Vivo V9 now available in Sapphire Blue variant

Chinese Smartphone maker Vivo has introduced its latest flagship Vivo V9 in a sapphire blue color variant for Rs 22,990.

The variant will be available for purchase from retail stores from May 18.

"The new variant presents our consumers with a Smartphone that not only matches-up to their daily usage demands, but also their style quotient," said Kenny Zeng, Chief Marketing Officer, Vivo India.


Vivo V9 that comes with a 19:9 "Full View" display, 24MP selfie camera with Artificial Intelligence (AI) capabilities and “Game Mode” was launched in India in March.

The Smartphone is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 626 octa-core processor coupled with 4GB RAM and 64GB internal storage, fuelled by a 3,260 mAh battery.

The handset was earlier been available in champagne gold and pearl black colors.

The sapphire blue variant will also be available online on Amazon and Vivo E-store from May 21.

Infosys To Acquire WongDoody

The country's second largest software services firm Infosys said it will acquire WongDoody Holding Company, a US-based digital creative and consumer insights agency, for a total consideration of up to USD 75 million.

"On April 13, 2018, the company entered into a definitive agreement to acquire WongDoody, for a total consideration of up to USD 75 million including contingent consideration and retention payouts, subject to regulatory approvals and fulfillment of closing conditions," Infosys said in a regulatory filing.

The move would strengthen the company's creative, branding and customer experience capabilities. The acquisition is expected to close during the first quarter of fiscal 2019, subject to customary closing conditions.

Previously, the company had announced the acquisition of Brilliant Basics, a London-based digital design and customer experience innovator that works with clients across Europe and Middle East.

"With Infosys Digital Studios spanning the globe from Bengaluru and Pune to New York, London, and Melbourne the addition of WongDoody strengthens Infosys' ability to fulfill the needs of global clients for comprehensive digital transformation solutions required to meet customer demand for next-generation, enhanced customer experiences," it said.

Founded in 1993, WongDoody is headquartered in Seattle and has an office in Los Angeles. It has clients across industries like telecommunications, consumer electronics, healthcare and consumer packaged goods.

Huawei Nova 2S with Android Oreo launched in China

The Chinese Smartphone maker Huawei seems to be in a launching spree. The manufacturer recently launched Huawei Honor 7X and Honor V10 Smartphones and has now launched a new device under its Nova series.

Huawei launched its Nova 2S Smartphone in China. The company has priced the device at 2999 Yuan for 4GB RAM and 64GB storage and 3399 Yuan for 6GB RAM with 64GB storage version. The Smartphone will be available in Black, Gray, Red, Rose Gold and Blue color options.

The Huawei Nova 2S sports a 6-inch full HD+ display with 18:9 aspect ratio and 1080x2160 pixel resolution. The Smartphone is powered by the company's own Kirin 960 processor and runs Android 8.0 Oreo operating system tapped with EMUI 8.0.

The device offers 6GB/4GB of RAM and 64GB/128GB of internal storage. The storage capacity can further be expanded up to 256GB by adding a microSD card. The Smartphone comes with dual SIM functionality and comes with dual rear camera setup. The Huawei Nova 2S consists of 16MP (RGB) + 20MP (Monochrome) dual rear cameras with LED flash, f/1.8 aperture and 4K video recording support.

The device comes with a dual selfie camera with 20MP and 2MP sensor, LED flash and f/2.0 aperture. Huawei Nova 2S also incorporates a fingerprint sensor placed on the rear panel and 3340mAh battery with fast charging support. In terms of connectivity the Smartphone offers 4G, VoLTE, 3G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS, NFC and USB Type C.

Airtel Launches Intex Aqua Lions N1

Leading telecom operator Airtel has launched a new 4G Smartphone, dubbed as- Aqua Lions N1 - in partnership with domestic Smartphone maker Intex. This is in accordance with expanding its lineup of ‘Mera Pehla Smartphone’ series.

Intex Aqua A4 and Intex Aqua S3 are also available under ‘Mera Pehla Smartphone’ series.

Price and Availability:

The Intex Aqua Lions N1 comes with a down payment of Rs 3,149 and with a monthly pack of Rs 169 from Airtel. Customers are required to make 36 continuous monthly recharges of Rs 169 from Airtel. After 18 months, customers will get a cash refund of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 after the completion of 36 months, taking the total cash benefit to Rs 1500, bringing down the effective price of Intex Aqua Lions N1 to Rs 1,649.

The same cash benefit of Rs 1,500 will be applicable to both Intex Aqua A4 and Intex Aqua S3, making their effective price to Rs 1,999 and Rs 4,379.

Technical Specifications:

The Intex Aqua N1 comes with a full touch 4-inch WVGA capacitive touch screen of 800x480p display resolution. Backed by a 1400mAh battery, it is powered by a 1.1 GHz MTK processor coupled with 1GB RAM. It has a 2MP rear camera and 0.3MP front camera. For storage, it has 8GB memory and a microSD card support of up to 128 GB.

The Intex Aqua A4 also has a full touch 4-inch WVGA capacitive touchscreen of 800x480p display resolution. It is backed by a 1750mAh battery and is powered by a 1.3 GHz Quad-core processor with 1GB RAM and 8GB ROM. Offering an external storage support up to 64GB, it has a 5MP rear camera and a 2MP front facing snapper.

The Intex Aqua S3 features a 5-inch full HD IPS Display of 1080x1920p resolution. It sports an 8MP rear camera and a 5MP selfie camera. It houses a 2450mAh battery and is powered by a 1.3 GHz quad-core Processor with 2GB RAM and 16GB internal storage.

All the three Smartphones run Android 7.0 Nougat and comes preloaded with apps such as MyAirtel App, Airtel TV, Wynk Music.

For connectivity options, they have dedicated Dual SIM Slots and offer 4G/3G/2G with support for Airtel VoLTE, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and GPS.

Micromax Canvas Infinity Pro with bezel-less display

Domestic handset maker Micromax has expanded its bezel-less Smartphone range with the launch of Canvas Infinity Pro, the second Smartphone from the company to boast of 18:9 ratio of the display. One new feature of the Smartphone is that it comes with a dual front camera setup.

Price and Availability:

The Micromax Canvas Infinity Pro comes at a price tag of Rs 13,999 and will be available exclusively on Flipkart starting December 6.

Technical Specifications:

The Micromax Canvas Infinity Pro comes with a 5.7-inch Full Vision display and 18:9 screen ratio. The Smartphone is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 430 processor with 4GB RAM. In terms of storage, the device offers 64GB internal memory along with microSD card support of up to 128GB.

Powered by a 3000mAh battery, the device claims a talk-time of non-stop for 20 hours, standby time of 420 hours, music playback of up to 22 hours and video playback of up to 6 hours. Running Android Nougat out-of-the-box, the device is equipped with a fingerprint sensor with 0.2 second unlock time.

For selfie lovers, the Canvas Infinity Pro has a dual selfie camera setup with 20MP + 8MP that offers features such as portrait mode, face beauty, auto scene detection, face gallery and tale album.

The first bezel-less Smartphone from Micromax was launched in September called the Canvas Infinity at Rs 9,999.

Kult Ambition Smartphone with 13 MP Camera

The New-Delhi based Smartphone manufacturer Kult has expanded its product lineup with the launch of its latest Smartphone. Dubbed as Kult Ambition, the Smartphone falls in the budget price segment and comes with 4G VoLTE support.

Price and Availability:

The company has priced the Kult Ambition Smartphone at Rs 5,999 and it will be exclusively available on Amazon, starting December 11. The Smartphone will come in Black color option. Going by the price, the Smartphone will face tough competition from the recently launched Xiaomi Redmi 5A which is priced at Rs 4,999.

Technical Specifications:

Kult Ambition Smartphone comes with a 5-inch HD display with 720x1280 pixel resolution. The Smartphone is powered by a 1.25 GHz quad-core MediaTek MT6737 processor and runs Android 7.0 Nougat operating system. The dual SIM Smartphone offers 3GB of RAM and 32GB internal storage. The users can further expand the storage up to 32GB by adding a microSD card.

The Smartphone comes equipped with a fingerprint sensor and sports a 13MP rear camera with LED flash and a 5MP front camera for selfies. Measuring 145.35 x 72.7 x 9.1mm, the Smartphone is backed by a 2600mAh battery. On the connectivity front, the device offers 4G, VoLTE, 3G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and GPS.

Kult Ambition is best suited to the needs of Indian youth who is a 24X7 digital native seeking to serve all his personal, entertainment and information needs through his device.

Samsung Galaxy A8 Plus (2018) with Infinity Display

Samsung was the first Smartphone mass produced with 'Infinity Display', which extended from both top and bottom, resulting in an increased screen-to-body ratio. LG and others too followed up and even brought it to its budget 'Q' series within months.

Now, Samsung seems to be adopting a similar strategy, a result of which we may see in 2018.

The leaked images on Weibo, support this claim as it allegedly shows the unannounced Samsung Galaxy A8+ (2018) model with 'Infinity Display' tech. Stretching the extended display tech to the Galaxy A series, Samsung very likely will place them close to the flagship 'S' series. This also means that the Galaxy A8+ (2018) at least could come at a higher price tag.

The first image shows the Smartphone sporting the 'Infinity Display', while the second image shows the 'Galaxy A8+ (2018)' name of the Smartphone. Although there is no confirmation on the aspect ratio of the Smartphone, in all likeliness, it may be 18.5:9. There is also no word if the Smartphone will have the same dual rear camera and fingerprint setup as the Galaxy Note 8 or the Galaxy S8.

Samsung recently broke LG's record by launching a flip phone with a camera sporting f/1.5 aperture. The device named W2018 made a debut in China few days ago and is available from JD and T-Mall websites at a base price of CNY 15,999. The device's highlight is its rear 12MP camera with large 1.4 um pixel size and f/1.5 aperture. It is also worth noting that the device breaks LG V30's record of f/1.6 aperture. It also comes with Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor, clubbed with 4GB RAM.

As it’s a flip phone the W2018 comes with two 4.2-inch AMOLED displays with full HD resolution. As for the battery the Samsung W2018 is backed by a 2300mAh capacity. It is also the first flip phone from Samsung to come with Bixby support.

OnePlus 5T Star Wars Edition in India

OnePlus is launching Star Wars edition of OnePlus 5T. The company has announced the OnePlus 5T Star Wars Limited Edition at Comic Con India. The company said in a statement, “We are excited to announce our latest Smartphone OnePlus 5T Star Wars Limited Edition in association with one of the most awaited movies of the year - Star Wars: The Last Jedi”.

The company will be launching the limited edition Smartphone at an event in Mumbai on December 14th. OnePlus and Star Wars fans too can be part of the event.

OnePlus 5T Star Wars Limited Edition will go on sale starting December 15 across all channels including on Amazon, OnePlusStore and OnePlus experience zones in Bangalore and Noida.

The China-based Smartphone maker OnePlus launched OnePlus 5T in November last year. The Smartphone succeeds the company's OnePlus 5 Smartphone that was launched in July this year. One of the key highlights of the Smartphone is Face Unlock feature, which the company claims is based on advanced facial recognition technology.

OnePlus 5T runs on Qualcomm’s latest processor Snapdragon 835 clocked at up to 2.45GHz and OxygenOS based on Android 7.1.1 Nougat. It sports 6.1-inch Full Optic Amoled display with 18:9 aspect ratio and 2.5D Corning Gorilla Glass 5 protection.

For the imaging duties, OnePlus 5T sports 16-megapixel Sony IMX398 with 1.12-micron pixels at the back with an aperture of f/1.7. This is almost same as that in the OnePlus 5 Smartphone. On the front, there's a 20-megapixel Sony IMX376K.

OnePlus 5T is backed by a 3300mAh non-removable battery and the Smartphone supports the company's Dash Charge fast charging technology.

The Smartphone come in two options based on RAM and inbuilt storage capacity -- 6GB RAM/64GB storage and 8GB RAM/128GB storage. While the price of 6GB RAM/64GB is Rs 32,999, the 8GB RAM/128GB variant is priced at Rs 37,999.

OnePlus 5T comes only in Midnight Black color variant so far.

Micromax launches Bharat 5 Smartphone

Domestic Smartphone maker Micromax has launched its seventh phone under the Bharat Smartphone line-up in India. Called the Bharat 5, Micromax has launched the device in partnership with telecom operator Vodafone.

As per the partnership, customers who buy the Bharat 5 will get 50 GB of free data. This will be valid for both existing and new customer of Vodafone who buy a 1GB data pack. They will get this additional 10 GB data every month over a period of 5 months.

Price and Availability:

The Micromax Bharat 5 handset is priced at Rs 5,555 and will be available offline at retail stores across the country.

Technical Specifications:

The key highlight of the handset is its 5,000 mAh capacity that is claimed to run for more than 2 days and has a standby time of up to 21 days.

The Bharat 5 Smartphone packs a 5MP camera on both front and back with LED flash. The device is powered by a 1.3 GHz Quadcore Processor coupled with 1GB RAM.

For storage, the device has 16GB internal storage onboard. It boasts of a 5.2-inch full HD display and runs Android Nougat out-of-the-box.

Huawei to launch Nova 2S Smartphone

Chinese Smartphone maker Huawei is all set to expand its product portfolio in China. The company has scheduled a launch event for December 7, where it is likely to unveil Huawei Nova 2S Smartphone.

The Huawei Nova 2S share similar looks as the Huawei Mate 10 Lite. The Smartphone is expected to come with a full screen display with 18:9 aspect ratio and dual rear camera setup. The device is said to feature a 20MP + 16MP rear cameras with LED flash. It is claimed to be powered by the company's own Kirin 960 processor and run Android 8.0 Oreo operating system.

OnePlus 5T 'Lava Red' Color Variant

OnePlus 5T, the company's newest Smartphone in the market, was so far available only in Midnight Black color. The Chinese tech firm has now introduced a new color variant - Lava Red. The particular color variant has not been introduced yet for any of the previous OnePlus Smartphone models.

The Lava Red OnePlus 5T is already listed on the company's China website.

OnePlus 5T Lava Red keeps the front panel and the rear camera setup in Black color, while the rest of the body is now in Red. This also includes the antenna lines and the power, volume buttons. Other specifications for the device stay the same.

Running Android 7.1.1 Nougat, the handset sports a 6.01-inch full HD+ (1080x2160 pixels) Optic Amoled display with a pixel density of 401ppi and 2.5D Corning Gorilla Glass 5 protection. It is also confirmed to receive Android 8.0 Oreo.

Powered by the octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 Processor, the Smartphone like the OnePlus 5, comes in two variants based on 6GB RAM+ 64GB and 8GB RAM + 128GB storage capacities. The processor is coupled with Adreno 540 GPU.

OnePlus 5T boasts a 16MP Sony IMX398 sensor along with f/1.7 aperture. The secondary rear camera comes with a 20MP Sony IMX376K camera sensor with f/1.7 aperture and dual LED flash. At the front there is a 16MP Sony IMX 371 sensor with f/2.0 aperture.

A 3300 mAh battery backs the device along with the support for Dash charging tech. The Smartphone also features Face unlock security tech, which is said to unlock the device in 0.4 seconds.

Canon EOS M100 24.2 MP Mirror Less Camera

Canon India has expanded its product line-up in India with the launch of a mirror less camera - EOS M100 and new tilt-shift lenses in India.

The EOS M100 is an addition to its EOS M series of mirror less interchangeable-lens cameras. Currently, it is available with a single kit option - the EF-M15- 45mm f/3.5-6.3 IS STM. Priced at Rs 39,995, the camera has a 24.2MP APS-C CMOS sensor and DIGIC 7 image processor.

The camera has a continuous shooting speed of up to 6.1fps during fixed AF and 4.0 fps during servo AF. The DIGIC 7 image processor enables an ISO sensitivity range of up to 25600.

It comes with Creative Assist feature that lets users save up to six assistant settings for frequent use, and exchange setting information with other cameras.

One of the camera's main features is the self-portrait mode with Smooth Skin feature, said the company in a statement. The device has a 180-degree tilt up 3.0-inch touch panel LCD screen. Over that it offers Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and NFC as connectivity options. It is also compatible with the Canon Image Gateway app, that helps in sharing images to Smartphones and allows users to control camera settings such as shutter speed, focus selection and self-timer in real time.

As for the lenses, the new line-up consists of the TS-E50mm f/2.8L MACRO, TS-E90mm f/2.8L MACRO, TS-E135mm f/4L MACRO that are priced at Rs 1,72,995 each and the EF85mm f/1.4L IS USM bears a price tag of Rs 1,17,995.