Bharadwaj Chandramouli | Fone Arena

Amazon introduces Echo, a virtual assistant in the form of a home speaker

When you think Amazon, you think e-commerce, but closer to the present, you’d also think about the Fire phone, its failure to make money and so forth, but you never would have imagined that the same company, at this time, would come up with a virtual assistant in the form of a speaker. It is surprising and yes, that’s Amazon’s new product, called Echo, a cloud-powered home speaker that you can talk to. The Echo, always listening and connected to Amazon’s cloud aka AWS, accepts input primarily in voice and can perform many of the functions of already existing virtual assistants like Siri and Cortana. It’s also a bold play for the living room, where information is less personal. The device, priced at $199 for regular people and $99 for Amazon’s Prime customers, is set to launch in the coming weeks, and is currently invite-only.

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Google announces HTC-made Nexus 9 with a 4:3 8.9″ screen and Tegra K1

Looks like Google is finally going head-on with Apple in the tablet space, with the just announced Nexus 9 in partnership with HTC. The Nexus 9 comes with a 4:3 aspect ratio screen, unlike all the previous Nexus tablets and hence becomes a legitimate competitor to the iPad mini. Designed in collaboration with HTC, the Nexus 9 features a soft touch back and a metallic frame, lending a premium look and feel for the device. The 8.9″ 2048×1536 screen is supported by the 64-bit Tegra K1 Processor that accompanies the monstrous Kepler GPU. This combination reminds us of the recently launched Xiaomi MiPad that has a similar screen aspect ratio and specifications.

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Xiaomi Redmi 1S Review: One of the best budget smartphones ever made

Xiaomi entered India with hopes of making a decent foray into the highly competitive smartphone market where right pricing equals massive success. Traditionally, Samsung knew this and Motorola stumbled upon it, Xiaomi should have known better. With the Mi3, the company woefully underestimated online demand and ended up discontinuing its sales soon, only to introduce a much cheaper model into the market, the Redmi 1S. On paper, the device is just too good to be true at the price point it comes at. For a shockingly low price of Rs. 5,999, the Redmi 1S comes with a large 720p screen, a powerful quad core processor, a 8 MP camera, 8 GB of memory and so on. No other phone currently offers these kinds of specifications at this price point, but the natural reaction for something that’s too good to be true is always this – Is there a catch? With the same doubt in our minds, here is the review of the Redmi 1S.

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Android Wear Review

In the current technology landscape, wearables are touted as the next big thing. It succeeds the smartphone, in one way or the other, so a lot of companies that bet on the smartphone are betting on the smartwatch too. This includes Apple, who unveiled their idea of a Smartwatch, with a focus on making tech fashionable, rather than just utility-focused. The utility is achieved with software, and that’s where platforms come in to play. Just like Smartphones, there is already a battle of ecosystems brewing, in which Google is obviously a major player. As we had explained in our Pebble review, Smartwatches are basically companion devices to our Smartphones and it actually makes sense if both of them are tied together with highly coherent software. So naturally, a Google-blessed platform will work great with Android. Enter Android Wear.

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HTC announces RE, a GoPro-like action camera

HTC has just announced its entry into a completely new market for the company, action cameras. You might have heard of the GoPro, a little camera in a box, that is usually worn or attached, to provide an action view of the said adventurer/explorer/thing. The HTC Re is similar in its intent, but different in design, with a familiar wide angle lens camera enclosed in an unusual structure of a bent cylindrical tube. The camera aims to capture moments that you usually miss, something that the company already tried to achieve with its Zoe app. The Re wants you to capture those moments, whenever you want, with more creative options than a smartphone, and a form factor that is smaller and easier to handle, leading to more creative opportunities.

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Apple to launch new iPads on the 16th of October

Just after announcing the latest iPhones and the Watch, Apple is all set to update its iPad line this year, specifically on the 16th of October, according to a report from recode. The event is supposedly a laid back affair, after the high profile announcements that happened last month. It is seemingly centered around, not just new iPads, but new iMacs too, which are awaiting a retina display refresh, if rumours are to be believed. If Apple goes ahead with just a refresh of the iPads, the event will feature the sixth generation of the original and the third generation of the iPad mini, but anything otherwise will be interesting to watch.

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LG is bringing WebOS to Smartwatches

Looks like LG let slip a few tidbits about an entirely new thing we weren’t even aware of. The Korean giant, which bought the beleaguered WebOS from Hewlett Packard, to later introduce them in its TVs, is now bringing it to Smartwatches. This has been revealed on LG’s own website, according to the Verge, which posted the screenshot above and two others, explaining the company’s new initiative. The picture above has the familiar WebOS bean bird that was used as a mascot for WebOS’ TV experience, but here it is carrying a watch, which obviously points to Smartwatches.

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Apple iPhone 6 Plus Unboxing and First Impressions

The leaks were prophetic, indeed. While most of us were dismissive of a phablet-sized iPhone, Apple proved us wrong by announcing one, the iPhone 6 Plus, along with the iPhone 6, the comparatively moderately sized flagship. This is clear admission to the fact that there is market demand for such devices and surely, a lot of people, including us, here at Fonearena, like large screens. But there are other subtle differences between the 6 and the 6 Plus like the addition of optical image stabilization to the camera and naturally, a bigger battery occupying the larger chassis. Being the first phablet from Cupertino, we were really excited to check it out, so we shot an unboxing video, check past the break for our first impressions –

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uIEDR4RCgho

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Apple iPhone 6 Unboxing and First Impressions

For the first time ever in the history of iPhones, Apple had forgone its “one size fits all” policy and released two different screen sizes for its flagship device. The iPhone 6 is the moderately sized variant, while 6 Plus is the Apple phablet we’ve been waiting for. We’ve got both the phones with us right now, so naturally, the first order of business is to unbox them. First up is the smaller iPhone 6 with its 4.7″ display, a new thinner design and souped up internals, finally giving us more screen real estate, and also playing catch up with the rest of the world. Watch the unboxing video and check past the break for our first impressions of Apple’s latest flagship –

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uIp_OvylXdM

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Pebble announces price cuts, $99 for the original and $199 for the Steel

Pebble, the company behind smartwatches with the same name, has announced price cuts for both of its models, alongside a crucial software update that enables continuous activity tracking. The original and the Steel both get a 50$ price cut to $99 and $199 respectively, with the original going back to its initial Kickstarter early bird price tag. With many of the newer Smartwatches selling at much higher prices, Pebble is well positioned to take advantage of the Smartwatch craze and lower the barrier of entry for enthusiasts seeking to try them out.

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Pebble takes on fitness bands with continuous activity tracking in a new software update

Pebble’s initial idea of a smartwatch was something with various “smart” functions like a window for notifications, Bluetooth remote controls, animated watch faces and so on, but it was never focused on the fitness activity scene, even when it was clearly capable to do so. Not any more, as the company has just announced the latest software update for both of its Smartwatches that enables continuous fitness activity tracking in the background, which was previous not possible. Yes, there have been fitness apps and services on Pebble before, but it was required that you keep the app running, or use the watchface, but with this update, that’s no longer needed.

Also read : Pebble announces price cuts, 99$ for the original, 199$ for the Steel

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Spice Dream UNO Android One Phone Unboxing and First Impressions

It’s Android One day today and we’ve got one of the first smartphones from the program with us, the Spice Dream UNO. Spice was one of the three manufacturers chosen for the program announced at the Google’s IO conference back in June. The Indian manufacturer, along with fellow competitors Micromax and Karbonn, has launched its first Android One device today, with a lot of support from Google. The Dream UNO, which is based off a strict chassis mandated by Google has its chipset powered by MediaTek and has almost the same specifications as the other phones that launched today. Priced at Rs. 6,299, the Dream Uno fulfills the idea of Android One, an affordable high quality device with stock Android that’s set to receive updates as fast as Google delivers them, so how is the device? We captured the unboxing and the first impressions of the device in a video –

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ObSZjPdVT0

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Android One adds 9 new OEM partners and Qualcomm chipset support

The Android One launch event, presided by Sundar Pichai, is underway in India at the moment. One of the key announcements of this new program from Google, is the addition of 9 new OEM partners and, unsurprisingly, Qualcomm chipset support. This comes after the initial announcement at Google IO, of four partners, Karbonn, Micromax and Spice being the OEMs and Mediatek chipset support, mainly targeted at the Indian market, but it seems like Android One will take the global route with the new OEMs.

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Alcatel OneTouch Pop 8S Hands On and Photo Gallery

Alcatel launched the Pop 8 S tablet at IFA along with a couple of other smartphone and tablets. We got our hands on the device at the event and here is the sneak peak of the device along with photo gallery. Continue reading “Alcatel OneTouch Pop 8S Hands On and Photo Gallery”

Alcatel One Touch Pop 2 Hands On and Photo Gallery

alcatel-one-touch-pop-2-4-5-1

Alcatel One Touch unveiled the One Touch Pop 2 series of smartphones at IFA, Berlin 2014. We got to check out the 4.5-inch variant of the Pop 2 at the IFA. Check out the hands on and the photo gallery. The handset comes in Windows Phone and Android variant. It is a budget device from the company and measures 9.9mm thick and weighs 147g. Continue reading “Alcatel One Touch Pop 2 Hands On and Photo Gallery”