Lava launches Iris X1 Grand and X1 Mini

Domestic handset maker Lava International has launched two new Smartphones - Iris X1 Grand and Iris X1 mini at Rs 7,326 and Rs 4,348, respectively. The phones are variants of Lava's X1 Smartphone.

The two devices will be available for sale across retail stores, multi-brand outlets and major e-commerce portals in India from the first week of February.

Lava Iris X1 Grand sports a 5-inch FWVGA (480x854p) IPS display. The phone measures 144X72X9.15mm.

Powered by a 1.3GHz quad-core MediaTek processor and 1GB RAM, the phone comes with 8GB internal storage and a microSD card slot that supports cards of up to 32GB capacity.

The phone comes with a 2200mAh battery, which the company claims, offers up to 12 hours of talk time on 2G without a need to charge the phone.

It runs Android 4.4 KitKat with FOTA (firmware over the air) support, and will receive the Lollipop update in the future.

Iris X1 Grand sports an 8MP rear camera with dual LED flash and a 2MP front camera. It also supports full HD Video recording and digital zoom with built in auto-focus.

The dual-sim Smartphone supports 3G connectivity apart from Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0 and USB OTG support.

The Iris X1 Mini sports a 4-inch WVGA (800x480p) IPS display. Powered by a 1.2GHz quad-core processor and 512MB RAM, the phone comes with 4GB internal storage and a microSD card slot that supports cards of up to 32GB capacity.

The phone comes with a 1750mAh battery. Iris X1 mini sports a 5MP rear camera with LED flash and a VGA front camera. It also supports HD Video recording and digital zoom. It also runs Android 4.4 KitKat.

The dual-sim Smartphone supports 3G connectivity apart from Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.1 and USB OTG support.

IIT-B develops World's Cheapest Netbook

IIT Bombay has developed a 10-inch netbook, which it claims could be the world's cheapest, at around Rs 6,000. The netbook, conceived during the institute's work with the low-cost Akash tablet, will be unveiled in the second week of February.

The IIT Bombay team has worked on designing the netbook's specifications besides creating the OS image and the accompanying software bundle.

The project's objective was to understand its shortcomings and address them in the next product. In a bid to address the needs of students and to drive information creation, the team at IIT Bombay thought it was important to have a fully functional keyboard as opposed to a virtual keyboard, more battery time, a larger screen size (10-inches as compared to a 7-inch screen on a tablet), greater memory, more storage, a normal USB slot (not a micro USB), while not letting go of the price focus.

The netbook also needed to be light-weight for students to carry comfortably.

IIT Bombay has tied up with Delhi-based company, Basic Computers, which has delivered 1,000 netbooks for the pilot phase.

Samsung Galaxy S6 expected to have 4GB RAM

Samsung's next-generation Galaxy S flagship is expected to arrive in March during the Mobile World Congress.

This time, the South Korean Titan is expected to bring Samsung Galaxy S6 with 4GB RAM. This information is contradictory to previous rumours that suggested a 3GB RAM configuration. It's possible that Samsung could introduce 3GB RAM and a 4GB RAM variants for the phone so it can't be totally ruled out.

The Galaxy S6 will not be the first Smartphone to come with 4GB RAM. The Asus ZenFone 2 flagship, which was announced recently at CES 2015 boasts of 4GB RAM. More RAM implies that the phone will be able to benefit from its 64-bit processor and offer faster performance with better memory management.

The Galaxy S6 is expected to feature a Quad HD (2560x1440p) display, 64-bit Exynos 7420 or Snapdragon 810 processor, 16 or 20MP rear camera, 5MP front camera with 32, 64 and 128GB storage options and Broadcom's new BCM4773 sensor chip.

The South Korean tech giant has been working on Galaxy S6 under the codename 'Project Zero' as it aims to redesign it from the scratch in order to make it 'the best Galaxy S flagship’ yet. 

Asus Fonepad 8 launched at Rs 13,999

Taiwanese electronic device maker Asus has launched Fonepad 8, an 8-inch Android tablet in India at Rs 13,999. It will be available at Asus exclusive stores and Flipkart.

The tablet will be available in Black and Gold colour variants and comes with support for voice calling.

Fonepad 8 sports an 8-inch WXGA (1280x800p) IPS display. Powered by a 1.33GHz quad-core Intel Atom Z3530 processor and 2GB RAM, the tablet comes with 16GB internal storage expandable via microSD card (up to 64GB).

Asus Fonepad 8 runs Android 4.4 with Asus Zen UI running on top.

It sports a 5MP rear camera and a 2MP front-facing camera, and comes with a 4,000mAh battery.

In terms of connectivity options, the dual-sim tablet supports Wi-Fi, 3G, Bluetooth 4.0 and voice calling.

The tablet has a 72.2% screen-to-body ratio and comes with dual front speakers tuned with MaxxAudio technology.

Sony SmartWatch 3 and SmartBand Talk available in India

Sony has launched its SmartWatch 3 and SmartBand Talk wearables in the Indian market at Rs 19,990 and Rs 12,990, respectively. Both of the devices are available in variants of black.

Both wearable devices connect with Sony's Lifelog, an app that allows users to track their health, lifestyle patterns and smartphone usage.

SmartWatch 3 offers significant step ups from SmartWatch 2, including a 1.6-inch 320x320 TFT LCD Transflective display for visibility in bright sunlight, set within a stainless steel back panel. It is waterproof and charges via a standard microUSB port.

It has 4GB internal storage, allowing users to store music and connects with a Bluetooth headset.

The SmartWatch 3 is the first Sony Smartwatch to be powered by Google's Android Wear. The Smartwatch is equipped with Google's voice recognition service and can perform simple tasks including checking email, sending text messages and carrying out an online search at users' voice command.

The watch comes with a built-in microphone, accelerometer, compass, gyro and GPS sensor technology that make fitness tracking more accurate.

The device cannot make phone calls but can be connected to many of the latest Android-based Smartphones. The watch can be used with any Smartphone running Android 4.3 and above.

Like Sony's first-generation SmartBand, the SmartBand Talk is also a 'life-logging accessory' and not just a fitness tracker and offers additional features.

The wearable sports a built-in microphone and speaker, and comes equipped with a short call function allowing users to answer calls and listen to them via the band. The band comes with HD Voice support.

Through Sony's integrated Voice Control technology, users can also assign different sounds to life bookmarks and use their voice to carry out specific Smartphone operations.

SmartBand Talk features a curved, always-on 1.4-inch E-ink. It displays Lifelog activity, notifications and the time at a glance.

The band's built-in accelerometer and altimeter sensor technology helps the band provide an accurate overview of the users' daily physical activity including walking, running or climbing.

SmartBand Talk and SmartWatch 3 both enable and present lifelogging activity and data on the wrist, and connect to the companion app on an Android Smartphone via Bluetooth and NFC.

Lava Iris Alfa launched at Rs 6,550

Lava International has launched Iris Alfa, a new budget Android Smartphone at Rs 6,550. The phone will be available in black and white colours in retail outlets across India and on eBay.in.

Lava Iris Alfa sports a 5-inch FWVGA (480x854p) IPS fully laminated display. The phone measures 141X71.4X9.2mm and weighs 156gram.

Powered by a 1.2GHz quad-core processor and 1GB RAM, the phone comes with 8GB internal storage and a microSD card slot that supports cards of up to 32GB capacity.

The phone comes with a 2200mAh battery, which the company claims, offers up to 22.7 hours of talk time on 2G without a need to charge the phone.

The phone runs Android 4.4 KitKat with FOTA (firmware over the air) support, and comes bundled with Truecaller premium - a phone number search app, Rs 2000 worth free.

Iris Alfa sports a 5MP rear camera with single LED flash and a VGA front camera. It also supports full HD Video recording and digital zoom with built in auto-focus.

The dual-sim Smartphone supports 3G connectivity apart from Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.1 and USB OTG support.