Nokia and WWF Launch Official Mobile App For Earth Hour 2014

The app is the first of its kind, promoting expression, discussion and rating of renewable energy alternatives, both in terms of products and service

Finnish handset major Nokia has joined hands with nature conservation body WWF India to launch WWF Renewables Market, an official app for Earth Hour this year to promote the use of renewable energy.

Earth Hour, during which lights will be switched off for one hour tomorrow at 8:30 PM local time, is expected to see participation in over 7,000 cities and towns across 152 countries, starting from New Zealand and ending in Tahiti.

Created by Shubhan Chemburkar, the WWF Renewables Market mobile app provides an interface for individuals and retailers of renewable energy solutions, making the process of switching to renewable energy smoother, Nokia said in a release today.

As part of the Earth Hour App Developers Challenge 2014, developers were invited to create a winning app, Nokia said.

"The challenge was an initiative aimed at promoting and facilitating the uptake of renewable energy by individuals across the country," it said.

WWF India will host the official India Earth Hour event on March 29 from 7:15 pm to 9:30 pm at Dilli Haat in the national capital.

Read More

Gionee Launches ELIFE S5.5 Smartphone at 22,999

Targeting the youth as well as the professionals segment, Chinese handset maker Gionee on unveiled its flagship offering in style category ELIFE S5.5 in India.

The firm had first shown the handset, which Gionee claims to be the world's slimmest Smartphone, at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona last month.

Priced at 22,999, it will be available in the Indian market from April 27.

"We are launching this Smartphone in 40 markets across the globe and India is the second market after China, which itself speaks about the importance of this country for us," Gionee President William Lu said in New Delhi.

ELIFE S5.5 is crafted with a distinct metallic frame and Corning Gorilla Glass Uni-Body, he added.

"The device uses the world's thinnest AMOLED Screen, thinnest PCB board with a 0.6 mm and 0.4mm glass rear cover. We are proud to bring in this unique innovation first time in the world and it will be our constant endeavour to continue bringing in the best always," Lu said.

Gionee India Head Arvind Vohra said the firm has seen a rise in popularity within a year of operations in India and has experienced an unprecedented success with ELIFE series.

Equipped with a 5-inch Full HD Super AMOLED plus screen, ELIFE S5.5 sports a Octa-core 1.7GHz processor, 13 megapixel rear camera and a 5 megapixel front camera. The Android 4.2 powered-phone has a 2300 mAH battery, which the company said will reach up to 2450 mAH with the next upgrade.

The phone supports HSPA+42 Mbps with up to 6 different band sets, which allows it to function in most 3G WCDMA coverage areas.

Gionee India started our operations in March 2013 and has done business of over Rs 500 crore. It targets a turnover of Rs 2,500 crore by the end of financial year 2014-15.

It has launched 14 devices in the country, of which 11 are Smartphones.

"We will increase the service centres to 750 by 2015 fiscal end and have earmarked Rs 150 crore budget for brand building and marketing for the year," Vohra said.

The company considers Rajasthan, West Bengal, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Punjab as its leading markets and now plans to strengthen its position in the metros.

Gionee, which closed last year with revenues of $ 2.5 billion globally, sold about 24 million handsets globally and about a million in India.

This year, the company plans to sell 35 million handsets worldwide and 6 million in India, Lu said.

Gionee is ranked number 10 in the world in Smartphone market share and aims to break into the top 5 within 5 years.

The company launched its own brand in India in Q1 of 2013. Previously, it was an original device manufacturer for many Indian brands.

Read More

Multimedia Apps To Spice Up Your Life

Even though Smartphones are stuffed with hi-fi technologies, it does not make the gadget a ‘serious machine’. All handset manufactures incorporate features that can provide recreation and leisure along with the productivity elements. Loaded with bucketful of apps for music, photography,  videos and much more these gadgets delivers the best multimedia experience. Apps that are specific for Android, Windows Phone OS or iOS, are available for download in the app market. Here we have put together the best multimedia apps that can spice up your life.

PhotoSpeak

As the name of the app transforms a photo face into  3D animated talking avatar. You can take a photo using your mobile camera or upload any photo in your Smartphone to the server to be transformed as the avatar that repeats every word that you utter. PhotoSpeak uses the image manipulation technology together with motion portrait to deliver the experience. One can add real voices together with the animation and make the lip and finger movements to synch with the words you utter.

Mixbit

Mixbit is a cool video editing app that helps to cut out video snippets and stitch together to make an interesting movie clipping. The software allows to edit together clippings as long as 16 seconds. However one can combine together as many clips of 16 seconds he wishes to make a stretch of video. You can shoot videos through your Smartphone camera, get it edited with the app, and share it across with your friends through social media or other channels. Mixbit is available for Android and iOS platforms.

 

Pixlr Express  

Pixlr Express is another great photo editing software that combines a vast collection of filters, layers and effects. The app allows cropping and resizing the image and comes with the auto fix feature that lets you to balance the coloring. One can give borders, lay backgrounds and make a college by combining multiple photographs. The amazing color splash feature pops out only the color that you select and decolorizes the rest giving a cool show off. Pixel express also comes with options to remove red eyes and whiten the teeth   around the snaps and enhance the lightning conditions. The direct sharing feature of Pixlr Express allows to share your work easily on Facebook or via e-mail.

NewsAce Multimedia News Reader

The multimedia news reader application delivers what their tag line reads ‘makes it easy for you to choose news channels’. News Ace is a one stop shop to get all possible news which works seamlessly on Android operating system. One has to log in with the validation code that is sent once you subscribe the app. The app allows selecting any news channels and directly playing the embedded videos. With over 400 of news channels in the list, NewsAce comes with gesture based navigation, offline synchronization and starred features.

5by

This Android app has made things all simple by cutting down time spend on filtering out videos. Just type in the keyword of your choice and 5by will present all the related videos as a single string that can be streamed easily. The app developers have added options that allow you to silt out videos based on mood, time of the day and social interests. The customized channels deliver personalized videos by bringing new contents everyday catering to various interests.

Color Touch Effects

You feel that the snap you took looks dull and want to give it a real makeover. Well, color touch effects will certainly be the best option. The app allows recoloring and applying cool filters and effects to images. One can choose from the pre-effects including black and white and sepia. The two finger zooming helps to zoom any picture as the user can configure the brushes as he likes. Once done with your art work you can share it via Facebook, e-mail or whatsapp for the world to admire.

Retune

Retune is an app that allows you to control itunes remotely. Now get the app installed on your Android phone and get rid of the bother of going to the music system to change tracks or changing the volume. The free Android app also works well with itunes being played on your Macbook. Digital Audio Control Protocol feature of the app lets you to connect extra devices by entering a pairing password. Retune also allows browsing through songs, creating playlist and rating them.

Vignette

Give your photographs a vintage touch with Vignette. With a vast collection of over 76 photo effects and 57 photo frames the photo editing app presents you all the features needed to enhance the snap. The app runs on Android and weighs less than 1MB on installation. Vignette offers an amazing user interface that presents all the related effects in a neatly arranged fashion for the user to easily pick from.

Read More