Samsung Galaxy Grand Duos in Red and Brown colour variants

Samsung has announced to offer the Galaxy Grand Duos GT-I9082 smartphone in two more colour options for the Indian consumers. Samsung Galaxy Grand Duos is already available in Metallic Blue and Elegant White options. The two new colours of the smartphone are Luxury Brown and Wine Red. SammyHub reported about the listing of two new colours at the Samsung India estore .Samsung India’s official online store lists the two phones with a price tag of Rs. 20,800 (about $342) and that money also gives you two Flip covers for free, worth Rs. 2,798 ($46).

Samsung Galaxy Grand Duos is a dual-SIM smartphone running Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean with Nature UX running on top of it. This smartphone supports 3G network SIM and 2G network SIM modules together. Samsung uses dual-core 1.2 GHz mobile processor with Broadcom Videocore graphic chip. It packs 1 GB RAM and offers only 8 GB on-board storage with memory card slot.

The Galaxy Grand Duos has a 5-inch LCD display with 480x800 pixel resolution. At the back, Samsung has placed 8 megapixel camera with autofocus and LED Flash. This camera can record 1080p HD video. In the front it has 2 megapixel camera. This smartphone packs 2100 mAh battery.

Samsung Galaxy Grand duos key specifications

• 5-inch WVGA display
• Android 4.1.2
• 8MP rear camera, 2MP front camera
• 1GB of RAM, 8GB of internal storage, microSD card slot
• 1.2GHz dual-core processor
• 2100 mAh battery
• Dual-SIM support
• Price: INR 19,990

Samsung is offering the two new variants at Rs 20,800 including two flip covers worth Rs 2798 for free. This phone is set to get the Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean update anytime soon.

LG G2 full information that you needed

Abandoning the Optimus for its highest-end devices, today LG finally announced their latest flagship - the LG G2.

At 5.2-inches, the LG G2 has a slightly bigger screen than the current crop of high-end smartphones. The resolution however, is the same at 1920 x 1080 px. The screen is a IPS unit with a brightness rating of 450nits. The LG G2 display uses something called Graphic RAM (GRAM) to reduce power consumption up to 26% when displaying a still image. LG claims this increases the expected overall battery life by up to 10%.

What's particularly striking about the phone is ultra-slim bezel and the lack of any hardware keys on the front (or sides, for that matter).

The only hardware key is actually positioned on the back. It's actually a combo of several buttons in one. That's the power/sleep key dead center along with the volume keys. The volume keys also double as shortcuts for the camera and Quick Memo feature. The reason behind the decision to position this key here is to make handling extra large smartphones easier and less prone to dropping.

The LG G2 is based around a 2.3GHz quad-core Snapdragon 800 chipset with 2GB of RAM and an Adreno 330 GPU. According to Qualcomm's CEO, who appeared in stage today, the G2 is the first phone to launch on a world-wide scale with this top-shelf processor.

The storage capacity is set at either 16GB or 32GB. Supposedly, there is a microSD slot as well, but it seems that will only be available in certain markets and the units LG brought to NYC didn't have such a thing.

The 13MP camera is on par with the rest of the top notch hardware. It's got optical image stabilization (OIS) and can record FullHD 1080p videos in up to 60fps.

LG has also worked hard on the quality of audio output. The phone can reproduce Hi-Fi 24 bit/192kHz. LG has also collaborated with the Vienna Boy's Choir to freshen up the available sounds and ringtones on the device.

The LG G2 runs Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean out of the box.

As customary for Android flagships, the LG G2 offers several proprietary features to differentiate. You can double tap on the screen to wake it up and tap again to turn it back off. The phone will readily auto answer a call when you pick it up to your ear. There is an innovative Guest mode to secure the privacy of your data when friends want to check out your new smartphone or when you hand down your phone to your kid.

Finally, you can get rid of a currently active app and minimize it by a three-finger swipe across the screen.

Speaking of multi-tasking, the G2 can store your app progress in up to three different apps. The screenshotting feature can capture a whole webpage or a long email, not just the content in your viewport.

The LG G2 also has an Infrared port that can be used to remotely control home entertainment devices by learning from their conventional remotes.

Connectivity-wise, the LG G2 makes use of the latest generation LTE-A connectivity (up to 150Mbps), as well as dual-band Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.0.

For power backup, the LG G2 relies on a 3,000mAh Li-Po battery.

LG G2 will be available in black or white and will launch to over 130 carriers in the next eight weeks starting in South Korea, followed by North America, Europe and other key markets.

Mere hours before its official launch at the company's New York event, the LG G2 has showed its face again in a couple of live photos. Best of all, it poses right next to the Samsung Galaxy S4 begging for a comparison treatment.

Both smartphones are dressed in white for the occasion, which really helps the comparison. The first thing that we notice is that the G2 is bit larger than the Galaxy S4 due to the 5.2" display. However, the LG G2 has far thinner bezels, so the difference is pretty minor.

Just as earlier leaks pointed out, LG has opted out of placing a physical buttons below the display. Instead, the smartphone bets on software onscreen buttons, allowing better space efficiency above and below the screen.

At the back, things get interesting for the LG G2, which features three keys - the volume rocker and an additional button of unknown purpose. The LED flash sits on the right of the rumored 13MP camera. Both phones support LTE-A connectivity, although this particular version of the Galaxy S4 features the standard LTE radio, and not the newest LTE-A one.

Update: A hands-on video just surfaced. It's in French and lasts for 6 and a quarter minutes, giving you a very detailed look at the hardware and the UI of the smartphone.

We'll have the full scoop of the LG G2 in a couple of hours as the announcement event kicks off. Stay tuned!

LG finally announced its G2 flagship smartphone at its event today. The 5.2-inch device comes with a very sleek design and packs a punch with its Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor. The good news is that LG G2 will be available on all 4 major US carriers - Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile and Sprint.

LG G2 will hit the stores by the end of August and the smartphone will also be available on 100 different carriers within 90 days. Unfortunately, there is no official pricing details of the LG G2 at the moment.

The only hardware key on the LG G2 that is positioned at the back of the device has been the talk of the town. LG G2 also has an impressive sounding 13 megapixel rear camera with optical image stabilization and comes with a few other exciting features.

Check out our detailed launch post for more information on the LG G2 smartphone.

LG uncovered its new smartphone beast, the G2 an NYC press event yesterday. Back then LG focused more on the ultra-slim bezel, the impressive design and the lengthy list of hot features of the smartphone, but didn't say anything about pricing. Well, thanks to some online retailers that information is no longer a mystery.

The LG G2 has been spotted on a German retailer and according to the listing, the 16GB variant of the SIM-free G2 will cost €599 (about $800), while the 32 GB unlocked version will sell for €629 (about $840). Those prices seem pretty reasonable and we suspect they will carry over to the rest of Europe.

Sadly, there is no official word on the availability of the LG G2 on the Old continent, but is should be no later thanSeptember.

Free WiFi service in New Delhi Railway Station soon

After introducing WiFi service in few trains , Indian Railways is now mulling to provide free WiFi service in New Delhi Railway Station.It seems that Railway too is going high-tech these days as it recently introduced a new SMS basedtrain ticket booking service in India. And now, Railway is planning to make New Delhi Railways Station (NDRS) Wi-Fi enabled.

Yes, you read it right! The busiest station in the country will soon get free Wi-Fi connectivity, which means, passengers waiting for a train to arrive will not get bore anymore as they can access Wi-Fi on all the 16 platforms of the station, via their Smartphone, tablets, and laptops.Workaholics, Internet addicts and those who have time to kill will soon have something to look forward to while waiting at New Delhi railway station as the Indian Railways have announced free Wi-Fi connectivity at the station

With this, NDRS becomes nation’s first Wi-Fi enabled railway station. The system will take nearly 3 to 4 months to go operational. A senior Railway Ministry official said that “The system is expected to be operational in 3/4 months.”In the next three to four months, one of the country’s busiest stations will be the first one to be a Wi-Fi enabled station, a facility that is so far limited to major international airports.

According to reports, the free WiFi service will be provided in the New Delhi Railway station in next three to four months.

A free Wi-Fi service, considered a value added amenity, is already available on board the Howrah Rajdhani. The proposal to extend it to the station is part of the Railway Ministry’s efforts to spruce its services at the New Delhi railway station and push it to the “world class” category.Budgetary allocations for the project were announced in the last Railway Budget. There are proposals to replace the existing information kiosks, presently installed at the station with tablets at designated places. Through the “user-friendly” tablets passengers will get information about the train position, expected arrival time and other relevant details about their journey.

"Once operational, passengers on all the 16 platforms will be able to access the internet through Wi-Fi services, which will cost the Ministry about Rs.80 lakh. The station was selected on a pilot basis and once the experiment is successful, other railway stations in the Capital will also be Wi-Fi enabled," a Railway official was quoted as saying by The Hindu.

"Tenders were invited for equipping New Delhi railway station with Wi-Fi, after which a Mumbai-based company has been assigned the job. We expect the work to be completed in three to four months. It would be a free service and we are eagerly waiting for the project to be completed soon," the newspaper further said quoting another senior official with Northern Railway.The official went on to say: “New Delhi railway station handles as many as 300 trains and five lakh passengers in a day. So the free Wi-Fi service will certainly add to some of the attractive features which the station has. It would also go a long way in making the station a world class one as it will be the first Wi-Fi enabled station in the country to have such a modern facility like major international airports,” the official added.

Earlier in April this year, the Indian Railways started the free WiFi service in the New Delhi- Howrah Rajdhani express.

However, not much information in available now about the terms and conditions regarding the free WiFi service in New Delhi Railway Station.

Moto X launched yesterday with 3 promo videos and Google Play availability (Complete Moto X specs and other details)

After a series of leaks with a proud feeling, Google showoff the MOTO X . Motorola has officially taken the wraps off the Moto X - the first phone that has been entirely developed under the supervision of Google. It's also the company's first phone in a while to be fully assembled in the USA.

The Motorola Moto X is build around a 4.7" AMOLED display with full RGB matrix and 720p resolution. This results in a pixel density of 316 ppi. The screen is protected by a new type of Gorilla Glass, which is dubbed Magic Glass due to its curves towards the edges of the phone.

On the inside, the Motorola Moto X features a Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro chipset with dual 1.7GHz Krait cores, Adreno 320 GPU and 2GB of RAM. Internal storage is 16GB or 32GB depending on the version you choose but there's no card slot for further expansion. Just like the latest DROID line-up, the Snapdragon S4 Pro chipset is part of the Motorola X8 board, which also includes a natural language processor and contextual computing processor.

The Moto X camera has a 10MP sensor and uses the ClearPixel technology for superior low-light performance. Every other green portion of the Bayer filter array, which sits in front of the image sensor, is replaced by a clear one, allowing more light to reach the sensor.

On the software side, the camera offers HDR, burst shots and panorama. The Moto X can also shoot full HD videos at 30fps and there are features like face detection and geo-tagging on board. At the front, there's a 2MP camera capable of 1080p video recording that serves for video-chatting purposes.

Motorola has gone great lengths to make the Moto X a truly customizable phone. Customers can choose whether the front panel to be black or white, as well as the color of the back panel from 18 options. There's also a third customizable area called accent - it covers the camera rim and side buttons. Further customization includes adding a name or short message on the back of the phone as choosing a Google account and wallpaper to come preinstalled on the device.

The Motorola Moto X runs Android 4.2 Jelly Bean, which at first glance looks as clean as stock, but Motorola has added a few touches of its own. One of them is the Active Display feature, which makes use of the OLED screen and brings a snippet of information (the time, new messages and voicemail) on a blank black screen. Think of it as an Android version of Nokia's Glance Screen feature.

Motorola has also preinstalled a transfer app called Migrate. It allows you to transfer your photos, videos, SIM contacts and even call and text history from any Android phone running Android 2.2 or higher.

Because of the curved back, the Motorola Moto X thickness varies from 5.6 to 10.4mm. The phone has a pretty decent footprint for its 4.7" display - 129.3 x 65.3mm with a weight of the very acceptable 130 grams.

Below the customizable back panel sits a 2200mAh battery, which Motorola rates at 13 hours of 3G talk time and up to 24 hours of mixed usage endurance.

The Motorola Moto X a will be available on the five largest carriers in the USA - AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile and US Cellular. It will cost $200 for the 16GB version and $250 for the 32GB units, both with a two-year contract.

Motorola Moto X at a glance

• General: Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE, quad-band UMTS/HSPA, 100 Mbps LTE with a second LTE antenna


• Form factor: Touchscreen bar phone


• Dimensions: 129.3 x 65.3 x 10.4, 130 g


• Display: 4.7" 16M-color 720p (1280 x 720 pixels) capacitive touchscreen RGB AMOLED display with curved Gorilla Glass and ~316 ppi


• CPU: Dual-core 1.7 GHz Krait


• GPU: Adreno 320


• Chipset: A custom-built Motorola X8 Mobile Computing System, based on a Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro chipset


• RAM: 2GB


• OS: Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean


• Memory: 16/32GB storage, microSD card slot


• Cameras: Primary 10 megapixel auto-focus Clear Pixel camera with 1.4 µm-sized pixels, f/2.4 aperture, native 16:9 aspect ratio, face detection, HDR mode, panorama, geo-tagging; Full HD (1080p) video recording at 30fps with HDR, Secondary 2MP front-facing camera with FullHD video capture; Quick capture allows you to activate the camera with a double twist of your wrist;


• Connectivity: Dual-band Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac, Wi-Fi hotspot, Bluetooth 4.0 LE, standard microUSB port with MHL and USB host, GPS receiver with A-GPS, GLONASS, 3.5mm audio jack, NFC, wireless screen sharing (Miracast protocol)


• Misc: Composite plastic materials - surrounding back panel and curved edge-to-edge Gorilla Glass front; dual-mic setup for noise cancellation; water-repellent coating on electrical components for trouble-free operation in the rain; some 50 GB worth of extra free Google Drive storage for 2 years (on top of the usual 15GB); Active Display system, showing notifications on a fraction of the screen size when the screen is off; Touchless control - voice control capabilities in standby (with the screen off).
• Battery capacity: 2200mAh.

Yesterday, Motorola finally announced the Moto X, which will soon go on sale in the US on all the major carriers on a contract. However, Google has now announced that you will also be able to purchase the Moto X from the Play Store as well.

The Google Play edition of the Moto X will be similar to the Galaxy S4 and the HTC One, where it would come with a stock version of Android. Although the Moto X does have relatively stock Android even on carrier branded models, it does come with the usual carrier bloatware, along with some of Motorola's customizations, such as the always-on voice feature, shake to start camera and the active lockscreen.

Although Motorola promised quick updates to the Moto X, the Google Play edition will get them even quicker since they don't have to go through the carrier before being pushed to your device.

Just like the GPe of the S4 and the One, the Moto X will also be sold unlocked and at full price. The exact price is not yet known as of now, nor is the actual date when the phone will be available on the Play Store, but considering the specs of the device, you can expect a price of around $299 for the 16GB model. It's unlikely though that Google would offer the Moto X in any other color option other than the standard black and white.

Motorola has just unleashed its Moto X flagship smartphone and, as tradition dictates, the announcement was accompanied by the release of a few promo videos.

The Moto X got a trio of clips – the first two focus on its unique software features, while the third one is dedicated to its Moto Maker customization software.

The first 30 second clip is all about the always-on voice commands, which don’t even require the Moto X to be unlocked to work.

Next comes the Quick Draw promo, showing you how you can unlock the smartphone and launch its camera by simply flicking your wrist.

Finally, there’s the Moto Maker video – it’s the longest of the set, but that’s because there are so many options to go through.

Share your thoughts on the Moto X with the rest of us in the comments section below.

A brief of Breakfast with Google's Sundar Pichai

Google released Android 4.3, the next major version of its Android operating system and made a series of software and hardware announcements at a press event in San Francisco yesterday.

Here is a quick lowdown of all the announcements that Google made yesterday -

Tablet Activations: Google has clocked 70 million tablet activations to date and Sundar Pichai, Google’s Senior Vice President of Android, Chrome & Apps claimed that one in every two tablets sold in the first half of 2013 was an Android based tablet. He also claimed that Nexus 7 accounted for 10% of all Android tablets sold until now.

Google Play Store Stats: Google claims to have more than one million apps in Play Store at present, making it possibly the first mobile operating system to cross the milestone publicly. In comparison, Apple had reported 900,000 iOS apps last month. Google also reiterated that it has generated more than 50 billion app installs on Google Play to date, a number it had mentioned during the quarterly earnings report last week.

Google also introduced a new tablet-specific section to the Play Store in a bid to promote its tablet apps. However, I am curious on how many tablet apps does the Play Store really have? From what I have noticed, it has been a very negligible amount and Google itself has never provided any official breakdown between its phone specific and tablet specific apps until now. In comparison, Apple has375,000 iPad specific apps and 525,000 phone specific apps, as of last month.

Android 4.3 “Jelly Bean”: Google unveiled Android 4.3 ‘Jelly Bean’, the next major version of Android operating system, although it seems like a minor update over Android 4.2 ‘Jelly Bean’ in terms of features.

Android 4.3 brings in features like restricted profiles, support for OpenGL ES 3.0 and Bluetooth Smart, New DRM APIs for streaming 1080p videos, Dial pad autocomplete and a new Wi-Fi scan only mode for better location accuracy while conserving battery.

Restricted profiles which adds on to the existing multi user capabilities for tablets introduced in Android 4.2, allows device owners to create limited profiles through which they can restrict access to specific apps and content on the device. These limited profiles will not have access to Gmail, Calendar, Play Store or in-app purchases and owners will also have granular controls to restrict which apps can be accessed and how these apps behave based on the user profile.

For instance, users can control the maturity level of the profile and manage access to games and user generated content for the profile among others. Developers can also provide custom restrictions within their apps using the Restricted Profile API. We feel this feature will be quite handy for parents to avoid accidental in-app purchases by their kids when they share their tablets. It will also allow them to control their kids’ activities on the tablet.

Besides this, Android 4.3 will feature system wide support for Hindi and other languages like Africaans, Amharic, Arabic, Hebrew, Swahili and Zulu. Note that Google already offers Hindi as an inbuilt input language for all Android devices running on Android 4.1 “Jelly Bean” or later and the company had alsolaunched a Hindi input & transliteration app for all Android devices running Android 2.2 or later in March 2013.  However, Robosoft beat Google to launching Indic versions of Android, by rolling out Indic enabled Android phone in April 2012.

Android 4.3 Jelly Bean will start rolling as an over the air (OTA) update to the Nexus 4, Nexus 10, first-gen Nexus 7, and the Galaxy Nexus, with Google Play edition devices receiving it ‘soon’. Developers can either download Android Studio to start developing apps for Android 4.3 or download the Android 4.3 package which includes SDK tools, Platform Tools, and Support Library through the Android SDK Manager.

Google Play Games: Following the launch of Google Play Game services in May 2013, Google has now launched a dedicated gaming app called Google Play Games, which works quite similar to Apple’s social gaming app Game Center.

The app acts as a gaming hub which allows users to track their game achievements and scores, view what games their friends are playing to aid game discovery, join multiplayer games and access the social and public leaderboards for any specific game. It also offers game suggestions in form of featured games and allows users to send friend requests to their Google+ contacts.

Textbooks Section in Google Play Books: Google unveiled a new dedicated textbooks category in Google Play Books, which will allows students to purchase textbooks outright or rent them for a six months period. While the company didn’t disclosed much details on this development, it informed that this section is expected to debut in early August and will apparently offer a “comprehensive” selection from five major publishing houses. Google has apparently partnered with Pearson, Wiley, Macmillian Higher Education, McGraw-Hill and Cengage Learning as per a TechCrunch report.

Google said that these textbooks will be available over the web, iOS and Android at a discounted rates of up to 80%, although it didn’t provide any specific details on the pricing.

Remember that Google had also recently announced a dedicated Android app store called Google Play For Education last May, which was expected to focus only on educational apps for grades K-12. The app store had started accepting app submissions last month and it is expected to debut in the United States in the Fall. We wonder if there will be any integration between this Android app store and the textbook section of the Google Play Books in the future.

Google Translate Website Gets Handwriting Input:  While this was not announced at the event, Google has introduced handwriting input to the Google Translate homepage. This feature will allow users to translate a written expression, even if you don’t know how to type the characters on the keyboard. Users can switch to this option by clicking on the input tools icon at the bottom of the text box. (It didn’t work for English language for us but worked in Spanish and French languages, although it seems to be designed keeping touch screens in mind). Google currently provides handwriting support for 45 languages, although it doesn’t seem to support any Indian language yet.

New Calendar API: Google has also released an updated Calendar API, bringing in push notifications to the API, thereby removing the need for periodic polling by the apps.

Coming soon: Micromax Bling 3

Micromax launched the first Bling phone back in 2010 and unveiled the Bling 2 A55 in 2011. Now the third phone in the Bling series, Bling 3 A86 has surfaced on online retail site FlipkartMicromax, which has long back attracted female users with its Bling series handsets, is now set to revive the series with a new handset. The new Bling series handset, named as Micromax Bling 3 A86, has been listed on online retailer, Flipkart. However, price of the device is not known yet. As per the listing, the Micromax Bling 3 A86 comes with a 4 inch capacitive touch screen though no information about the resolution was there. The Bling 3 has Android 4.1 Jelly Bean operating system, 1 GHz dual core processor, and 32 GB expandable storage slot. The listing does not speak anything about the RAM or internal storage of Bling 3.

Besides, the 3G smartphone has dual SIM slot, 5 megapixel rear camera, 0.3 megapixel front camera, 1600 mAh battery, WiFi and Bluetooth . As per the pictures posted on the website, the phone clearly seems to be made for females with a glittering home button which sits just below the display - a style statement that is unique to other Bling series handsets as well. Similarly, as you can see in the picture too, the back panel is also designed well to appeal style conscious female consumers.

Micromax Bling 3 A86 specifications

• 4-inch capacitive touch screen display
• 1 GHz dual-core  processor
• Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean)
• Dual SIM (GSM + GSM) with dual standby
• 5MP auto focus camera with LED flash
• VGA front-facing camera
• 11.4 mm thick
• 3.5 mm audio jack
• Expandable memory up to 32GB with microSD
• 3G , WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 3.0, aGPS
• 1600 mAh battery with up to 4 hours talk time and up to 200 hours standby

Considering these features, we think Micromax to price the Bling 3 A86 around Rs 6,000.

Exynos 5 Octa 5420 is 20% faster, set to star in the Galaxy Note III

Following the teaser last week, Samsung has finally unveiled the new Exynos 5 Octa chip and shared some more details about it.

The new Exynos 5 Octa 5420, which is likely to power the Samsung Galaxy Note III, is retaining its ARM big.LITTLE architecture with four Cortex A15 and Cortex A7 cores. Thanks to a boost in the clock speeds of both quartets of CPU cores, the new Exynos 5 Octa packs 20% more punch than its predecessor. The quad Cortex A15 now run at up to 1.8GHz, as opposed to 1.6GHz in the 5410 version, while the Cortex A7 can now operate at 1.3GHz, compared to 1.2GHz in the previous version.

Samsung has opted out of using Imagination's PowerVRSGX544MP3 graphics of its new gen Octa chip and has decided to use the 6-core ARM Mali-T628 MP6. The memory is updated as well and while its the same dual-channel 32-bit LPDDR configuration it can now support up to 1866MHz clock speed. This results in a maximum bandwidth of 14.9Gbps.

As a result of this boost in the memory, the new Exynos 5 Octa comes with full HD Wi-Fi display support. As with any new generation chip, Samsung has made improvements in the energy department and the 5420 chip is more efficient when used on high-resolution display devices, improving battery life.

Samsung says the Exynos 5 Octa 5420 is now sampling and will enter mass production in August. That means the chipset will be ready just in time for the Galaxy Note III announcement, which should happen on September 4
VIA GSM Arean

HTC Desire 500 with 4.3-inch display, quad-core Snapdragon 200 processor announced

HTC has announced a new mid-range Android smartphone in Taiwan called the Desire 500. The phone is priced at a suggested retail price of NT$11,900 and will be launched exclusively through Taiwan Mobile on August 1.

The Desire 500 looks somewhat similar to the One S from the front but trades in the metal body for plastic. It has a 4.3-inch, 800 x 480 resolution display, Qualcomm Snapdragon 200 SoC with a quad-core, 1.2GHz CPU and Adreno 205 GPU (likely the same 8625Q chip found in the Desire 600), 1GB of RAM, 4GB internal memory with microSD card slot, 8 megapixel BSI rear camera with 720p video recording, 1.6 megapixel BSI front camera, optional dual-SIM functionality, Android Jelly Bean with HTC Sense 5 and BlinkFeed UI and a 1,800mAh battery.HTC transplanted a few of the marquee features of the One, including BlinkFeed and Video Highlights, though obviously the hardware dependent ones are absent.

The Desire 500 carries the Beats Audio feature but lacks the Boom Sound speakers found on recent HTC phones. The phone will be available in three colors: Black, white with green accents and white with red accents.

HTC Desire 500 key features

• 1.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 200 quad-core processor
• Android 4.2.2 with HTC Sense
• Total storage space: 4GB, microSD memory card
• RAM: 1GB
• Size: 131.8 x 66.9 x 9.9 mm
• Weight: 123 grams
• 4.3-inch display, WVGA resolution (480 x 800)
• Built-in GPS / AGPS antenna, 3.5mm audio jack, NFC, Bluetooth 4.0, Wi-Fib/g/n, DLNA
• Beats Audio
• 8-megapixel rear camera with auto focus, LED flash, BSI sensor, built-in HTC ImageChip, F2.0 aperture and 28mm lens
• 1.6-megapixels front camera, with BSI Sensor
• Battery: 1800 mAh

Samsung announces Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 Student Edition in the US, priced at $350

Samsung officially announced its Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 Student Edition. The special edition tablet comes bundled with a desktop dock and a Bluetooth keyboard.

Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 can be docked and, with the help of the Bluetooth keyboard, it can be used to perform notebook duties. The desktop dock also allows you to charge the Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 while using it. Samsung is marketing this new edition of their Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 towards students as something that can bring you laptop-like functionality without the laptop-like weight and price. As a student myself, I sometimes wish my tablet could replace my laptop but as a programmer, that’s just not possible…yet. As a reminder, here are the specs of the Galaxy Tab 2 10.1:

• 10.1-inch 1280×800 resolution display
• 1GB of RAM
• 16GB of internal storage (expandable via microSD)
• 3.15MP camera on the back, VGA camera on the front
• Android 4.1
• TI OMAP 4430 dual-core processor clocked at 1GHz
• 7000mAh battery

So these specs aren’t quite up to par with existing tablets, but the Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 has already been replaced with theGalaxy Tab 3 10.1, so you shouldn’t be too surprised. It still packs enough power to get the job done, which is what students need. I have always loved transforming gadgets like the Asus Padfone !

The tablet also comes with few added goodies like Polaris Office suite, 50 GB Dropbox storage for one year, and three-month subscription for Hulu Plus.

Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 Student Edition is priced at $349.99 and is currently available in Best Buy, Amazon, Wal-Mart, Toys ‘R’ Us, BJ’s, P.C. Richard & Son and Office Max. But $350 sound expensive for students ?

Sony Xperia ZU could be available in India by July 31

The Xperia ZU is Sony's flagship product and it will be the first product in India to ship with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 quad-core CPU clocked at 2.2GHz.

Last month, Sony unveiled the Xperia ZU 6.4-inch phablet globally and now it appears that the product could be available in India by July 31 itself. An e-commerce website has indicated that the product will start shipping from July 31 onwards. Giving more credibility to this is the fact that Sony has slashed the prices of the Xperia Z and ZL smartphones, which could only mean that the company is planning to launch a new flagship product.

The Xperia ZU is Sony’s flagship product and it will be the first product in India to ship with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 quad-core CPU clocked at 2.2GHz. It is also the first Sony mobile product to be equipped with a TRILUMINUS display, something which the company uses in its high-end HDTVs.

In addition to this, the phablet has an 8-megapixel rear camera, 16GB of internal memory and 2GB of RAM. For memory expansion it will support 64GB microSD cards. Like the Xperia Z, it is also waterproof and dust resistant. Sony also claims it to be the slimmest smartphone as it is measures in at a svelte 6.5mm.

Sony is pitching this product to be a rival to Samsung’s yet to be announced Galaxy Note III. As one already knows, Samsung’s Galaxy Note line of devices have defined the phablet category and Sony surely this time around has a product that at least on the basis of core specs has what it takes to give the next generation Galaxy Note a tough fight.

While the Xperia ZU does not come with a stylus like the Galaxy Note, it will be able to compete in this regard as well. According to Sony, one can write and sketch on its screen with a pencil, pen or a capacitive stylus that has a tip of over 1mm in diameter.

Recent leaks have suggested that the Galaxy Note III could have a 5.7-inch display and have a 13-megapixel camera with a Xenon flash. Samsung has also teased the possible launch of an upgraded version of its Exynos 5 Octa CPU, which will likely power the next generation Galaxy Note.

Nokia Lumia 521: First MetroPCS WP8 Phone Coming Soon In Affordable Price

Nokia may not be the best amongst other handsets and smartphones, but it is surely the best one that runs Windows Phone 8 in its wide range of Lumia series. Although, other manufacturers tend to follow WP8, these days it seems Nokia is all about Lumia and WP8 is all about Nokia. Click Here For More Nokia Smartphones Gallery Click Here For All Nokia Smartphone Models Price, Specs Lists However, there is a latest good news for the ones who are looking for an affordable Windows Phone 8 running Nokia handset. The most followed Twitter user and a reliable leakster @evleaks has recently posted an image of the Nokia Lumia 521 for MetroPCS. It seems MetroPCS is seemingly following in the footsteps of T-Mobile. Moreover, It is all set to launch their first Windows Phone 8 powered handset Nokia Lumia 521 soon. T-Mobile has been selling Windows Phone 8 devices since last year while the MetroPCS had no Microsoft-powered smartphones in its line-up. However, Lumia 521 is probably going to be its first WP8 product. Speculations suggest that the handset quite affordable WP8 phone ever. Unwiredview reported saying that Lumia 521 is the cheapest Windows Phone 8 device that you can currently get in the US. Thus to be more precise it actually costs $149.99 (approx. Rs. 8,899) at T-Mobile. To go by the specs, the handset is likely to be similar to the T-Mobile's version. So speculations are that MetroPCS' Lumia 521 will come with 4 inch IPS display with 800 x 480 pixels resolution. The handset is likely to be powered by a dual-core 1GHz processor alongside 512MB RAM. It should come with a 5MP rear camera and 8GB of internal memory and with a MicroSD card support (up to 64GB), and it is said that the Lumia 521 will be powered by a 1,430 mAh batteryVIA Gizbot

Second generation Google Nexus 7 leaks out in a press photo

The highly anticipated second generation of the Google Nexus 7 made a couple of unofficial appearances. The upcoming ASUS-made slate showed up in a press photo, as well as a BestBuy print catalogue. Both alleged images of the upcoming Nexus 7 fall right in line with previous leaks. The BestBuy ad points at a screen resolution of 1920 x 1200 pixels. It also confirms the $229 price tag for the 16GB version of the slate. The second generation ASUS Nexus 7 is all but certain to break cover at an event hosted by Google this coming Wednesday, July 24. We will be covering it as it unfolds, so be sure to tune in for the full scoop on the slate.

Press image of Verizon's mid-range LG Enact surfaces

Another device with uninspired design and LTE to fill out Verizon's end-of-year lineup Verizon and LG have had a steady relationship of releasing mid-range devices to fill out its smart phone portfolio, and it looks like the LG Enact will be the latest in the series. Following in the footsteps of devices like the Lucid, Spectrum and Revolution, the Enact (aka VS890) looks to have a moderate screen size, four capacitive buttons (yes, menu button included) and typical branding in all the right places. The interface looks to be the same as other recent LG phones, and considering that Chrome is highlighted as an app on the home screen we're likely looking at Android 4.1 or above loaded on the Enact. Look for this one to hit Verizon by the end of the year at a low price point on-contract. A new press image of the Verizon bound smartphone, dubbed as LG Enact has been leaked, courtesy ofevleaks. The mid-range Android device with a model number VS890 is rumored to be announced with Android 4.1 Jelly Bean on board. The LG Enact is said to sport a display with a resolution of 480 x 800 pixels and the smartphone is expected to feature a Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Plus or a Snapdragon 400 processor and will support 4G LTE connectivity. Unfortunately, there is no word on the pricing and the launch date of the upcoming Verizon smartphone, but it's likely that it's going to be subsidizes to free on contract.

Sony Xperia Z Ultra’s handwriting recognition tested with coin, pen and knife

The Sony Xperia Z Ultra was announced last month as the company’s first foray into the realm of phablets with its robust 6.5-inch screen.

Besides the new Triluminous display engine, the Z Ultra features Sony’s handwriting recognition technology, which lets you write on the display using nearly anything with tip less than 1mm in diameter. This latest video takes a closer look at exactly what does and doesn’t work as a writing device – from a set of keys to Stanley knives.

Most things worked fairly well, and it’s good to see that the key worked very well, especially since it’s one thing you’ll most likely have on hand in a pinch. Oddly enough, the mechanical pencil didn’t register at all, neither did the plastic ruler, and that goes without saying for the Stanley knife – although we recommend you don’t use the latter even if it did work. Good news is, even if many of these didn’t make for great stylus alternatives, they didn’t damage the display either, which means the Xperia Z Ultra certainly won’t be an easy to scratch device.

Either way, you’ll be able to try all of these and more soon enough, as the Xperia Z Ultra is set to hit Europe in September and Asia this month.

VIA GSM Arena