Wednesday, March 11, 2015

TECH SPECIAL .................New Flagships & Wearables from Day 1 of MWC 2015

New Flagships & Wearables from Day 1 of MWC 2015


2015 Mobile World Congress …
HTC One M9 Expected mid 2015
For their latest flagship, seems like HTC doesn't want to mess too much with a good thing. The M9 is strikingly similar to the M8 and still features an all-metal body. The changes are mostly under the hood, starting with the Snapdragon 810 (octa core) processor and 3GB RAM. The rear camera is a 20MP unit covered with sapphire glass while the front camera is a 4MP Ultrapixel unit that should work well with low light. Plus it still has expandable memory, BoomSound speakers for loud sound and a 5-inch 1080p screen.
Samsung Galaxy S6 & S6 Edge
Expected April 2015 (Rs.50,000 & Rs.60,000 onwards)
Samsung has stepped up their game and launched two new devices. Both need to be discussed together since they are essentially the same device ­ save for the screen and design tweaks. The highlight, of course, is the dual wraparound screen on the Edge version. Unlike the Note Edge though, the screen curvature in the S6 Edge is just to make it look prettier.No one will complain about the materials used this time ­ it's all aircraft aluminium and Gorilla Glass 4. Hardware has also been bumped up: both have Samsung's latest octa core Exynos chipsets, 3GB RAM and a choice of 32, 64 and 128GB of super-fast SSD class storage. Some other welcome changes are the omission of bloatware, a brand new 16MP primary snapper and f1.9 lens and built in support for wireless charging. There are also some new colours to choose from. Expect the S6 to be priced at `50,000 onwards while the S6 Edge will likely come in at `60,000 onwards (depending on memory capacity).
Huawei Watch
Expected mid 2015 (Rs.25,000)
A perfectly circular display in a small, wrist-worn wearable is hard to do and Huawei is only the second manufacturer (after LG) to pull off the feat. The Huawei Watch is powered by Android Wear and features a premium, cold forged, scratch resistant stainless steel design, a 1.4inch amoled screen (400 x 400 pixels, 10,000:1 contrast ratio) covered with sapphire glass (this is a first for a smartwatch) and the usual optical heart rate monitor.Huawei will be bundling over 40 different watch face designs which take full advantage of the black levels of the amoled screen. Importantly, you can swap out the watch bands yourself and the watch is compatible with any 18mm band.
Lenovo Vibe Shot
Expected June 2015 (Rs.25,000)
The Vibe Shot is Lenovo's attempt at a crossover device to merge what they call a full featured camera and `champion smartphone'. For the camera bit, it has a 16 MP unit with six-element lens, optical image stabilisation, tricolour LED flash, physical shutter button and an infrared focus system which promises to be much faster than the typical phone. For the phone part, it has a 5-in 1080p display, 4G capable Snapdragon 615 (octacore) processor, 3GB RAM, 32GB storage and 4K video capability.Lenovo also announced the A7000, a budget 4G smartphone with 5.5-in screen and the Pocket Projector for smartphones (expected at Rs 12,000 and 16,000 respectively).
Text: Hitesh Raj Bhagat

ET3MAR15

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