developer of educational and animated Punjabi content. It has over 100 learning features that teach Punjabi language and Gurumukhi script, as well as all other educational quotients that enhance the knowledge base of students.
It has same specifications as the Ubislate 7DCX that includes a 7-icnh (800 x 480 pixels) display, 1.3GHz dual-core dual processor, 512MB RAM, 4GB of internal storage, dual SIM slots with voice calling, 2G support, WiFi, Bluetooth and a 2500mAh battery.
The DataWind Vidyatab Punjabi is priced at an MRP of Rs. 3,999, but it is available for as low as Rs. 2,999.