Micromax Launches Canvas Lite At Rs.8499

India has recently surpassed Japan to become world’s third largest Smartphone market. A portion of its credit goes to the homegrown manufacturers, especially Micromax, who seems to be running on par with that of international brands, at least in terms of new releases.
The latest one to the portfolio is Micromax Canvas Lite A92, a 5 inch Smartphone embedding a dual core processor and Android Jelly Bean. The phone was released just when rumors about the company’s next flagship, Canvas 4 is high in air. However, with multiple launches at narrow price difference, the company may face a threat of ‘self cannibalizing’, where some models kill the sales of others.

The new phablet, went up for preorders in online retail sites carry a price tag of 8,499. However, the mediocre specifications may be a turn down for many. The 5 inch screen offers resolution of 480x800 pixels and the powerhouse hosts a 1GHz dual core processor supported by 512MB RAM.

The 5 megapixel rear camera is supported with a flash. The internal storage of the device is limited to 4GB, which however can be expanded up to 32GB via a microSD card.

The dual SIM phone has connectivity options ranging from 3G to Bluetooth v4.0, USB connectivity and WiFi. The device also packs a 2000MAh battery, which can prove good for a day of work.

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Samsung Launches Tablet Running Both Android And Windows 8 In India

South Korean electronics major Samsung has unveiled nine new products that are likely to hit the Indian market over the next few months.

Keeping in line with its aim to consolidate its presence and increase its revenue base by over 30 per cent in India, Samsung has been on a major product launch spree.

The Ativ Q tablet that runs both Android and Windows 8 were among the range of products launched at the Samsung Premiere 2013 event, held in London recently.

"Not only will you get access to Android apps via Google Play, but you will also be able to transfer files or share folders and files from Windows 8 to Android," Samsung said about the tablet.

With a global strategy to cash in on the popularity of its Galaxy S4 series, Samsung also unveiled a water-resistant version of the company's flagship handset called Galaxy S4 Active.

Also launched at the event was Galaxy S4 Zoom, a smart-phone with a 16 megapixel camera and a 10x optical zoom. It uses Google's Android operating system, and contains optical stabilization to help photographers.

"As communication continues to become increasingly visual in nature, people wish to capture and share their moments in the highest quality possible, but often do not have the space or inclination to carry a dedicated camera for this purpose," said Samsung mobile head JK Shin.

Other devices announced by Samsung at the event included the successor to the Series 9 laptop, the Ativ Book 9 Plus, featuring a similar display, but have a touchscreen and claims to have 12 hours of battery life weighing just 1.39 kg.

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Aakash 4 To Have Calling Facility, 4G Support

The next model of low-cost tablet under Aakash project will possess calling facility and high speed 4G services support, as per specifications released by government.

The specifications released by government suggest it will have "Driver for Phone Functionality with external dongle" and support "Data functionality with external 2G or 3G or 4G dongle".

The Aakash project was Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal's brainchild when he was the HRD Minister. The idea is to provide low-cost computing device at subsidised rate to students so that they can access Internet for educational purposes.

The first version of the tablet was launched on October 5, 2011. The tablet PC then launched had basic feature and costed government around Rs 2,276. Government later upgraded the tablet with some advance features at the same price.

The latest version will have multiple new features but the final price of the tablet has not been disclosed. The new version of the tablet will have Bluetooth in-built which was missing in the previous versions.

Sen said that the scheme is valid for users of other branded Smartphones but the discount in that case will be on the discretion of retailer.

"Our retailers will estimate the resale value of the phone brought for exchange and accordingly offer discount," Sen said.

The scheme is available across 1,400 outlets in 17 cities including four metros, National Capital Region, Lucknow, Bangalore, Baroda and Chandigarh.

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