Weekly Roundup: CES 2016 Announcements, Lenovo K4 Note, Microsoft Surface Pro 4 in India and more

This week kicked off with some big Consumer Electronic Show (CES) 2016 announcements and few equally big launches here in the country. Checkout our full coverage from Las Vegas and India below.

Weekly Launches in India

Lenovo this week launched the successor smartphone of popular K3 Note in India, but this time around as a part of its Vibe lineup dubbed the Lenovo Vibe K4 Note. Check out the Lenovo Vibe K4 Note hands-on impressions and the photo galley here.

The K4 Note packs a 5.5-inch 1080p display, similar to the K3 Note, but this is powered by a 1.3GHz Octa-Core 64-bit MediaTek MT6753 processor, runs on Android 5.1 (Lollipop), has a 13-megapixel rear camera with dual-tone LED flash and a 5-megapixel front-facing camera. It also has dual SIM support and 4G connectivity, including support for LTE bands in India.

httpv://youtu.be/bux4B0NsSNI

It also has a fingerprint sensor on the back, comes with dual front-facing speakers, features Dolby Atmos and has three microphones for clear audio recording. The Lenovo Vibe K4 Note comes in Tuxedo Black color and is priced at Rs. 11,999 in India. It will be available exclusively from Amazon through flash sales starting from 19th January at 2PM. Registrations have already started. Lenovo also launched its ANTVR headset for Rs. 1299 and the K4 Note VR bundle costs Rs. 12,499.

Microsoft launched the Surface Pro 3 and Surface Pro 4 in India this week. The Surface Pro 4 packs a 12.3-inch (2160×1440 pixels) display with 267PPI and has new display technology that Microsoft is calling PixelGlass that has 1024 different pressure sensitivity levels, is powered by latest Intel Skylake processors, runs the latest Windows 10, has an 8-megapixel camera at the back and a 5-megapixel camera at the front.

Pricing for different SKUs and accessories

• Microsoft Surface Pro 4 – 6th Gen Intel Core i5, 4GB RAM and 128GB SSD – Rs. 89,990
• Microsoft Surface Pro 4 – 6th Gen Intel Core i5, 8GB RAM and 256GB SSD – Rs. 1,20,990
• Microsoft Surface Pro 4 – 6th Gen Intel Core i7, 8GB RAM and 256GB SSD – Rs. 1,44,990
• Microsoft Type Cover (Blue and Black) – Rs. 12,490
• Microsoft Surface Pen – Rs. 5,990

Lenovo Announcements at CES 2016

Lenovo announced a lite version of new selfie-focus smartphone Vibe S1 Lite, ahead of CES 2016. The company introduced Vibe S1 with dual selfie cameras back in IFA 2015 in September, which was launched in India in November. The Vibe S1 Lite doesn’t have dual selfie cameras, but it has an 8-megapixel camera on the front with Sony sensor and a soft LED flash for capturing better images even in low lighting conditions. It has a 13-megapixel rear camera with dual-tone LED flash and phase-detection auto-focus (PDAF).

The Lenovo Vibe S1 Lite comes in  Matte White and Matte Blue colors and is priced at $199 (Rs. 13,250 approx.). It will roll out starting from early 2016.

The firm introduced the “world’s thinnest convertible laptop” – the YOGA 900S at CES. It is a 12-inch laptop that is just 12.8mm thick and weighs in at 999 grams. That is ultra thin and light for any kind of laptop let alone a convertible one. Lenovo was able to achieve this feat using a new Carbon Fiber construction.

Like most other laptops in the YOGA series, the 900S also has different modes of use, 4 to be exact with the help of a 360 degree watchband hinge. The hinge has a really good build much like the YOGA 3 Pro. It is powered by an Intel Core m7 processor and has a touchscreen with a resolution of 2560×1440 pixels.

The laptop also has Dolby Audio Premium as well as support for optional pen input. The laptop will run on Windows 10 out of the box and will start at a price of US$1,099 (Around Rs 73,000) when it becomes available in March 2016. It will come in both a silver/black as well as a gold/black colour combo as seen in the photos.

Lenovo also announced an array of new laptops in its ThinkPad T and L series ahead of CES. The company had unveiled T460s, T460, T560 and T460p in the T series while L460 and L560 in the L series. Check full details here.

Pricing and availability 

• ThinkPad T460 starts from $909 (Rs. 60,557 approx.) and ThinkPad T560 from $969 (Rs. 64,523 approx.), available starting February.
• ThinkPad T460s starts $1,059 (Rs. 70,527 approx.) and ThinkPad T460p from $1,249 (Rs. 83,208 approx.) available starting February.
• ThinkPad L460 starts at $749 (Rs.49, 874 approx) and ThinkPad L560 starts at $779 (Rs. 51,880 approx), available starting February.
• ThinkPad X260 starts at $929 (Rs. 61, 870 approx.), available starting February.

Although it shares a similar name to the world’s lightest convertible laptop, the YOGA 900S, the ideapad Y900 is a different beast altogether. The ideapad Y900 is a 17.3 inch laptop with a FullHD anti-glare screen.

It packs in the latest 6th Generation Intel Skylake i7 processor and comes with the NVIDIA GTX 980M GOU with 4/8GB GDDR5. The RAM is configurable upto 64GB with the help of the 4 slots along with upto 512GB SDD, 1TB HDD SATA 3. The laptop has a mechanical keyboard with customizable lighting to make your gaming experience even more enjoyable.

There are 3 USB 3.0 ports, 1 USB 2.0 port with always-on charging support and one USB Type-C port that supports USB 3.1, Thunderbolt and Display Port. It weighs around 4.6kgs excluding the power brick and with a 6 Cell 90Wh battery. It will run on Windows 10 when it releases in June 2016 and will start at $1,999 (around Rs 1.33 lakhs).

• Lenovo announces the ideapad 700 – Powerful 15 and 17 inch laptops
• Lenovo introduces ThinkPad X1 Yoga with OLED display, new ThinkPad X1 Carbon, ThinkVision display and more
• Lenovo ThinkPad X1 modular tablet announced, lets you add projector, 3D camera and more
• Lenovo’s ideacentre 610S doesn’t require a monitor – Has an optional wireless projector
• ideacentre Y900 RE combines Lenovo’s expertise with Razer’s gaming technology
• Lenovo to launch the first Project Tango smartphone for consumers for under $500
• Lenovo ideapad 710S announced – A portable yet powerful 13 inch laptop

Huawei Announcements at CES 2016

Huawei at CES unveiled two new Android Wear powered smartwatches that are specifically designed for women. Dubbed as Jewel and Elegant, both the watches sport a 1.4″ circular AMOLED display. Checkout our First Impressions of the two watches.

Both the watches have a premium look and sports gold cases and thinner bands as they are targeted at women. They come with a scratch-resistant, two-layer Sapphire crystal; and 316L cold-forged stainless steel bodies. The Elegant and Jewel watches are larger than the original Huawei Watch with a dial of 44mm as opposed to 42mm. The crown button is present the 2’o clock position. The Elegant features a top ring design on a rose-gold plated body while the Jewel features 68 Swarovski Zirconia encircling the face. Both the watches come with a selection of exclusive watch faces.

Both the watches have specifications similar to the original Huawei watch. The Huawei Elegant is priced at $499 while the Huawei Jewel is priced at $599. Both the watches will be available in the U.S. in the first quarter of 2016.

Huawei announced the flagship Mate 8 smartphone at an event in China back in November last year, today the company has announced the smartphone for international markets at the CES 2016. To remind you, the 6-inch 1080p display with 2.7mm ultra narrow frame, 83% screen-to-body ratio and 2.5D glass, is powered by a Octa-Core HiSilicon Kirin 950 SoC with IntelliSense i5 sensor hub and runs on Android 6.0 (Marshmallow) with Emotion UI 4.0 on top.

httpv://youtu.be/AHdoqD6g1R4

The Huawei Mate 8 comes in Champagne Gold, Moonlight Silver, Space Gray and Mocha Brown colors and is priced at EUR 599 ($643 / Rs. 42,770 approx.) for 3GB RAM with 32GB storage variant and EUR 699 ($750 / Rs. 49,900 approx.) for the 4GB RAM with 64GB storage variant.

Huawei had announced the G8 smartphone in the G Series at the IFA last year. Now this week company introduced the same phone as Huawei GX8 for the US at the CES 2016. To remind you, the smartphone packs a 5.5-inch 1080p screen, is powered by a 1.5GHz octa-core Snapdragon 616 SoC, runs Android 5.1 (Lollipop) with Huawei Emotion UI 3.1, has a 13-megapixel rear camera with dual-tone LED flash and 5-megapixel front-facing camera. Huawei GX8 First Impressions

It comes with all-metal uni-body build and a fingerprint sensor 2.0 on the back. It also has 4G LTE connectivity and packs a 3000mAh battery. The Huawei GX8 comes in gold, gray and silver colors and is priced at $349.99 (Rs. 23,285 approx.).

Huawei also officially announced MediaPad M2 10.0 tablet at the CES 2016. It has a 10.1-inch Full HD IPS display, is powered by a 2GHz Kirin 930 64-bit Octa-Core processor and runs on Android 5.1 (Lollipop) with Emotion UI 3.1 on top. It has a 13-megapixel auto focus rear camera with LED flash, 5-megapixel front-facing camera. Watch our video below for more.

httpv://youtu.be/6xLh5KuTcCU

The Huawei MediaPad M2 10.0 16GB ROM/2GB RAM variant comes in silver color and the 64GB ROM/3GB RAM variant comes in gold color along with bundled active stylus. It will be available in the US in the first quarter of 2016. It is priced at $349 (Rs. 23,220 approx.) for the base 16GB ROM/ 2GB RAM Wi-Fi variant and the 4G LTE variant of it is priced at $399 (Rs. 26,545 approx.). The 64GB ROM/3GB RAM WiFi variant with stylus costs $419 (Rs. 27,875 approx.) and its 4G variant with stylus is priced at $469 (Rs. 31,200 approx.)

LG Announcements at CES 2016

LG took wraps of two new smartphones in the K series ahead CES 2016 and showcased it at the event. The LG K7 and LG K10 are the first two devices in the K series which come with the advanced camera technology and UX features. LG K7 First Impressions

LG says that K Series smartphones will be the first to offer company’s glossy pebble design language that is complemented by a new 2.5D Arc Glass. The sides of K Series smartphones don’t have any buttons as the power and volume buttons are present at the back. LG K10 First Impressions

The LG K10 comes in White, Indigo and Gold color option while the K7 comes in White, Black and Gold. Both the phones come in different specifications as they will be available in different markets.

The Display wing from LG introduced its 18-inch flexible OLED panel that is rollable, along with 18-inch transparent OLED panel back in 2014. At that time it said that it will develop an Ultra HD flexible and transparent OLED panels of more than 60 inches by 2017.

As we already know, the flexible 18-inch OLED panel has a 1200 x 810 pixel resolution and the curvature radius of it is 30R. It can be rolled up to a radius of 3cm without affecting the function of the display. Check more details here.

Samsung Announcements at CES 2016

Samsung introduced the Gear S2 classic with a Black finish and a matching genuine leather band back in IFA 2015. Now at CES 2016 this week, company added two new premium variants of the Gear S2 Classic, one encased in 18K Rose Gold and another in Platinum. As we already know, the Gear S2 Classic has a 1.2-inch ( 360×360 pixels) Circular Super AMOLED displays, rotating bezel and run on Tizen based wearable platform. Samsung Gear S2 Classic 18K Rose Gold and Platinum edition Hands on

The new Gear S2 classic in Rose Gold case with an Ivory Genuine Leather Band and Platinum case with a Black Genuine Leather Band will roll out globally beginning this February. No details about the pricing of the new variants yet.

Samsung announced the Samsung Galaxy TabPro S, it’s first 2-in-1 Windows 10 Tablet at the CES 2016. It has a 12-inch (2160×1440 pixels) Super AMOLED display with 94% of natural tones, is powered by 6th Gen Intel Core M processor, has 4GB of RAM, 128/256GB SSD, 5-megapixel auto focus rear and a 5-megapixel front-facing camera. It weighs 693 grams and has LTE Cat 6. support as an option.

It comes bundled with a full-sized keyboard cover that has a flexible hinge enables optimal, dual-angle viewing and connects via Pogo pin that eliminates the need for pairing or charging separately. The keyboard also has a touchpad to provide easy control, even when used in Stand Mode.

The Samsung Galaxy TabPro S comes in Black and White colors, and will be available globally, starting from February 2016. Multi-port adapter (HDMI, USB Type A & C) and Bluetooth Pen will be available for purchase separately. No details about the pricing yet.

The firm also announced the third product in their Chromebook lineup – the Chromebook 3. It weighs 1.14kgs and is around 17mm thick. It comes with 16GB of flash memory that makes it quite fast and power efficient giving a battery life of upto 11 hours. It has a 11.6 inch anti-glare screen with a resolution of 1366×768. It is powered by an Intel Celeron N3050 chipset and comes with Intel HD graphics in either 2GB or 4GB RAM variants.

The laptop will be made available on Samsung.com as well as a few retailers during early 2016 but the pricing hasn’t yet been announced.

• Samsung introduces new Soundbar with Dolby Atmos
• Samsung T3 portable SSD with USB Type-C, support for Android devices announced

Acer Announcements at CES 2016

Acer teased its flagship smartphone the Liquid Jade Primo running Windows 10 at the IFA last year. This week company officially detailed all the features of the smartphone and revealed its pricing. The Liquid Jade Primo packs a 5.5-inch 1080p AMOLED display with 2.5D Corning Gorilla Glass protection, is powered by an Hexa-Core Snapdragon 808 processor, has 21-megapixel rear camera with dual LED flash, 4K video recording and a 8-megapixel front-facing camera with up to 84-degree wide-angle lens.

The Acer Liquid Jade Primo starts at EUR 569 ($617 / Rs. 41,140 approx.) and will be available in EMEA regions starting this February. It will roll out in other regions gradually, said Acer.

The firm announced the Aspire V Nitro Black Edition series featuring Intel’s new RealSense 3D Camera and new TravelMate P648 series commercial notebooks at CES 2016. The new Intel RealSense camera in Aspire V Nitro Black Edition series offers an improved sensing range of up to 4.9 feet from the device and more precise gesture tracking, control and object recognition.

It will be available on both the 15-inch and 17-inch Aspire V Nitro Black Edition notebooks. The notebooks are powered by Intel’s 6th Gen Core M processors. The Black Edition models support NVIDIA GeForce GTX960M graphics with up to 4GB GDDR5 graphics RAM and NVMe PCIe SSDs.

The Acer Aspire V Nitro Black Edition series will be available in North America starting in February at prices starting at $1,099. The Acer TravelMate P648 series commercial notebooks will be available in North America in April with prices starting at $799.99. Check more details here.

Acer also announced a new addition to its Chromebook 11 line. The Chromebook 11 CB3-131 is said to be more durable and is reinforced and hardened like its business and education models. Acer claims that the device can handle up to 60kg of downward force on the top cover, while the corners can tolerate up to 60cm drops without damage.

The new Chromebook features a 11.6 inch display at 1366×768 resolution, is powered by an Intel Celeron processor. Acer Chromebook 11 (CB3131) will be available with either 16GB or 32GB eMMC storage and either 2GB or 4GB of RAM. Pricing for the Chromebook starts at $179.99 in the US and it will be available starting February.

• Acer Chromebase 24 all-in-one desktop with Intel Core processor announced
• Acer Aspire Switch 12 S 2-in-1 with 4K display and USB Type-C announced at CES 2016
• Acer Iconia One 8 B1-850 with 8-inch HD display, Android 5.1 announced for $99.99
• Acer announces ultra thin and USB Type-C monitors in R1 Series, H7 Series and XR Series

Other CES 2016 Announcements

• Broadcom announces new 64-bit processor for smart home and IoT devices at CES 2016
• Dell launches new ultrabook and convertible in Latitude 7000 series, price starts at $1,299
• HP announces new slimmer and lighter EliteBook Folio notebook
• HP refreshes Spectre X360 and Pavilion X2 notebooks
• Intel Compute Stick with Core M processors, 4K support announced
• Jaybird Freedom and X3 wireless in-ear Bluetooth headphones announced
• JBL Clip 2 and Charge 3 waterproof portable speakers announced, price starts at $59.95
• JBL Everest Elite 100 announced – Wireless in-ear headphones with NXTGen Active Noise Cancellation
• Letv unveils world’s slimmest 65-inch 4K LED TV at CES 2016
• MediaTek introduces MT2523 SoC for wearables, MT7697 for IoT devices and more
• Nikon KeyMission 360 action camera with 4K video recording announced
• Qualcomm smart home reference platform based on Snapdragon 212 announced
• ZTE Grand X3 with USB Type-C, 4G LTE and Avid Plus announced