Bharadwaj Chandramouli | Fone Arena

Apple iPhone 5s price drops to $549 for 16GB SIM-free version $599 for 32GB

The Apple iPhone 5s, the previous flagship device, gives way to the iPhone 6 and the iPhone 6 Plus today, so naturally, it has received a price cut. During the keynote, Apple was careful enough to place the iPhone 5s on its slides, a nod to the fact that it will continue being one of the two 4″ iPhones you can still get. The device gets a 100$ price cut to 549$ for the 16 GB version while it’s 150$ lesser for the 32 GB variant, at 599$. The pricing has already been updated in the Apple store.

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Apple iPhone 5c price drops to $450 for 8GB unlocked version

The tradition continues, with Apple announcing price cuts for the older iPhones that precede the brand new ones that launched today. The 5c, when it launched, had an unlocked price of 549$, while the 4S at the same time had its price cut to 450$. Now it’s the iPhone 5c’s turn, with it getting the same price cut to 450$ for the unlocked 8 GB version. Long rumoured to be a cheaper version of the iPhone, the 5c launched to poor reception last year. Apple was constantly pushing 5c through incessant marketing in several markets, especially in the past few months. This price cut will hence be the last stretch of shelf time for the iPhone 5c.

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Acer Iconia Tab 10 A3-A20 Hands On and Photo Gallery

Acer launched Acer Iconia Tab 10 A3-A20 at IFA, Berlin 2014. The tablet has a 10.1 inch Full HD screen and is powered by a 1.3 GHz quad-core MediaTek processor. One of the unique features of the tablet is its zero glass panel which keeps no gap between the front panel and the digitizer. Continue reading “Acer Iconia Tab 10 A3-A20 Hands On and Photo Gallery”

Acer Iconia One 8 Hands On and Photo Gallery

Acer announced the Iconia One 8 tablet at IFA, Berlin 2014. The budget tablet has 8-inch (1280×800 pixels) HD IPS display . We got our hands on the tablet at the event so lets take a quick look. It measures 8.5mm thick and weighs 340 grams. Continue reading “Acer Iconia One 8 Hands On and Photo Gallery”

Gunnar Advanced Gaming Eyewear Review

The Advanced Gaming Eyewear product, we unboxed a while ago, is specialized eyewear from Gunnar Optiks, an American company, entering the niche market here in India. Eyewear products are tricky, because the ones without prescription lenses tend to appeal more towards fashion than utility. Gunnar’s products fall in the second category, utility, which is focused on the safety aspect. Their glasses help better the vision, or rather, compensate for the poor vision adjustments of our eyes, in specific conditions. One of them is gaming, for which Gunnar has designed this product. Is it good? Lets find out.

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Nokia Lumia 730 Dual SIM and Lumia 735 Hands On and Photo Gallery

Nokia Lumia 730 Dual SIM_fonearena-001

Microsoft unveiled the Lumia 730 Dual SIM and Lumia 735 as the selfie smartphones at the IFA earlier this week. We got to check out the smartphones, check out the hands on video of the Lumia 735 and the photo gallery of the Lumia 730 Dual SIM below – Continue reading “Nokia Lumia 730 Dual SIM and Lumia 735 Hands On and Photo Gallery”

Nokia Lumia 830 Hands On and Photo Gallery

Nokia Lumia 830_fonearena-005

Microsoft unveiled the Lumia 830 at the IFA earlier this week, calling it their affordable flagship smartphone. We got to check out the smartphone on Nokia’s booth, check out the hands on and the photo gallery below –

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Samsung Galaxy K zoom Review: Almost there

Samsung launched the Galaxy S4 zoom last year, to place their bets on the cameraphone market. It didn’t work out so well, as the S4 zoom was basically two devices slapped on together. The sequel announced this year, the Galaxy K zoom, is visibly better, with a slimmer profile and a lens unit that is more pocketable. The megapixels are higher and the phone itself gets a decent spec boost, but does Samsung get the formula right this time? Or is the company going to need a third time lucky? Let’s find out in our full review.

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Watch Tech CEOs take the Ice Bucket Challenge for ALS awareness

The “Ice bucket challenge” is the new social media sensation on the internet, thanks to celebrities dumping ice cold water on their heads. But this is one of the very few times that a video concept has gone viral for a good cause. The cause is creating awareness for ALS (Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), a neurodegenerative disease that affects a lot of Americans. Also known as the Lou Gehrig’s disease, it currently affects 30,000 in the US, but not many had or have the awareness of the aforementioned disease which, by affecting the brain, paralyses the whole body, eventually leading to death in 2-3 years, in severe cases. So, a lot of celebrities, including tech CEOs like Microsoft’s Satya Nadella, Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg and CEO-turned-philanthropist Bill Gates have joined in on this trend, to create awareness and donate money for ALS.

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Obi Octopus S520 Review

Obi Mobiles is a relatively new and unknown brand in India. Riding on a media wave created by one of its investors, ex-Apple CEO John Sculley, the newly founded company launched its first ambitious product for the Indian market, a mid range device called the Obi Octopus S520. Sporting a 5 inch HD display, an 8 MP camera and the MediaTek Octa core processor (hence the name), the device is priced at Rs. 11,990, which is less for what it offers. By undercutting the competition, Obi aims to stand out, but will that be enough for people to notice a new brand? Lets find out in our full review.

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Nvidia details the 64-bit Tegra K1 “Denver”, promises PC-class performance

Nvidia announced their latest mobile chipset Tegra K1, sometime in January. This new chip, with its 192 core Kepler GPU was touted to be one of the best when it comes to gaming. We have started to see the results in devices like the Nvidia Shield Tablet and the Xiaomi Mi Pad, but announced alongside the normal 32-bit Quad Core K1 was the Dual Core 64-bit chip codenamed “Denver”. The 64-bit variant has now been detailed by Nvidia, and they say, with its high single core throughput, the chip will be able to offer PC-class performance on mobile, while sipping lesser power than usual. The company has also said that the chip will be ready for Android L, which will make things interesting.

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Samsung Galaxy K zoom Camera Samples

The Samsung Galaxy K Zoom we unboxed earlier is the successor to the Galaxy S4 Zoom, which was not really the best implementation of a camera phone. But this time, the dimensions are more forgiving, with the device looking more like a phone, at least when the camera is folded in. It’s well established that the Zoom series of devices will be Samsung’s camera flagships and it continues with the K Zoom, with its upgraded 20 megapixel sensor and slightly newer optics. Considering the importance of the device’s camera, we assume you are interested in taking a look at full resolution samples from this device, so the article will precisely focus on that, read on.

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Nvidia Shield Tablet Unboxing

The Project Shield was Nvidia’s first portable gaming project, which turned out to be really interesting in terms of idea and concept, never took off as the company had imagined. The GPU manufacturer is back with a sequel, but with a different approach this time. The Shield 2, or rather, the Nvidia Shield Tablet, is the company’s latest unbundled approach to portable gaming. Acknowledging the reality of limited controller support in Android games and the need to cater to a wider audience, the company has gone for a powerful tablet + gamepad combo. The gamepad ships separately, but even standalone, the tablet is plenty powerful and can interface with your current controller setup if needed. Touting a 192 core desktop class Kepler GPU inside, the Shield tablet surely has the potential to change mobile gaming, but before we find out if that’s true, here’s an unboxing of the retail package, with a quick rundown of the hardware and the software –

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xUupCHVGKC0

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Samsung Galaxy Tab S 8.4 Review

After the iPad happened, Samsung was the first company to release a 7 inch tablet that could make calls. A new form factor was born, and a long time has passed since then. They are now the biggest tablet maker in the market, mainly thanks to the various mid range calling tablets that the company eventually released. However, Samsung’s desire to completely 1-up the Apple iPads is still here, which has transpired into the Tab S series of tablets, squarely aimed at the iPad Air with the 10.5″ version (our review) and the iPad mini retina, with the 8.4″ version. Yes, the Galaxy Tab S 8.4 is Samsung’s latest “mini” tablet for the high end market. The “S” here is all about the screen, which is a WQXGA AMOLED panel that proves to be its USP and is central to the whole experience. Launched in India for a price of Rs. 37,800, the 3G data and voice enabled tablet aims to offer the best mini tablet experience for the premium buyer. So, is this the best mini tablet money can buy? Lets find out in our full review.

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Pebble Steel Unboxing and First Impressions

It’s still very early days for smartwatches but Pebble, the Kickstarter success story, already looks like a veteran. Pebble, the first Smartwatch that ignited the whole market frenzy for wearable devices, has been out for a long time, so long that it already got a facelift through Pebble Steel, mainly for people looking at a premium version of the original. It was exactly that, a premium version of the Pebble, adorned with steel, glass and leather, while the original was fully plastic and silicone. There was also a general shift in design and a better overall finish, with minor changes to the power connector and the addition of a LED at the front. These changes also command a premium, with the price at $249, almost matching the recently launched Android Wear devices. We had finally got one a while back, the stainless steel version, so here’s the unboxing of the Pebble Steel, in case you are looking to get one –

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Z7Frxqsnfo

Read our review of the Pebble Smartwatch

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