My mobile magazine january 2017 by My Mobile

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january 2017 ď Ź Rs 100 tm

for a connected lifestyle

new phones That Excites

Consumer Insights Like Never Before

welcome to mobile economy Tested

Lenovo Phab 2Plus, Asus ZenFone 3 Ultra, Vivo V5, InfocusEpic1, Karbonn Fashion Eye, Panasonic Eluga Tapp, and more... phone of the month

Blackberry DTEK60

In Focus Dr Leo Li

Chairman, Spreadtrum Communications Inc

Profile Josh Foulger Country Head and MD, Foxconn India

Editorpage

firstcall Welcome to New Year & Welcome to New Mobile Economy!

paradigm shift has taken place in the Indian

EDITORIA L

economy with the monumental decision of

Pankaj Mohindroo |

Prime Minister Narendra Modi to demonetize high value currency notes to tackle the myriad

Editor-in-Chief

Shelley Vishwajeet | Editor

menace associated with cash including but not limited

Gagandeep Kaur | Contributing Editor

to black money, terror financing, tax evasion and much

Nimish Dubey | Contributing Editor

more. The march towards the much desired cashless

Anuj Bhatia | Chief of Bureau

economy will be aided and fuelled overwhelmingly by your handset –the mobile phone. It wouldn’t be an overstatement to call the new phase – the mobile economy and we at My Mobile welcome this development. You will read in detail about this topic as our cover story and we have ensured that reputed experts on the matter share their views to give our readers perspective like no other. Continuing with the profile series which features

Rohan Pal | Sr. Sub-Editor Vanshika Malhotra | Reporter

DE S I G N Ajit Kumar Parashar | Sr. Graphic Designer

M AR K ETIN G Puja Mohindroo | Manager - Business

extra-ordinary people who have made deep impact not

Apoorv Bhatnagar | Sr. Manager – Marketing

only on mobile and telecom eco-system but on society

Sandeep Kumar | Manager – Marketing

and country as a whole, we are featuring Josh Foulger, Country Head & Managing Director, Foxconn India in this issue. Josh has put Indian electronics manufacturing on

O P ERATION S

the global map! Happy to inform that Josh has been a

K. Rajagopalan | Advisor-Legal, Accounts & Administration

personal friend and a committed professional colleague

Deepak Kohli | Manager – Accounts

with whom we have worked together on many policy

Varun Lama | Sr. Manager – Human Resources

initiatives aimed at making India a manufacturing

B. G. Mathur | Manager- Production

centre for mobile and components. Dr Leo Li, Chairman of Spreadtrum Communications, among the global leader in chipset design and

CIRCU L ATION Bhupender Singh Bisht | Manager – Circulation

manufacturing, is another inspiring personality we have featured in this issue. Dr Li scripted one of the most

AD V I S ORY B OARD

amazing turnaround in Nasdaq history!

Bejon Misra

Content is king but a wholesome content is emperor!

Rajan Mathews

From this issue onward, you will see many qualitative

S.D. Saxena

additions in our content all aimed at giving you more

Subhash Chandra

information, more product and consumer insights, more industry news - all in our familiar easy but engaging style which has made your magazine the most loved, most read and most worthwhile on our subjects. Let the New Year ring in optimism, joy and prosperity! Happy Reading! n

Sunil Dutt Sonu Bhasin Uvaraj Natarajan

G ET IN TOUCH Editorial : shelley@mymobile.co.in Marketing : apoorv@mymobile.co.in Circulation : bhupender@mymobile.co.in Phone : 011—46206161 Fax : 011—41520637 Edited, published, printed and owned by Pankaj Mohindroo, Published from Flat No. 25, First Floor, Shankar Market, Connaught Place, New Delhi – 110001. Printed at HT Media Ltd. B-2, Sector 63, Noida.

Pankaj Mohindroo editor-in-chief

04 | january 2017

The publishers regret that they cannot accept liability for errors and omissions contained in this publication, however caused. The opinions and the views contained in this publication are not necessarily those of the publishers. Readers are advised to seek specialist advice before acting on information contained in this publication, which is provided for general use and may not be appropriate for the reader’s particular circumstances. The ownership of trademarks is acknowledged.

Volume XI, Issue XII, january 2017

MYMOBILE

content

46 Style Notes 10 letters 12 News 21 mobile Doctor 97 Rumor Mill 113 My Guide 20 just in We take a closer look at all new Coolpad Note 3S, Nubia Z11, Lenovo K6, OnePlus 3T, Lenovo Moto M, Zen Admire Dragon, Gionee P7 and more…

29 CELL SPEAK What those who matter in the world of tech are saying !

IN FOCUS

Top 5 Telecom Trends To

104

Move away from the crowd and

Best Mobile with QS 620

Snapdragon Processor

06 | january 2017

glimpse like never before into the man who has put Indian

discover these unique social

electronics manufacturing on

gateaways

the global map !

106 Reliance Jio Experience – A First Hand Look

56 SPECIAL Dr Leo Li : Meet the man who

CONSUMER INSIGHT 32 The Mobile Use Trends! Some

scripted one of the best turnarounds in Nasdaq history !

findings will surprise you !

3 VOD Trends to Watch Out for

SPOTLIGHT

in 2017 – Rajiv Vaidya, CEO,

Spuul India does some crystal

Yahoo !

gazing

The Digital World According to Gen Z Story – Revealed what

do post-millennials want ?

36 LEAD STORY

110 Gadgets form Abroad- Get

Demonetization has dialled the

your friends or relatives coming

onset of new mobile economy.

from abroad to get you one of

We take a deep look at what

these exciting gadgets.

this implies for people and the Indian economy.

Watch Out in 2017

Alternate Social Networks –

55 PERSONALITY

PROFILE

Ten things you might not know

Josh Foulger : We give you

Founder & CEO, Netflix

about Reed Hastings – the Co-

MYMOBILE

What's Inside

contents

60 62

SNAPSHOT HTC – 10 Evo

great apps were developed in the US of A!

108 BY INVITATION Human Language As the New Interface - Kiran Kumar

Honor Magic

89 FACE TO FACE

Burn Tests

Lephone Global President Huang

66 KARBONN FASHION EYE

Director Overseas Operations

67 PANASONIC ELUGA TAPP

talk about India plan.

Minquan and Sharon XU,

68 ASUS ZENFONE 3 ULTRA 70 INFOCUS EPIC 1 72 LENOVO PHAB 2 PLUS

90 BOREDOM BUSTERS Archery King, Don’t Grind, Hop Swap, Microsoft Solitaire

76 BLACKBERRY DTEK60

Swamp Attack and more…

Wireless Keyboard and Stand Combo, PTron Tronite One Smartwatch, Livefun 550 from Envent, AGON X series, Amkette Trubeats X Series, Fitbit Flex 2, Belkin Mixit DuraTek Lightning to USB cable and more…

82 BAZAR BARGAIN

110 SMART APPS

Find out which nice phones are

These Apps are making an

a great buy today

imression : PhotoScan by Google, Fingerprint Gestures, Amazon Prime Video, Microsoft Selfie, Pulse SMS, Pepo and more…

103 JARGON BUSTER

113

exciting development

Logitech K375s Multi-Device

Collection, Red Bull Air Race 2,

Not born in the USA – Not all

Xploree takes you through this

139 ETCETERA

74 VIVO V5

84 OFF BEAT

Karthikeyan, VP Product,

Everything you need to know

146 VANTAGE POINT Abhesh Verma, Chief Operating Officer, nexGTV on how television moved to the internet!

about Aperture

105

Total number of pages = 148

08 | november 2016

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career ahead. Thanks!

Mobile. You helped me out

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Up and close with the "Made by Google" phones

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Sony Xperia XZ, Asus Zenfone 3 Laser, Samsung Galaxy On8, Asus Zenfone 3 Max, Meizu M3s, Samsung Galaxy On Nxt and more...

In Focus

PHONE OF THE MONTH

R S Sharma, TRAI Chief

COOLPAD NOTE 5

The Digital Knight

in getting My Mobile.

Chandigarh

have a WhatsApp group

– Priti Bajaj, New Delhi

especially to discuss new technology, new mobiles

I was so fond of iPhone and

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now I have iPhone 5s with

I’m a journalism student

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generally, don’t expect me

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and being a journalist I got

start my venture related to

to have much knowledge

the big trouble for me until

so many projects related to

mobile and different

about tech and mobiles. I

My Mobile arrived. :D. You

different topics and this

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read your magazine on a

saved my relationship with

time I got “Technology –

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– Meera Mathur, Chennai

Mobile. Jaipur

I’m your E-magazine subscriber. I got to read your Buyer’s Guide column in the GUIDEBUYING

Buyer’s Guide:

Choosing the right headphones

nce upon a time, before the age of Walkman, headphones

BECOME AN INTEGRAL PART OF OUR LIFE. FROM SAVING US FROM BORING TRIPS TO CONCENTRATING ON WORK, HEADPHONES DO IT LIKE MAGIC EVERY TIME. BUT HOW TO CHOOSE THE BEST FROM THE REST? ROHAN PAL WALKS US THROUGH THE POINTS TO BE KEPT IN MIND WHILE BUYING A GOOD PAIR OF HEADPHONES.

Headphones are also distinguished in

and radio operators. These were big, clumsy

headphones, you can connect your phone or

looking devices with people using it only on

any other music device using a wire. Usually, these have a 3.5mm audio cable, which is

the Walkman and the introduction of the

widely present in most of the audio devices.

3.5mm audio jack, we saw headphones

Wired headphones have the advantage of

transforming into an integral part of our life.

providing a superior sound quality than

Whether be it for pumping up your workout,

the wireless one. Whereas, the wireless

going on a trip, or just relaxing at home

headphones give you high portability factor,

while listening to your favourite classic or

as you don’t need any wire to connect to your

jazz music, headphones have redefined the

smartphone or any other audio device. Most

music experience for us.

of the wireless headphones are connected

In today’s scenario, where there are

via Bluetooth through which you can just

a plethora of headphones with different

pair your Bluetooth-enabled device like

features and sizes, choosing the right one

smartphones, laptops or tablets and can

for you might get a little messy affair. It

easily roam around over a short distance

is a well-known fact that headphones are

without losing your connection to sound.

a reflection of your lifestyle and hence choosing the right one for you is of uttermost

Choose the right size

importance. So to clear the mist, we present

Choosing the right size is of great

you a guide that will help you to choose the

importance. As we told earlier, headphones

right headphone. But before that, lets gets

come in different sizes, and in the end it

the basics right.

What are the types of headphones?

all boils down to your preference. If you want some lightweight headphone which can easily fold and tucked in your pocket, then the in-ear headphones like Sennheiser

Headphones can be broadly classified into

Momentum In-Ear or Sony MDR-XB50AP

three different categories: In-ear, on-ear

are the right ones for you. If you want to sit

and over-ear. The In-ear headphones are

back and chill at home, then over-the-ear or

the ones which can be easily fit into your

on-ear headphones like Skullcandy Grind

ear canal. The tip is made in such fashion that it can easily fit inside the ear canal, resulting in brilliant noise isolation and

Wireless are meant for you.

Sound Quality What is the use of a headphone when it

types of headphones are generally used in

cannot deliver a good quality of sound?

sports or during exercise, as they stay put

Like speakers, headphones also have a

while you are exercising. The on-ear headphones are those which come with large cushions that sit comfortably

frequency range. And just like speakers, headphones also have a speaker known as a driver, which produces the sound.

on the outer ear. These types of headphones

There are different types of drivers used in

generally give a decent sound quality but are

headphones. So for example in over-the-ear

not effective in noise cancellation, meaning

MYMOBILE

in noise reduction. terms of wired and wireless. Through wired

giving you a superior sound quality. These

96 | OCTOBER 2016

in terms of sound quality and do a good job

were only limited to the people in the military or to telephone

special occasions. But with the arrival of

LOVE THEM OR HATE THEM, BUT YOU SIMPLY CANNOT IGNORE THE FACT THAT HEADPHONES HAVE

In Focus

BUYINGGUIDE

headphones used the large-sized driver that

that you still can hear sounds from outside.

offer better low-range bass frequencies,

And lastly, come over-the-ear headphones.

while the small-sized one gives better

These are full-size headphones which have

high-range frequencies. Ideally, choose a

cushioned earcups to cover your ear fully.

headphone that offers a broader frequency

Usually, these are considered to be the best

response which in turn will give you a rich

experience in the sound department starting

New Delhi

make my project, even more, better because interviews provide more

I wanted to buy a phone for

authenticity to your project.

me. I went through so many

Thanks!

sites on the internet but it was more confusing and left

My Mobile, you’re the best

me with no decision. Then

thing ever happened to me.

my friend suggested me to

My son is a big fan of your

have a look on My Mobile

articles. He likes to read a

magazine. I

–Mohan Karmakar, Mumbai

from high-pitch to deep bass.

Durability Well, we don’t buy headphones on a frequent basis. Unlike other electronics, headphones don’t get obsolete within a short period of time. And if you purchase a good-quality of headphones, then chances are there that it will stick for a longer period of time. So while

lot about games and

looking for a good pair of headphones, you should also keep an eye on the build quality. There are many headphones which come with braided cables and can withstand water, heat, and dust.

e ave th

Features Last but not the least, whenever you looking for headphones always see what type of features they are offering. Noise cancellation is an important aspect when you buy a headphone. Noise cancellation helps to you reduce or eliminate the ambient noise, making your listening experience a delightful one. Some headphones come with active noise cancellation which is engineered in a way that they send a similar anti-wave which cancels out the noise coming from outside. Then there is noise isolation which is a more design-oriented as it completely covers your ears. Other than that is Bluetooth, surround sound, volume control, mics and more, which you should always check when you are opting for a good pair of headphones. 

www.mymobileindia.com

rohan@mymobile.co.in

NOVEMBER 2016 | 91

November issue which mentioned all the points to be remembered while buying headphones. I kept all those points with me which eventually turned out to get the best headphones

10 | january 2017

– Saksham Bajaj,

policy. :P Thanks to My – Sandeep Sancheti,

In Focus

– Sukrit Gupta,

friends’ circle. We all friends

dh nes an

ream in a d ellpho c y e t k u o o st zy ab ew lines? an als n the late e a r c c d u n f o u hav o a Are y al to pen a for news our hands u think yo o y ti se poten have a no rave to lay t them? If y CV to r u le, c u Do yo e? Do you world abo . Rush you My Mobi in e in ou headl and tell th king for y your name o s o e o l to se gizm u, we are .co.in ine. o e y l i n b i o it az mym e mag team@ best mobil India’s

MYMOBILE

What’s Up

bignews Nandan Nilekani joins government’s move to boost digital economy drive In order to ease the woes of demonetization of high value currency notes, Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently roped in Infosys co-founder and former chairman of the Unique Identification Authority of India, Nandan Nilekani, for help in handling the transition from a hard cash society to a cashless

one. Nilekani has been brought on board a 13-member committee, which was formed by the government in November last year to chalk out a roadmap to the idea of a ‘cashless economy’. This panel of chief ministers is headed by Andhra Pradesh CM N. Chandrababu Naidu. Nilekani, along with the other panel members, is working out ways to get more Indians to adopt digital mode of payments, by making use of their own smartphones and increasing the availability and use point-ofsale machines in local villages. The 13-member team is currently focusing on two key aspects – getting more merchants to accept the United Payments Interface that has already been rolled out by major banks in April 2016, and procuring more point-of-sale devices. The UPI interface, the brainchild of former Reserve Bank of India Governor

12 | january 2017

Raghuram Rajan, makes transferring money as easy as sending a text message. As per Nilekani, boosting acceptance of this payments interface is achievable in coming weeks. However, getting the estimated one million new point-of-sale (POS) devices will take much longer, because of the need of a tender to purchase them. Nilekani, a Congressman who lost the 2014 general elections to BJP’s Ananth Kumar, a prominent face in Modi’s cabinet, said that breaking down the problem into digestible chunks is the first step to solving it. While suggesting that each category of phone users should have a different strategy, Nilekani said that while India has 250 million smartphone users, there are about 350 million who only have feature phones while another 350 million don’t have a phone at all. According to him, the real challenge is the 350 million people without phones, many of whom are poor. The plan is to attract all those enrolled in Aadhaar, and enlist the remaining, toward micro ATMs promoted by large Indian lenders which already have a presence in 1,30,000 village retail outlets. In 2009, Nilekani had led the execution of the Aadhar card project across the country. He is also on the board of governors of the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations and is the president of the National Council of Applied Economic Research. FDI in telecom at $10 bn in 8 months Telecom Secretary J S Deepak recently said the foreign direct investment (FDI) in the telecom sector rose to USD 10 billion during the first eight months of

2016-17 helped by policy reforms, registering a 6-7 fold increase as against $1.3 billion in 2014-15 and $2.9 billion in 2015-16. Addressing an ASSOCHAM event on e-governance and Digital India in New Delhi, Deepak said, “The telecom sector reforms heralded by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) have got a resounding acknowledgement and we hope that this will not only represent a word of confidence on what is being done in the area of policy regulations and reforms but also the commitment and a roadmap of further expansion of the work in telecom sector.” He said that considering about 97 per cent of population is covered by the 2G telecom network provided mostly by private telecom operators, there is a need to both popularise and simplify USSD (unstructured supplementary service data). “We need to work on a push USSD rather than a pull USSD, merchants should be able to push in a message to feature phone users where-in you just have to okay it for a transaction and it goes back and completes the transaction,” Deepak said. The telecom secretary further said, “The burden of pressing keys and filling IFSC (Indian Financial System Code), MMID (Mobile Money Identifier) codes should move from the payer to the recipient and certain ceilings need to be removed to make it even more ubiquitous and universal.” He said the announcement of demonetization has tremendous impact as far as the war against black money and enhancing the tax net is concerned but it also has a very solitary impact of triggering the movement to digital payment system. He also emphasized upon how the

Digital India vision is helping in making government to citizen services presence-less, paperless and cashless. “The availability of Aadhaar number, setting up of portals in number of languages in various departments, connectivity going down deep as well as availability of India Stack all of these have been brought together with the mission of making all government to citizen services fully automated online by early 2018 and this is very serious work in progress,” he said. R S Sharma, the chairman of Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) who also addressed the national summit, informed that his organization was working along with the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) to simplify USSD transactions for 70 per cent of feature phone users across India. India says import duties on telecom products justified In a bold move, India recently defended its decision to impose import duties on four telecom products, including voice over internet protocol phones and optical transport equipment, brushing aside claims made by the EU, the US and Japan that these are covered under the IT Agreement (ITA-1) of the World Trade Organisation and should be duty-free. In a recent meeting at the World Trade Organisation,

MYMOBILE

What’s Up

bignews India said that while the argument put forward by the three WTO members claiming that the items fell under the codes that are covered under the ITA 1 could be valid, the products were outside its mandate as they did not exist when the pact was signed. India said in its representation that it is not intending to take any fresh commitment on goods for which it did not sign the ITA 1,

and which have subsequently evolved. It added that when ITA 1 was negotiated, the code for telecom equipment (HS Code 8517) referred to telecommunication apparatus for “carrier-current line systems and digital line systems”. However, in the last couple of years, several new technologies have been developed. Subsequently the said code has been expanded to include new technological developments. “Since our ITA-1 obligations are limited to those items that confirm to the 1996 definition of products for “carrier current

14 | january 2017

line systems and digital line systems”, new products that have lately been classified under this category cannot be considered as part of ITA 1 agreement,” it said. India’s firm stand on the matter would discourage future challenges by WTO members if it chooses to impose duties on newly developed IT and telecom equipment that fall under categories covered under the ITA 1. In July 2014, India had imposed 10 per cent import duty on soft switches, VoIP phones, media gateways, gateway controllers and session border controllers, optical transport equipment and IP radios, carrier ethernet switch, multi-protocol label switchingtransport profile products and multiple Input/Output and longterm evolution (LTE) products. India’s representation further added that to cover products that had evolved after 1996, several WTO members had signed the ITA 2, of which it was not a part. The country decided to stay away from ITA 2 as it had a bad experience with ITA 1 which required member countries to bring down import duties on several IT products to zero. The agreement gave a severe blow to India’s electronics and IT hardware industry which could not develop to its potential due to cheap items coming in from countries such as China, the US and South Korea. Global videogame developers outsourcing their work to India After realising the immense potential of video gaming consoles like Xbox and PlayStation which have become a runaway hit among youth, the global videogame developers and publishers are now making a beeline to

outsource work in a country which offers cost benefits and advantages like talent, efficiency and low management costs. While some leading global players are already outsourcing from India, others are planning their presence in the emerging market, which is currently pegged at $300 million and expected to rise to $1.2 billion by 2020. Some developers like Electronic Arts, Ubisoft, Zynga and Sumo Digital have already set up shop in India and developers/ publishers like Rockstar, Disney, Sony Europe, Sony US and Microsoft Game Studios are already outsourcing from the country. According to industry observers, a majority of the big players prefer to outsource from India to derive the cost advantage. The trend is to have key strategic partners for working on their projects. As per a report by the NASSCOM Gaming Forum released recently, the Indian market for applied (video) games is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 14-16 per cent, from $40 million in 2016 to $80 million in 2021. Currently across India there are 40 developers of applied games (Independent studios, IT firms venturing into Applied Games and e-learning companies). According to Rajesh Rao,

Chairman, NASSCOM Gaming Forum, both mobile games and applied games markets are witnessing rapid growth. The companies are making products for the international as well as Indian market. The mobile games market is just beginning to open. “India is now number five in overall (mobile game) downloads. The market is growing rapidly as we are adding 100 million smart phones every year,” Rao said. Although China is many years ahead of India, Rao is confident that with a large young population, India will catch up. Interestingly, London-based Keywords Studios, which is the No.1 games services company in the world, is looking to make India the hub for its operations. Listed on the London Stock Exchange, the company is into various segments of video games like art, game-testing, audio and game localisation. Keywords, which acquired Lakshya Digital, India’s largest and one of the top five global games services companies, in 2014, wants to bring all its service lines to India in a couple of years. Besides Lakshya Digital, which does the art and animation part of the games, Keywords has a game-testing division in India that grew to 100 employees within a year of its launch. n

MYMOBILE

What’s Up

newsbits Apple iOS 10.2 is here – SOS button and 100 new emoji in the box Apple’s new update will give its users to access SOS panic button and newly designed emoji which includes emoticons depicting different professions like Technologist, Scientist, Fire Worker, Teacher etc. Other interesting features of this update are New TV App, to watch TV shows and movies, three new wallpapers for iPhone

7 and iPhone 7 plus and new background effects in iMessage. Users can get the update either by downloading it from iTunes or through the phone’s software update settings. The 10.2 update will be available for iPhone 5 and above users, iPad 4th generation and above and lastly iPod touch 6th generation and above Smart Buy – Accessory store by Flipkart now up Flipkart has rolled out its own online purchase store to buy electronic and household accessories. The price range provided by Smart Buy has been kept nominal and affordable lying between Rs 199 to Rs 499. Presently the products available to the customers are data cable, wall chargers, micro USB chargers and a few home plastic products.

16 | january 2017

The company is expected to come up with the headphones, earphones, power banks and Bluetooth speakers as well. Micromax unveils Vdeo 1 and Vdeo 2 with VoLTE in India Micromax has added two 4G VoLTE ENABLED smartphones Vdeo1 and Vdeo 2 in just Rs. 4,400 and Rs. 4,900 respectively. Both the phones have WVGA IPS touch screen display and is powered by 1.3GHz quad-core processor coupled with a 1 GB RAM. Camera-wise, it has 5-megapixel rear camera with LED flash and a 2-megapixel front camera. The difference in both the phones lies between its size and battery life. Vdeo 1 sports 4-inch and is backed by 1600mAh battery life whereas Vdeo2 has greater battery capacity of 1800mAh and has sports 4.5-inch Amazon’s Prime Video for India Amazon’s video streaming service will provide its users to watch all new movies from

Bollywood and Hollywoood and TV shows including Amazon’s original shows like The Grand Tour’ anchored by James May, Richard Hammond and Jeremy Clarkson, TV series like Goliath, Good Girls Revolt, Transparent,

Hand Of God, The Man in the High Castle and more. as well at just Rs 500/year. The price will get a hike to Rs 999/year in the coming few months. The genres covered by Amazon Prime are action, adventure, comedy, drama, thriller, Bollywood, crime, animation, romance and horror. Lenovo’s Yoga Book 2-in-now 1 in India Claimed as world’s thinnest laptop (9.5mm in width) is exclusively available on Flipkart at Rs. 49,990. The distinct feature of the 2-in-1 laptop is the Create Pad which converts

into a Halo Keyboard which lacks physical keys and gives the haptic feedback on pressing the keys. The device brings a cool magnetic notepad along with a Real Pen and works on the Create Pad and on the notebook as well, to draw and write on it. Yoga book supports 4G LTE, Wi-Fi and carries 4 GB RAM with full HD display and is backed by 8500mAh battery life. It features an 8-megapixel rear camera with auto focus and a 2-megapixel front camera. Panasonic unveils P88 with triple-LED flash in India A new budget smartphone has been added in the P-series of Panasonic – P88 at just Rs 9,290. The distinct feature it carries along is the triple flash with the rear camera of 8-megapixel and a 5-megapixel front camera with the selfie flash. The 5.3-inch phone has IPS HD curved display with 1280×720 screen resolution with Asahi glass for protection.

The device runs on the Android Marshmallow, carries 4GB RAM along with the 64 GB storage

which can be expanded up to 128 GB using a microSD card and is backed by 2600mAh battery life. P88 supports 4G VoLTE,Wi-Fi b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0 and FM radio. Now Android users can access GBoard Google’s update to its keyboard, named as GBoard provides new features such as sending GIFs directly from the keyboard,

Glide typing and easy access to company’s search engine. By enabling the settings of the device, users will see the ‘G’ icon on the keyboard which will help them to search directly from the keyboard. The emoji’s arrangements have been changed a bit. GBoard will also help its users to choose three active languages to switch between while typing. The keyboard is available as an

MYMOBILE

International Exhibition & Conference

What’s Up

newsbits update to Google keyboard and can be updated through Play Store. YouTube India: Now more local language content displayed

Now Indians will be able to watch more content of their local languages on YouTube. The uisers will get the access to change their language preferebces from the settings. The options provided to users to select languages from are Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Punjabi, Tamil, and Telugu. YouTube will also automatically detect the behavior of the users in terms of most viewed videos with what language preference and gradually start adding the content in the recommendations tab. The update is out for all the Indian users. WhatsApp adds Video Streaming and GIFs support as a new update

To get the rid of worthless videos sent on your whatsapp group, all you need to do is to updfate your whatsapp because the new update unveiled by whatsapp has introduced video streaming and GIFs support. From now onwards, you don’t need to download the whole video to watch it in fact your can first

18 | january 2017

stream the video and then decide whether you want to download it or not. Another feature is, now you canm convert your 6-second video to GIF image and share it to your friends. The updated WhatsApp will work on Android 4.1 and above whereas iOS users might have to wait for some time. Android Nougat 7.1.1 – A cool update to cater some cool features

The latest update by Google has some interesting features to woo you. The update will now have different set of emoji including a wide range of professions for women. The users will be able to send out GIFs, directly to Google Allo and will get the access to doubletap’ feature that lets the users have a look at their lock screen and notifications once they pick it up. The devices which are getting the current update are Nexus 6p, Nexus 5X, Nexus 6, Nexus 9, Nexus Player, Pixel C and Android One-based General Mobile 4G. Belkin unveils Mixit Duratek lightning to USB cable in India Belkin has launched USB cable made up of Kevlar, a high synthetic fiber so as to increase conductivity and protection. Mixit Duratek is specified for iPhone and iPad users. . The double-braided cable is protected by abrasion-resistant nylon outer coating with insulated conductors for flexibility and protection with

reduction of friction. The connector supports 12W of optimal charging and can resist up to 40.47 pounds of force. The color variants for the cable are black, rose gold, gold and silver colour and is priced at Rs 2,499. Instagram adds various features to ensure user security Photo-sharing app, Instagram has introduced various features in order to ensure user’s safety. The new features include, ‘Commet Control’ which allows users to turn the comments off for the posts so as to avoid negative commenting. The second feature allows users to like the comments posted on the picture by pressing the ‘heart’ icon present on the right side of the each comment. Lastly, users will now be able to remove their followers from the follow list which could previously happen by blocking that user with no removal option and can also anonymously report about the self-injury following which Instagram can provide help by connecting them with various organizations. New Paytm toll-free number Now transact on Paytm without Internet- Seeing the problems faced by many people in transacting money post

demonetization, Paytm has now introduced a toll-free no. “1800 1800 1234” to make payments without using the Internet! All you need to do is register your mobile number and set a 4-digit Paytm PIN on call. Following this, the users can enter the recipient’s number, amount and their 4-digit Paytm PIN for

convenient transactions without Internet. The service is available only for the existing Paytm users and if anyone wants to avail the benefits of doing transactions without internet, one has to make an account on Paytm through Paytm.com or Paytm app. Alcatel launches Idol 4 with VR headset in India Idol 4 sports a 5.2-inch full HD display with 3 GB RAM and 16 GB of internal storage which

can be further expanded up to 512 GB using a microSD card. It has 13-megapixel rear camera with dual-tone LED flash while 8 megapixels front camera with the selfie flash and is backed by a 2610 mAh battery running on Android 6.0 Marshmallow. It supports 4G LTE, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.2, NFC, micro USB 2.0. Talking about the VR headset, it comes with the Boom Key feature for accessing various features and carries JBL stereo headset with dual speakers. The colour variants available are gold, dark gray and metal silver and is available exclusively on Flipkart for Rs.16,999.

MYMOBILE

What’s Up

newsbits Namaste Google Allo! Google Allo now in Hindi

Google has introduced a new messaging app Google Allo so as to allow users to chat and share tings with the friends in Hindi. Another interesting feature of Google Allo is the availability of ‘Smart Reply’ feature in Hindi language. The Smart Reply feature enables the users to revert quickly without opening the whole chat. Smart Reply feature was earlier available only in English language. The feature will be available for both the Android and iOS users. Uber adds new features for its rider and driver app Rider app will have ‘shortcut feature’ that predicts the destination for the regular users enabling the users to get a cab with just one tap. Secondly,the users can book a cab and navigate while the app surrounds around to one question ‘Where to?’ without going through a number of options.Soon, the users can also connect their calendar with the app to get the addresses for the meetings and appointments. On the other hand, the driver app will allow the drivers to provide the destinations for Uber twice a day so as to send them trip requests that are on their way to avoid cab cancellations. The drivers can now receive the next cab request few minute from the completion

20 | january 2017

of their ongoing trip so as to avoid idle time.The drivers will now get reports in comparison with other drivers for a safe ride, will get message alerts to mount the smartphone on the dashboard, will get speed displays, reminders to take rest and auto-pilot option to take cab requests automatically. Get high on nostalgia with Solitaire, now available on iOS and Android The most popular game is now available n Android and iOS which was present only till Windows 7 as of now. The game is basically a collection of different versions of solitaire. In the game, you get to play five modes which include: Klondike, Spider, FreeCall, Pyramid and TriPeaks. The game brings certain ads along but you can buy the Premium Edition of the game to avoid unwanted ads. Reliance Jio Welcome Offer extended till March 31

Reliance Jio has decided to extend its offer of free voice calling, free 4G data and free messages until March 31, 2017. The offers will be applicable to the existing users and to the new users as well. The Reliance Jio Welcome offer was received with mixed reactions. Some faced interconnectivity issues while others had the slow speed problems. Hence, the step to gain as much user base as possible. The extension has been approved by Telecom

Regular Authority of India (TRAI). Targus’s new USB-C, 4-port USB hub and USB-C, USB 3.0 USB hub with Gigabit Ethernet US-based accessory manufacturer, Targus has launched two new USB hubs: USB-C, 4-port and USB-C, USB 3.0 with Gigabit Ethernet in India.The USB-C, 4-port USB hub consists of four USB Type-A ports with which the user can connect either a mouse, keyboard or a flash drive with both the PC and Mac. It supports USB 3.1 technology with data transfer speed of up to 5 Gbps. The compact USB hub weighs 30 grams and comes in black colour with a year’s warranty.The USB-C, 4-port USB hub is priced at Rs.2,999 and the USB-C, USB 3.0 with Gigabit Ethernet is priced at Rs.4,499\ Bluetooth 5.0 now official The upgraded version of Bluetooth 4.2 has been arrived and will be bringing in 2 times faster speed for better performances, four times longer range that includes whole home and building coverage and eight times larger broadcast message capacity for improved content with increased data.The new

version of Bluetooth is also focused on the concept of Internet of Things (IoT) and calls for reduced interferences so as to allow other wireless technologies to go hand in hand within the IoT ecosystem.The new Bluetooth 5.0 will be available in the upcoming devices by mid-2017.

Microsoft collaborates with Qualcomm -Now Windows PC’s with Snapdragon chipsets

The collaboration will deliver Windows 10 PC’S with ARM, specifically Qualcomm Snapdragon processors. Microsoft is expected to build an emulator into the operating system that will support ARM chips. As a start, Windows will initially support Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 which is soonto-be launched.This collaboration will support the usual Windows apps like Adobe Photoshop, Chrome, Microsoft Office and several Windows games.Snapdragon-run devices will work just as Windows 10 and the user can also switch between Intel and Qualcomm. The Snapdragon-powered PC’s will be out for public soon. Capdase collaborates with YMS Mobitech, eyes $60 million sales target in next 3 years Capdase has joined hands with YMS Mobitech to maximize the outreach in India. The focus is presently on YMS’ network of 11,262 retailers and 361 distributors in 383 cities.The company, known to be the first one to manufacture tailor-made smartphone accessories like armour suit case for iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, Quick Charger for cars, wall chargers, high protection tempered glass etc. Capdase plans to set its first manufacturing unit in India with a sales target of around $60 million in three years. n team@mymobile.co.in

MYMOBILE

I am looking for a good smartphone in the budget of Rs 10,000. My requirements are Web browsing, email and social networking. And I would also like good battery life. What would you recommend? â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Raghav Mistry Dear Raghav, At this price point, I think you should opt for the Xiaomi Redmi Note 3, which sports a 5.5 inch full HD display, Snapdragon 650 processor, 2 GB RAM, and 16 GB storage for Rs 9,999. You can also consider the Asus ZenFone Maxâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s new edition, which has slightly inferior specs but better battery life. I am looking for a phone that is very good at playing games. What should I keep in mind and what do you think should be my budget? -Sanjana Matthews Dear Sanjana, If you are looking for a phone that is very good at gaming then you should be looking at the flagships from the likes of LG and Samsung - devices like the Galaxy S7 Edge and trhe LG G5 which have

www.mymobileindia.com

the processing power, graphics and muscle to give you a very good gaming experience. So your budget in that case should be in the region of Rs 40,000 - 50,000. However if you find that to be on the higher side, you can also consider devices like the OnePlus 3 and the LeEco Le Max 2 which pack in the latest processors and lots of RAM at under Rs 30,000. I have been using a Galaxy Note 5. Although it comes

proof. While it can protect your display from most scratches, it is not exactly indestructible. If you wish to keep your display scratch free, getting a screen protector is a good idea. I want to buy a good phone for Rs 25,000 and I want the latest processor, high quality display and excellent camera. Right now, I have shortlisted the Xiaomi Mi 5, the OnePlus 3 and the Nexus 5X as my options. Which of the three would you recommend for me? Is there also any other fourth option. -Manohar Lal, Siliguri In these 3 I would suggest the OnePlus 3, as it offers a good and stable performance and its camera is outstanding. I have been

with Corning Gorilla Glass protection, I am noticing scratches on the display. Does this mean that there is something wrong? Should I put a screen protector on the display - which one would you advise me to take? -Shaheen Hussain Dear Shaheen, Gorilla Glass is scratch resistant, not scratch

trying to install the Google Keyboard on my Lenovo Vibe K5 Plus but everytime I am doing so, I see a message that says the app will be able to read whatever I type. Is this app safe to use? Should I install it? -Robert Verghese, Delhi This is normal as it is a smart keyboard with a word prediction option . It is considered to be safe as it has been published by Google.

I want a phone with a large display that can also serve the purpose of a tablet for browsing the Web and other similar tasks needing a big screen. My budget is Rs 12,000. What do you think is the best phone in this budget for this purpose? -Mohammad Rashid, Delhi The Coolpad Note 3 Plus is a good option and is priced at nearly Rs10,000. It has a 5.5 inch full HDdispay, is suitable for your needs and comes with a 13 megapixel camera.

Q&A

MobileDoctor

I want to buy a smartphone that has superior audio output and has a longlasting battery. Budget is not a problem for me; all I need is a phone through which I can enjoy different genres of music. Please suggest me a good phone. -Tripti, Bengaluru, If you looking for high end device Samsung S7 is very good device and S7 edge has a good battery as well, which comes with Hifidelity music, best camera and screen too.

Is your mobile phone acting strange? Email your queries at team@mymobile.co.in and our mobile doctor Arshdeep Singh will suggest remedies for your ailing device. Disclaimer: The views expressed by Arshdeep Singh are his own and do not necessarily coincide with those of My Mobile.

january 2017 | 21

First Look

justin

Coolpad Note 3S Curved glass, large display

oolpad has recently added a new budget smartphone to its

calling, with front flash. It is backed by a 2500 mAh battery with

Note series- the Note 3S at an event in India. Alongside, the

around 200 hours of standby time and runs on Android 6.0

company also launched the Mega 3 in its Mega series. The Note

Marshmallow. The dual-SIM device is topped with connectivity

3S and Mega 3 are launched specifically for the Indian market

options like Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0, OTG and is

and will be available exclusively on Amazon India.

accompanied by a fingerprint sensor at the back which is claimed

Speaking of the technical specifications, the Coolpad Note 3S

to unlock the smartphone in 0.5 seconds. The smartphone

sports a 5.5-inch (1280x720 pixels) HD IPS 2.5D curved glass

measures 154.4x76.8x8.35 mm and weighs around 170

display and under the hood we have a Qualcomm Snapdragon

grams.

MSM8929 processor clocked at 1.36GHz processor along with a 3 GB RAM and 32 GB of onboard storage which is expandable up to another 32 GB via a microSD card. Camera-wise, it has a 13-megapixel rear camera with auto focus and an 8-megapixel front snapper for selfies and video

22 | january 2017

The Coolpad Note 3S is available in gold and white colour variants and comes with a price tag of Rs.9,999. Additionally, Coolpad has also joined hands with Reliance Jio where customers can avail the Reliance Jio SIM at Reliance Jio retail stores just by sharing the deviceâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s invoice details. n

MYMOBILE

Nubia Z11 Unique features, stylish design

nveiled back in July in China, Nubia has

finally launched the much awaited flagship,

the Nubia Z11 at an event in India. Alongside,

the company has also launched the N1. Both the smartphones are available exclusively through Amazon India. Starting with the Z11, the flagship sports a 5.5-inch full HD (1920x1080 pixels) bezel-less 2.5D curved glass display with the pixel density of 403 ppi and 81 per cent body-to-screen ratio. It is powered by a 64-bit Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor coupled with 6 GB RAM and 64

Comming Up

sneakpeek

GB of inbuilt storage which can be further expanded up to 2 TB using a microSD card. In the camera department, which is the deviceâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s highlight, the smartphone features a 16-megapixel rear camera with back-illuminated image sensor, NeoVision 6.0 technology, Optical Image Stabilization (OIS) and Phase Detection Auto Focus (PDAF) while the front facing snapper is of 8 megapixels with 80-degree wide angle lens. The smartphone is juiced by a Li-on Polymer 3000 mAh battery with NeoPower 2.0 technology and Quick Charge 3.0 technology and runs on the Android version 6.0 Marshmallow based on Nubiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s in-house Nubia UI 4.0. The connectivity options for the dual-SIM Z11 include 4G VoLTE, Bluetooth 4.1, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n/ac, GPS, GLONASS, NFC, USB Type-C port. The Nubia Z11 measures 141.9 x 70.3 x 9.3 mm and comes with a weight of 162 grams. The Nubia Z11 comes in black and gold colours priced at Rs.29,999 which gives a stiff competition to the likes of the recently launched OnePlus 3T. n

www.mymobileindia.com

january 2017 | 23

First Look

justin Lenovo K6 Fingerprint sensor at the back

fter numerous teasers posted by the company on twitter, Lenovo has finally

launched the K6 Power in its highly acclaimed K series at an event in India. To refresh your mind, the smartphone was initially unveiled at IFA 2016. The device is exclusively available on Flipkart at a price of Rs.9,999. Talking about the technical specifications,

the K6 Power sports a 5-inch (1920x1080 pixels) full HD IPS display with 441 ppi of pixel density and is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 430 processor clocked at 1.4GHz along with Adreno 505 GPU. It has 3 GB RAM and 32 GB of inbuilt storage which can be further expanded up to 128 GB using a memory card. In the camera department, the device has a 13-megapixel primary camera with Sony Exmor IMX258 sensor, Phase Detection Auto Focus (PDAF) with pro-mode settings while the front facing snapper is of 8 megapixels coming with Sony Exmor IMX219 sensor with fixed focus and auto beautification mode. The smartphone is juiced by a 4000 Li-Polymer mAh battery with the â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;ultimate power saverâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; feature that can keep the device running 3 times more as compared to the normal time. The battery is claimed to last up to 33 hours of talk time and 649 hours of standby time and run on Android 6.0 Marshmallow. The K6 Power has dual nano SIM card slots and is topped with connectivity options like Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.2, GPRS, GPS, A-GPS, 4G VoLTE, a 3.5 mm audio jack, FM radio, Dolby Atmos audio system. It is also accompanied by a fingerprint sensor at the back of the device that can also be used to take selfies. The device measures 141.9 x 70.3 x 9.3 mm with a weight of 145 grams. The Lenovo K6 Power comes in dark grey, silver and gold colour variants. n

22 | december 2016

MYMOBILE

First Look

justin

OnePlus 3T A worthy successor

fter the successful launch of OnePlus 3, OnePlus has finally

with Sony IMX298 sensor and Phase Detection Auto Focus

launched a new smartphone for the Indian market named,

(PDAF) with the front facing snapper too, of 16 megapixels, for

OnePlus 3T which is the upgraded version of OnePlus 3 launched

better lowlight photography. The smartphone is juiced by a 13

earlier this year. The device is now available exclusively on

per cent bigger battery of 3400 mAh that supports Dash Charge

Amazon India.

technology meant for fast charging which is claimed to provide

The OnePlus 3T sports a 5.5-inch full HD 1080p Optic

a dayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s charge in half an hour of charging and runs on Android

AMOLED display, protected by Gorilla Glass 4 and looks similar

6.0 Marshmallow based on the companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s improved and

to its predecessor OnePLus 3. However, with a few internal

customized OxygenOS.

upgrades. It is powered by an upgraded 2.35GHz Qualcomm

The dual-SIM smartphone comes with a fingerprint sensor

Snapdragon 821 processor and has a 6 GB LPDDR4 RAM. It

that is expected to unlock the device in 0.2 seconds and comes

comes in two storage options: the 64 GB one (in soft gold and

with connectivity options like 4G LTE, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac,

gunmetal grey) and the 128 GB one (in gunmetal grey only). In the camera department, the smartphone features an improved 16-megpaixel primary camera with Optical Image Stabilization (OIS) and added Electronic Image Stabilization

www.mymobileindia.com

Bluetooth 4.2, USB 2.0, USB Type-C port, GPS, GLONASS and NFC. The OnePlus 3T is priced at Rs.29,999 for the 64 GB storage option and for Rs.34,999 for the 128 GB option. n

january 2017 | 25

First Look

justin Lenovo Moto M Stylish metalic body

ith many teasers and speculations, Lenovo-owned Motorola

(PDAF) and an 8-megapixel front facing camera for selfies and

has finally launched the much talked about Moto M at an

video calling. The dual-SIM smartphone is backed by a 3050

event in India. The smartphone was recently launched in China.

mAh battery with Turbo Charging technology and runs on Android

The smartphone is now available exclusively on Flipkart.

6.0 Marshmallow. It is stacked with connectivity options like 4G

Speaking of the hardware specifications, the Moto M sports

VoLTE, Wi-Fi 802.11 ac, Bluetooth 4.1, USB Type-C port, a 3.5

a 5.5-inch (1920x1080 pixels) full HD IPS 2.5D curved glass

mm audio jack and Dolby Atmos audio system. It is also

display and under the hood there is a 2.2GHz octa-core MediaTek

accompanied by a fingerprint sensor at the back of the device.

Helio P15 processor along with Mali T860 MP2 GPU. The

The all metal Moto M is priced at Rs.15,999 for the 3 GB

device comes in two variants: the 3 GB RAM and 32 GB internal

RAM and 32 GB internal storage variant while the 4 GB RAM

storage one and the 4 GB RAM with 64 GB onboard storage one, both being expandable up to 128 GB via a memory card. On the camera front, , the smartphone has a 16-megapixel rear camera with dual tone LED flash and

Phase

and 64 GB ROM one costs Rs.17,999. The smartphone

measures

151.35x75.35x7.85 mm and weighs 163 grams. Additionally, the company is also offering Rs.1000 off on Citibank card, Rs.1000 off on Axis Bank buzz credit card along with EMI options on the smartphone. The company is also giving a 32 per cent discount on Moto Pulse 2 along with the Moto M. n

Detection Auto Focus

22 | december 2016

MYMOBILE

Zen Admire Dragon Pre-installed with 20 different Indian languages

hinese company, Zen Mobile has launched a new low-end

camera department, the smartphone sports a 5-megapixel rear

smartphone known as the Admire Dragon in its Admire series

camera with flash and auto focus while the front facing snapper is

in India. Alongside, the company has also launched the Admire

of 2 megapixels for selfies and video calling. The dual-SIM Admire

Thrill smartphone in the same series.

Dragon is juiced by a 2500 mAh battery which is claimed to deliver

Talking about the technical specifications, the Admire Dragon

up to 11 hours of talk time and runs on Android 6.0 Marshmallow.

features a 5-inch (1280x720 pixels) IPD 2.5D curved glass display

The device comes with the usual connectivity options as 4G VoLTE,

and is powered by a 1.3GHz quad-core processor along with a 1

Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, Music Player, FM radio and VoLTE support.

GB RAM. It has 8 GB of internal

Additionally, the device comes with pre-installed with 20 different

storage which can be further

Indian languages including Hindi, Punjabi, Urdu, Gujrati, Tamil,

expanded up to 32 GB

Telugu and Marathi and a few more. It also comes with pre-loaded

using a memory

apps like NexGTv, Opera Mini, Saavn, Zen AppCloud, Zen Game

card.

First Look

justin

Store, ZENCare, and QR Code scanner. In the

It also comes with special features like Free Protective Kit (Tempered Glass+ Screen Protector + PC Case), Auto call Recorder and Screen Breakage Warranty for six months. It also comes with a mobile tracker feature which allows users to track their smartphone in case of theft or loss. The Admire Dragon comes with a price tag of Rs.5,290. n

www.mymobileindia.com

january 2017 | 27

First Look

justin

Gionee P7 Glossy body, HD resolution

ionee has added another member to the ‘P’ family known as the P7 in India. The

smartphone comes with a price tag of Rs.9,999

and is available to buy across all retail stores as well as the online stores in the country. Taking a look at the specs sheet, the device sports a 5-inch IPS HD (1280x720 pixels) display and under the hood there is a 1.3GHz quad-core processor coupled with 2 GB RAM. It has 16 GB of onboard storage which can be further expanded up to 128 GB using a microSD card. On the camera front, the P7 features an 8-megpaixel rear camera with LED flash and a 5-megapixel front facing camera for selfies and video calling, accompanied by the Image+ camera feature. The device is backed by a 2300 mAh Li-on battery that which is expected to deliver up to 259 hours of standby time and 23 hours of talk time and runs on Android 6.0 Marshmallow with the company’s Amigo 3.2 OS on top of it. The dual-SIM device comes stacked with connectivity options like 4G LTE, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0, GPRS, OTG support, GPS, A-GPS and FM radio. It is also accompanied by various sensors like G Sensor (Auto Rotation), Proximity Sensor, Accelerometer, Light Sensor. The Gionee P7 sports a glossy body design and is available in white, latte gold and gray colour variants. n team@mymobile.co.in

28 | january 2017

MYMOBILE

Quotes

cellspeak “We aim to create 1 crore people digitally literate on e-payments, and in a matter of 3-4 days, the government can touch this figure in rural India” — Ravi Shankar Prasad Minister for Electronics & IT at the launch of The Economic Times CSR Compendium.

“You don’t change things by just yelling” — Apple CEO Tim Cook when asked by reporters as to why he decided to meet President elect Donald Trump

“Chinese players are an opportunity, not a threat” — Hair Om Rai Chairman, Lava International in an interview with Financial Express

“In victory, we raise glasses to celebrate together. In defeat, we risk our lives to rescue each other” — Ren Zhengfei Founder and CEO of Huawei Technologies on his life philosophy in an essay www.mymobileindia.com

“There is no gatekeeping which a telecom service provider can do. We haven’t permitted any exclusive relationship between a telecom service provider and a content provider. If a content provider wants to provide free data, it will have to team up with all service providers” — TRAI Chairman R S Sharma after releasing on TRAI’s recent recommendations on free data models. january 2017 | 29

In focus

spotlight

5 Trends to Watch Sector in 2017

Market to witness very affordable LTE and VoLTEcompliant smartphones in 2017

ith its LYF smartphones, Jio has been a game changer both in terms

of reduced price points and LTE and VoLTE compliance across models. We expect that the other players will follow suit and further reduce price points so that LTE and VoLTE become default features. Such smartphones will also have a market demand pull on the back of reduced data prices expected in 2017. n

Data realisation per MB to continue to fall and decrease by 20â&#x20AC;&#x201C;25% in 2017

Jio

pre-launch

unleashed a price war

on mobile data in India. Consequently, telcos will experience reduced data realisation in 2017 as the increase in data traffic will not compensate for the reduction in data revenues. Telcos will have no choice but to accelerate the transformation of their delivery model towards a low cost per MB model, leading to large cost-efficiency initiatives and optimisation of their 2G/3G/4G network. n

Mobile advertising to be a key talking point but traditional advertising to continue to get lionâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s share

he industry is predicting 30+% growth in mobile

Internet users from the existing nearly 370 million user base. A recent survey

shows that these users are spending nearly 70% of their time online.1 This finding, coupled with predictions on smartphone growth and lower data charges, indicates that mobile advertising will attract attention. Nevertheless, the traditional advertising media of print and broadcast will continue to dominate, accounting for nearly 90% of advertising spends. n

3 30 | january 2017

in India’s Telecom according to PwC

Infocus

spotlight

“We expect this year’s budget to provide clarity on various outstanding sector-specific tax issues including treatment of spectrum payments, trading and sharing transactions for facilitation of a business-friendly environment.” – Arpita Pal Agrawal, Leader, Telecom Practice, PwC India

Acceleration of fiberisation in India

ata price reduction, along with a consequent surge in data demand, will accelerate focus

on fibre deployment. Poor fibre infrastructure is a bottleneck in providing cheap data services in India. With less than 20% of towers fiberised, India has a lot of ground to cover. We forecast the strong acceleration of the fiberisation of networks in 2017. n

GST-related tax impact on telcos expected to be minimal but telcos to face significant compliance costs in the new GST regime

utput tax will increase and will be offset to a large extent by input tax credits and supply chain

efficiencies. However, GST compliance costs related to multiple state registrations will be a significant burden on telcos. n

team@mymobile.co.in

Source & Acknowledgement: PwC View - Five trends to watch in India’s telecom sector in 2017

january 2016 | 103

Trends

Consumer insight

The Mobile Use Trends! Some predictable and some not so predictable results were thrown in a study conducted by The Mobile Marketing Association in association with Kantar IMRB to understand consumer behaviour in India in relation to mobile use during the last one year. Here is a glimpse! Time spent on mobile surpasses any other media An average consumer spends 3 hours per day on their smartphones (an increase of 55% from 2015), which surpasses time spent on TV or any other media. Social media and messaging apps were the clear leaders accounting for almost 50% of all time spent on smartphones.

Women more engaged than Men The study shows that Women spend 2x more time on their smartphones compared to Men – on YouTube and games. They also spent 80% more time on Facebook than their male counterparts.

Online shopping gains in leaps and bounds Another finding revealed the rise of online shopping category, which now has 15% higher reach than the entertainment - making it the second most popular category in terms of reach.

“With over 85% mobile penetration, we are today one of the largest mobile markets globally and insights on mobile usage in India are of critical importance to the modern day marketer. We are in an age now where we need to seriously think about marketing measurement and attribution, giving marketers better measurements, tools and confidence in connecting marketing to business outcomes. A thorough understanding of the differential usage and consumer segments that are using smartphones and feature phones will only help marketers use their monies more efficiently. While most designing and applications are being targeted at smartphones, this report is a wake-up call. Today, the mobile is undeniably the closest we can get to our consumers, and it is this that will help marketers seek to understand – and leverage – a consumer’s path to purchase” – D Shivakumar, Chairman, Mobile Marketing Association & Chairman and CEO, PepsiCo India Holdings

32 | january 2017

MYMOBILE

“Mobile is clearly the third largest mass medium in terms of Ad spends in India today, with estimated spends in 2016 amounting to Rs 4,200 Cr. Hence it becomes very important for the industry to have credible research and measurement guidelines and reports, to help fully understand and leverage mobile’s ability to drive the future growth of business. With this in mind, MMA India has collaborated with Kantar IMRB to deep-dive into the dynamics implications and impact of smartphones and feature phones India focusing on each category separately and giving each their due focus. The insights of this study will be published in a series of industry reports that will go a long way in helping marketers use the medium effectively and efficiently”

Trends

consumer insight

– Preeti Desai, Country Manager, Mobile Marketing Association India

Key Findings on Feature Phones Prime users are from upper SEC’s: The study shows a whopping 75% of feature phone users were from the upper SECs, while only 25% of respondents were from SEC C, D and E (NCCS).

Feature phone users don’t intend to switch: A big revelation has been that almost 85% feature phone users do not intend to switch to smartphones on their next purchase indicating that the functional benefits of feature phones combined with their durability, battery life and ease of repair were highly coveted by these users.

Feature phones users spend more on mobile plans: Feature phone users spend more money on their mobile plans. The ARPUs was almost 20% higher compared to the national average. n

team@mymobile.co.in

www.mymobileindia.com

january 2017 | 33

Trends

Consumer insight

3 VOD trends to watch out for in 2017

By Rajiv Vaidya

ince the inception of computers,

come a long way. Slowly but surely, we are

the interface between them and

moving closer to a human computer interface

humans has been constantly

(HCI) that is truly natural and frictionless to

evolving, primarily to make it easier

adopt and use.

for humans to perform increasingly complex

Understanding human language (or Natural

tasks. From initial punched cards, to

Language Processing) is the new frontier for

command line based interfaces

HCI, promising a new era where computing

(with a keyboard) to GUIs

is ubiquitous and accessible to all. While the

(with a mouse) to

science is old, it is becoming possible with ever

touch, we

cheaper computing to enable such interfaces

have

34 | january 2017

in everybodyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s pocket.

MYMOBILE

This emerging interface has two critical

here to stay, and the advent of 4G and

fragmented across states and languages.

components – a) Human Language

improved bandwidth speeds have only

We have seen a lot of growth in regional

Support: be it speech, handwritten text

re-enforced this. This surging popularity

content on the video on demand apps,

or typed text and b) Understanding user’s

of OTT platforms has challenged the

fuelled by demand from both local viewers

needs intent or needs.

exclusivity that linear television enjoyed

and the international diaspora. According

till quite recently. Broadcasters have

to Internet and Mobile Association in India

begun witnessing the market trend of

(IMAI), the Internet user base will cross

Today’s viewers have a choice of a host of

“cord cutting”, with a sizeable segment of

500 million by 2018, with rural Internet

viewing platforms to choose from, including

viewers tuning out from cable subscription

users alone being almost 210 million.

digital television, internet, tablets and

and completely switching over to OTT

smartphones. Revolutionary app-powered

platforms. In fact the millennials have

devices like Roku, Apple TV, Chromecast

grown up watching shows online, and will

Micro Transactions & Cashless Transactions

and other streaming devices lets viewers

possibly never subscribe to paid television

According to the Frost & Sullivan report,

watch their favourite shows across a variety

services due to multiple streaming options

there are 66 million unique connected

of screens. According to the Akamai &

now available and multiple generations that

video viewers in India, of which 1.3

NASSCOM report on the future of internet

are accustomed to on-demand services.

million are paid video subscribers. Online

in India, the mobile video content will grow

Looking at trends in the US, 2010 was the

video subscription numbers fluctuate

at an 83% CAGR in next 5 years. Every

first year that regular pay television saw a

dramatically every month. The number

major television manufacturer now offers

quarterly decline in subscription numbers

of unique online video viewers will grow

“smart” television sets, with integrated

(this was reported by WSJ, back in 2012).

from 66 million in 2015 to 355 million

internet features that provide access to

We’re still a while away from that but a

in 2020. The country is heading for a

a host of on-demand streaming media

small pocket of users in India (usually in

cashless economy with a colossal change

directly. OTT has not only arrived, it is

the larger cities) are exploring their options

in the way netizens make their day to day

Cord Cutting

Trends

consumer insight

transactions. E-payments and mobile wallets are getting more popular among the millennials in the country. Digitisation of cash will accelerate over the next few years. Noncash payment transactions, which today constitute 22% of all consumer payments, will overtake cash transactions by 2023. Digital payments instruments will drive the growth in non-cash payments, according to Google BCG Report. Microwhen it comes to cord cutting.

Let’s Go Regional With increased competition between the video on demand apps, regional content that appeals to particular states will be the key to capture user share. According to the Akamai & NASSCOM report on the future of internet in India, about 75% of the new internet users consume content in local language. The real trick in winning the market is to capture the Tier 3 towns and the rural areas. According to the Frost & Sullivan report, a large percentage of video-on-demand viewership in India is

www.mymobileindia.com

transactions will form a substantial portion of the industry, with over 50% of personto-merchant transactions expected to be under INR 100, the study said. The report predicts that the value of remittances and money transfer that will pass through alternate digital payment instruments will double to 30% by 2020. n The author is CEO, Spuul India. Spuul offers Over-the-Top (OTT) service across Web, mobile/tablets (iOS, Android), smart TVs, and Chromecast to stream and download feature-length movies, short films, and TV shows in various regional languages. Views expressed are of author.

january 2017 | 35

Limelight

lead story

Welcome to

Mobile

Economy!

36 | january 2017

MYMOBILE

A paradigm shift has taken place in the way India will conduct its financial transactions and the march towards cashless economy will be aided and fuelled largely by handset – the mobile phone. By Shelley Vishwajeet

rime Minister Narendra Modi’s surprise

people own mobile but it certainly indicates that the

but welcome strike on black money has,

number is huge. As a mobile owning country, we are

by default, heralded the onset of mobile

only behind China. Landline phone at just over 25

economy. In the intended cashless or

million pales in comparison to mobile ownership. And

less cash economy, the handset

while the number of landline is going down, India

has already become the most

continues to add more than a million new mobile

convenient and preferred device for people as an instrument for cashless and digital transactions.

subscribers every month! In the cashless scenario, certain facts tilt the scale heavily in favour of mobile. Indians are also

Reasons for mobile aka digital

now second-biggest smartphone users in the world

wallet becoming your monetary gateway are

and we all know that smartphones are the primary

aplenty! We are a country where the adoption of

instrument for unleashing digital economy. Credible

mobile was fast and furious. Indians’ affinity to

report suggests that India should be having no less

mobile has been phenomenal. Today, India has

than 220 million smartphone ownership today, ahead

more than a billion subscriptions of mobile phones –

of USA now and just behind China.

this of course doesn’t mean that more than a billion

www.mymobileindia.com

Limelight

lead story

A significant number continue to communicate via

january 2017 | 37

Limelight

lead story traditional feature phones, which was and

to 4G eco-system, thus enabling even

migration to mobile economy. As per an

remains to a big barrier to digital migration.

outdated handsets to do things which were

IMRB’s study, India by now should have

But good news is on way! Companies like

not possible earlier.

over 370 million mobile internet users!

Spreadtrum have already developed path-

Internet connectivity too, though

This takes us behind only USA and China;

breaking low cost chipset ‘SC9820’ which

remains a concern, has been growing fairly

quite impressive nonetheless. And given

enables 2G feature phones to leapfrog

impressive, something which will facilitate

the fact that as of August 2016, India

“Demonetization has surely facilitated our long-term consumer and merchant acquisition efforts” Paytm is the market leader in E-wallet services in India today. Deepak Abbot, Senior Vice President, Paytm shares his views on various aspects of digital transaction and the future prospects of E-wallet. A positive spinoff of demonetization has been the great fillip to

has surely facilitated our long-term consumer and merchant

digital transactions and E-wallet companies. How do you plan to

acquisition efforts. As millions of Indians realize the latent

leverage the new found opportunity? With increased smartphone

benefits of the Paytm’s vast network and diverse use-cases,

and mobile internet penetration, we want to ensure customers have more merchant touch-points accepting Paytm than ever before. We have set bolder targets in merchant acquisition and are

we expect this growth to sustain for the long-

“Over 60% of our transaction volume is from India’s non-metros. This points at a fundamental shift in consumer behavior in favor of mobile payments and commerce with Paytm”

term and settle way higher than the current average. Is mobile transactions basically a metro phenomenon or are you witnessing a transition

aiming to reach over 5 Mn merchants by the end of the current

even in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities/towns? Over 60% of our

financial year. This will not only ensure consumers will find

transaction volume is from India’s non-metros. This points at

more merchants in their neighborhood accepting Paytm, but

a fundamental shift in consumer behavior in favour of mobile

also introduce millions of small and medium merchants to the

payments and commerce with Paytm.

ease and convenience of using Paytm. What is your customer base today? What is the growth rate you are

38 | january 2017

Do you think the momentum towards digital transactions will

looking at? Paytm currently has 164 Mn registered customers

sustain even when economy gets back sufficient liquidity after 2-3

and is growing at an incredible pace of 150% year-on-year. It’s

months? While the recent events have led to an unprecedented

heartwarming to see how fast consumers and merchants across

surge in Paytm’s traffic over the last couple of weeks, this move

the country are adopting mobile payments with Paytm. n

MYMOBILE

List accounts forfor at Listof ofcountries countrieswhere wherecashless cashless accounts least 70%70% of total economic transactions! at least of total economic transactions!

“The demonetization move has proved to be a boon for the digital payments and E-Wallet players”

Belgium

France

Canada

United Kingdom

Sweden

Australia

The Netherlands

Germany

South Korea

– Shobhit Srivastava, Counterpoint Research had only 14.6 lakh Point of Sale (PoS) machines, the most convenient device for cashless transactions is bound to be your handheld device.

Biggest Beneficiaries The biggest and immediate beneficiary of PM’s demonetization decision has been the digital wallet companies which till November 8 were growing at a fairly good but nothing which could be called dramatic. In Tier 2 & 3 cities, the growth was just beginning to happen. But PM Modi’s November 8th announcement changed all that. Paytm’s front page, full page advertisements welcoming demonetization and lauding PM Modi was indicative of the sentiments that digital wallet companies’ time of reckoning had come. Deepak Abbot, VP, Paytm acknowledges this fact in an interaction with My Mobile. (Please see his interview in Box)

www.mymobileindia.com

january 2017 | 39

Limelight

lead story The Big Bottleneck to Cashless Migration - The Gulf between India & Bharat!

Following demonetization, there has been massive and furious increase in customer base of E-wallet companies, even as more and more of India started taking interest in the phenomena called digital wallet. On 9th November, the effective day

Illiteracy: India has the world’s largest population of illiterate adults at 287 million, amounting to 37 per cent of the global total.

when demonetization became operational,

Unbanked Population: Humungous number of Indians is still out of banking system. Despite government’s recent push, over 200 million Indians may still be out of banking system.

while overall transaction increased by

Huge Number without Phone: Over 400 million Indians still may not be having a basic phone.

three times.

Low Internet Penetration and Connectivity Problem: Well, even in national capital, internet connectivity at times can be frustrating experience. So do we see smooth functioning in Bastar or hills of Arunachal.

players. E-wallet payments have registered

Internet Connectivity Gulf between Urban and Rural India. Less than 30% of total internet connections are in rural areas.

an easier way of money transaction in the

Smartphone Adoption: India may be having world’s second largest population of smart phone but that is still just 25% of mobile handset population.

Srivastava, Mobile

Only 14.6 lakh Point of Sale (PoS) Machines as of August2016.

research firm

Paytm witnessed 435% increase in traffic while its app download grew by 200%. Additions in money grew by 1000% 250%. This was just indicative of growth to come. On 10th November i.e Day 2 of demonetization, Paytm’s traffic increased seven times; while App download grew “The demonetization move has proved a boon for the digital payments and E-wallet approximately 270% growth while other payment methods such as USSD have seen as much as 1200% growth. Consumers in Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities are forced to migrate to digital payments as it provides current demonetization scenario due to limited choice of action,” points out Shobhit Devices and Ecosystems expert with Counterpoint Research.

Limitations of E-wallets: Digital wallets are for those with some experience of the way digital transactions work. The unlettered, the elderly, and those without smartphones will be largely left out.

And who will ultimately pay for costly customer acquisition by E-wallet companies?: The cost of customer acquisition with each is about Rs. 8001000. Today, this acquisition is being financed by Venture Capital but ultimately they will want a return on their investment. Will E-wallet companies survive then?

As per Counterpoint Research, the customer base for mobile wallet is close to 200 million users in India today. With smart phone penetration increasing, the number of mobile wallet users is set to increase to approximately 400 million by 2018. That would be phenomenal. But what percentage of monetary or economic transaction will actually take place through

40 | january 2017

MYMOBILE

E-wallet is in the realm of crystal gazing. And whether they will able to sustain the moment of a customer acquisition when funding stream goes dry or when they start charging for their services, is also a matter of speculation. But so far so good!

Global Movement towards Cashless Economy Nobody can contest that cashless transaction is not only convenient but highly desirable too in the digitized 21st millennium when there really is no need for paper currency to pay for daily purchases or for paying for services. Not only many of the advanced economies such as Sweden, Norway, Holland, Korea are already close to becoming a cashless economy as well as emerging ones but even emerging nations such as Kenya are reaping the benefits of going cashless for a large assortment of day to day purchases and service payments. In India, however, cash

These could be the spoilers for the merry run of E-Wallet companies High cost of customer acquisition: Currently VCs are pouring in money to enable E-wallet companies to go for aggressive customer acquisition. Estimates are that E-wallet companies could be spending anywhere between Rs 800-1200 per customer acquisition. But how long can it last? The money stream has to turn dry or shrink. And once E-wallet companies start charging some kind of fee, the natural tendency of the customers would be to go back to cash transaction.

Limelight

lead story

E-thefts: Its digital version of pick-pocketing but losses to individual and the system in terms of confidence are much bigger. Experts are still not sure how safe are E-wallets. The recent case of five Kolkata engineering students stealing Rs 8.6 crore over months by exploiting a security loophole of a private bank e-wallet was a wakeup call. Disruptive Technology or New Banking Club: The impact of Unified Payment Interface is still being analyzed though currently it offers no direct threat to E-wallet companies. But once banks streamline their strategy and decide to put up a combined gateway or combined wallet, they could wipe off E-wallets in a jiffy.

had accounted for over 95% of total

economic transactions! This at a time

avoidance etc from the economy. But

when the country has been rolling out

it’s also an utopian concept in a country

digital India footprint!

like India where a significant portion of

Cash transactions also entail

population is living below poverty line,

additional burden on the economy

has a massive number of adult illiterates,

and the banking system about

where financial and digital literacy is a

which not much has been

challenge.

written. According to 2014 Tufts

We are a country where at least over 300

University study titled “The Cost of

million people still don’t own mobile phones

Cash in India”, cash operations

and internet connectivity even in metros is a problem. And break from the past is

cost India’s central and

not easy. Switching over to cashless

commercial

requires more than digital facilitations. It

banks

requires a change in mindset, something

whopping

which even Americans are still trying to

Rs 21,000

overcome. Just for record, cash is still the

crore annually! This itself should be

king in US of A. But these obstacles in no

incentive to switch over to cashless

way undermine the fact that no firmer move

transactions.

was taken till date to leapfrog India into

The Road Ahead

there is one fact which cannot be contested

A cashless society is a highly desirable

– Mobile is the most preferred device of

concept as it eliminates many of the

digital society. Mobile is the new currency!

ills such as generation of black money,

Welcome to Mobile Economy! n

fake money, terror financing, tax

www.mymobileindia.com

digital financial domain. And amid this,

shelley@mymobile.co.in

january 2017 | 41

Limelight

lead story

“We need India-centric solutions, not blind imitations of the West” Taron Mohan, Managing Director and CEO of NextGen Telesolutions Pvt Ltd is an entrepreneur, innovator, thought leader and a much respected name in telecom

A positive spinoff of demonetization has

of E-wallets or onset of mobile economy?

been the great fillip to digital transactions

What are other technical/technological

and E-wallet companies. But is the

hurdles to migration to cashless

momentum sustainable once there is

economy? This is a subject that I have

sufficient liquidity in the market or with

been trying to communicate for over

consumers? With the push from every

two years to everyone. The sad part is

organization – the government and the

that the policy framers and the think

private sector, this momentum should

tanks rarely go down to the last mile to

and mobile industry. A silver

continue, but to keep it going in the

see actual ground reality. A smart phone

medalist from IIT Delhi, his

long run, it has to be economically

does not necessarily mean an active

sustainable - both from commercial

data user. There are only about 160

aspect as well as the infrastructure

million active users of data in India.

company Nextgen has been a leader in Mobile

support. We all know that there are

What about secure digital FI services

Couponing, Mobile Money

challenges on both sides in the country

for the balance 700 plus million users?

& Payments, Secure Banking

and these are being resolved. But we

The outlook was – they will soon come

still have a long way to go in resolving

onto data plans. The question here then

these to make it a self sustaining and in

is the affordability. Can 40 % of India

an auto pilot mode. Let’s hope it works

afford Rs 400 a month on a data plan

well and helps the country grow.

alone plus the regular voice calls when

Solutions and Unified Interface for banking, wallets, money transfers etc. Mr Mohan’s particular

the ARPU is just about Rs 140-180 Cashless may be hassle-free but a

a month? So there is a crying need

large number of people still appear to

to enable the last mile with secure FI

be reluctant to switch over to digital

services on the mobile and this was

payment mode. Do you agree with this

totally neglected by everyone. It’s only

to the masses and to use

view? Yes, especially the poor and the

in the last month that this has arisen

technology to simplify

trader community, who for generations

and everyone is scrambling to close on

have been working only on cash. This

this gap.

endeavour is to build low cost contactless payment solutions to take services

everyday life. NextGen’s multiple tele solutions are already making life easier for millions in Africa. He shared his thoughts on various aspects of mobile and digital transactions and cashless

is particularly prominent in the Tier 3 / 4 cities and the rural areas where the

Will E-wallet companies such as Paytm,

digital wave never hit them and they

Mobikwik or Freecharge be able to sustain

are today lost on this front. On ground

the momentum or even survive once every

discussions and opinion is that they are

bank has their own wallet and now that

waiting for the cash liquidity to ease

single transaction gateway UPI has been

and they will then surface and start the

launched? Yes, they will still continue.

transactions.

It’s a question of branding, ease of use,

economy in an interaction with Shelley Vishwajeet. Excerpts…

42 | january 2017

customer reach, merchant acquiring A large number of people do not have

and building an ecosystem for digital

smartphones or even feature phones.

FI services. The banks can never beat

How big is this a hindrance in the growth

the private players in this and it must be

MYMOBILE

Limelight

lead story accepted that an integrated ecosystem has to exist. The second factor to accept that there has to be an inter-operable platform between everyone. Today each player is working in their own individual silos… this will kill the whole initiative and will soon come to a road block in expanding this economically and efficiently. What exactly is the revenue model of E-wallets/digital wallet firms in India? Can they really survive by charging some kind of transaction fee? I still don’t have a clue here? It’s today a ride on the VC money which is keeping them going. But for how long! The cost of customer acquisition with each is about Rs 800-1000 and I doubt if any have a revenue model to close on this in the next 4-5 years by way of revenues from services / transactions. The only way out is a transaction fees model, but then today it’s a matter of customer acquisition which is driving them and operational economics are a long way off. It’s for them to work out a sustainable model. n

wallets.

tax component. This may again dampen

Low cost merchant acceptance points –

the growth. Your views please!

Is mobile transactions basically a metro

POS and mobile ATM’s are too expensive

The government has already said that

phenomenon or are we witnessing a transition

to install at every merchant point.

transactions below Rs 2000 will not

even in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities/towns? It’s

Secure and integrated on every device

attract any service tax. This is a good

percolating down to the semi-urban areas

– we cannot leave out the basic feature

move to encourage the shift. Another bold

as the liquidity crunch is also forcing them

phones and non-data devices. Africa

move was to exempt service charges on

to move to a digital ecosystem. Will take

focuses on feature phones; are we any

fuel purchases – this itself is about Rs.

some time for the acceptance frame work

different from an ecosystem aspect?

400,000 crore a year in a push towards

Building a strong self-service model

digital.

to be built there, but am sure will happen

rather than focusing on a pure merchant

in next few months.

/ agent assisted model. BKash did not

How important is transactional or mobile

What more needs to be done by the government

take off because it was a pure assisted

security aspects in the new emerging

and other stakeholders to facilitate migration

model…. Why can’t we learn from

eco-system? Security is of prime importance

there?

in any solution for financial inclusion

Building an interoperable secure

and this need to be on top of every

meet the unique operational / infrastructure

contactless system between transit

provider. However, there are device

limitations in the country. We today are

(metro / parking / toll and public

limitations on this, but the providers

running on implementing technologies

transport) and the banking / wallet

need to ensure the best possible security

widely used in the west / mature markets.

ecosystem. What we’re doing today on

safeguards here and then release their

No one is sitting down and detailing

toll plazas with POS terminals is a sure

updates / mobile apps. Whether it be a

what’s needed / workable in India to build

flop show. It has never worked anywhere

customer app or a merchant app – customer

a solution apt for India. What’s needed

globally and why should it work here?

data security ought to be on top priority and

here is:

Digital transactions will also raise the

these apps ought to be built keeping in view

Interoperable acceptance / payment

cost of transactions for average person as

all possible safeguards from all aspects of

solution between the banks and the

every transaction will also entail a service

use. n

to mobile transactions? The government needs to support alternative technologies to

www.mymobileindia.com

january 2017 | 43

Limelight

lead story

“Digitization will make systems transparent in the long run” Faisal Kawoosa leads the Telecoms, Semiconductor and Electronics practices at CyberMedia Research, which is a leading market research, consulting and advisory firm on but not limited to Information Technology, Telecommunications, Semiconductors and Electronics. He shared his enlightened views on various aspects related to new digital drive with My Mobile. Excerpts… How do you see the impact of demonetization

Do you think the momentum towards digital

as far as fillip to digital economy, digital

transactions can be sustained even when

transactions are concerned? This has

economy gets back sufficient liquidity

definitely given impetus to the Digital

after few months? Liquidity is of course

Economy. It has ‘pushed’ people who

a prime concern and will get addressed

were having access to all means of

in due course of time. But, it’s more to

digital transactions to the mode who for

do with mindset. As soon as awareness

all various reasons were still reluctant,

increases as to how the digital mode only

even just for hesitant to come out of their

changes the denomination of liquidity

comfort zones. Further, this is going to

and does not snatch it away, there will be

make the systems transparent in the

greater acceptance, hence momentum.

long run.

Also, people need to have more reliance

Cashless may be hassle-free but a large

have been using cash and currency for

number of people still appear to be

transactions, it will take time for digital

reluctant to migrate to digital payment

to have same acceptance. Just thinking

mode. Your view please! Indeed, there

how the currency would have taken

are people hesitant to migration. Some

time to acceptance, when barter was in

have genuine reasons, for instance, the

vogue.

into the system. All generations we

lowest strata of people who run on a

44 | january 2017

daily horizon will find presence of digital

A large number of mobile users do not have

infrastructure minimal to support them.

smart phones. How big is this a hindrance

They will face and are facing serious

in the growth of E-wallets or onset of mobile

liquidity issues. The other section is,

economy? Definitely, if we want to make

who for several reasons don’t want

digital currencies order of the day, we

the things to be notarized, and digital

have to address to the widest possible

systems auto-notarize the things which

range of population. With Smart modes,

they want to avoid. We may not see a

that essentially need a Smartphone, we

cent percent digital economy even in the

are just talking of covering 25% of the

long horizon, but the tilt towards digital

population. Our estimates are that 2016

will be greater in due course of time.

will end with around 277 mn installed

MYMOBILE

Smartphones, meaning by this yearend

the hospital charges. Definitely such

additional taxes on card transactions, should

country will have 277 million Smartphone

institutions can take the lead by enabling

be waved off now. It has to give me the equal

users, which will include people having two

online payments also. Such steps will

value of a cash note. So effectively a 100

Smartphones. So we may be talking about

asides bringing in ease and comfort also

Rs swipe on a card should give me the value

275 million net users. This is very low base of

have a snowball effect in increasing the

of Rs 100 note.

the 1.25bn population and we have to think of including others as well. But this is getting addressed. Paytm and Mobikwik has already come out with solution for Featurephone and 2G Internet users. So gradually we shall see that addressed as well.

As the mode of liquidity is getting changed and the underlying mobile technology already pacing up in smaller towns and cities, this will lead to faster adoption of digital wallets in Tier 2 & Tier 3 cities as well, which in fact is already happening !

What is the customer/user base of digital wallet today? What is the growth rate one is looking at? We donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have any data points on this. But recently all these have come out with encouraging growth numbers in

Limelight

lead story

the public.

Is mobile transactions basically a metro phenomenon or are you witnessing a

awareness and acceptability.

transition even in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities/

In the coming days, what would be the pull factors which will attract a consumer to opt

towns? Metros have been the leaders in

Digital transactions will also raise the cost

for certain E-wallet and ignore others. Do you

adoption of new technologies and it has

of transactions for average person as every

also see, a shakeout, mergers soon as there

also been voluntary primarily because the

transaction will also entail a service tax

appears to be just too many E-wallet companies

population in Metros can spend, are more

component. This may again dampen the growth.

vying for consumerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s attention? I believe this

aware and also find greater end-points of

Your views please. Taxes are to be paid

using a new technology. For instance, the

and no one should prefer cash

card transactions would be any day higher

to avoid the genuine taxes

in Metros because one would find almost all

to be paid. This means

shops, etc. accepting cards. This is not the

we are invariably

scenario in Tier 2 and 3 cities/towns where

then contributing

this will be still restricted. But, as now we

t o w a r d s

see the mode of liquidity getting changed

building up of

and the underlying mobile technology

black money.

already pacing up in smaller towns and

However,

will be successful

cities, this is going to change and we shall be seeing them the adoption increasing there as well. What more needs to be done by the government and other stakeholders to facilitate migration to mobile transactions? Awareness, coming really strict and in true sense on the people who have ulterior motives and do not want transparency, ensuring cash liquidity during the time of transition are some of the measures that need to be taken immediately. Also, Government has to be the role model, for instance, all political parties accepting party funds through digital modes only. Also, some of the institutions are still not accepting online payments. For instance AIIMS, there is every day huge line of people paying

www.mymobileindia.com

if the transaction behaviour is changed and that can be only induced by making it really the order of the day by widening its acceptability and liquidity. Yes, as most of the wallets are offering similar things, we should be seeing some acquisitions in this space as well. No segment can remain fragmented when the offerings are more or less same. n shelley@mymobile.co.in

january 2017 | 45

In focus

profile

Josh Foulger

The man who put Indian electronics manufacturing on the global map A factory floor is unlikely to emerge as a motivating factor for most of us but it is one of the biggest inspirations for Josh Foulger, Country Head and Managing Director, Foxconn India to continue his relentless journey from one achievement to another. For his seminal contribution to electronics manufacturing in India, Mr Foulger was recently awarded â&#x20AC;&#x153;Electronics Man of The Year 2016â&#x20AC;? by ELCINA.

By Gangadeep Kaur

50 | december 2016

MYMOBILE

In focus

profile

y setting up the largest devices manufacturing unit in India for Nokia way back in 2006, he is easily one of

the earliest proponents of manufacturing in India. Foulger believed in India as a manufacturing hub long before ‘Make in

India’ made it fashionable to do so and much before domestic manufacturers started to seriously consider manufacturing in India. It can be argued that it was Nokia’s decision to set up a factory in Chennai, India that put the Indian manufacturing on the fast track. It also changed the perception of inferior products associated with the Made in India products. It is then hardly surprising that factory floor is the biggest motivating factor for Foulger. “There is something about seeing people working on the factory floor and even after so many years, it still charges me whenever I do visit the factory floor. It is poetry between people and parts… the entire exercise of bringing people together to work for a few hours every day…it continues to motivate me even now,” says Foulger. His love for factory can be traced back to his father, JRM Foulger who himself worked at a Madras Fertilizers Pvt Limited and continues to be a strong influence on Foulger.

He decided to start his career in the USA after completing his Masters Degree in Industrial Engineering from the University of Texas at Arlington. It was at Global Integration that Josh got an opportunity to interact with the factory workforce. This experience would be of immense benefit later on when he was part of starting-up the Nokia factory in India. “There was a lot of stress on automation in the US in the 1980s and 1990s and people were losing jobs because of this. Old factories were very important part of the American economy. Many a times, father and son would be working on the same factory floor. Robotics and automation was

Nokia - The Groundbreaking Phase Setting up of the Nokia factory is proverbially the biggest jewel in his crown of achievements. But he had been preparing for this role for years before actually assuming the responsibility of the Chennai factory. Josh joined Nokia after four years of experience at a startup Global Integration and Automation and

Robotics Research Institute in Texas.

changing everything and people had to be reskilled to cope with these changes. I got a chance to visit a number of factories at this time and developed a passion for the reskilling and career development of the workforce,” explains Foulger. Foulger finally decided to bid adieu to Global Integration in favor of global experience and better prospects at Nokia. He started his Nokia journey in February 1998 as Automation Engineer at Nokia in MEA (Manufacturing Engineering Americas), which was responsible for the set-up and support of the Nokia’s Americas factories in the US, Mexico, and Brazil.

“I don’t think you can overstate Josh’s contribution to the Indian manufacturing. I was in Nokia factory sometime in 2011-12 and that day it had achieved it’s highestever production of 7 lakh in a day. It was amazing to see how much had been achieved in such a short period of time” – Rajoo Goel, Secretary General, ELCINA.

january 2017 | 47

In focus

profile At Nokia, Foulger was quickly promoted

returned to India in May, 2005 and the

to handle Nokia Americas factories

factory started production in a record time

automation. It is safe to say that his success

on 2ndJanuary2006.

here was a precursor to what he would later

“I still recall when Josh addressed

achieve in India. “We were manufacturing

members of ELCINA (Electronics Industry

one million mobile phones in a month, and

Association of India) before starting the

that was a big achievement in the late 90s”,

Nokia factory and one of the first things he

recalls Foulger. To put this in perspective,

said was it was almost impossible for an

Nokia Chennai scaled-up to produce over

Indian company to qualify as a component

15 Million phones a month.

vendor for Nokia. Honestly, I was taken

The Asia Pacific region was growing

aback but then he followed it up by sharing

in importance for the country in early

that it required a totally different mindset

2000s. The huge consumer base coupled

and scale. In his presentation he later

“I admire Josh’s honesty and the balance, which he has always tried to maintain between his role as a company representative and his passion to help and promote Indian manufacturing” – Vinod Sharma, Managing Director, Deki Electronics

with better supply chain integration and

talked about things Indian companies can

efficiency meant that the company wanted

do to become a Nokia component vendor. I

to increase its presence in the region.

admire his honesty and the balance, which

Nevertheless, setting up the Nokia factory

he has always tried to maintain between

was not without problems/challenges.

his role as a company representative and

India was hardly known as a Global

his passion to help and promote Indian

manufacturing hub and it was not easy to

manufacturing. He later went on to develop

convince the stakeholders to set up a unit

supply chain of component manufacturers

in the country. However, the developing

in India for Nokia,” says Vinod Sharma,

consumer base in the region and a

Managing Director, Deki Electronics.

competent large-scale workforce helped

It was a landmark factory in more

to tilt the balance in favor to India. The

than one ways. Nokia was one of the first

Nokia leadership decided and Foulger

companies to set up manufacturing unit in

48 | january 2017

MYMOBILE

In focus

“My mom, who retired as school head, used to work with extremely bright, motivated, but financially underprivileged girls and she suggested that I consider employing them in the shop floor, since they were hardworking but suffered because of various social issues. I decided to hire nearly 100% women on the factory floor”

– Josh Foulger

India and used to manufacture nearly 2.5

in India.

an important and crucial role in policy

million handsets in a month. The factory

“I don’t think you can overstate Josh’s

making and as country head of Foxconn.

was soon exporting to Middle East and

contribution to the Indian manufacturing. I

We recently awarded him Electronics Man

Africa, Asia, Australia and New Zealand,

was in Nokia factory sometime in 2011-12

of The Year 2016 in recognition of his

besides catering to the domestic demand.

and that day it had achieved it’s highest-

contribution,” says Rajoo Goel, Secretary

Nearly 30,000 workers travelled everyday

ever production of 7 lakh in a day. It

General, ELCINA.

from the villages around Sriperumbudur

was amazing to see how much had been

But this is just one side of the story.

to the 210-acre campus of Nokia Telecom

achieved in such a short period of time.

Foulger set a new benchmark by hiring

Special Economic Zone, which was for a

It is unfortunate that the plant ran into

a majority of women on the factory floor.

time the hub of electronics manufacturing

trouble. However, Josh continues to play

Even today it is hard to think of a parallel high-volume devices manufacturing unithiring majority of girls. “My mom, who retired as school head, used to work with extremely bright, motivated, but financially underprivileged girls and she suggested that I consider employing them in the shop floor, since they were hardworking but suffered because of various social issues. I decided to hire nearly 100% women on the factory floor. Because of high literacy rate in the state of Tamil Nadu, it was easy to hire women who were proficient in English to comprehend Global SOPs (standard operating procedures) written in English. The cool thing was that it was never designed for greatness,” says Foulger. Three years after being a part of scaling

www.mymobileindia.com

january 2017 | 49

In focus

profile

“The interesting part is that you continue to learn and experiment,” – Josh Foulger on completing 25 yrs of professional life

Passions Beyond Profession Policy development: I believe roadmaps and policy development is the key to nation and institution building. In keeping with this, I focus on policy development in my company, and beyond. My mentor and coach in Indian policy development, Pankaj Mohindroo and I focus on developing policies for Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY) as a part of the FTTF. I am also the current chairman of the manufacturing committee of Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) Tamil Nadu.

to encourage them to challenge themselves.

Sports/Track and Field: I was awarded certificate of outstanding athlete, when I passed out from my school, Madras Christian College, in 1988. Every year I coach shot put and discus athletes for Middle School and High school kids at American International School, Chennai, for two months. During this time I am under pressure to stay fit and compete with high school kids

50 | january 2017

Education: Coming from a family of teachers, and heads of school, it is natural for me to be interested in education. I am currently on the Board of the American International School, Chennai. In the past I have been in advisory roles in Texas, Loyola Chennai and IIM Bangalore. Along with my wife, Anita, I like to spend time with the youth in our Church every Sunday. These are free flowing sessions to help the youth to deal with the relevant life issues.

Leadership Mantras: My Leadership model is built around the 4Es of Envision, Equip, Empower and Enforce.

Biggest Achievement: Maintaining my faith and belief in God, no matter the circumstances. And, the humility to say that, ‘I have come a long way, and I have a longer way to go’.

MYMOBILE

the Chennai factory, Josh decided to move out of the factory to develop the supply chain system in India. A local supply chain had to be developed to optimize costs and to increase the speed of deliver to customers. “It was a very different and a very challenging role. It is extremely complex in the mobile industry since a smartphone at that time required as many as 350-400 components and the volume was very high. The challenge was also to educate the supply chain about our specific requirements,” says Josh. To aid this, Josh developed a model called

“Josh has played a stellar role in FTTF. He also helped in the formulation of Phased Manufacturing Program, which is at the core of our plans to reach the target of manufacturing 500 million devices by 2019. He has his heart and soul in making India a manufacturing hub”

China +1 to develop electronic supply base in

– Pankaj Mohindroo, Chairman of FTTF & Founder President, Indian Cellular Association

India in addition to China. This program led to $600 million of local purchase providing much needed impetus to the local industry. Around the same time he co-developed, Source India, an yearly trade show in

for Foxconn International Holding in April

post the closure of Nokia’s plant. He gave

Chennai in association with ELCINA. It is

2015 after being with Nokia for 17 years.

a lot of confidence and inspiration to the

currently on its 8th edition. These initiatives

In just little more than a year, he has

industry. He also helped in the formulation

not just helped Nokia in building a reliable

created employment for 8000 people while

of Phased Manufacturing Program, which is

supply chain for itself but also helped the

additional locations are being planned.

at the core of our plans to reach the target

Indian electronics manufacturing industry to

“Foxconn is a vertically integrated

of manufacturing 500 million devices by

come into its own. Josh was later made the

company which means that the

2019. He has his heart and soul in making

global head of worldwide procurement and

components etc are sourced from the

inbound logistics for Nokia’s mobile phones

country, so it is not just manufacturing but

business unit, and was part of the Nokia

allied industries also benefit. Foxconn has

sourcing leadership team. He also played a

plans to setup facilities for the complete

key role in setting up Nokia factory in Hanoi

vertical integrated production of Information

in Vietnam, by setting up the supply chain

Communication Telecom (ICT) products,

and starting the factory.

Mobile Phones, Telecommunications

Unfortunately, Nokia Chennai factory

Network systems etc., making India

ran into trouble because of Rs 21,000 crore

as a major hub in the global mobile

tax dispute with the Indian tax authorities.

and telecommunication networking

The plant was finally closed down in 2014

manufacturing centre,” says Foulger.

Over the course of his career spanning more than 25 years, Foulger has been involved in manufacturing of over a billion phones.

and it was excluded from Microsoft’s $7.2

He believes that India has the potential

billion purchase of Nokia’s global phone

of emerging as a good option to China. “The

operations.

objective is to emerge as another option,

India a manufacturing hub,” says Pankaj

apart from China,” says Foulger.

Mohindroo, Chairman of FTTF and Founder

The company was forced to shut down its Chennai plant after Microsoft, which

Foulger’s contribution to the Indian

had acquired Nokia’s devices business,

manufacturing goes beyond developing

Over the course of his career spanning

terminated mobile purchase agreement

the supply chain for Nokia or spearheading

more than 25 years, Foulger has been

from the factory. It led to loss of more than

Foxconn’s India operations. As a

involved in manufacturing of over a billion

30,000 jobs, including Nokia’s suppliers.

Co-Chairman of Fast Track Task Force

phones. “The interesting part is that you

(FTTF) he is deeply involved in policy

continue to learn and experiment,” says Josh

formulation.

as he continues his journey and mission to

Foxconn: Beginning of A New Chapter Foulger joined Foxconn as its India head

www.mymobileindia.com

In focus

profile

“Josh has played a stellar role in FTTF. The industry was really feeling dejected

President, Indian Cellular Association.

promote Indian manufacturing . n Gangadeep@mymobile.co.in

january 2017 | 51

In focus

spotlight

TOP

10 Innovations

Which Rocked!

Here is the list of ten most significant technological innovations which hooked netizens during 2016 as revealed by Yahoo’s analysis of things searched during the year. And most of it has to do with the digital world!

Autonomous Vehicles

riverless cars or you can say autonomous cars or

any kind of human input. These vehicles use the variety

autonomous vehicles are no longer a science fiction

of techniques like lidar, GPS, radar, odometry, computer

stories. They are self-driving vehicles which are capable

vision and a lot more. Apple’s “Project Titan”, Audi, Baidu,

of sensing its nearby environment and navigating without

BMW, Bosch, Ford, Honda and many more companies are planning to bring their products in this field. Hope so the future of driverless cars is bright and soon we will hear good news. n

52 | january 2017

MYMOBILE

Infocus

spotlight More Focus on IoT (Internet of Things)

nterconnection of all the physical devices whether it is a building or vehicle, coffee

machine or washing machine or anything else you can think of, with the internet. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s like so many connecting devices talking to each other via the internet. Cisco, Nokia, Arrayent, Filaments and many more companies are working in the field of the Internet of Thing. Soon, everything in the world will be connected to the Internet. Like your car will connect with your calendar and tell you about your schedule and best possible route to go. n

Virtual Personal Assistants

irtual Personal Assistant helps in working more efficiently and takes care of administrative or repetitive tasks. It is helping business

and personal work to achieve goals on time in a more effective way. Brickwork India, Habiliss, GetFriday, Task Barge, AskSunday, are some companies in India who are working in the field of Virtual Personal Assistant. n

Virtual and Augmented Reality Fitness Trackers

echnology

that

makes the realistic

images,

sounds,

itness tracker or you can also call

moments and other

it activity tracker, is a device to

sensations by using

track and monitor your daily activity

software is known as

and inform you about that. It calculates

v i r t u a l r e a l i t y. T h e

your step, heartbeat, running, walking,

user feels the physical

time of sleep etc. Fitness bands and

presence

fitness watch or smartwatch come in

environment that the

the category of the fitness tracker. Some

software creates. Whereas Augmented reality powerful and portable

of the best fitness trackers of the year

technology which is the blending of virtual reality and real life. Digital

2016 are Fitbit Surge, Fitbit Charge 2,

and real-world contents are blended together within applications. These

Samsung Grae Fit 2, TomTom Touch,

technologies are helpful in business, communications, meetings, sales

Spark 3 and Garmin Vivoactive HR. n

and lot more other fields. n

that

january 2017 | 53

In focus

spotlight Everything Cloud

n this era of digital technology, cloud computing is also an important trend. Cloud computing

Renewable Energy

provides shared computer processing resources and data on the internet to computers and other devices on demand. Many big companies are switching to cloud as it is easy to manage and can be accessed from anywhere. n

enewable energy is the energy that derived from natural resources like sun, air, water, waves etc. There are

four important areas where renewable energy has major work: electricity generation, air and water heating/cooling,

Research Methodology: To develop the Yahoo Year in Review, Yahooâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s editors analyzed userâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s interest patterns on what they searched for, read, recommended and shared. It takes into account a number of factors including absolute volume and growth from previous periods to see which themes and trends bubble to the surface. Individuals and their preferences always remain anonymous. Also please note that the results are not a representation of a popularity contest or voting, it was done by Yahoo editorial team experts.

transportation, and rural (off-grid) energy services. No doubt, this is going to be a big source of energy as all non-renewable energy resources are consuming very fast. n

3D printing to become mainstream

D printing is the process of creating three-dimensional solid objects as it is from a digital file. The process is known as

the additive manufacturing in which layer by layer material is used to create a 3-d model of an object. 3-d printing is the revolution in the field of technology. These 3D models are created with a computer-aided design (CAD) package, with a 3D scanner, or by a plain digital camera and photogrammetry software.n

Faster and cleaner modes of transportation

yperloop- Hyperloop is the new invention

in the field of transportation. It has a pod-like vehicle which runs in a vacuum tube at the airline speed. This vacuum tube works on a linear electric motor and glides to manage speed. Hyperloop Transportation technology which is the part of Hyperloop One is working on this concept with other companies. n

Drone Service

rone are very useful in any technology related field. It can be used for photography, in agriculture, in military services and

more. Drones can easily reach to those areas where any human or other heavy machines canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t go. Camera drones are the most popular drones these days. Many companies are working on the concept of drones. n

54 | january 2017

shelley@mymobile.co.in

MYMOBILE

Ten Facts You May Not Know About Reed Hastings, Co-founder and CEO, Netflix

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Reed was born in Boston in 1960. He studied

Profile

personality

mathematics at Bowdoin College and served in the U.S. Marine Corps. He joined the Stanford University upon returning from the Peace Corps and earned his Masterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s degree in computer science in 1988. Reed started his career as a software developer and worked at Adaptive Technology. He quit this job in 1991. After quitting his job, Reed along with Raymond Peck and Mark Box, formed a new company, called Pure Software, which produced products to troubleshoot software. Netflix, the company he co-founded, was started as mail-order DVD operations. Customers were initially allowed to rent each DVD for a seven-day period. Later, Netflix went on to become a media rental service. Reed is married to Patrician Ann Quillin and has two children. Reed joined the board of Microsoft in 2007 and served there until 2012. He is also a director of the board of Facebook since June 2011. Hastings is a member of Technology Network, a political network of business executives that promotes technology growth and innovation. Hastings was awarded the Henry Crown Leadership Award in 2014. He was awarded for being an outstanding leader. Hastings is a strong advocate for education reform through charter schools. In 2006, he donated $1 million in startup funds to Beacon Education Network to open up new charter schools in Santa Cruz County. n

*Disclaimer : The information has been collected from public domain and not from an interview with Reed Hastings.

www.mymobileindia.com

july 2016 | 55

In focus

Special

Dr Leo Li Chairman, Spreadtrum Communications & Chairman, Global Semiconductor Alliance

The Man Who Scripted one of The Best Turnarounds In Nasdaq History

Jodi Shelton, Co-founder and President, GSA with Dr Leo Li upon his appointment as GSA Chairman

50 | january 2017

MYMOBILE

o d a y,

Spreadtrum

he still decided to join Spreadtrum - all

manufacturer. It took about a year to

Communications Inc is

the more when he also had a good offer

introduce a new product. By the end of

one of the fastest growing

from one of the semiconductor giants.

2009, Spreadtrum started selling again.

semiconductor design

Dr Li’s answer was what could be worse

Early 2010, it broke even! In 2013,

and manufacturing companies as well

than zero. “I could only go up.” Another

world’s largest chipmaker, Intel decided

as a very respected name in chipset

reason was more emotional and personal

to pick up 20% share for a whopping

innovation. But when Dr Leo Li, an

– he wanted to be a part of mainland

USD 1.78 billion, giving USD 32.5 per

American with Chinese ancestry, took

China company.

share – this was nearly 90 times the

over its reins as the CEO in February

Company’s rebirth required

valuation Spreadtrum had when Dr Li

2009, to say that the company’s

reinventing the wheel; working from

took over. Today with the cash reserve,

chips were down would be gross

scratch, reshaping everything from

the company is valued at USD 8.2

understatement! The company was

internal processes to customer service

billion - some miracle! The astounding

almost beyond redemption. Its share

orientation; from weeding out rotten

rebirth prompted Nasdaq officials to

price had plummeted to 67 cents, all its

apples to rewarding deserving ones;

compliment Dr Li that Spreadtrum was

customers had abandoned the company

from investing in new chipset innovation

the best turnaround story in Nasdaq

while no phone manufacturer was ready

to convincing handset manufacturers for

history and Dr Li was its author.

to give Spreadtrum yet another chance

that one last chance.

In May 2016, as a huge honour and

having burnt their fingers many times

Amid the gloom, Dr Li never

acknowledgement of Dr Leo Li’s rising

before. To add to the woes, there was a

really lost hope or gave up on his will

stature in the semi conductor world, he

talent drain while no gooders were firmly

to triumph against all odds. There

was appointed as the Chairman of the

entrenched. Irony was that despite

were some positives, like Spreadtrum

Global Semiconductor Alliance’s Board

company still having USD 42 million

had a small set of good products,

taking reins from Steve Mollenkopf who

in cash reserve, its market valuation

especially Spreatrum 6600, which could

is the CEO of Qualcomm.

had plummeted to USD 39 million!

be its jumping board to redemption;

Spreadtrum started its India

This situation, in the least, reflected

and of course Dr Li’s leadership qualities

operations only in 2010 and is headed

the loss of investors’ confidence in the

and convincing power took care of the

from beginning by Dr Li’s chosen man

company and the poor perception that

rest. He took many corrective actions

– Neeraj Sharma. The company has

Spreadtrum suffered from.

and started investing in good set

been achieving over 500% year-on-year

Having spent nearly two decades

of professionals. At the same time,

growth for last two years and is today

in semiconductor and wireless

Spreadtrum also started investing in new

the largest supplier of chipsets in India,

communication industry, Dr Li was a

designs and improved processes even

controlling over 55% of chipset market.

respected and successful professional.

as it now aspired to be an innovation

So, many of his friends wondered why

leader rather than just another fables

Amazing, isn’t it! n – By Shelley Vishwajeet

www.mymobileindia.com

In focus

Special

january 2017 | 57

In focus

Special

“Our commitment to India is huge and multi-dimensional” Dr Leo Li, Chairman, Spreadtrum Communications, was on a whirlwind visit to India recently meeting policy makers, senior goverenment officials, business associates and his India team. Despite the tight schedule, he took out time to interact with My Mobile magazine and dwelt upon many subjects. excerpts from an interview with Shelley Vishwajeet.

What were the key ingredients of your

So I started talking to customers. I

on our chipset. No question asked. Our

strategy and vision for the almost impossible

talked to our own people. Some problems

customers saw that I was serious and we

turnaround of Spreadtrum? Well, there were

were easy to resolve, some were not so

started winning them back. And there has

many components of the strategy to infuse

easy. I was able to motivate my team. I

been no looking back.

life into a downhill company. On the one

started rewarding good people, elevated

But it wasn’t easy. We are a Chinese

hand, we needed to find out where we

deserving ones to right positions and fired

company and the handset makers were

were going wrong – an honest appraisal of

some bad bunch. We changed the quality

all Chinese and they knew what the

ourselves; on the other hand, we needed

process, changed the production and

problems with Spreadtrum were. They

to find out what customers wanted. So,

testing processes. We introduced many

had burnt their hands once, twice and

the transformation had to come both

things which should have been there but

they did not want to give us a third chance.

internally and externally. The company

were not there before. As our customers

Even small customers were not ready to

had lost focus on customers and was not

had lost confidence in us, I offered

see me. Once a person came and wanted

investing in innovation.

them 100% replacement warrantee

to see me. I was very happy that finally

58 | january 2017

MYMOBILE

In focus

Special we have a customer. But it turned out that he was a Chinese guy who had not seen an American Chinese with a Ph.D and wanted to see the wonder that I was!! Laughs! But then, if you are determined, serious and honest in your effort, rewards do come and people will notice you. How important is India market for Spreadtrum? Outside China, India is the country we invest most. And besides China, India has the biggest potential for the handset market. In fact, India has bigger potential

India dream.

You were recently elected as the Chairman

today than China because 500 million

How do you view India and China – as

of the prestigious Global Semiconductor

Indian people still do not have smartphone

competitors or collaborators? Of course as

Alliance (GSA) for two years. What are

handsets while Chinese market is almost

collaborators! There is a huge potential for

your priorities as GSA Chairman? Yes, to

saturated. We see huge potential in India

Indian and Chinese companies to work

be chosen as GSA Chairman has been

not only as a market but also as a research

together. Chinese companies are quite

a great honour. I want to concentrate

and design centre.

willing to be part of PM Modi’s ‘Make in

more on creating interest in semi-conductor

India’ vision. Outside China, we have the

industry around the globe. Currently, the

What is Spreadtrum’s market share in India?

largest team in India, and not all of them

development is almost totally concentrated

In the 2G segment, we have close to 75%

are sales and marketing people. We have

in USA and Europe. But there is huge

market share and in the 3G segment, it

over 200 engineers in India engaged in

potential in countries like China, Korea,

is close to 60-65%. Even in the high end

research, testing and customer support.

India. And yes, I want other parts of the

segment we have a good share and in the

We collaborate actively with handset

world work very closely with United States

overall chipset market, we should be having

manufacturing companies here in

on a win-win partnership basis.

no less than 55% share. Progressively, we

innovation and enabling them to come out

Another priority is to promote

have sold more LTE products in India than

with quality products. And yes, we actually

semiconductor industry to talented

anyone else. We achieved 600% growth

have OTA labs in India, which none of our

young people and convince the new

this year in India.

competitors has in India. We have made

young generation that semiconductor is

more capital investment in India than any

a highly rewarding and satisfying

Spreadtrum recently launched SC9820,

other chipset company. This reflects our

industry. We want semiconductor industry

the world’s first LTE feature phone chipset

commitment to India.

to attract best talents. Today, most of

and it has become quite a hit with phone

them want to become a software

manufacturers. What is the USP of this

What is the future focus of Spreadtrum?

engineer. We want to work closely with

chipset and what advantages it offers,

Last year, we sold 625 million chipset,

universities, engineering institutions to

especially in Indian market? A: You know

that’s 25% of worlds’ phone. Isn’t that

achieve this goal.

the best thing about SC9820 is that it

significant? We are already largest supplier

enables 2G phone handsets to leapfrog

in Indian market. Today’s India’s LTE

Any advice on dealing with success? Smiles!

to 4G kind of eco-system. You can make

product is CAT4. But we also have CAT 7

When you move forward and create new

voice on LTE, you can do Facebook,

products which will help handsets here to

parameters of success, there would also

Youtube etc. Voice quality is far superior.

leapfrog at a very reasonable cost. We want

be set of detractors and criticism but don’t

You can do things which were not

to bring CAT 7 to entry level. Next month,

pay much attention to them. Keep moving!

possible on 2G phones earlier. In India,

we are going to launch 14 nanometer

I also face them but then one has to move

more than 500 million people use

chipset, something which other than

on. If we start listening to negative voices,

feature phone. So just imagine the kind

Qualcomm no company has. Very soon,

one will not be able to move forward. I go

of empowerment they can get with this

we will have as broad a product portfolio

chipset. SC 9820 is a big enabler to digital

as Qualcomm.

back to sleep peacefully. n shelley@mymobile.co.in

www.mymobileindia.com

january 2017 | 59

In focus

snap shot

HTC 10 EVO:

A Classic Reborn HTC HAS GOT A NEW PREMIUM SMARTPHONE, THE 10 EVO; AND IT’S FEATURE RICH. THE HTC 10 EVO MAY LOOK LIKE THE HTC 10, BUT HAS A LARGER DESIGN AND LACKS A HEADPHONE JACK. HERE’S A LOOK AT THE HTC 10 EVO, THE PHONE THAT HAS BEEN DESIGNED TO LOOK LIKE A CLASSIC PIECE. By Anuj Bhatia

60 | january 2017

The HTC 10 Evo shares the same design language as the HTC 10, with an allmetal body. But while the HTC 10 was a 5.2-inch smartphone, the Evo comes with a larger 5.5-inch display.

2 3

That’s not all. While the HTC 1O Evo has a bigger display, the new smartphone is thinner than the HTC 10 at 8.09mm, and all thanks to its small bezels, the Evo is comfortable to hold as well.

It also boasts a fingerprint scanner on the bottom edge – in the same position as the HTC 10. However, this time, the new phone has dust, water and splash resistance to the IP57 standard. That should be seen as a big improvement, making the device at par with the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge and iPhone 7, to name a few.

MYMOBILE

In focus

snap shot

Though the Evo is HTC’s latest premium smartphone, it comes with a dated processor. Under the hood, you will notice a Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 processor, 3GB of RAM, 32GB of expandable internal memory and QuickCharge 2.0 fast charging.

HTC follows in the footsteps of Apple and Motorola by sacrificing the headphone jack on its phones. Perhaps the reason why the Evo doesn’t come a regular headphone jack, instead it has a single USB Type-C jack.

HTC 10 Evo sports a 5.5-inch QHD (2560x1440) display, thus making it superior compared to many smartphones in its class. On paper, at least, the 2560x1440 screen should be a delight to gaze at.

HTC bundles a special pair of two own adaptive USB earbuds in the box. While more and more manufacturers have started to remove the headphone jack on the smartphones, we really don’t know how many people are ready to embrace to trend.

HTC 10 Evo comes with a large 3,200mAh battery inside, which claims to last a full day on a single charge. The phone runs Android 7.0 Nougat, Google’s latest version of Android mobile operating system.

The HTC 10 Evo has a 16-megapixel rear camera with an aperture of f/2.0, along with optical image stabilisation (OIS) and manual control over most of the settings. The front side of the phone has an 8-megapixel sensor with a f/2.4 aperture, 29mm focal length and Auto HDR.

HTC 10 Evo has been announced for the Indian market and is yet to be made available. The HTC 10 costs Rs 44,999 (via Flipkart), so expect the price of the Evo to be in the vicinity of Rs.38,000.

anuj@mymobile.co.in

www.mymobileindia.com

january 2017 | 61

In focus

spotlight

What Does Gen Z Want? India has the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s largest

Gen Z population, i.e. children born after 1995, at 356 million. Understanding this generation, alternatively called plurals and post-millennials, which is immersed in advanced technology, is vital to understanding the social and marketing eco-system that will define the coming decades. Tata Consultancy Services Ltd recently carried a study to understand the digital traits and desires of Gen Z (Class 8-12) in Hyderabad, Indiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s sixth largest metro by population and one of the prominent IT hubs. The study gives a fairly good lead and insight into the psyche of plurals across urban centres in India. So here it is! 62 | january 2017

MYMOBILE

Infocus

spotlight

The Digital Traits of Generation Z Tech toys gets cooler

hile smartphones (21%) and laptops (16%) continue to be the most coveted gadgets for

H y d e r a b a d â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s G e n Z , advanced gadgets

11 14%

21%

like virtual reality headsets (15%) followed

14%

16% 15%

gaming consoles

Mediums change, hobbies donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t

ontinuing their love for sports, technology savvy boys opt for gadgets offering virtual

reality (17%) and gaming (16%). On the other hand, girls in Hyderabad havenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t given up on their passion for reading and opt for ebook readers (13%) as their most preferred gadget. n

(14%), smartwatches (14%) and ebook readers (11%) are quickly gaining popularity amongst young Hyderabadis. n

Constantly Connected

5% students primarily use internet at home through Fixed line/Wi-Fi while 47% of them

use access internet through 3G/4G connection on their smart phones. With the increasing need to be connected wherever one is, an interesting trend shows that 21% of the students access internet through Wi-Fi at public places. n

Responsible generation

arents and teachers can now relax as 78% of the

respondents use internet for completing school assignments. This was followed by instant messaging

61%and

downloading games/music (60%). n

january 2017 | 63

In focus

spotlight Facebook is still the place to be

Insta-famous

he younger generations now look at different social media platforms like

Facebook, Instagram, Twitter etc. for their idols. 45% Hyderabad teens follow sports

social media, other platforms

followed by film stars (44%) and YouTube

like Instagram (38%), Twitter

celebrities (43%) which are quickly

(20%), Snapchat (19%) and

gaining popularity amongst youngsters in

Quora (18%) are also gaining

India. n

– V. Rajanna, Vice President & Global Head, Technology Business Unit, TCS 64 | january 2017

multiple social media platforms. While Facebook (62%)

followed by Google Plus (40%) continues to be the most popular

personalities on social media, closely

“Our survey reveals that generation Z of Hyderabad are highly connected, socially engaged and digitally influenced. Digital Technology is redefining the way young India connects, pursues hobbies and accesses information through smart gadgets and apps. The TCS annual survey of students from across the country gives leaders in different industries glimpses into tech habits of tomorrow’s professionals”

yderabad teens were found to be simultaneously active on

popularity. n

Virtual Strangers

ocial media being an important medium for interaction amongst the youth today, there is no surprise in the fact that these sites

also play an important role in establishing friendships. 34% of the teenagers in Hyderabad have made atleast 1-50 friends on social media and 30% of the teens have made between 50 and 100 friends through social media sites. n

MYMOBILE

Infocus

spotlight This is temporary, we will be back

6% of the teens in Hyderabad have deleted or deactivated

their social media account atleast once either due to parental pressure or because they find it a waste of time. n

Hyderabad: City of gamers

lot of the web content is consumed through a wide range of apps available for various purposes. Gaming

apps were found to be the most popular (69%) amongst Hyderabad teens, followed by Instant messaging apps (58%) and Entertainment apps (54%). Educational (44%) and shopping apps (37%) are emerging as the next most popular app choices among the students in the city. n

Born to Lead

eens in Hyderabad are highly influenced by personalities like Steve Jobs, Bill Gates,

Sunder Pichai and APJ Abdul Kalam. While more than half (55%) of the respondents in Hyderabad aspire to be entrepreneurs, nearly 30% would opt for a career in engineering and IT-related fields. n

Hyderabad still prefers Paper money

8% of Hyderabad youth shop online. Cash on delivery either using parentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s money (67%) or pocket money

(37%) is the most preferred mode of payment. n shelley@mymobile.co.in

january 2017 | 65

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Karbonn Fashion Eye Discovering fashion trends goes easy

he home-grown

top, with the charging port as

Fashion Eye is backed by a

low-end device. The Fashion

phone maker,

well as the 3.5 mm audio jack.

2000 mAh battery which is

Eye feature worked fine;

Karbonn

Coming to the back, we have

expected to last up to 250

however, we only have clothing

launched the

a rear camera with LED flash

hours of standby time and 6

and footwear at our disposal.

Fashion Eye in the affordable

and ‘Karbonn’ branding below

hours of talk time and runs

Overall performance was an

segment recently. With

it. The speakers are placed at

on Android 5.1 Lollipop. The

average one.

many smartphones being

the bottom right of the device.

dual-SIM smartphone comes

launched targeting the low-

The smartphone measures

with various connectivity

Conclusion

end segment, is Fashion Eye a

145x71x8.26 mm and weighs

options like 3G, Wi-Fi 802.11

As per the specifications

good choice to make?

151 grams. The volume rocker

b/g/n, Bluetooth, micro-USB,

and the performance, for

is placed at the left of the

FM radio, GPRS and GPS.

Rs.4,249 the smartphone can

Ordinary design

device while the power on/off

The main highlight of the

be considered as an option.

Starting with the design

button can be found on the

smartphone which is indeed

However, it is likely to face

and look of the device, the

right-hand side of the Fashion

in its name, the Fashion Eye

stiff competition from the

Fashion Eye is an average

Eye. Overall, it is an average

feature is for the user to shop,

likes of Micromax Canvas

looking smartphone. It is easy

looking smartphone.

but with a unique add-on.

Spark 3 with 5.5-inch display,

The user can click a picture

2500 mAh battery and a

of a pair of jeans, footwear or

5-megapixel front camera. n

to hold but the back of the Starting with the front of the

Average specifications

device, the smartphone has

Now, talking about the

and can search for the product

three regularly placed touch

hardware specifications,

or the similar ones as well

buttons at the bottom of the

the Fashion Eye sports a

as compare the prices of the

5-inch display and the front

5-inch HD IPS (1280x720

products (sounds interesting

camera being placed on the

pixels) 2.5D curved glass

for a shopaholic!). The Fashion

display and under the hood,

Eye is available in black and

there is a 1.3GHz quad-core

champagne colour options.

device is pretty rough looking.

processor coupled with 1

anything related to fashion

internal storage which can be

And it performed averagely

further expanded up to 32

The Fashion Eye performed

GB using a microSD card. On

pretty averagely. It is a good

the camera front, it features

girl when you start using it,

an 8-megapixel rear camera

but the user experience begins

with Sony IMX219 sensor,

to go bad. The device hangs

LED flash and auto focus

a lot which is something any

while the front facing camera

user won’t like. It tends to get

is of 3.2 megapixels. The

slow and battery life is not a

GB RAM. It has 8 GB of

team@mymobile.co.in

verdict Looks

06 /10

Features

07 /10

Performance

06 /10

Ease of Use

07 /10

Value For Money

07 /10

OVERALL

66%

Rough-looking device Average specifications Slow and hangs Easy to hold For Rs.4,249 can be considered as an option

good one. The smartphone worked fine on various social networking apps, but the battery got drained pretty quickly. Camera-wise, the camera wasn’t really good (which again is something we look for) but then again, what can we really expect from a

66 | january 2017

PROS Cons Average Slow, specifications hangs, and for Rs.4,249 not a good camera (For detailed specifications, please refer to My Guide)

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Panasonic Eluga Tapp A decent performer

ith the budget smartphones takers

increasing, Panasonic, a well known name in the tech world, recently launched a new mid-range smartphone in its Eluga series known as the Eluga Tapp. Is the smartphone competitive enough to take on the competition?

A good-looking smartphone The Eluga Tapp is indeed

And we have decent specifications for this one

a good and decent looking

The Eluga Tapp sports a 5-inch

device. Pretty easy to hold,

full HD IPS (1280x720 pixels)

grey colour variants.

the smartphone has a physical

display with 294 ppi of pixel

home button at the bottom

density and is powered by a

A good performer

with a front facing camera

1.2GHz quad-core Mediatek

along with the company’s

MTK6737V processor coupled

branding below it. Coming to

with 2 GB RAM. It has 16 GB

the back of the 5-inch device,

of internal storage which can

there lays the rear camera with

be further expanded up to 32

flash and another ‘Panasonic’

GB using a microSD card.

branding on the top, the

In the camera department,

‘Eluga’ branding in the middle

the smartphone features an

and the speaker grille at the

8-megapixel back camera with

bottom. The 3.5 mm audio

LED flash and auto focus and

jack is at the top of the device

a 5-megapixel front facing

while the USB charging port

shooter for selfies and video

is at the bottom. The volume

calling, with camera features

buttons as well as the power

like Panaroma, Beauty

on/off button can be found

Mode and Gesture Shot. It

on the right-hand side of the

is backed by a 2800 mAh

smartphone. The ELuga Tapp

battery and runs on Android

Conclusion

measures 142x70x8.6 mm

6.0 Marshmallow. The dual-

Keeping in mind the

and weighs 138 grams. The

SIM, 4G-enabled smartphone

specifications and the

silver grey colour option sports

is topped with connectivity

performance, the Eluga Tapp

the silver colour on the back

options like 4G VoLTE, WiFi

is a decent device and for

and edges of the device while

802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0,

Rs.8,189, the device is a good

the front of the smartphone is

FM radio and GPS. The Eluga

option to choose. However, it

black in colour.

Tapp is also accompanied

faces a tough competition from

www.mymobileindia.com

by a fingerprint sensor

the likes of Xiaomi Redmi 3s

embedded in the home button.

with 4000 mAh battery and 3

The smartphone comes in

GB RAM. n

champagne gold and silver

team@mymobile.co.in

verdict Looks

Looks good and easy to hold

08 /10

and decent performer. It is pretty comfortable to hold

Features

08 /10

Performance

07 /10

multi-tasking and the social

Multi-tasker, performed well

networking apps worked well

Ease of Use

07 /10

Value For Money

08 /10

OVERALL

76%

The smartphone is a good

and has a good battery life- it doesn’t really take too long to charge. It is capable of

on the smartphone. It is not prone to hanging and the fingerprint sensor too works just fine. The music experience was good and the camera too was above average. Overall, the

Decent specifications

Comfortable to use Can be considered as a good option

performance was decent.

PROS Cons Multi-tasker, An average easy to use camera and doesn’t hang (For detailed specifications, please refer to My Guide)

january 2017 | 67

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Asus Zenfone 3 Ultra Ultra large multimedia slab

fter a phase in

Zenfone 3 Ultra. Yes, it does

left side is totally plain while

expected a quad HD display

which phones

come with a massive display

on the right are the SIM card

at that price point, but we

seemed to be

but the first impression you

slot and the power/display

think it works just fine) and

getting more

get of it is of a very handsome

button. Which of course

the speakers blast out some

compact, we seem to have

device indeed. And that is

makes one wonder where the

of the best sound we have

come to a stage when they

because Asus has kept it

volume rocker is. Right on the

heard from a phablet in a

are getting bigger than before.

incredibly slim at 6.8 mm.

back, as in the Asus Zenfone

long long time. One of the

We have had the Lenovo

Yes, at 186.4 mm, it is

2, below the camera and flash

weak points of phablets has

Phab series, the Mi Max from

definitely among the longest

unit. It is placed a trifle high

been the camera. Not in the

Xiaomi, and now joining the

phones we have seen and

for easy access, though. All

Zenfone 3 Ultra. Asus has put

massive phone series is the

we cannot see people being

in all, we think the Zenfone

in a formidable 23 megapixel

Zenfone 3 Ultra from Asus.

able to handle it easily and

3 Ultra is perhaps the best

rear camera with optical

But does this biggie from

at 233 grammes, it is no

looking phablet out there. It is

image stabilization that takes

Asus have what it takes to

flyweight either, but the slim

big, but hey, it is beautiful too.

excellent photographs in good

stave off some rather tough

frame, chamfered edges and

competition?

metallic back do give it a very classy look indeed. The front

A multimedia monster

is of course dominated by

There are no two ways

There are a number of

the display, with a large oval

around it - the Zenfone 3

large display phones that

shaped home button which

Ultra is designed for heavy

try to blend the world of

also doubles as a fingerprint

duty multimedia. Some of

smartphones and tablets into

scanner, flanked by two

the tech punditry might find

one large device out there,

touch buttons. The sides curve

the Qualcomm Snapdragon

but most of them tend to look

out gently and on the top is

652 powering it to be a bit

ungainly and oversized. This

the 3.5 mm audio jack while

on the middle path but the

is where we think Asus has

the base has the USB Type C

6.8 inch full HD display is

pulled off a coup with the

port and speaker grilles. The

brilliant (some might have

Big, but beautiful

light conditions, although it can be a bit difficult to use thanks to the sheer size of the

verdict Looks

09 /10

Features

08 /10

Performance

09 /10

Ease of Use

08 /10

Value For Money

07 /10

Large but very good looking indeed Decent rather than spectacular spec sheet Stunning multimedia and battery The size and UI are problems Very expensive for the specs

OVERALL

82%

PROS

Cons

Good design, Excellent multimedia, Very good battery life

Expensive, Very large, ZenUI interface

(For detailed specifications, please refer to My Guide)

68 | january 2017

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device. There is also a very

make this a terrific device.

good 8.0-megapixel camera

It also comes well stacked

in front.

with connectivity options - 4

The phone comes with

G, GPS, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth -

4 GB RAM, and while the

and has 64 GB of storage,

processor is not in the league

expandable if you sacrifice one

of the Snapdragon 820

of the dual SIM slots. A large

monsters that we are seeing on

4600 mAh battery means

Android flagships, it definitely

that the phone can keep going

holds its own very comfortably

comfortably for two days on

when it comes to handling

a single charge. If we had to

even high-definition games,

change one thing, it would be

although sometimes the odd

the rather bloated ZenUI which

lag tends to creep in. For the

is placed over Android 6.0 on

most part, however, when

the device - it can be a little

you are viewing content, the

confusing at times. But all

big display and terrific sound

said and done, if it is watching

www.mymobileindia.com

films, playing games and reading content that you seek, then this phone delivers. In spades.

Conclusion It may deliver a formidable multimedia dollop but at Rs 49,999, the Asus Zenfone 3 Ultra costs a pretty penny and much more than even the likes of flagships like the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge and LG G5, both of which offer much better hardware and easier to use design. That

said, what cannot be denied is that the Zenfone 3 Ultra is perhaps the best device out there for anyone who wants a large phone that looks good and whose main focus is multimedia. This is the sleekest blend of phone and tablet that we have seen. Spec sheet pundits will frown at the price and benchmark scores, but those looking for great visuals and sound will nod in approval! n team@mymobile.co.in

january 2017 | 69

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InFocus Epic 1 Proves to be a value for money offering

he US-based smartphone manufacturer, InFocus has

recently launched its midrange smartphone called the Epic 1. The device comes with a few highlights, one of them being the deca-core processor it is powered by at a price of Rs.12,999. But will it have any takers?

And we have a differently and goodlooking device The Epic 1 is actually a good-looking smartphone and differently made as compared to other InFocus devices. The smartphone sports a metal unibody

giving it a premium look.

comes with the rear camera

Starting with the front, the

followed by LED flash and the

device has the front facing

fingerprint sensor with the

shooter with dual-LED flash

vertically placed ‘InFocus’

at the top of the device with

branding below the sensor. On

the USB Type-C port and the

the top of the 5.5-inch display

speaker grilles on the lower

we have the 3.5 mm audio

part of the device. Coming

jack while the two separate

to the back, the device

volume buttons and the power off/on button are present on the right-hand side of the

verdict Looks

09 /10

Features

08 /10

Performance

08 /10

Ease of Use

08 /10

Value For Money

09 /10

A good looking and sleek device Above average specifications Multi-tasker, doesn’t hang Comfortable and convenient to use A good option for Rs.12,999

OVERALL

PROS

84%

Cons

Comfortable Camera not to hold, easy the highlight to use (For detailed specifications, please refer to My Guide)

70 | january 2017

MYMOBILE

smartphone. One thing

gaining popularity among

about the device is that the

the smartphones. The Epic

usual placement of the three touch button or the physical home button is absent. At 8.4 mm, the device is pretty sleek and quite comfortable and convenient to hold. However, the look is pretty much similar to smartphones we find these days.

Above average specs Speaking of the hardware specifications, the smartphone features a 5.5-inch full HD On-cell (1920x1080 pixels) display with 401 ppi of pixel density and is powered by 1.2GHz deca-core MediaTek MT6797M Helio X20 processor coupled with Mali T720 MP2 GPU. It has 3 GB of RAM and 32 GB of internal storage which can be further expanded up to 128 GB using a microSD card. The deca-core

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Tried & Tested

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1 is also accompanied by a processor

flash. So, the

being the USP of the device

16-megapixel back camera did good but

performed pretty well. The

not a great performer. So we

device provides a really smooth

really can’t expect DSLR-like

user experience. It did not

photography out of it, plus the

hang, is surely capable of

AIS feature somewhat failed

multi-taking and yet again is

to live up to its name as we

a smooth ride, be it for web

got many blurry images. The

surfing or downloading certain

8-megapixel front shooter

apps. We used some of the

was fine as well. The device

social networking apps like

is juiced by a 3000 mAh

Facebook, Instagram to name

battery that delivered good

a few and the smartphone

battery life. It device charges

worked pretty well.

up quickly, running on Android

Now coming to the camera

6.0 Marshmallow with the

department, the Epic 1

company’s InLife UI 2.0 on

features a 16-megapixel rear

top of it.

camera with dual tone LED

The device comes

flash and Phase Detection

with dual-SIM card slots

Auto Focus (PDAF) and an

connectivity options like 4G

8-megapixel front facing

LTE, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and a

shooter for selfies and video

USB Type-C port (not the usual

calling, also with a dual LED

USB port) which is gradually

fingerprint sensor at the back which actually unlocks the device in less than a second. It also comes equipped with some of the apps like Facebook, Flipkart, Amazon, Opera Mini, Xploree and BeautyPlusMe.

Conclusion Given the above specifications and performance, the Epic 1 is indeed, a pretty smooth device to use. The good looks clubbed with the comfort of using the device is actually one of its USP’s. Adding onto it is the deca-core processor meant for great performance. However, the camera is not really a great one. Overall, the smartphone is really good option to consider at a price tag of just Rs.12,999. n team@mymobile.co.in

january 2017 | 69

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Lenovo Phab 2 Plus The Big One!

enovo’s Phab

large display at a relatively

range of devices

affordable price. The Phab

(it is difficult to

2 Plus hopes to cash in on

label them as

that legacy, courtesy some

phones as they are so big)

improved specs and design,

were one of the surprise hits

while sticking to the “big is

of 2015. Written off as being

better” formula that made the

too large and unwieldy, they

original Phab such a hit. But

nevertheless struck a chord

does the big screen formula

with those who wanted a

still work?

It’s...well, big Yes, we are used to the fact

verdict Looks

08 /10

Features

08 /10

surprised us with its size. It

Well stacked spec sheet

is 173.9 mm long, 88.3 mm

Performance

07 /10

that the Phab series of devices is known for its large displays, but the Phab 2 Plus still

Big but very solidly built

wide and a slightly bulky (by

Can tend to lag in high end tasks

modern standards) 9.6 mm

Ease of Use

thick, a far cry from the sleeker 7.5 mm think Mi Max from Xiaomi, which is likely to be its most phablet-y rival. And at 218 grammes, it is also one

Size makes it difficult to handle

Value For Money Good option for those wanting a large display

08 /10 08 /10

OVERALL

78%

PROS

Cons

Good display, Innovative camera, Decent performance

Large and unwieldy, Inconsistent camera

(For detailed specifications, please refer to My Guide)

68 | january 2017

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of the heavier phones that

the Phab 2 Plus will more

we have seen in recent times.

4G, dual SIM support, GPS,

than suffice for your needs.

That said, Lenovo

Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. There is

Battery life is excellent - you

has added some very neat

and just below it is a spherical

support for Dolby Atmos in the

can see out close to two days

design flourishes to it. The

fingerprint scanner. All in all,

sound department and running

on a single charge with careful

black bordered 6.4 inch

it does not look bad and the

on top of all of this is Android

handling, thanks to the large

display does give the illusion

metal and glass build have a

6.0 (Marshmallow).

4050 mAh battery.

of a bezelless display, and

very solid feel to them,

below it are three touch

but hey, this is a massive

the dual camera set up at

Conclusion

buttons for menu, home and

phone, no getting away

the launch of the Phab 2

It might look massive but at Rs

back. The sides and back are

from it.

Plus, showing hownit could

14,999, the Phab 2 Plus will

add depth of field and also

have its share of takers, who

allow you to add AR objects

want a device that blends the

(cats, dogs and the like) to

best of both phone and tablet

metal, and the back curves

Lenovo had highlighted

less of a “boxy” look, although

Middling specs...and performance

the sides are dead straight.

In terms of hardware, the Phab

normal shots. But in real

worlds. The problem for it is

On the right are the volume

2 Plus is a mix of the good

life performance, we found

that it goes up

rocker and the power/display

and the middling. The 6.4

the cameras to be rather

against perhaps the most

button, both of which we think

inch display is a full HD one

inconsistent with faded

formidable large display

are a bit on the higher side,

and driving the device is an

colours. The AR effects are

phone-tab blend we have seen

considering the size of the

MediaTek MT8783 octa core

nice but hardly a killing

for a while - the Xiaomi Mi

phone, while on the left are

processor accompanied by 3

proposition. No, the real

Max, whose 3 GB RAM and

the dual SIM card slots, one

GB of RAM and 32

strength of the Phab 2 Plus is

32 GB storage also comes

of which is a hybrid. The base

GB of storage, which is

its capacity to act as a

at exactly the same price,

houses the micro USB port

expandable using a memory

content viewer - videos and

and is powered by a better

and speaker grilles. Perhaps

card, provided you are ready

text look great on that page

Qualcomm Snapdragon 650

the most outstanding feature

to sacrifice one of the two

display and sound quality is

processor and also has a much

of the device is the dual 13.0-

SIM slots. The device has

very good especially if you

larger 4850 mAh battery. Yes,

megapixel cameras on the

dual 13 megapixel cameras at

have a decent pair of

the Phab 2 Plus does have a

back, which allows you to add

the rear, making it one of the

headphones. We found the

more innovative camera set

better depth of field as well

most affordable dual camera

device a trifle disappointing

up and we think much better

as AR features. The camera

phones in the market and a

on the gaming front though

sound, but it has its task cut

unit is of a jet black colour and

front facing 8.0-megapixel

with lags creeping in while

out winning the “big screen”

protrudes slightly, which might

selfie shooter. In terms of

playing high definition games

battle. n

not be to everyone’s fancy,

connectivity, it comes with

but if you are a casual gamer,

out gently to give the phone

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team@mymobile.co.in january 2017 | 73

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Vivo V5 Turn up the selfie game?

ivo has always

phone is inspired by some

facing camera, earpiece, LED

been known

of the popular brands in the

flash and usual array sensors

of making

market. And yes it does seems

at the top of the display, while

smartphones

that Vivo did want a bite from

at the base sits the home

that come with some good

Apple (pun, indeed). But that

button, which also acts a

camera and is well equipped

is not a bad thing as there

fingerprint sensor with backlit

with Hi-Fi music. But with

are others as well who want

its recent offering, the Vivo

verdict Looks

08 /10

Features

07 /10

navigation buttons. At the

Average selfie camera and fast fingerprint sensor

to taste the victorious Apple

right, you will find the volume

Performance

(iPhone). The device comes

rockers and power on/off

Overall good performer

08 /10

V5, the company is heavily banking on the selfie camera.

with a unibody but it is not

buttons, while the left houses

Ease of Use

But will it be able to succeed

all-metal, as the back comes

dual-SIM slot. Headphone

08 /10

with this feature? Letâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s find

with faux-metal finish. The

jack, microUSB port and

out.

device is just 7.5mm thick

speaker grille are placed at

Value For Money

08 /10

and weighs 154g. We got the

the base. At the back, there

gold model for review and the

is a rear camera with LED

colour combination gives a

flash. Overall, the device is

premium look to the device.

surely a good looking and is

Similar design and average above display When it comes to design part, it is safe to say that the

The front sports a 5.5-inch display coupled with a front

Sleek look

Funtouch OS is simple to use Compact device with good looks

OVERALL

78%

comfortable to hold and use. On the display front, the device sports a 5.5inch HD displaywith a screen resolution of 1280x720 pixels. This is was a bit let down because almost all the competitors are giving you a full-HD display at this price point. And also the display delivers an above

PROS

Cons

Good battery life, sleek design, fast fingerprint scanner

Mediocre camera, sluggish performance, overheating issue

(For detailed specifications, please refer to My Guide)

average colour reproduction and the colour temperature is bit cool.

Almost a good performer On the hardware front, the Vivo V5 is powered by an octa-core MediaTek MT6750 processor coupled with 4GB of RAM and 32GB of internal

74 | january 2017

storage which can be further expanded up to 128GB via microSD card. On the connectivity front, the device supports 4G (with support for Indian LTE bands), FM radio, GPS, and Bluetooth.It is safe to say that the device handles most of the daily tasks pretty

MYMOBILE

Tried & Tested

burntest

We were typically impressed with the battery a hard flash. Now coming to the rear camera it sports a 13-megapixel rear the Vivo V5 well. Whether be it watching videos, listening to music or streaming, browsing and surfing social media, the device performance was satisfactory. While playing medium-graphics games like Temple Run 2, Don’t Grind we did not encounter any lags, although same cannot be said for highgraphics games. We tried playing games like Asphalt 8: Airbone,Warhammer 40,000: Freeblade and noticed occasional lags and frame drop during our testing period. Coming to the camera, which is touted as the major highlight of the smartphone,

www.mymobileindia.com

comes with a whopping 20megapixel front-facing

camera with a single-LED flash and PDAF. The camera did take some good shots in the broad daylight, but during

performance of the device. The device is juiced by a 3000mAh battery which is well optimized and balanced. The battery lasted a day and a half with normal usage and when we stretched it, the device gave a

camera with ‘Moonlight Glow’

the low-lighting situation, we

decent performance as well.

front flash, f/2.0 aperture,

can see graininess and noises

a Sony IMX376 sensor, and

kicking in pretty strongly.

Conclusion

a 5P lens. The smartphone

Moving on, the device

also comes preloaded with

runs on the latest Android

the Face Beauty 6.0 app.

6.0 Marshmallow with

The performance of the front-

the company’s Funtouch

facing camera came out to

OS running on top of it.

be a mixed bag one, as it

Vivo’sFuntouch UI is fast

took some good and detailed

and comes with some

selfies, but it was certainly

interesting features. Swiping

overexposing the background

from top will you notifications,

heavily, which is not a good

while swiping from the

sign. But the Moonlight Glow

base, you will get the control

flash is effective under the low-

centre like menu which has

lighting condition as it does

different features like speed

not give any unnatural effect,

up, s-capture, global eye

which is generally caused by

protection and more shortcuts.

At Rs 17,980, the device faces a stiff competition with the likes of Lenovo Z2 Plus, Samsung Galaxy OnNxt, Alcatel Idol 4, which comes with a well-crafted design coupled with some powerful specs and have better display. But still, if you want to have taste of Hi-res audio coupled with some good battery backup, then Vivo can be considered as a good option? n team@mymobile.co.in

january 2017 | 75

Tried & Tested

burntest

Blackberry DTEK60 The new age flagship

he rather plainly named DTEK 60 is the harbinger of a new era

for BlackBerry. Once the overlord of smartphones, the Canadian brand has been sailing through rough seas of late, and recently even decided to exit manufacturing its own phones, and stepped away from its own OS, instead opting for Android. The DTEK 60 is its first attempt at a high-end, all touch Android device.It comes with an impressive design and some very high-end hardware, but does it do enough to carve a niche for BlackBerry in the Android market?

Looks good! First things first - the DTEK60 does not look boring. Indeed, even while its fortunes have dipped, BlackBerry itself has come out with some very innovatively designed phones (we liked both the Passport and the Priv). The responsibility of manufacturing BlackBerry devices now rests with TCL Communications (the company that manufactures Alcatel phones) and well, it has definitely delivered a phone that is worth looking at. No, it does not look radically different from the current Android flagship crowd, but we like the glass front and back of the DTEK60 (do get a case for it, though, as it will pick up smudges easily) and the solid metal frame on

76 | january 2017

MYMOBILE

which they rest.

verdict Looks

Glass front and back and sleek

09 /10

5.5 inch display, with no physical or even touch buttons

Features

09 /10

The front is all about the

the volume rocker and a

Good hardware and secure software

customizable key, while on the

Performance

beneath it. On the right are

08 /10

left are the power/display key

Very consistent performer

as well as the SIM card and

Ease of Use

09 /10

Value For Money

07 /10

microSD card slots. Right on top is the 3.5 mm audio jack

Close to stock Android

makes the DTEK60 from anything in the market out

Conclusion

there. For while in terms of

At Rs 46,990, the DTEK 60 is

appearance, BlackBerry has

definitely far more affordable

kept it pretty close to stock

than the uber expensive

the first time in a BlackBerry

Android, it has also added

Priv, which was BlackBerry’s

device, is a USB-Type C

little touches like BlackBerry

first effort at an Android

port, flanked by a speaker

Hub, Pop up Widgets, Device

smartphone. But then, the Priv

Search and of course, its

did come with BlackBerry’s

wonderfully intuitive predictive

iconic keyboard, which was a

touch keyboard, and a whole

deal maker for many of the old

lot more to it. Add to this the

BlackBerry Boys. The DTEK60

fact that the software gets

is a very good device in its

updated regularly to keep it

own right, delivering smooth

rock solid in terms of security

performance and software that

and enterprise friendliness and

is updated regularly as well as

(which given the tendencies of some manufacturers, will make a few users sigh with relief), while on the base, for

grille. The back is marked by the BlackBerry logo as well as the rear camera and another BlackBerry first - the fingerprint sensor. It does bear more than a distant semblance to the Alcatel Idol 4S, but hey, that

Expensive if you consider the competition

OVERALL

84%

PROS

Cons

Good design, Great hardware, Regular software updates

Expensive, Battery life, Picks up smudges

(For detailed specifications, please refer to My Guide)

phone is no plug ugly so the

the DTEK60 starts appearing

some very good multimedia,

visual similarity is not a bad

Android flagships of 2016 -

a formidable proposition. Of

but by Android standards,

thing at all. At 153.9 mm, and

the Qualcomm Snapdragon

course, with those powerful

it is definitely on the more

it is slightly on the longer side,

820 - backed up by 4 GB

specs, it keeps running

expensive side. For instance,

but then it is an impressive 7

RAM. Storage stands at 32

smoothly no matter what you

at this price, it is more

mm thin, giving it a sleek, slim

GB, which is expandable to a

throw at it.

expensive than the slightly

figure. At 165 grammes, it feels

massive 2 TB using a memory

reassuringly solid to hold. Make no mistake about it, with its

On the multimedia front

old but still superb Samsung

card, and the camera at the

too, the DTEK60 turns in a

Galaxy S7, and is almost fifty

rear is a 21.0-megapixel

surprisingly good performance.

per cent more expensive than

blend of metal and glass, the

affair while that in front is

The rear camera takes some

the recently released OnePlus

DTEK60 is an elegant phone.

a 8.0-megapixel one. The

great pictures in good light

3T, which offers a newer

DTEK60 also ticks off all the

conditions and the speakers

processor, more RAM and a

connectivity options you would

churn out very good sound.

superior camera. Yes, we do

expect from a flagship device -

The specs and display make

think the DTEK60 will strike

4G, GPS, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and

this a great device for watching

a chord with the BB old guard

lies some very good hardware.

NFC. And it comes with stereo

videos and playing games.

that wants to dip its toes in

The display is a quad HD

speakers as well. Running on

Battery life’s a bit low by

Android waters, but we are not

AMOLED one, giving it an

top of all of this is Android

BlackBerry standards, though

sure it does enough to take

excellent pixel density of 534

Marshmallow (6.0) with a

- use it heavily and the 3000

on the current lot of Android

ppi, and powering the device is

distinctly BlackBerry flavour.

mAh battery will struggle to

flagships. n

Well specced decent performer And beneath all that elegance

the chip that is found in most

www.mymobileindia.com

And it is this Android that

see through a day.

Tried & Tested

burntest

team@mymobile.co.in

january 2017 | 77

Spotlight

in focus

Smartphones 5 with Snapdragonâ&#x201E;˘

TOP

652 Processor in India

Snapdragon 652 Processor Advantages 8 Core processing power Extermely efficient multi tasking Separate graphic processor Low power consumption

LeEco Le 2 Price : Rs 11,999

Vivo XPlay 5 Price : Rs 37,999

78 | january 2017

Spotlight

in focus Asus Zenfone 3 Ultra Price : Rs 32,980

A processor is the heart of any smart device. The SoC is designed to support application processes, rendering graphics, memory management, wireless modem and multimedia decoding. Qualcomm® had recently introduced the Snapdragon™ 652 processor, which is fast emerging as the top choice for smartphones makers to power their high-end devices. Qualcomm® Snapdragon™652 has a big. LITTLEocta-core CPU configuration, and it comes with four powerful ARM Cortex-A72 cores and four more energy efficient Cortex-A53 cores for background tasks. The advantages of having a smartphone with Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ 652 processor is that you get to multitask like a pro and at the same time it does not drain the phone’s battery. This directly results in excellent connectivity and fantastic graphical and multimedia performance. Here is a list of top five smartphones with Qualcomm® Snapdragon™652 that are available in the India market: n Samsung Galaxy A9 n Xiaomi Mi Max Prime n LeEco Le 2 n Asus Zenfone 3 Ultra n Vivo XPlay 5

Xiaomi Mi Max Prime Price : Rs 19,999

Samsung Galaxy A9 Price : Rs 37,400 team@mymobile.co.in

www.mymobileindia.com

january 2017 | 79

In focus

snap shot

Honor Magic:

A dawn of new era?

To start with, the smartphone has an intelligent sensor and facial recognition technology to ensure privacy. The smartphone comes with a WiseScreen sensor that unlock the smartphone you look at the screen.

The smartphone also sports a FaceCode intelligent recognition feature that shows notifications arriving on the device only when it verifies that it’s the user and not someone else. This means nobody else will be able to read your messages from lock screen. Interesting, indeed!

Honor Magic comes with yet another interesting feature k n o w n a s S m a r t D i s p l a y, which proactively retrieves and displays practical information, anticipating users’ need. For example, ordering a cab with Honor Magic will trigger the driver’s license plate number to be displayed on the screen.

Another interesting feature of the Honor Magic is that it automatically shows up a flashlight option, whenever it senses a dark place. However, you still have to decide if you want to turn it on or off.

80 | january 2017

MYMOBILE

snap shot

The smartphone comes with a 5.09inch AMOLED QHD display with a screen resolution of 2560x1440 pixels. The smartphone comes with curved display and has a pixel density of 557 ppi.

Under the hood, there is an octacore Huawei Kirin 950 processor. Apparently, the same processor is found in the Honor 8 as well. The phone is backed by a 4GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage.

On the camera front, the device sports a 12MP dual lens sensor with an f/2.2 aperture. One of its lens clicks an image in black and white, while the other takes colour photos. There is also an 8-megapixel front-facing camera with an f/2.0 aperture.

The device is powered by a 2,900mAh battery with Huawei Magic Power, a revolutionary proprietary speed charging technology, which recharges 70% of the battery in 20 minutes, and 40% in 10 minutes.

The smartphone runs on Android 6.0 Marshmallow with company new Honor Magic Live UI on top of it. The Honor Magic is only available for the China market as of now, but it’s possible that Honor might be the new ‘concept’ phone to other markets as well.

In focus

Honor, Huawei’s sub-brand, recently shook the tech town with the launch of yet another interesting device. Known as Honor Magic, the smartphone is already touted as the futuristic device and is in the race of the best of 2016 tech we have seen by now. We take a closer look at the recentlylaunched device. By Rohan Pal

5 6 7 8 9

rohan@mymobile.co.in

www.mymobileindia.com

january 2017 | 81

Great Deals

mobilesensex

bazaar bargain

The Moto G4 Plus (16GB)

The Moto G4 Plus was launched in India in May 2016 and has been one of the best upper end budget phones. Moto G4 comes with a 5.5â&#x20AC;? Full HD IPS LCD display, Octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 617 chipset and 16 GB internal storage with 2 GB RAM. The other variants were 32 GB internal storage and 3 GB RAM and 64 GB internal storage and 4 GB RAM. MicroSD expansion is also included. As with every Moto, its 16MP f/2.0 camera and 5MP f/2.2 selfie cam was exceptional combined with handsome looks. Moto G4 Plus is powered by a 3000mAh nonremovable battery.n

Launched at: Rs 61,500 Current Price: Rs 59,000

Samsung Galaxy Note 4

Launched at: Rs 13,499 Current Price: Rs 10,499

82 | january 2017

The phone comes with a 5.70-inch touchscreen display with a resolution of 1440 pixels by 2560 pixels. The Samsung Galaxy Note 4 is powered by 2.7GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 805 processor and having 3GB of RAM. The phone packs 32GB of internal storage that can be expanded up to 128GB via a microSD card. Camera-wise the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 sports a 16-megapixel primary camera on the rear and a 3.7-megapixel front shooter for selfies. The Samsung Galaxy Note 4 runs Android 4.4 and is backed by a 3220mAh removable battery. The Samsung Galaxy Note 4 is a single SIM (GSM) smartphone that accepts a Micro-SIM. Connectivity options include Wi-Fi, GPS, Bluetooth, NFC, Infrared, 3G and 4G (with support for Band 40 used by some LTE networks in India). Sensors on the phone include Compass Magnetometer, Proximity sensor, Accelerometer, Ambient light sensor, Gyroscope and Barometer. n

MYMOBILE

Great Deals

mobilesensex

Apple iPhone 6 (16GB) The phone features 4.70-inch touch screen display with a resolution of 750 pixels by 1334 pixels. It comes with 1GB of RAM with 16GB of internal storage which cannot be expanded. Camera-wise the Apple iPhone 6 packs a 8-megapixel primary camera on the rear and a 1.2-megapixel front camera. It runs iOS 8.0 and is backed by a 1810mAh non removable battery. The Apple iPhone 6 is a single SIM (GSM) smartphone that accepts a Nano-SIM. Connectivity options include Wi-Fi, GPS, Bluetooth, NFC, 3G and 4G (with support for Band 40 used by some LTE networks in India). Sensors on the phone include Compass Magnetometer, Proximity sensor, Accelerometer, Ambient light sensor, Gyroscope and Barometer. n

Launched at: Rs 35,999 Current Price: Rs 24,999

Huawei Google Nexus 6P The Nexus 6P is the first full-metal Nexus smartphone, built out of aluminium, and features a 5.7-inch QHD (1440x2560 pixel) display with Corning Gorilla Glass 4. The phone sports a 12.3-megapixel rear camera with 4K and slow-motion (240fps) video recording f/2.0 aperture; 8-megapixel front-facing camera with HDR+ and a f/2.4 aperture. The Nexus 6P is powered by a 2GHz octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 v2.1 SoC; 3GB of LPDD4 RAM, and is backed by a 3450mAh battery with Quick Charge support providing up to 7 hours of charge in 10 minutes, and dual front-ported speakers. The color variants available for the device are Aluminium, and Graphite. n Launched at: Rs 53,500 Current Price: Rs 29,990

team@mymobile.co.in (Note: Prices are those available at prominent dealers, online and/or offline. They may not reflect official price reductions)

www.mymobileindia.com

january 2017 | 83

Apps

off beat

Not Born In The USA

84 | january 2017

MYMOBILE

Apps development is almost completely dominated by the USA. And the top 20 apps are cornered by Google at 16 followed by 4 from Facebook. But there are fantastic apps that have been developed outside the US shores and are hugely popular, Angry

Apps

off beat

Birds being just one of them. Here we feature some of the most popular apps developed by non-American companies.

Angry Birds

hen first launched in 2009, Angry Birds did not make much wave in the initial months but all of a sudden its popularity started

zooming. Today itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s one of the most downloaded and loved app ever. The App has been developed by Rovio Entertainment Ltd which is a

Finnish developer, publisher, distributor of video games. The company is headquartered in Espoo, Finland. The company was founded in 2003 as a mobile game development studio named Relude, and was renamed to Rovio Mobile (Finnish for pyre) in 2005. n

Avast Mobile Security & Antivirus

vast Software is a Czech security software company headquartered in Prague, Czech Republic, that

develops antivirus software and internet security services. It was founded by Pavel BaudiĹĄ and Eduard Kucera in 1988 as a cooperative and is a private company since 2010. Avast holds the biggest share of the world market for antivirus applications and its portfolio includes a wider array of security-related products targeting both consumer and corporate markets, such as Avast Antivirus and Avast SecureLine (virtual private network) for Android, Microsoft Windows, iOS and macOS platforms. n

Fruit Ninja

ruit Ninja is a video game developed by Halfbrick in Brisbane, Australia. Halfbrick Studios Pty Ltd is an Australian video game developer based in Brisbane. The company was founded in 2001 by six people in a basement in Brisbane, Australia, and primarily worked on licensed games until 2008. Fruit Ninja released first on April 21, 2010 for iPod Touch and iPhone devices and later in September 2010 for Android OS devices. It was released for Windows Phone on December 22, 2010. It was quickly followed by another hit app Jetpack Joyride in 2011. By 2015, Fruit Ninja has been downloaded over 1 billion times! n

january 2017 | 85

Apps

off beat Viber

iber is a cross-platform instant messaging and Voice over IP (VoIP) app that was first developed and popularized by the Israeli company

Viber Media. Viber Media is based in Tel Aviv, Israel, with offices in Belarus and Cyprus. The company was founded by a former chief information officer in the Israeli army, Talmon Marco along with Igor Magazinnik, Sani Maroli and Ofer Smocha. n

LINE

INE is a proprietary application for instant communications on electronic devices such as smart phones, tablet computers and

personal computers. Line users exchange texts, images, video and audio, and conduct free VoIP conversations and video conferences. Today the popular messaging service is operated by Line Corporation, the Japanese arm of Naver Corporation. Naver is a Korean internet

giant, which focuses primarily on development of mobile applications and Internet services. Line first launched in Japan in 2011, reaching 100 million users within eighteen months and 200 million users only six months later. Line became Japanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s largest social network in 2013. In October 2014 Line announced that it had attracted 560 million users worldwide with 170 million active user accounts. In February 2015, it announced the 600 million users mark had been passed and 700 million were expected by the end of the year. Wow! n

Talking Tom & Friends

he popular video game has been developed by Outfit7 which is a London, UK development

company. It was co-founded by Samo Login. Outfit7 Ltd. created Talking Tom in 2010 and as of July 2015 there are now five characters - Talking Tom, Talking Angela, Talking Ginger, Talking Ben and Talking Hank and a total of 15 apps within the Talking Tom and Friends umbrella brand. n

86 | january 2017

MYMOBILE

Apps

off beat Subway Surfers

ubway Surfers is an â&#x20AC;&#x153;endless runningâ&#x20AC;? mobile game co-developed by Kiloo, which is a private company based in Denmark and SYBO Games.

It is available on Android, iOS, Kindle, and Windows Phone platforms. Kiloo is a Danish games development company which was founded in 2001 by Jacob Mouller with a focus on developing wireless entertainment content for game console and handheld devices. In 2008, he was joined by his brother, Simon Moller, together with whom he now fully owns and runs Kiloo. n

Zedge

edge is a mobile content discovery platform and community where users can download content to customize their smart

phones and other mobile devices. The app includes wallpapers, ringtones, alert tones, app icon customization, which is currently in its beta form, and which is only available for Android phones, and games on the Android, iOS and Windows Phone platforms. Zedge has more than 170 million installs Android and iOS. The app uses a

recommendation engine that analyzes anonymized user data in order to create smart suggestions for wallpaper, ringtone, and game downloads. ZEDGE was founded by Tom Arnoy, Kenneth Sundnes and Paul Shaw in Norway in 2003. n

Drag Racing

t has been developed by Creative Mobile which is an independent video game developer and publisher based in Tallinn, Estonia.

Creative Mobile was founded in 2010 by three colleagues interested in making games for the Android market. The company quickly evolved into a leading game studio, consistently topping the Android and IOS game charts. Interesting to note that Creative Mobile has never raised any funds and is still owned by the original founders. n

www.mymobileindia.com

january 2017 | 87

Apps

off beat

Battery Doctor & Clean Master

he popular utility apps have been developed by Cheetah Mobile Inc which is headquartered in Beijing, China. The company has also developed another

hugely apps like Duba Anti-virus and now owning QuickPic Gallery. It has more

than half a billion monthly active users. Cheetah Mobile’s parent company is Chinese software giant Kingsoft, which is now developing internet-based applications such as Kingsoft Kuaipan (a free cloud storage application running on multiple platforms). n

Hay Day & Clash of Clans

eveloped by Supercell, which is a mobile game development company founded in June 2010 in Helsinki, Finland. The company’s

debut game was the browser game Gunshine.net, and after its release in 2011, Supercell started developing games for mobile devices. Since then, the company has fully released four mobile games: Hay Day, Clash of Clans, Boom Beach, and Clash Royale, which are freemium games and have been very successful for the company, the first two generating revenue of USD 2.4 million a day in 2013. In 2016, Supercell reported annual revenues of around USD 2.2 billion. Japanese SoftBank today owns 73.2% of the company. n

AVG Free Antivirus Security

eveloped by AVG Technologies which was a security software company headquartered in Amsterdam, Netherlands, that was founded in Brno, Czech

Republic in 1991 by Jan Gritzbach and Tomáš Hofer. The company developed antivirus software and internet security services such as AVG AntiVirus and has corporate offices in Europe, Israel, Brazil, Canada and the United States and is listed on the New York Stock Exchange. As of 2 February 2015, over 200 million active users used AVG’s software products and services, which include internet security, performance optimization and personal privacy and identity protection applications. In September 2016, it was acquired by Czech software giant Avast Software for USD 1.3 billion. n

88 | january 2017

shelley@mymobile.co.in

MYMOBILE

face to face “All our products are launched under the ‘Make in India’ scheme with long–term vision” With the majority using feature phones in India, Chinese company Lephone, a new entrant in the Indian smartphone market, comes largely to cater to the segment. Vanshika Malhotra interviewed Huang Mingquan (Victor), Global President, Lephone and Sharon Xu, Director, Overseas Operations, Lephone to know more about company’s india plans. Lephone is still a relatively lesser known brand

government related formalities were being

phones every two to three months which is

in the Indian market. Can you tell us more

fulfilled, how to prepare the and how to

very challenging due to government rules

about the brand? The brand Lephone was

enter the Indian market in a smooth and

and norms. But we are overcoming the

created by founder Mr. Huang Mingquan in

proper manner for a long-term prospective.

issue gradually.

2009, which originated in 2005. If you are

Now we have the team ready with top with

wondering what lephone means, it means

our reach to up to 5-6 provinces. All our

Any plans to manufacture smartphones in

happy life in China. We are currently on

products are launched under the ‘Make in

India? We are already doing that. All our

number eight in the Chinese market with

India’ scheme with long–term vision for the

smartphones that are under the ‘Make in

2.7 per cent market share after Chinese

country. We have a strategy to establish our

India’ scheme are 4G enabled. However,

brands like Huawei, Xiaomi, Vivo, Oppo

volume gradually in the country. So, we are

we don’t have a manufacturing factory in

and Samsung. We plan to attain the same

not focused on the volume side but on the

the country. We need to consider a few

in the Indian market by putting in more

DOD (Depth of Distribution), going step

things before we open up one, which we

energy and resources to develop our brand

by step for creating the channel partner.

will eventually do in the country once our

over here.

The acceptance of the Chinese brands

volume grows.

is higher because of the good quality The Indian smartphone market is highly

products coming in affordable prices. The

Please share your future plans for India. We

competitive. How are you planning to take

combination between China and India is

would like to broaden our portfolio in India

on the competition? Before we came we

very successful.

with two segments: one is the Internet video and the other is the gaming foray. For this

thought about the competition. Firstly, we are confident because we have a good team

Please tell us more about your current

we need to focus on the volume. We will

in China, we have the biggest of operators

lineup of devices? We want to cater to

launch general products creating mass

like China Mobile and China Unicom with

mass market for low and mid segment by

market; once the volume is created we will

enough team and resources as well as the

focusing on tier two and tier three cities

focus on the new technologies which we

supply chain. The price is competitively

in India. The currently available devices

are already doing well in China. In China

positioned which we are not afraid of

include four of the feature phones as well

we have a tie-up with Mango TV which is

because in China our quantity is huge,

as smartphones. We want to manufacture

pretty successful there. We plan to bring

so the supply chain for us is working well.

six to eight feature phones and around four

in the same kind of ecosystem over here.

The cost is little lower than the local king

to five smartphones to be made available.

We plan to focus on our Indian local team.

in India. We can share this profit with our

The feature phones will cost from Rs.600

We hope to get into the top five brands in

distributors. In China, we are under the top

and will go up to Rs.1400 or Rs.2000

the Indian market in the next few years. We

10 of the operators and we came to India

and for smartphones we are focusing on

might even launch some high-end devices

last year with around six months of study to

Rs.4000 or below, and that even goes

as well in the near future, once the base is

fulfill all the requirements- what we need

up to Rs.8000. All the products are 4G

created in India. n

to consider for the ‘Make in India’ scheme,

with VoLTE enabled. We plan to introduce

www.mymobileindia.com

vanshika@mymobile.co.in

january 2017 | 89

Game On

Boredombuster

90 | january 2017

Archery King: Ignite your inner bowman

e all have fancy archery some

game in real life. The music is abysmal,

way or the other. Whether be

being cheery and ordinary to the point of

it watching a movie where

annoyance. There is a multiplayer mode,

the hero shows his archery skills, or the

through which you can compete against

Olympics, the bow and arrow is always a

different people in order to win some coins,

myriad experience and everyone wants to

like you do while playing 8 Ball Pool. And

use. But it is very dangerous and might

there is also a fee to enter ranging from

cause harm to you or your neighbour. So

500 to 4,000,000 -- meaning if you lose,

what to do then? How to fulfill the archery

you can lose all your accrued money and

temptation? Well, just download this

will need to start from zero. Then there

game. Known as Archery King, the game

is a single campaign mode, also where

is all about, well, archery. In the game, you

you can play different levels, and shoot

have to hit the target to get the maximum

different targets. The game might sound

marks and there are plenty of modes to

easy at first, but as you progress further,

play with. Coming to the graphics, it is

the targets get farther and it moves in

simple and bright and soothing. You have

different path. While playing, you need to

a bow in your hand and all you have to do

keep a tab on the wind as well, as it does

is touch and hold to aim your target. Once

affect your arrows direction. To conclude,

you done with that, you have to release and

the game is a must for those who love to

pray that it will hit a bullseye. The music

do archery.

is good, and you get to hear the sound

Available from: iTunes App Store, Google

of arrowâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s flight and landing, which gives

Play Store

a feel that you are actually playing the

Price: Free n

MYMOBILE

Game On

Boredombuster

Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t Grind: Protect

your food from grinding

here are many games available in the app market which are based on, well, food. But there is one game that gives a real interesting twist to your dairy

products. Dubbed as Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t Grind, the game is all about protecting your delicious food from, well, grinding. Ok, some might be thinking that what is so special about it. Allow us to answer it. To start with, the game is starts with you choosing of those little and cute characters, and once done with it, you need to protect it from the buzzsaws at the bottom of the screen. And then there are many other hazards like lasers, anvil and more dangerous saws from all direction, which you need to dodge. The controls are fairly simple. All you need to do is tap anywhere on the screen to bounce, long pressing makes your character higher and swipe to move from one place to other. Although, this all might sound dead to simple to you, but once you start playing the game, you get to know how interesting it gets. Your top priority might be dodging the buzz saws but collecting stars is of utmost importance, as it will earn you points. The interesting thing here is the star appears randomly, which makes even more interesting as they are mostly in a position which can put you in danger. The background music is soothing and so is the graphics. The developer has designed it in a very minimalistic manner. You can also unlock new grindables or new characters, by completing daily rewards or by simply watching ads. And

ads can be irritating at some times, but, hey it is free to download. Overall, with some minimal design, interesting concept and addictive gameplay, Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t Grind is the game for you. Available from: iTunes App Store, Google Play Store Price: Free n

www.mymobileindia.com

december 2016 | 105

Game On

Boredombuster

Hop Swap: Swap,

swap all the way

hen it comes to the mobile gaming, then it is safe to say that Nitrome has a reputation of rolling games that tickles your mind with

addictive gameplay and simple design. In the past, we have seen many games like Beneath The Lighthouse and the recent installment is no different. Named as Hop Swap, the game is mix of retro-style design with a modern touch. What we like about the game, is that it still manages to give a thick pixel art style that brings the 90s era, where the arcade games so popular. Coming to the game, it is about a little blue character, which runs through a series of levels, collecting gems, dodging enemies and solving simple puzzles. At first, it might look like a simple endless runner type, but once you start playing it you will feel the difference. First of all, you can swap the side of the platforms you are running on. Interesting? Indeed! All you have to do is swipe down and you will hop down to the underside of the platform, which makes it even more lovable. Swiping up will bring back to the platform, while swiping left or right will change the direction you are running in. There are enemies as well in the way, and you can kill them by bouncing on their head, just like our favourite Italian plumber does. During the initial stages they can be cleared with ease, but once you advance further, it becomes a lot more difficult and frustrating at times, to clear the levels. Overall, Hop Swap, is another marvel from Nitrome and is a must have game in your mobile device. Available from: iTunes App Store, Google Play Store Price: Free n

92 | january 2017

MYMOBILE

Microsoft Solitaire Collection:

Bringing the classic to Android and iOS

t is a well-known fact that Microsoft is facing a

other than this, there are daily challenges through which

tough time in terms of hardware department as

you will get awards by playing different levels. And if you

there hasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t been any launch from the company side

are tried to play alone, then the company has a surprise

for a while now. But when it comes to its software, the

for you. Microsoft has added Xbox Live integration so that

company is pretty much active in rolling out apps for its

you can login or sign up for free and start playing the

rival platform Android and iOS. In the past we have seen

game with near and dear ones. Coming to design part, the

many applications from its aspirational Garage Project,

company has kept the original design with some added

but with the recent news of launching a game which was

effects which is certainly a welcome move. Overall, if

earlier present only on the Windows devices. Yes we are

you are a fan of Microsoft classics then you should be

talking about the Microsoft Solitaire Collection. This is

downloading this game right now. Period.

the first time that the game, which is there for almost

Available from: iTunes App Store, Google Play Store

25 years on Windows platform, is now available for other

Price: Free n

Game On

Boredombuster

operating systems as well, and yes, it is a free download. Solitaire game was included in Windows 3.0 and since then till Windows 7, it becomes an integral part of the Windows product line. But with the company replaced it with Microsoft Solitaire Collection and app was available for Windows 8, Windows 8.1 and Windows 10. The game is basically a collection of different versions of solitaire. In the game, you get to play five modes which include: Klondike, Spider, FreeCall, Pyramid and TriPeaks. And

www.mymobileindia.com

january 2017 | 93

Game On

Boredombuster

Red Bull Air Race 2: It does gives you wings!

ed Bull is not just associated with as an energy drink brand, but a company that support all the breath-taking sports and adventure activities.

They have been pretty much active in many actionpacked adventure sports. But not all can enjoy this, so the company has come with its own lineup of mobile games. And the latest one is the Red Bull Air Race 2. The game is

the sequel of the much-acclaimed Red Bull: The Game. In the game you play as the pilot, which flies through different terrain across 400 races, special events and go head-to-head with different pilots from around the globe. The game has different tournaments: Regional, Class and World. In the regional tournament, you compete against the local regions, while in the class mode, you can take part with a specific class or model of plane. And lastly, in World tournament you against other top-notch pilots worldwide. The controls are fairly simple. You can choose between touch or tilt-based controls. According to us, the on-screen controls give you a better grip on the plane. Although it takes some time to get used to the controls, the sheer speed and precision you have to play with, gives a very thrilling experience. You race around the world like Indianapolis, Lausitzring, Chiba, Budapest, Ascot, Spielberg, Las Vegas and Abu Dhabi. Coming to the graphics, the game comes with some amazing graphics coupled with some good background music, which makes it an addictive game. So if you want to fly high, do lots of stunts, then Red Bull Air Race 2 is the game for you. Available from: iTunes App Store, Google Play Store Price: Free n

94 | january 2017

MYMOBILE

Swamp Attack: Time to protect

your house

e all have heard how creepy a swamp can be.

the zombie wildlife which comes in great variety. You

Swamp is one place where you will find all types

have to deal with alligators, huge turtles, raccoons, armed

of crawling creatures, which are always looking

rats, giant venom-spitting mosquitoes, UFOs and big ugly

to kill each other. But what happens when your house is

slobbery bosses with lipstick-painted lips. Although, they

located in this area? What will you do to manage all these

came in different waves and approach at a steady pace,

creepy creatures that will keep peeping in your house?

your character needs time to shoot and reload his shotgun,

Well, you take a sip of beer, sit on a rocking chair and just

so might shoot with cautions. The more creatures you like,

shoot-â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;em-up. No we are talking about some plot of a new

the more rewards you get and the more coins you collect.

upcoming movie, but a game that has created quite some

Coins can be used to buy and upgrade weapons, bombs

name when it comes to shooting. Dubbed as Swamp Attack,

like dynamite, Molotov cocktail and other boosters. The

the game is all about shooting, but no humans, but those

gameplay is really simple and yet it is very addictive. The

zombie-like animals, and in some case those extraterrestrial

graphics are amazing and creepy at the same time. Overall,

UFO, which might have caused those reptiles to become

if you want to hunt some reptiles or kill the UFO, then

zombies. You play as a grumpy man who has not taken

Swamp Attack is the game you should play.

shower for a month we guess. And sitting on a rocking chair

Available from: iTunes App Store, Google Play Store

you have to protect your house from the reptile menace.

Price: Free n

You have with yourself a shotgun and you have to shoot

www.mymobileindia.com

Game On

Boredombuster

rohan@mymobile.co.in

january 2017 | 103

Software

APP S Talking Tuesday and Spammed Brotherhood!

he menace of spam calls has only grown despite many directives of Telecom Regulatory Authority of India and the regulator even launching an app ‘DND Services’ to counter this. As per Truecaller, world’s favourite app for

call identification and blockage, Indian callers received more than 300 million spam calls a month with national capital Delhi topping the list with over 60 million unwanted calls originating from here. Financial capital Mumbai was close behind with 52 million spam calls. If it is any solace, Indians are fellow sufferers with mobile users around the globe. Truecaller’s recent year-end analysis of calls highlights the problem of spam. At the same time, the study also threw some very interesting facts. For example, who could have imagined that people around the globe became more talkative on Tuesday! Here is the snapshot from Truecaller’s global analysis. And yes, if you are fed up with spams, just get Truecaller on your phone - life will be much peaceful! n team@mymobile.co.in

96 | january 2017

MYMOBILE

Rumour Mill

Talk

HTC’s next smartphone could feature 8GB RAM

While HTC continues to lose money, it looks like the Taiwanese company won’t give up and will continue to launch new smartphones. If reports are to be believed, HTC is working on its forthcoming flagship smartphone, called HTC 11. The rumoured specs of HTC 11 might be too tempting to be believe. First, the phone will be powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 835 processor coupled with 8GB RAM. HTC 11 could be the world’s first smartphone to pack 8GB of RAM, if reports are to be believed. Moreover, the phone will come with 256GB of storage and a decent 5.5-inch display that supports Quad HD (2560 x 1440 pixels) resolution. In addition, the dual-camera setup on the back will consist of two 12-megapixel modules. An 8-megapixel camera will be available in the front. The 3,700 mAh battery inside the HTC 11 will reportedly said to be found inside. Well this might be a part of hype, so take this information with a grain of

www.mymobileindia.com

in Tech Corners

salt until HTC release the device sometime this year.

Sony to launch two smartphones at CES 2017

Even though Sony is struggling in the smartphone market, it hasn’t stopped the company to release new devices. Apparently, Sony could unveil two new smartphones at the upcoming CES tech show in Las Vegas. According to media reports, the smartphones might feature 5.2-inch and 5.5-inch displays. Moreover, both smartphones could come packing a Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor under the hood. However, other hardware specifications such as battery, RAM, storage and cameras are missing at the moment. Sony has unveiled a number of phones at CES in the past so it’s possible that the company might introduce its new Xperia lineup at the world’s biggest technology trade show. The Japan-based firm could also introduce a new wearable in the form of the Smartwatch 4.

Asus ZenFone 3 Zoom to release soon?

Asus is getting ready to unveil the successor to the ZenFone Zoom which was released last year. A new ZenFone 3 Zoom seems to be out soon, if reports are to be believed. The smartphone will look completely different from its predecessor, according to TENAA (China’s equivalent to the FCC). That’s not all. TENNA’s listing did release the device’s specifications and its design. At the time of writing, the ZenFone 3 Zoom got certified by the FCC. The Asus-made ZenFone 3 Zoom will be powered by a Snapdragon 625 chipset and features a 5.5-inch full HD display. The smartphone is said to come in multiple RAM options, while storage options include 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB. In terms of camera, it’s evident that the upcoming phone will feature a dual rear setup. The phone runs Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow and packs in a large 4,850mAh battery. n

team@mymobile.co.in

january 2017 | 97

Software

SMARTAPP S

PhotoScan by Google

e all have those old childhood photos, kept away somewhere. To store them conveniently and digitally

is now made easy with the recently launched standalone PhotoScan app from Google Photos. The app uses a bit of the Augmented Reality (AR) and pictures four overlapping sections of the picture, superimposes four dots on the screen after which you need to encircle the dots. It in a few seconds scans the hard copies of the photographs. It figures out the edges, straightens the picture, rotates it to the correct orientation and removes the glare. Now the scanned photos can be saved to Google Photos, can be searched, shared and safely backed for free! It takes around five shots of the same picture so that the user can choose for the best one. The app is available on Google Play store and App store. Available from: iTunes App Store, Google Play Store Price: Free. n

98 | january 2017

MYMOBILE

Fingerprint Gestures

he fingerprint gesture feature became exclusive to the recently launched Google Pixel

and Pixel XL smartphones. Now, Super Thomas Lab recently came up with the

Software

SMARTAPP S

â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Fingerprint Gesturesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; app that ensures that the feature is no more for the Pixel phones only. The user can tap, doubletap, swipe on the fingerprint reader of the smartphone allowing to user to perform various functions like opening an app, accessing the notification panel, opening quick settings and much more. The app requires Android 6.0 Marshmallow and of course a fingerprint sensor. Available from: Google Play, iTunes App Store Price: Free. n

www.mymobileindia.com

january 2017 | 99

Software

SMARTAPP S

Amazon Prime Video

n addition to the one-day and two-days free delivery services, Amazonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Prime membership comes with the Prime

Video feature, which was recently launched in India. The feature allows users to stream video content on the go with low data usage. Amazon has customised the content for Indian consumers loading its inventory with latest Bollywood and regional movies, along with offering US TV shows and Hollywood movies. Amazonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Prime Video lets users stream and watch videos on up to 3 devices at once, and gives the option of downloading content as well, for entertainment on the go. The e-tailer is offering a 30-day free trial of its Prime membership following which, users can purchase the service at an introductory price of Rs 499 per year. Available from: iTunes App Store, Google Play Store Price: Free. n

100 | january 2017

MYMOBILE

Software

SMARTAPP S

Microsoft Selfie

hile the Windows Store cries in agony for some good applications, Microsoft went ahead to catch up with the arguably narcissistic self-portrait trend by launching a

selfie clicking and image-enhancement application very suggestively named, Selfie. The appâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s algorithm clubbed with computer vision technology, allows it to analyse the subjectâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s age, gender, skin tone, lighting, and other variables to enhance the output. The Microsoft Selfie app is available for both iOS and Android platforms, along with web. Available from: iTunes App Store, Google Play Store Price: Free. n

www.mymobileindia.com

january 2017 | 101

Software

SMARTAPP S Pulse SMS

s an attempt to revive the good old text messaging in an era of instant messengers, Luke Klinker

launched the Pulse SMS app, with a spin of interesting features. While the app allows you to text a contact using your phone number like the usual way, it also gives you the liberty of texting people through browser extensions or any device with internet connectivity. Additional features like support for attaching media, delayed and scheduled messages, quick replies, blacklisting number, snoozing notifications and customising the look of the app, make it a wholesome package. The Pulse SMS app is supported by all Android powered devices, Android Wear platform, and the web. Available from: Google Play Store Price: Free n

Pepo

etting to know new people is always fun. The Pepo app connects its users with people with similar

interests. A genius amalgamation of Instagram, Snapchat and Tinder, the app allows you to share pictures which reflect your interests and passion. Experts and enthusiasts from all around the world having similar interests can then find your stories creating an opportunity for you to connect with them. While there are public and private chat options in the app, you are also informed about the people nearby, allowing you to meet new people who share your passion. The app is available for both iOS and Android platforms. Available from: iTunes App Store, Google Play Store Price: Free n vanshika@mymobile.co.in

102 | january 2017

MYMOBILE

Aperture S

martphone cameras are evolving with high

passes. To make it simpler, letâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s compare it with the

speed. Once considered as a luxury, camera in

pupil present in our eyes. The pupil contracts or

a smartphone has become as important part as a

dilates when exposed to harsh or low lights because it

processor or anything other for that. The importance

manages the amount of light entering into the retina

of camera can be gauged from the fact that nowadays

to ensure you get optimum clarity. The same is the

we see many manufacturers rolling out smartphones

case with the aperture. You can expand or contract

that stress more on camera and less on any other thing.

the aperture according to the lighting condition to

And with the ever-evolving cameras for smartphones,

get the perfect photo. It is calibrated in f/stops and

comes a lot of jargons which makes us feel nervous.

is generally written as numbers such as 1.4, 2, 2.8,

It is a true fact that most of us are not aware of what

4, 5.6, 8, 11 and 16. The lower f/stops give more

half of the terms used to describe camera means.

exposure because they represent the larger apertures,

And one of them is Aperture. You might have heard

while the higher f/stops give less exposure because

it during a presentation or while a product review.

they represent smaller apertures - the lesser the light,

When we talk about the camera, there comes that

the lower the f/stop and vice versa. n

it has f/something aperture. But what is it? What role does it play? Well, to start with, Aperture can be

TechBytes

Jargon Buster

rohan@mymobile.co.in

considered as the pupil of the camera. It is basically the opening of a lens diaphragm through which light

www.mymobileindia.com

january 2017 | 103

Spotlight

in focus

Alternate Social Networking Sites The new millennium heralded the era of social networking sites and quickly took the world by storm as internet penetration increased. Today, Facebook alone has over 1.1 billion unique monthly visitors. The other big ones with over 100 million unique monthly visitors include YouTube, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Google Plus, Tumblr, Instagram while Reditt could make it to this exclusive club by end of 2017. However, there have also been many demises of once popular social networking sites along the way. Remember Orkut, Myspace, Digg, Xanga or Diaspora. And there are still others who are quietly becoming popular for their niche offerings. These networking sites have their loyal followers. We list some of the alternative sites which are quite a rave among select audiences. By Shobha Arora

104 | january 2017

MYMOBILE

Peach

which will be available on the wall of the

Peach offers space to chat with your friends, but in a little different way. The app is centered on creators called as ‘magic words’. These words allow users to update images, songs, text etc on their wall. For example,

users as ‘postcards’. People can see and read your secrets and are free to respond to it. The secret posted by you will be kept anonymous and will be displayed as a meme.

Miitomo

Kik Kik Messenger or simply called Kik in the US, is a proprietary instant messenger software application (app) for mobile devices from the Canadian company Kik Interactive, available free of charge on iOS,

if you want to post a doodle or a sketch,

Android, and Windows Phone operating

you can simply write ‘draw’ and you will

systems. It uses a smartphone’s data

be directed to draw a picture. The magic

plan or Wi-Fi to transmit and receive

word “rate” lets you give anything—

messages, photos, videos, sketches,

anything! — A 1-5 star rating. Other

mobile webpages, and other content after

magic words: GIF, here, good morning,

users register a username. Kik is popular

goodnight, battery, weather, move, meetings, safari, dice, time, date, movie, TV, and game.

Nintendo’s first foray into the mobile industry, not a proper game, not fully social. It lies somewhere in between a

Ello

game and social media. It runs both on

If you want to get rid of unwanted advertisements while connecting with your friends through social media, Ello is the best alternative. It shows the feed having different posts from your friends and the things you have been following. Also, Ello doesn’t sell user’s data to the third

the Android and iOS. You can either start with your existing Nintendo account or by creating a new one afterwards which you will be required to choose a Nintendo avatar known as ‘Mii’ to represent yourself to your friends. You can add friends to your Miitomo account by syncing your account to Facebook and Twitter and your account is ready to do some mischievous activities with your friends.

Tagged

for its feature preserving users’ anonymity, such as allowing users to register without providing a telephone number, and preventing users from being located on the service through any information other than their chosen username. Today, it has over 250 million registered users and was used by approximately 40% of United States teenagers.

Yik Yak Yik Yak is a social media smartphone application. It is available for iOS and Android and it allows people to create and view discussion threads within a 5-mile radius (termed “Yaks” by the application). It is similar to other anonymous sharing

parties. The special lingo

This is originally aimed for the teenagers

apps such as Nearby, but differs from

used on Ello is Bread

but is now open to all. Tagged.com

others such as Whisper in that it is

emoji and Container. The

intended for sharing primarily with those

bread emoji will be seen if

in proximity to the user. All users have the ability to contribute to the stream by

somebody likes your post and container to be used for organizing your posts.

provides its users a platform to network with new people and gets to know their interests. Users can tag each other with

Whisper

pictures and virtual gifts. The mobile

Aiming

version of Tagged allows users to receive

the younger

friend requests, play games and send

crowd, here

messages. The other feature of Tagged

is another

is its own gaming section, Social Games,

social media

which allows you to play games like Poker

site which gives you the platform to

and Mafia Wars that encourages you to

share your secrets publicly without

make new friends. People can find a lot

revealing your name and identity.

of new people with similar interests in a

The secrets are called as ‘Whispers’

short duration of time.

www.mymobileindia.com

Spotlight

In Focus

writing, responding, and “voting up” or “voting down” (liking or disliking) yaks. It has approximately 1.76 million monthly mobile users over 18. n shobha@mymobile.co.in

january 2017 | 105

Spotlight

in focus

Here’s How Reliance Jio Plans to Bring Digital Life to India

The newest service provider in the Indian telecom market, Reliance Jio disrupted the market by launching free voice and data services earlier this year. As if that wasn’t enough of a disruption, the company is all set to bring `Digital Life’ to India by launching a slew of new and innovative products. My Mobile was recently invited to visit Jio Experience Center, Navi Mumbai, which showcases all the future products of Jio. Though we did get an extensive tour of the innovation center, we were not allowed to click any pictures. Bigwigs like Tim Cook, CEO, Apple Inc; Satya Nadella, Chief Executive Officer, Microsoft and Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google have visited this innovation center in the past. We bring you a sneak peak into some of these services, which the company hopes will bring Digital Life to India. By Gagandeep Kaur

106 | january 2017

MYMOBILE

Jio GigaFiber Internet

Jio Car Connect

Possibly one of the most anticipated

Auto aficionados can look forward to this

offering of Jio is its Fiber-To-The-Home

product, which allows any normal car to

(FTTH) service, Jio GigaFiber, which

offer some of the features of a connected

the company claims offers speeds of

car. An On-board Diagnostic (OBD)

up to 1 Gbit/s. The company is already

device will be given to consumer, which

Jio DTH Service

conducting pilots in some top-tier

monitors data such as distance covered,

Reliance Jio will be launching Android-

cities, such as Chennai, Delhi, Pune

speed, fuel consumption, safety etc in

powered STB (Set Top Box), which offers

and Mumbai. Powered by GigaFiber,

real time. While Indian telcos have been

both broadband and DTH services. So,

Jio plans to offer a number of products

coming out with products for enterprise

a consumer would be serviced by both,

and solutions to change your home into

Internet of Things (IoT), this might be

broadband and DTH services with just

smart home. Jio is developing a number

one of the first products to hit the Indian

one fiber cable wiring. The STBoffers

of home automation products, such as

market in the consumer IoT space.

many features, including `Catch up’

wallet service, Jio Money. Backed by

Voice over Wi-Fi

wherein a consumer will be able to watch

the mammoth Reliance Group, Jio

Another prospective service, which Jio

shows from the previous seven days.

Money has the potential to emerge as a

has already tested is Voice over Wi-Fi

Most of these services are currently not

competition to Paytm, one of the most

(VoWiFi). This is similar to Skype and

available in the country and their launch

widely used wallet application in the

one of the key features of this is that

will definitely lead the competitors to

country. With the Government’s recent

it will allow a consumer to dial any

launch similar products. Jio’s entry has

move to demonetize INR500 and

international number without bothering

revved up the innovation quotient of

INR1000 notes, the mobile wallet apps

about the roaming charges. It is

the service providers and one can look

have become necessary and this is going

targeted at frequent international

forward to more innovative products in

to be one of the growth area for all the

travellers. While many of these services

the future. n

service providers in the coming year.

will function even without Jio SIM, this

particular service will require Jio SIM. The company claims that this has already been tested but requires regulatory clearance.

Spotlight

In Focus

Jio Cinema, Jio Games, Jio Mediashare and Smart TV, for use with the broadband services. Jio’s Smart TV will allow consumers to watch 4K videos on YouTube without buffering. It will offer around 50 HD channels in 15 languages with the seven-day catch up feature. It will also have the provision of multi-player games from multiple locations. A consumer would be able to control the security of his home through mobile phone. These are just some of the products which Jio Smart Home plans to offer. Just like Jio’s free voice and data wireless services, Jio GigaFiber is likely to be free for the initial period. A router costing around Rs 6,000 will be required for this service but the indications are that the company will provide this at heavily subsidized price.

Jio Money Nearly 100,000 merchants have already registered with Jio’s digital

www.mymobileindia.com

gagan@mymobile.co.in

january 2017 | 107

by Invitation

Spotlight

Human Language as the New Interface By Kiran Kumar Karthikeyan

ince the inception of computers,

applications for converting handwritten

can be represented digitally. While mobile

the interface between them and

text or speech into computer readable text

keyboards have been at the forefront in

humans has been constantly

and typed text by definition is computer

supporting a host of languages, mobile

evolving, primarily to make it

readable. A corollary requirement is to

device manufacturers have expanded

easier for humans to perform increasingly

expand the coverage of languages that

their markets beyond the early adopters of

complex tasks. From initial punched cards, to command line based interfaces (with a keyboard) to GUIs (with a mouse) to touch, we have come a long way. Slowly but surely, we are moving closer to a human computer interface (HCI) that is truly natural and frictionless to adopt and use. Understanding human language (or Natural Language Processing) is the new frontier for HCI, promising a new era where computing is ubiquitous and accessible to all. While the science is old, it is becoming possible with ever cheaper computing to enable such interfaces in everybodyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s pocket. This emerging interface has two critical components â&#x20AC;&#x201C; a) Human Language Support: be it speech, handwritten text or typed text and b) Understanding userâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s needs intent or needs.

Human Language Support Mobile users spend an inordinately high percentage of time on their phones making language recognition critical for mobile devices. There are platforms and end user

108 | january 2017

MYMOBILE

mobile computing, and eventually added

date are based on the principles of data entry.

helps the system understand the layered

next word prediction, autocorrect and also

Critics even suggest that the e-commerce

intent, be it implied or explicitly expressed

adapted to the writing style of users.

giants reap the benefit of users’ data entry

by users.

labour which comes to retailers with user’s

Understanding Human Language Understanding human language, beyond just supporting it or even suggesting the next word, autocorrect etc. is the logical next step. This involves deciphering the user’s needs and offers suggestions or recommendations to fulfil them in real time. This understanding of intent reduces effort and elevates efficiency for the users. There are both speech based products like personal assistants and text based products like chatbots and keyboard apps that can read

There are multiple facets to human intent and deciphering each one “Understanding enriches understanding of intent human language or as well as allows for making suggestions and natural language processing specific recommendations. Given how users use mobile devices and is the new frontier for human they make decisions computer interface, promising how which could be a combination of conversations, multiple a new era where computing searches, it is imperative that is ubiquitous and intents are enriched over time leading to multiple and more specific accessible to all.” interactions and recommendations

user intent and suggest follow-up actions.

Chatbots, App assistants and IoT

Next-gen intent prediction apps are smart and are capable of thinking on behalf of the users. Most human-computer interactions till

each search, click and checkout. These interfaces have improved overtime in terms of design and language coverage but are ultimately limited in their scope. That’s because the need didn’t originate on their site or app, but likely during a conversation or multiple searches in search engines or competing sites or apps. For the human-computer interface to truly hit the next level, machines necessarily need to analyse intent in real time and provide contextually aware suggestions. For this, Natural Language Processing (NLP) is the key that enables devices to listen, learn and act appropriately. NLP facilitates understanding of language in context. NLP layered with Machine Learning (ML), brings iterations of improved responses against user intents. NLP facilitates interactions between users and systems. System can take myriad forms ranging from a device like a mobile phone to a huge operating system to even a large-scale cloud application with which a user or set of users interact in a language of their choice. Using Siri or Google Assistant to answer questions or Skype providing translation to speech are some early examples.The NLP + MLcombination

www.mymobileindia.com

Understanding Intent

Spotlight

by invitation

devices – all purport to understand intent. But the user still needs to specifically communicate his/her intent or need to them for an expected follow-up action, with very little to go except for the historical data in that specific app. So, the need of the hour is to make user intent deciphered and enriched before the user makes an explicit query rather than forced to make his/ her needs explicit? For a solution, we come back to the humble keyboard. Initially at the forefront in supporting various languages and omnipresent in most interactions with a mobile device, keyboards can decipher intent from multiple interactions across apps. Be it chat conversations, email or search across the many apps a user uses, keyboards have access to both expressed and implied intent. Understanding and having learnt from the various nuances of language use across regions and individual users, keyboards are best placed to understand intent on mobile devices. n The author is VP Product, Xploree, which is a user-initiated search and discovery platform. Views expressed are strictly of the author.

january 2017 | 109

In focus

spotlight

Gadgets from abroad

Shopping List Xiaomi Mi 5s Plus

hile the Mi 5 is still our favourite smartphone, the latest Mi 5s Plus seems to be a step ahead than the original version.The Mi 5s Plus comes with

a large 5.7-inch 1080p display with a pixel density of 386ppi, and a claimed brightness of 550 nits. The device is powered by a 2.15GHz Snapdragon 821 SoC and also comes with 6GB of RAM and

speaker

similar

Amazon’s Echo that’s activated powered by Google’s improved

smartphone has a dual camera on the back

Assistant that can handle all

with Sony IMX 258 sensor and f/2.0 aperture.

the basics tasks like controlling

Similar to Honor 8, the Mi 5s Plus uses one

music, or answering simple

sensor for capturing color images and the

queries. Google Home works

other sensor for capturing black and white

with YouTube Music, Google’s

images. The front camera uses a 4-megapixel

music subscription services.

sensor. The Mi 5s Plus includes a regular,

In addition, it will work with

circular fingerprint scanner on the back. The

third-party services like Spotify,

Mi 5s Plus is limited to China, at least for the

Pandora, and TuneIn. The

time being. It starts from ¥2299 (or approx

smart speaker also lets you use

Rs 22,412). n

your voice to control connected

Amazon Fire HD 8 (2016) mazon recently announced a refreshed version of the Fire HD 8. Priced at $90 (or approx Rs 6,120), the Fire HD 8 is reasonably priced and starts with

a minimum 16GB of internal storage. Oh yes, it lasts 12 hours on a single charge, four hours more than last year’s model. Well it still packs in an 8-inch 720p HD display and is powered by the quad-core 1.3GHz processor. There is 1.5GB of RAM (up 50%), plus in addition the internal memory can be expanded up to 200GB via a microSD card. This is also the first tablet from Amazon to feature Alexa, which brings Siri-like functionality. That means you can order items from Amazon, playback media or adjust settings and more. Unfortunately, Amazon Fire HD 8 is not available in India, but you can buy the product from the U.S. n

110 | january 2017

oogle Home is a Wi-Fi

with a simple command. It is

128GB of internal storage. In addition, the

Google Home

devices in your home.Google Home will cost $129 (or approx Rs 8772), and will come with a free six-month trial of YouTube Red, which gives you streaming music and ad-free YouTube videos. By comparison, Amazon’s Echo costs $179.99 (or approx Rs 12,239) and the Eco Dot, costs Rs 49.99 (or approx Rs 3,339). n

Infocus

spotlight Going abroad or have a friend or relative overseas who is homeward bound! given the fact that there are a number of devices out there that have not been released here, we suggest you hand them this uber geek shopping list. Anuj Bhatia

Xbox One S Gears of War 4 Limited edition Bundle (2TB)

ears of War 4 is perhaps the biggest titles to hit the Xbox One this holiday season. To celebrate

the release of Gears of War 4, Microsoft is offering

Acer Chromebook R 13

a special edition model, based on the game. The console is dressed in red, and adorns the Gears

cer has a new Chromebook to flaunt, and this device

logo. This custom-designed Xbox One S, the Gears

totally rocks. The Chromebook R 13 sports a convertible

of War 4 edition features 2TB of storage. Priced at

design with a 360-degree swiveling touchscreen, meaning it

$449 (or approx Rs 30,582) , it also comes with

can be used in normal laptop mode, display mode, tent mode,

a customised controller,

and pad mode. The R 13’s hardware specifications are great,

The bundle also includes

but they do the basic tasks well. The Chromebook is equipped

Gears of War 4 weapon

a MediaTek M8173C Core Pilot quad-core processor, 4GB

and character skins, six

RAM, a 13.3-inch Full HD touch display, and either 16GB,

Gear packs with in-game

32GB, or 64GB of storage. The battery is claimed to last

items, and a multiplayer

up to 12 hours in a single charge. There’s a Type-C port of

lobby emblem. Also, add a

charging as well as a regular USB 3.0 port, Bluetooth 4.0,

downloadable copy of the

HDMI port and headphone jack. The R 13 is also one of the

Ultimate Edition of GoW4,

few Chromebooks in the market to support Android apps. It

which includes the season pass for extra DLC.

starts at $399 (or approx Rs 27,132). Get it from the US, if

Microsoft said the special edition will be available

you are keen to buy Acer Chromebook R 13. n

for a limited time while supplies last. n

LeEco Le Pro3

n a matter of few months, China’s LeEco has made a huge fan following for itself. The brand, itself is considered to be fast forward in its approach. And its

newest smartphone in the market, the Le Pro3, does have all the aces. Sporting a 5.5-inch full HD display, the smartphone is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 processor coupled with 4GB RAM and 64GB of onboard storage. It features a massive 4,070mAh battery alongside Qualcomm’s Quick Charge 3.0. It also features a 16-megapixel rear camera and runs Android 6.0 Marshmallow. The Le Pro3 doesn’t have a regular standard 3.5mm headphone jack, instead it offers sound through the USB Type-C port. The phone is still not available for India yet, but can be purchased from the U.S market for $399 (or approx Rs 27,132). n anuj@mymobile.co.in

january 2017 | 111

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MY GUIDE While My Mobile tries to ensure accuracy in the pricing and features any discrepancies that may emerge are beyond our control. Please check with the retailer about features of the phone before buying. Feel free to update us.

(Last updated on December 20, 2016) Disclaimer : The prices quoted in My Guide are the Best Buy prices quoted by the respective companies, ex-Delhi. The prices may vary on account of promotional schemes or dealer discretion. Devices featured in the My Guide have been segregated into different categories based on price and colourcoded as:

Microsoft Up to Rs. 2,499 Rs. 2,500 – Rs. 5,999 Rs. 6,000 – Rs. 9,999 Rs.10,000 – Rs. 14,999 Rs.15,000 – Rs. 19,999 Rs. 20,000 – Rs. 29,999 RS. 30,000 and above. Tablets

Spreadtrum—ST Intel Atom—IA Qualcomm Snapdragon—QS MediaTek—MT MediaTek Helio—MTH

MYMOBILE

MYGUIDE MICROSOFT

MICROSOFT

MODELS

MICROSOFT

PARAMETERS

215

Asha 225

Nokia 230

Lumia 535

Lumia 550

Lumia 540

Lumia 640

2.4/240 x 320

2.8/ 320 x 240

2.0/ 320 x 240

5.0/ 960 x 540

4.7/ 720 x 1280

5.0/ 720 x 1280

Dimension (mm)

116 x 50 x x12.9

124 x 55.5 x 10.4

124.6 x 53.4 x 10.9

140.2 x 72.4 x 8.8

136.1 x 67.8 x 9.9

144 x 73.7 x 8.6

141.3 x 72.2 x 8.8

Weight (grams)

101

145.3g

142

152

145

Processor/RAM

NA/8MB

Single Core/8MB

NA/16 MB

QS 200/1GB

QS 210/1GB

QS 200/1GB

QS 400/1GB

Series 30+

Windows Phone 8.1

Windows 10

Storage/Expandable

NA/32GB

NA/ 32GB

8GB/128GB

8GB/200GB

8GB/128GB

Rear/Front Camera

0.3MP/NA

2.0MP/NA

2.0MP/2.0MP

5MP/5MP/Yes

5MP/2MP

8MP/5MP

8MP/0.1MP

1,100

1,200

1,905

2,100

2,200

2,500

2G/3G/4G

Yes/No/No

Yes/Yes/No

Yes/Yes/Yes

Yes/Yes/No

Dual SIM

Yes

Yes/Yes

January, 2015

April, 2014

February, 2016

January, 2015

October, 2015

April, 2015

March, 2015

2,499

3,200

3,900

6,285

6,750

7,500

8,999

Model Display (inches/res)

Operating system

Battery (mAh)

Music Player/FM Launch Price Rs.

MICROSOFT

Windows Phone 8.1 Windows Phone 8.1

UP TO RS. 2,499

MODELS

UP TO RS. 2,499

MICROSOFT

PARAMETERS

ADCOM

Lumia 650

Lumia 950 Dual SIM

Lumia 950 XL

X9 (Nonu)

X20 (Power)

X21(Elegance )

Display (inches/res)

5.0/ 720 x 1280

5.2/ 2560 x 1440

5.7/ 2560 x 1440

1.8/128 x 160

1.8 /128 x 160

2.4/ 240 x 320

Dimension (mm)

142 x 70.9 x 6.9

145 x 73.2 x 8.2

151.9 x 78.4 x 8.1

140.6 x 50.4 x 25

Weight (grams)

122

150

165

120

220

210

Processor/RAM

QS 212/1 GB

QS 808/3GB

QS 810/3GB

NA/ 32MB

Operating system

Windows 10

Storage/Expandable

16GB/200GB

32GB/200GB

64MB/8GB

32MB/8GB

8MP/5MP

20MP/5MP

1.3MP/ 0 MP

1.3MP/ 0MP

2,000

3,000

3,340

800

750

1,800

1,200

2G/3G/4G

Yes/Yes/Yes

Yes/No/No

Dual SIM

Yes

Yes/Yes

Yes/No

Yes/Yes

April, 2016

October, 2015

14,500

29,998

34,998

999

1,400

1,500

Model

Rear/Front Camera Battery (mAh)

Music Player/FM Launch Price Rs.

114 I JANUARY 2017

120.2 x 40.65 x 20.6 120.2 x 40.65 x 20.6

MYMOBILE

MYGUIDE UP TO RS. 2,499

UP TO RS. 2,499

MODELS

UP TO RS. 2,499

ADCOM

PARAMETERS

HITECH

I-SMART

C1 CDMA

T-35 (PDA)

Pride 350

IS-102

IS-100L Selfie

IS-209

IS-207 Klick

Display (inches/res)

1.8/128 x 160

3.5/ 320 x 480

2.8/-

1.8/128 x 160

2.4/ 240 x 320

Dimension (mm)

113×47×13.8

125 x 67.2 x 10

131 x 58 x 10.2

112 x 48.5 x 13

112 x 46.5 x 13.5

118 x 51.7 x 9.9

122.5 x 52 x 15.6

Weight (grams)

108

100

Processor/RAM

NA/ 32MB

NA/ 64MB

ST 6531DA/NA

NA/No

Nucleus

64MB/8GB

64MB/16GB

32+32MB/-

NA/8GB

NA/16GB

Digital camera/No

Digital Camera/ Digital Camera

Model

Operating system Storage/Expandable

Digital Camera/ Digital Camera

1.3MP/ 0 MP

1.3MP/ 0MP

1.3 MP/NA

Digital camera/No

1,050

1,250

1800 mAh

850

1,000

1,800

2G/3G/4G

Yes/No/No

Dual SIM

Yes

Yes/Yes

Oct, 2016

July, 2016

Sept, 2016

1,500

1,700

1,299

1,099

1,299

1,599

1,399

Rear/Front Camera Battery (mAh)

Music Player/FM Launch Price Rs.

UP TO RS. 2,499

MODELS

UP TO RS. 2,499

PARAMETERS

Model

I-SMART

ITEL

LEPHONE

IS-210

Smart Selfie it2180 Smart Power it5600 Smart Selfie it5231

K1P

2.4/ 240 x 320

1.77/ 240 x 320

2.4/ 240 x 320

1.8

Dimension (mm)

127.5 x 53 x 14.2

114.5 x 49.3 x 14.2

116.6 x 50 x 15.8

124.5 x 54 x 11.4

112*46.5*13.9

123*51.5*13.5

123*51.8*14.9

Weight (grams)

110

102

Processor/RAM

NA/No

260MHz/32Mb

360MHz/64Mb

312MHz /32MB

NA/16GB

32Mb/32GB

32MB/32GB

64MB/32GB

32MB / 32GB

Display (inches/res)

Operating system Storage/Expandable

32MB / 32GB Digital Camera/ Digital Camera

1.3 MP/No

0.08MP/0.08MP

0.08MP

0.08MP/0.3MP

3,000

1,000

2500

1900

1000

1,450

2,500

2G/3G/4G

Yes/No/No

Dual SIM

Yes

YES

Yes/Yes

YES

Aug, 2016

April, 2016

May, 2016

August '2016

OCTOBER' 2016

1,799

839

973

1,296

799

899

999

Rear/Front Camera Battery (mAh)

Music Player/FM Launch Price Rs.

www.mymobileindia.com

Rear/Digital Camera Rear/Digital Camera

JANUARY 2017 I 115

MYGUIDE UP TO RS. 2,499

LEPHONE

M-TECH

UP TO RS. 2,499

MODELS

UP TO RS. 2,499

PARAMETERS

ZIOX

Model

M15 Pro

Star ++

G10

Z 214i

Display (inches/res)

2.4/240 x 320

2.4/ 240 x 320

2.4/240 x 320

2.8/ 240 x 320

2.4/ 240 x 320

Dimension (mm)

121x51x12.1

122.7 x 52 x 14

124.7 x 53 x 11

123 x 52.5 x 13.15

114.7 x 50 x 13.9

126 x 52.5 x 12.6

124.2*53*11.3

Weight (grams)

100

Processor/RAM

312MHz /32MB

Single-Core/ No

312Mhz/32MB

MOCOR

32MB / 32GB

32MB/16GB

NA/16GB

Digital Camera

Yes/No

Digital camera/No

1,450

1,000

1,700

1,600

1,700

1,400

2G/3G/4G

Yes/No/No

Dual SIM

YES

Yes

Music Player/FM

YES

Yes/Yes

Yes/Yes-WFM

August '2016

June, 2016

1499

1,099

1,199

1,349

1,249

1,299

1,343

Operating system Storage/Expandable Rear/Front Camera Battery (mAh)

Launch Price Rs.

UP TO RS. 2,499

MODELS

UP TO RS. 2,499

ZIOX

PARAMETERS

Z 13

Z X304

Z 33

Z 314

Z 23

Z 304 mini

Z 38

2.4/ 240 x 320

1.8/128 x 160

2.4/ 240 x 320

Dimension (mm)

124*52*12

125 x 53 x 14.4

125 x 52.5 x 13.6

121 x 52 x 13.45

113 x 49.6 x 14.95

111.2 x 46.5 x 14.2

125 x 53 x 13.6

Weight (grams)

Processor/RAM

312Mhz/32MB

Operating system

MOCOR

Storage/Expandable

NA/16GB

Model Display (inches/res)

Rear/Front Camera

Digital camera/No Digital camera/No Digital camera/No Digital camera/No Digital camera/No Digital camera/No Digital camera/No 1,000

1,750

1,800

1,700

1,800

1,000

1,750

2G/3G/4G

Yes/No/No

Dual SIM

Yes

Yes/Yes-WFM

Yes/Yes

Yes/Yes-WFM

Yes/Yes

Yes/Yes-WFM

May, 2016

April, 2016

May, 2016

July, 2016

Aug, 2016

1,593

1,690

1,733

1,443

1,093

1,233

1,553

Battery (mAh)

Music Player/FM Launch Price Rs.

116 I JANUARY 2017

MYMOBILE

MYGUIDE Rs. 2,500 – Rs. 5,999

Rs. 2,500 – Rs. 5,999

MODELS

UP TO RS. 2,499

ZIOX

HONOR

Z 39

Honor Bee

Amaze S9

Air A8

Bingo 10 (M415)

Bingo 21 (M 430)

Aqua Fish

Display (inches/res)

2.4/ 240 x 320

4.5/ 854 x 480

4.5 /-

5.0/ 540 x 960

4.5/ 480 x 854

4.5/ 854 x 480

5/720x1280

Dimension (mm)

125 x 53 x 13.6

134.3 x 66.7 X 10

140 x 66.88 x 9.65

140.2 x 72.4 x 8.8

135.65 x 67.38 x 10.43

136.8 x 67 x 10.95

142.4x72x9.6

Weight (grams)

170

150

152

140

152

150

Processor/RAM

312Mhz/32MB

ST SC 7732/1GB

ST 7731/512MB

ST 7731/1GB

MT 6580A/1GB

ST Shark/2GB

Quad core/2GB

Operating system

MOCOR

Android OS, v4.4

5.1 Lollipop

5.2 Lollipop

Android OS, 6.0

Android 5.1

Sailfish 2.0

Storage/Expandable

NA/16GB

8GB/32GB

4GB/32GB

8GB/32GB

16GB/32GB

Digital camera/No

8MP/2MP

5MP/2MP

8MP/2MP

5MP/5MP

8MP/5MP

8MP/2MP

1,750

1,730

1,400

2,000

2,300

2500

2G/3G/4G

Yes/No/No

Yes/Yes/No

Yes/Yes/Yes

Dual SIM

Yes

Yes/Yes-WFM

Yes/Yes

Yes/No

Yes/Yes

July, 2016

May, 2015

April, 2016

March, 2016

February,2016

1,503

3,999

2,999

4,999

4,399

5,499

PARAMETERS

Model

Rear/Front Camera Battery (mAh)

Music Player/FM Launch Price Rs.

HITECH

INTEX

Rs. 2,500 – Rs. 5,999

MODELS

Rs. 2,500 – Rs. 5,999

IN-FOCUS

INTEX

PARAMETERS

ITEL

Model

Cloud Glory 4G

Cloud String HD

Aqua Classic 2

Power Pro it1410

Wish it1507

Wish it1407

Display (inches/res)

4.5/ 480 x 854

5/ 720 x 1280

5/480/854

4/480/800

4/ 800 x 480

5/854 x 480

10.1cm(4)/WVGA/TN

Dimension (mm)

134.2 x 68 x 9

144.5 x 72.5 x 8.7

145.2x72.6x10.9

124.1x64.2x9.8

124x64.7x12.2

144.4 x 73 x 8.5

125x64.3x10.9mm

Weight (grams)

120

150

136

Quad core, 1.2 GHz/512MB

MT 6735M/ 1GB

SC 9832A/ 1GB

qcta-core/1GB

quad-core/1GB

Dual core, 1.3 GHz/512MB

Operating system

Android 6.0

Android 5.1

Android 6.0

Android4.4

Android 5.1

Storage/Expandable

8GB/ 32GB

8GB/32GB

Rear/Front Camera

5MP/2MP

8MP/2MP

5MP/2MP

2MP/2MP

2.0MP/0.3MP

5.0MP/2.0MP

2.0MP/0.3MP

1,800

2,200

2200

1800

2,800

2,400

1500mAh, Li-ion

2G/3G/4G

Yes/Yes/Yes

Yes/Yes/No

Yes/Yes/yes

Yes/Yes/No

Dual SIM

Yes

Yes/Yes

June, 2016

May, 2016

April, 2016

April.2016

3,999

5,599

3,339

5,063

2,989

Processor/RAM

Battery (mAh)

Music Player/FM Launch Price Rs.

www.mymobileindia.com

4,600

3,333

JANUARY 2017 I 117

MYGUIDE Rs. 2,500 – Rs. 5,999

Rs. 2,500 – Rs. 5,999

MODELS

Rs. 2,500 – Rs. 5,999

LEPHONE

PARAMETERS

LYF

MICROMAX

W7+

Flame 1

Wind 7i

Canvas Juice 3 Q393

Canvas Spark 3

Display (inches/res)

4.5/ 854x480

5.0/ 854x480

5.0 /854x480

"4.5/854 x 480"

5/1280x720

5.0/720 x 1280

5.5/720x1280

Dimension (mm)

134.5x68x10.2

143.5x72.6x9.6

143.5x72x8.

132.6 x 66.2 x 9.3

143.5x72x8.7

Weight (grams)

126

162

148

138

156

1.5GHz,/ 1 GB

1.5GHz, / GB

1.5GHz, Quadcore/ 1 GB

QS 210/1GB

MT6580/2GB

quad-core/1GB

Operating system

Android 5.1

Android 6.0

Android 5.1

Storage/Expandable

8 GB/ 32 GB

8GB/128GB

8GB/32GB

Rear/Front Camera

2 MP

5 MP / 2 MP

5 MP/ 2 MP

5MP/5MP

8MP/5MP

8MP/2MP

8MP/5MP

Battery (mAh)

1,300

1,800

2,000

2,250

4,000

2,500

2G/3G/4G

YES

Yes/Yes/Yes

Yes/Yes/No

Dual SIM

YES

Yes

Music Player/FM

YES

Yes/Yes

OCTOBER' 2016

February, 2015

March, 2016

4,699

5,399

5,999

5,499

4,171

4,999

Model

Processor/RAM

Launch Price Rs.

RS. 6,000 – RS. 9,999

MODELS

Rs. 2,500 – Rs. 5,999

4,999

PARAMETERS

MICROMAX

M-TECH

VIDEOCON

ASUS Zenfone 2 Laser ZE550KL

Zenfone Max

Zenfone C ZC451CG

Canvas Bolt Selfie

Turbo L7

Turbo L9

4.5/854x480

5.0/ 854 x 480

5/1280x720

5.5/720 x 1280

5.5/ 720 x 1280

4.5/480 x 854

Dimension (mm)

143 x 70.6 x 8.8

145 x 72.25 x 8.5

146.66X74.3X10.52

152.5 x 77.2 x 3.9

156 x 77.5 x 10.55

136.5 x 67 x 10.9

Weight (grams)

142

150

151

170

202

150

Processor/RAM

MTK6735/1GB

Quad Core /512MB

Quad Core/1GB

Quad-core/1GB

QS 410/2GB

QS 615/ 2GB, 3GB

IA Z2520/ 1GB

Operating system

Android 5.1

Android 6.0

Android 5.0

Android 6.0

Android 4.4

Storage/Expandable

8GB/32GB

4GB/32GB

8GB/32GB

16GB/128GB

16GB/32GB, 64GB

8GB/64GB

Rear/Front Camera

5MP/5MP

3.2MP/1.3MP

5MP/2MP

13MP/5MP

5MP/0.3MP

1,750

2,000

3,000

5,000

2,100

2G/3G/4G

Yes/Yes/Yes

Yes/Yes/No

Yes/Yes/Yes

Yes/Yes/No

Dual SIM

Yes

Yes/Yes

Yes/No

Yes/Yes

Model Display (inches/res)

Battery (mAh)

Music Player/FM Launch Price Rs.

118 I JANUARY 2017

Delite11

NEW

May, 2016

August, 2015

May, 2016

January, 2015

5,499

3,499

4,299

5,990

9,999

9,999/ 12,999

6,299

MYMOBILE

MYGUIDE RS. 6,000 – RS. 9,999

RS. 6,000 – RS. 9,999

MODELS

RS. 6,000 – RS. 9,999

PARAMETERS

CELKON

COOLPAD

Q550

Note 3 Lite

Mega 2.5D

Note 3 Plus

Mega 3

Display (inches/res)

5.0/720 x 1280

5.5/720x1280

5.5/1080x1920

5.5/1280x720

5.5/720 x 1280

5.5/1920x1080

Dimension (mm)

145.6 x 71.8 x 8

140.8 x 70.4 x 8.9

153x77x8

151.9 x 77 x 9.3

154.4x76.8x8.35

152 x 77 x 9

154.5x77x8.6

Weight (grams)

149

141

168

171

150

167

Processor/RAM

Broadcom/2GB

MT6735/3GB

Quad core/3GB

MT6753/3GB

octa-core/2GB

MT6753/3GB

octa-core/3GB

Android Kitkat 4.4.2

Android 5.1

Android 6.0

Android 5.1

Android 6.0

Android 5.1

Android6.0

16GB/32GB

16GB/64GB

32GB/32GB

8MP/2MP

13MP/5MP

8MP/8MP

13MP/5MP

8MP/8MP

13MP/5MP

2,500

3,000

3,050

3,000

2,500

2G/3G/4G

Yes/Yes/No

Yes/Yes/Yes

Dual SIM

Yes

Yes/Yes

Yes/-

Yes/Yes

Launch

2,014

January, 2016

August, 2016

May, 2016

November,2016

October, 2015

November,2016

Price Rs.

7,499

6,999

8,999

6,999

8,999

9,999

Model

Operating system Storage/Expandable Rear/Front Camera Battery (mAh)

Music Player/FM

Note 3s

NEW

RS. 6,000 – RS. 9,999

NEW

RS. 6,000 – RS. 9,999

MODELS

RS. 6,000 – RS. 9,999

Note 3

HONOR

PARAMETERS

HITECH

IN-FOCUS

INTEX

Model

Honor Holly 3

Honor Holly 2 Plus

Air A9

M 350 (16GB)

M680

M810

Aqua S7

Display (inches/res)

5.5/1920x1080

4.8/720 x 1280

5.0-inch, 720 x 1280

5.0/720 x 1280

5.5/720x1280

5.5/1080x1920

5/720x1280

Dimension (mm)

143.1 x 71.8 x 9.7

140.2 x 72.4 x 8.8

151 x 71.5 x 10.6

156 x 76.8 x 7.25

153.70 x 76.20 x 6.99

142.5x72.5x8.7

Weight (grams)

160

152

146

158

155

150

Processor/RAM

Kirin 620/2GB

MT6735P /2GB

MT 3735M/2GB

MT6732/2GB

MT 6753/2GB

QS 801/ 2GB

Quad core/3GB

Operating system

Android 6.0

Android 5.1.1

Android 5.1

Android 4.4.2

Android 5.1

Android 5.0

Android 6.0

Storage/Expandable

16GB/128GB

16GB/32GB

16GB/64GB

16GB/32GB

16GB/64GB

13MP/8MP

13MP/5MP

13MP/8MP

8MP/8MP

13MP/13MP

13MP/5MP

3,100

4,000

3,500

2,500

2,600

3,200

2G/3G/4G

Yes/Yes/Yes

Dual SIM

Yes

Music Player/FM

Yes/-

Yes/Yes

Yes

October, 2016

February, 2016

June, 2015

December, 2015

July, 2015

September, 2016

9,999

8,499

6,999

8,999

9,999

9,499

Rear/Front Camera Battery (mAh)

Launch Price Rs.

www.mymobileindia.com

JANUARY 2017 I 119

MYGUIDE RS. 6,000 – RS. 9,999

RS. 6,000 – RS. 9,999

MODELS

RS. 6,000 – RS. 9,999

INTEX

PARAMETERS

I-SMART

ITEL Wish it1512

Power Pro it1553

Selfie Pro it1511

5.0-inch/480 x 854 5.0-inch/720 x 1280

5/FWVGA/TN

5.5)

5.0/1280 x 720

146.72 x 72.85 x 8.73 143.54 x 71.55 x 8.52

143x72x8.65

138.5x69.5x9.8

170

Quad Core/1 GB

Quad core/1GB

Android 5.1

Android 4.4.2

Android 6.0

Android 5.1

Android 6.0

8GB/ 32GB

16GB/ 32GB

8GB/64GB

8GB/32GB

16GB/32GB

8GB/32GB

5MP/ 2MP

8MP/5MP

8.0MP/3.2MP

5.0MP/2.0MP

8.0MP/2.0MP

1,900

2,200

2,100

2,500

5,050

2,500

2G/3G/4G

Yes/ Yes/ Yes

Yes/Yes/Yes

Yes/Yes/No

Yes/Yes/Yes

Yes/Yes/No

Yes/Yes/Yes

Dual SIM

Yes

Yes/Yes

May, 2016

June, 2016

September, 2016

September, 2015

June, 2016

April, 2016

6,499

8,999

6,499

6,999

6,000

7,290

6,999

Model

Aqua Secure

Aqua View

Display (inches/res)

4.5/ 480 x 854

5/ 720 x 1280

Dimension (mm)

133.5 x 66.5 x 9.4

124 x 64 x 10.3

Weight (grams)

130

146

155

Processor/RAM

MTK6735M/ 1GB

MTK6735P/ 1GB

Operating system

Android 5.1

Storage/Expandable Rear/Front Camera Battery (mAh)

Music Player/FM Launch Price Rs.

IS-57i

RS. 6,000 – RS. 9,999

MODELS

RS. 6,000 – RS. 9,999

IS-56i HD Mercury V6

LAVA

PARAMETERS

LEECO

LEPHONE

LENOVO

Le 1s (Eco)

Vibe P1m

Pixel V2

X10

5.0/ 720 x 1280

5.5/1280x720

5.5/1920 x 1080

5.0 /854x480

5/ 720 x 1280

5.0/720 x 1280

Dimension (mm)

141.6 x 70.8 x 7.6

142 x 70.8 x 7.9

155x71.8x8.85

74.2x151.1x7.6

143x70.8x8.6

142 x 71 x 7.99

141 x 71.8 x 9.3

Weight (grams)

128

133

155

179

161

142

148

1.5GHz,/ 1 GB

QS 415/ 2GB

MT6735P /2GB

Model Display (inches/res)

X50+

NEW

Quad Core/ 2GB

Quad core /3GB

quad-core/2GB

MediaTek Helio X10/3GB

Operating system

Android 5.1

Android 6.0

Android 5.0.2

Android 5.1

Storage/Expandable

16GB/32GB

32GB/32GB

8 GB/ 32 GB

16GB/ Yes

16GB/32GB

Rear/Front Camera

13MP/8MP

13MP/5MP

8MP/5MP

13MP/5MP

5 MP / 2 MP

13MP/ 5MP

8MP/5MP

2,500

2,900

2,800

3,000

1,800

2,750

4,000

2G/3G/4G

Yes/Yes/Yes

Yes/Yes/yes

Yes/Yes/Yes

YES

Yes/ Yes/ Yes

Yes/Yes/Yes

Dual SIM

Yes

YES

Yes

Yes/Yes

Yes/-

YES

Yes/Yes

September, 2015

November, 2015

May,2016

OCTOBER' 2016

June, 2016

September, 2015

8,499

9,999

6,599

6,999

7,499

Processor/RAM

Battery (mAh)

Music Player/FM Launch Price Rs.

120 I JANUARY 2017

9,199

MYMOBILE

MYGUIDE RS. 6,000 – RS. 9,999

RS. 6,000 – RS. 9,999

MODELS

RS. 6,000 – RS. 9,999

LENOVO

PARAMETERS

K5 Plus

K3 Note

5.0/1080 x 1920

5.5/1080 x 1920

5/1920x1080

Dimension (mm)

142 x 71 x 8.2

152.6 x 76.2 x 8

141.9x70.3x9.3

Weight (grams)

142

150

145

Model Display (inches/res)

K6 Power

NEW

LYF

Wind 5

M2 Note

M3 Note

5/ 720 x 1280

5/ 480 x 854

5.5/1080 x 1920

150.9 x 75.2 x 8.7

153.6 x 75.5 x 8.2

144.6 x 72.8 x 8.45 143.6 x 72.5 x 8.95 137

MEIZU

149

163

MT6753 /2GB

Helio P10/3GB

Processor/RAM

QS616/2GB

MT6752 /2GB

QS 430/3GB

MT6735P/ 1GB

1.1GHz Quad Core/ 1.5GB

Operating system

Android 5.1

Android 5.0

Android 6.0

Android 5.1

Android 5.0

Android 5.1

Storage/Expandable

16GB/32GB

32GB/128GB

8GB/ 32GB

8GB/32GB

16GB/128GB

32GB/128GB

Rear/Front Camera

13MP/5MP

13MP/8MP

8MP/ 5MP

5MP/5MP

13MP/5MP

2750

2,900

4,000

2,000

2,125

3,100

4,100

2G/3G/4G

Yes/Yes/Yes

Yes/ Yes/ Yes

Yes/Yes/Yes

Dual SIM

Yes

Yes/No

Yes/Yes/Yes

Yes/Yes

Yes/No

Yes/-

April, 2016

March, 2015

November,2016

June, 2016

January, 2016

June, 2015

May, 2016

8,499

9,999

6,599

8,690

9,999

Battery (mAh)

Music Player/FM Launch Price Rs.

RS. 6,000 – RS. 9,999

MODELS

RS. 6,000 – RS. 9,999

PARAMETERS

MEIZU

MICROMAX

M3S

Canvas Unite 4

Canvas Amaze 2

Canvas XP 4G

Canvas 5

Canvas Unite 4 Pro

Canvas Sliver 5

5/1280x720

5.0/ 1280 x 720

5/ 720 x 1280

5.0/720 x 1280

5.2/1080 x 1920

5.0/ 1280 x 720

4.8/720 x 1280

Dimension (mm)

141.9x69.9x8.3

5.1mm thick

Weight (grams)

138

Processor/RAM

MT/3GB

MTK 6735P/1GB

QS415/ 2GB

MT6735P/3GB

MT6753/3GB

Quad core/ 2GB

QS 410 /2GB

Operating system

Android 5.1

Android 6.0

Android 5.0.2

Android 5.1

Android 5.0.2

Storage/Expandable

32GB/128GB

8GB/64GB

8GB/ 32GB

16GB/32GB

16GB/64GB

16GB/32GB

16GB/No

13MP/5MP

8MP/5MP

13MP/ 5MP

8MP/2MP

13MP/5MP

8MP/5MP

3,020

2,500

2,000

2,900

3,900

2,000

2G/3G/4G

Yes/Yes/Yes

Yes/ Yes/ Yes

Yes/Yes/Yes

Dual SIM

Yes

Yes/No

Yes/Yes

Yes/-

Yes/Yes

October,2016

June, 2016

May, 2016

November, 2015

June, 2016

2,015

9,299

6,999

7,499

9,999

7,499

8,387

Model Display (inches/res)

Rear/Front Camera Battery (mAh)

Music Player/FM Launch Price Rs.

www.mymobileindia.com

JANUARY 2017 I 121

MYGUIDE RS. 6,000 – RS. 9,999

RS. 6,000 – RS. 9,999

MODELS

RS. 6,000 – RS. 9,999

MOTOROLA

PARAMETERS

PANASONIC

SAMSUNG Galaxy On5

Galaxy On 5 Pro

Galaxy J2 (2016)

Galaxy J2 Pro (2016)

5/1280x720

5.0/720 x 1280

5.0/ 1280 x 720

5/720x1280

148.3x71.6x9.55

142x70x8.6

142.3 x 72.1 x 8.5

142.4 x 71.1 x 8.0

142.4x71.1x8

137

153

138

149

138

Processor/RAM

QS 410/2GB

MTK6735P/2GB

MTK6737V/2GB

Quad-core/1.5GB

Quad core/ 2GB

Quad core/ 1.5GB

Quad core/2GB

Operating system

Android 6.0

Android 5.1

Android 6.0

Storage/Expandable

16GB/128GB

16GB/32GB

8GB/128GB

16GB/128GB

8GB/128GB

16GB/128GB

8MP/5MP

2,800

3,500

2,800

2,600

2G/3G/4G

Yes/Yes/Yes

Dual SIM

Yes

Yes/No

Yes/Yes

Yes/No

Yes/Yes

September, 2016

October, 2015

July, 2016

July,2016

8,999

7,999

7,490

7,990

9,750

9,490

Moto G4 Play

Moto E3 Power

Display (inches/res)

5/720x1280

5/1280x720

Dimension (mm)

144.4x72x9.9

Weight (grams)

Model

Rear/Front Camera Battery (mAh)

Music Player/FM Launch Price Rs.

Eluga Tapp

NEW

8,189

RS. 6,000 – RS. 9,999

MODELS

RS. 6,000 – RS. 9,999

TCL

PARAMETERS

XIAOMI

TCL 560

TCL 562

Redmi 2 Prime

5.5/ 1280x720

5.5/1920x1080

4.7/720 x 1280

Dimension (mm)

152x77x8

Weight (grams)

156

150

133

Processor/RAM

QS 210/2GB

MT6755M/3GB

Operating system

Android 6.0

Storage/Expandable

Model

Redmi 3S/ 3s Prime Redmi Note Prime

Redmi Note 3

Redmi 3s Plus

5.5/720 x 1280

5.5/1080 x 1920

5/1280x720

154 x 78.7 x 9.45

150 x 76 x 8.65

139.3x69.6x8.5

144

185

164

144

QS 410/2GB

QS 430/ 2GB, 3GB

QS 410/2GB

QS 650/2GB,3GB

QS 430/2GB

Android 6.0

Android 4.4

Android 6.0

Android 4.4

Android 5.0.2

Android 6.0

16GB/32GB

32GB/64GB

16GB/32GB

16GB, 32GB/128GB

16GB/32GB

16GB,32GB/32GB

32GB/128GB

8MP/5MP

13MP/5MP

8MP/2MP

13MP/5MP

16MP/5MP

13MP/5MP

2,500

2,960

2,200

4,100

3,100

4,000

4000/4100

2G/3G/4G

Yes/Yes/Yes

Dual SIM

Yes

Yes/No

Yes/Yes

Yes/-

Yes/Yes

July, 2016

July,2016

August, 2015

August, 2016

December, 2015

March, 2016

October,2016

6,999

9,999

6,999

6999/ 8,999

7,999

9,999/ 11,999

9,499

Display (inches/res)

Rear/Front Camera Battery (mAh)

Music Player/FM Launch Price Rs.

122 I JANUARY 2017

5/ 1280X720

134.00 x 67.20 x 9.4 139.4 X 69.7 X 8.5

MYMOBILE

MYGUIDE RS. 6,000 – RS. 9,999

RS. 6,000 – RS. 9,999

MODELS

RS. 6,000 – RS. 9,999

VIDEOCON

PARAMETERS

Graphite2

Model

NEW

Graphite1

NEW

Delite21

NEW

Krypton3

NEW

Ultra30

NEW

5/1920X1080

Ultra50

NEW

Yunique

4.5/1280x720

Dimension (mm)

137.55X70.28X10

136.76X69X10

Weight (grams)

129

127

151

153

186

128

Processor/RAM

Quad-core/1GB

Quad-core/2GB

Quad-core/3GB

QS 410 / 1GB

Operating system

Android 6.0

Android 5.1.

Storage/Expandable

8GB/64GB

16GB/32GB

32GB/64GB

8GB/32GB

Rear/Front Camera

5MP/2MP

8MP/2MP

13MP/5MP

8MP/2MP

2,000

3,000

4,000

3,000

2,000

2G/3G/4G

Yes/Yes/Yes

Dual SIM

Yes

Yes/Yes

September, 2015

6,299

6,499

7,200

7,999

9,990

6,300

Display (inches/res)

Battery (mAh)

Music Player/FM Launch Price Rs.

5/1280x720

146.66X74.3X10.52 144.5X73.14X9.74

RS. 6,000 – RS. 9,999

144.31X73X10

5/1920X1080

4.7/720x1280

148.24X72.56X11.44 134.5 x 67.5 x 8.3

MODELS

RS. 10,000 – RS. 14,999

ZEN

ZOPO

ZTE

Yuphoria

Cinemax 3

ZP331

Blade V6

Zenfone 2 (2GB/4GB)

Zenfone Selfie

Zenfone 3 lazer

5.0/720x1280

5.5/720x1280

4.5/ 854 x 480

5/ 1280 x 720

5.5/ 1080 x 1920

5.5/1080 x 1920

5.5/1920x1080

133 x 65.7 x 8.5

142X69.5X6.8

152.5 x 77.2 x 10.9

156.5 x 77.2 x 10.8

149x76x7.9

PARAMETERS

Model Display (inches/res)

ASUS

Dimension (mm)

142.4 x 73 x 8.2-9.35

Weight (grams)

143

August,2016

113

122

170

Processor/RAM

Quad core / 2GB

Quad core/2GB

Quad core/1GB

MTK 6735/2GB

IA Z3560 /2GB

QS615 /2GB,3GB

QS 430.4GB

Android 5.1.1

Android 5.1

Android 5.0

Android 6.0

16GB/32GB

8 GB/64 GB

16GB/128GB

8MP/5MP

5MP/3.2MP

5 MP/2 MP

13MP/5MP

13MP/13MP

13MP/8MP

2,230

2,900

1,700

2,500

3,000

2G/3G/4G

Yes/Yes/Yes

Yes/Yes/No

Yes/Yes/Yes

Dual SIM

Yes

Yes/Yes

Yes/-

Yes/Yes/Yes

May, 2015

August, 2016

July, 2016

March, 2015

August, 2015

October,2016

6,499

6,999

7,500

9,999

13999, 18,999

10,999/ 16,999

18,999

Operating system Storage/Expandable Rear/Front Camera Battery (mAh)

Music Player/FM Launch Price Rs.

www.mymobileindia.com

16GB,32GB/128GB 16GB,32GB/128GB

32GB/128GB

JANUARY 2017 I 123

MYGUIDE RS. 10,000 – RS. 14,999

RS. 10,000 – RS. 14,999

MODELS

RS. 10,000 – RS. 14,999

ASUS

COOLPAD

Model

Zenfone 3 Max(ZC520TL)

Coolpad Note 5

F 103 Pro

Marathon M5 Lite

Honor 5C

Honor 5X

Desire 630

Display (inches/res)

5.2/1280x720

5.5/1920x1080

5.0/ 1280 x 720

5.0/720 x 1280

5.2/ 1920 x 1080

5.5/ 1080 x 1920

5.0/ 1280 x 720

Dimension (mm)

149x73.7x8.55

145.3 x 70.5 x 8.5

143 x 69.9 x 8.5

147.1 x 73.8 x 8.3

151.3 x 76.3 x 8.15

146.9 x 70.9 x 8.3

Weight (grams)

148

142

182

156

158

140

Processor/RAM

Quad-core/3GB

QS 617/4GB

Quad core/ 3GB

Quad Core/3GB

Kirin 650/ 2GB

QS 616 /2GB

QS 400/2GB

Operating system

Android 6.0

Android 5.1

Android 6.0

Android 5.1.1

Android 6.0

Storage/Expandable

32GB/32GB

32GB/64GB

16GB/128GB

32GB/128GB

16GB/128GB

16GB/2TB

Rear/Front Camera

13MP/5MP

13MP/8MP

13MP/5MP

8MP/5MP

13MP/8MP

13MP/5MP

4,100

4,010

2,400

4,000

3,000

2,200

2G/3G/4G

Yes/Yes/Yes

Dual SIM

Yes

Yes/No

Yes/Yes

Yes/No

Yes/Yes

Yes/No

Yes/-

Yes/No

November,2016

October, 2016

July, 2016

December, 2015

June, 2016

January, 2016

February, 2016

12,999

10,999

11,999

13,000

10,999

12,999

14,990

PARAMETERS

Battery (mAh)

Music Player/FM Launch Price Rs.

GIONEE

HTC

RS. 10,000 – RS. 14,999

MODELS

RS. 10,000 – RS. 14,999

HONOR

PARAMETERS

HTC

INFOCUS

Model

Desire 626 G+

Display (inches/res)

5.0/720x1280

5.5/1920x1080

Dimension (mm)

146.9 x 70.9 x 8.1

153x76x8.4

Weight (grams)

138

Processor/RAM

Octa-core/1GB

Epic 1

NEW

LAVA

LEECO

LENOVO

Le 1S

Le 2

5.5/720x1280

5.5/1080x1920

5.5/ 1920 x 1080

6.4/1920x1080

5.5/1080x1920

151.9 x 94.7 x 8.3 151.9 x 74.2 x 7.6 151.1 x 74.2 x 7.7

175x89.5x6.89

153.67 X 76.45 X 9.14

Phab 2

NEW

Vibe K4 Note

153

169

153

225

158

Decca-core/3GB

Quad core/3GB

"MT H X10/3GB"

QS 652/ 3GB

MTK8735/3GB

MT 6753/3GB

Android 5.1

Android 6.0

Android 5.1

Android 6.0

Android 5.1.

Storage/Expandable

8GB/32GB

32GB/128GB

16GB/32GB

32GB/No

32GB/128GB

16GB/128GB

Rear/Front Camera

13MP/5MP

16MP/8MP

13MP/8MP

13MP/5MP

16MP/8MP

13MP/5MP

2,000

3,000

4,050

3,300

2G/3G/4G

Yes/Yes/No

Yes/Yes/Yes

Yes/Yes/yes

Yes/Yes/Yes

Dual SIM

Yes

Yes/Yes

Yes

Yes/Yes

Yes

Yes/No

Yes/Yes

Yes

April, 2015

November,2016

January, 2016

June, 2016

December,2016

January, 2016

10,800

12,999

11,299

10,999

11,999

Operating system

Battery (mAh)

Music Player/FM Launch Price Rs.

124 I JANUARY 2017

MYMOBILE

MYGUIDE RS. 10,000 – RS. 14,999

RS. 10,000 – RS. 14,999

MODELS

RS. 10,000 – RS. 14,999

LENOVO

PARAMETERS

LYF

Vibe S1

Phab Plus

Vibe K5 Note

Phab 2 Plus

Water 7

5.0/1080x1920

6.8/1080 x 1920

5.5/1920x1080

6.4/1920x1080

5.5/ 1080 x 1920

5.5/1920x1080

5.3/ 1280 x 720

Dimension (mm)

143.3 x 70.8 x 7.8

186.6 x 96.6 x 7.6

152x75.7x8.49

174x88x5.5

155.3 x 77.2 x 8.55

155.5x77.6x7.9

146.6x74.8x8.8

Weight (grams)

132

229

165

218

160

153

140

Processor/RAM

MT6752/3GB

QS 615 /2GB

Helio P10/4GB

MT/3GB

QS 615/ 2GB

QS 617/3GB

QS 410/2GB

Operating system

Android 5.0

Android 6.0

Android 5.1

Android 6.0

Android 5.0

Storage/Expandable

32GB/128GB

32GB/64GB

32GB/128GB

16GB/128GB

32GB/128GB

16GB/32GB

13MP/8 MP + 2 MP

13MP/5MP

13MP.8MP

13MP,13MP/8MP

13MP/5MP

16MP/8MP

13MP/5MP

2,420

3,500

4,050

3,000

3,200

2,300

2G/3G/4G

Yes/Yes/Yes

Dual SIM

Yes

Yes/Yes

Yes/-

Yes/Yes

November, 2015

October, 2015

Jaunuary,2016

November,2016

June, 2016

October,2016

January, 2016

12,999

14,999

13,499

14,999

12,999

13,099

12,999

Model Display (inches/res)

Rear/Front Camera Battery (mAh)

Music Player/FM Launch Price Rs.

RS. 10,000 – RS. 14,999

K 10

NEW

RS. 10,000 – RS. 14,999

MODELS

RS. 10,000 – RS. 14,999

PARAMETERS

MICROMAX

X Screen

G4 Stylus

Canvas 6

Canvas 6 Pro

Moto G Turbo Edition

4.93/ 1280x720

5.7/ 720 x 1280

5.5/1920 x 1080

Dimension (mm)

142.6 x 71.8 x 7.1

154.4 x 79.2 x 9.4

Weight (grams)

120

163

Processor/RAM

QS 410/2GB

Operating system Storage/Expandable

Model

MOTOROLA Moto G4

Moto G4 Plus

5.0/720 x 1280

5.5/ 1920 x 1080

5.5/ 1920X1080

142.1 x 72.4 x 11.6

153 x 76.6 x 7.9

153X76.6X9.8

155

QS 400 /1GB

MT6753/3GB

Helio x10/4GB

QS 615 /2GB

QS 617/2GB

QS 617/2GB,3GB

Android 6.0

Android 5.0

Android 5.1

Android 5.1.1

Android 6.0.1

Android 6.1

16GB/128GB

16GB/32GB

32GB/128GB

Yes/Yes

16GB/32GB

16GB/128GB

16GB, 32GB/128GB

13MP/8MP

13MP/5MP

13MP/8MP

13MP/5MP

16MP/5MP

2,300

3,000

2,470

3,000

2G/3G/4G

Yes/Yes/Yes

Dual SIM

Yes

Yes/Yes

Yes/-

Yes/Yes

Yes/No

Yes

July, 2016

May, 2015

May, 2016

2,015

May, 2016

May,2016

12,990

13,869

13,999

12,499

13,499/ 14,999

Display (inches/res)

Rear/Front Camera Battery (mAh)

Music Player/FM Launch Price Rs.

www.mymobileindia.com

JANUARY 2017 I 125

MYGUIDE RS. 10,000 – RS. 14,999

RS. 10,000 – RS. 14,999

MODELS

RS. 10,000 – RS. 14,999

PARAMETERS

MOTOROLA

NUBIA

PANASONIC

Moto X (2nd Gen)

Z11 Mini

Display (inches/res)

5.2/1080 x 1920

5/1920x1080

5.5/1920x1080

5.5/ 1920 x 1080

Dimension (mm)

140.8 x 72.4 x 9.9

141.4x70x8

150.9x79x8.9

Weight (grams)

144

138

Processor/RAM

QS801 /2GB

Operating system

Model

Galaxy J5

4.7/720x1280

5.5/1280 x 720

5.0/1280 x 720

146.00x74.50x 8.10

139 x 67 x 8.10

77.5x151.8x8.2

142.1 x 71.8 x 7.9

190

142

130

171

146

QS/3GB

MTK P10/3GB

Octa Core/3GB

QS 410/2GB

Quad-core/1.5GB

Android 4.4.4

Android 5.1

Android 6.0

Android 5.1

16GB, 32GB/64GB

32GB/200GB

32GB/128GB

32GB/32GB

16GB/32GB

8GB/128GB

13MP/2MP

16MP/8MP

13MP/13MP

16MP/5MP

8MP/5MP

13MP/5MP

2,300

2,800

5,000

3,000

1,800

3,000

2,600

2G/3G/4G

Yes/Yes/Yes

Yes/Yes/yes

Yes/Yes/Yes

Dual SIM

yes

Yes

Yes/No

Yes/Yes

2,015

October,2016

December,2016

July, 2016

April,2016

October, 2015

June, 2015

16,999/ 17,999

12,999

11,999

13,290

12,490

10,990

11,390

Rear/Front Camera Battery (mAh)

Music Player/FM Launch Price Rs.

Eluga Note

Eluga Arc

Galaxy On7

Storage/Expandable

SAMSUNG

NEW

RS. 10,000 – RS. 14,999

MODELS

RS. 10,000 – RS. 14,999

NEW

SAMSUNG

PARAMETERS

XIAOMI

Galaxy J Max

Galaxy J5 (2016)

Galaxy J7

J5 Prime

Galaxy On7 Pro

Mi 4i

Mi Max

7.0/ 1280 x 800

5.2/1280x720

5.5/720 x 1280

5/1080x720

5.5/1280 x 720

5.0/1080 x 1920

6.44/1920x1080

Dimension (mm)

186.9 x 108.8 x 8.7

145.7 x 72.3 x 8.1

152.2 x 78.6 x 7.5

142.8x69.5x8.1

151.8 x 77.5 x 8.2

138.1 x 69.6 x 7.8

173.1x88.3x7.5

Weight (grams)

158

171

143

171

130

203

Processor/RAM

Quad core/1.5GB

QS 410/2GB

Octa Core/1.5GB

Quad-core/2GB

Quad core/ 2GB

QS 615/2GB

QS 650,652/3GB,4GB

Operating system

Android 5.1

Android 6.0

Android 5.1

Android 6.0

Android 5.0

Android 6.0

Storage/Expandable

8GB/200GB

16GB/128GB

16GB/256GB

16GB/128GB

16GB,32GB/No

32GB,128GB/128GB

8MP/2MP

13MP/5MP

8MP/5MP

13MP/5MP

16MP/5MP

4,000

3,100

3,000

2,400

3,000

3,120

4,850

2G/3G/4G

Yes/Yes/Yes

Dual SIM

Yes

Yes/No

Yes/Yes

Yes/No

Yes/Yes

July, 2016

May, 2016

2,015

September,2016

July, 2016

April, 2015

June,2016

13,400

13,990

14,250

14,790

11,190

11,999/ 14,999

14,999

Model Display (inches/res)

Rear/Front Camera Battery (mAh)

Music Player/FM Launch Price Rs.

126 I JANUARY 2017

MYMOBILE

MYGUIDE RS. 10,000 – RS. 14,999

RS. 10,000 – RS. 14,999

MODELS

RS. 10,000 – RS. 14,999

PARAMETERS

VIDEOCON

Model

Cube3

Display (inches/res)

5/1280x720

Dimension (mm)

VIVO

ZOPO

Y51L

Y55L

YUREKA PLUS (YU5510A,YU5510 )

5.0/ 540x960

5.2/1280x720

5.5/1080x1920

5.5/(1080X1920)

6.0/1080 x 1920

5.0 / 1280 x 720

147.9x72.9x7.5

155 x 78 x 9

153.3X75.4X8.5

145.9 x 71.4 x 8.5

NEW

144.5X73.14X9.74 143.80 x 71.70 x 7.52

Yunicorn

Yureka Note

ZP350

Weight (grams)

152.5

157

142

154

172

137

Processor/RAM

Quad-core/3GB

QS 410/2GB

QS 430/2GB

QS 615/2GB

MT Helio P10/4GB

MTK6753T/3GB

Quad-core/1GB

Operating system

Android 6.0

Android 5.0.2

Android 6.0

Android 4.4.4

Androis 5.1.1

Android 5.1.1

Android 5.1

Storage/Expandable

32GB/64GB

16GB/128GB

16GB/32GB

32GB/128GB

16GB/Yes

8GB/64GB

Rear/Front Camera

13MP/5MP

8MP/5MP

13MP/5MP

13MP/8MP

8.0MP/2.0MP

3000

2,350

2,650

2,500

4,000

2,100

2G/3G/4G

Yes/Yes/yes

Yes/Yes/No

Yes/Yes/Yes

yes/yes/yes

Yes/Yes/Yes

Dual SIM

Yes

yes

Yes

Yes/Yes

Yes/yes

Yes/Yes

yes

Yes/Yes

January, 2016

October,2016

July, 2015

May,2016

April, 2016

10,490

10,700

11,980

8,999

12,999

13,499

10,000

Battery (mAh)

Music Player/FM Launch Price Rs.

RS. 10,000 – RS. 14,999

RS. 15,000 – RS. 19,999

MODELS

RS. 15,000 – RS. 19,999

ZOPO

PARAMETERS

ZUK

CREO

GIONEE

ZENFONE 2 LASER ZE601KL

ASUS ZENFONE 3 MAX(ZC553KL)

Mark 1

Marathon M5

ZP370

Hero 1

Display (inches/res)

5.5/ 1280 x 720

5.0/1280 x 720

5.5/1920 x 1080

6.0/ 1080 x 1920

5.5/1920x1080

5.5/ 1440x2560

5.5/ 720 x 1280

Dimension (mm)

153.8 x 77.1 x 9

146.1 x 70.6 x 8.65

155.7 x 77.3 x 8.9

164.6 x 84 x 10.6

151.4x76.24x8.3

155.4 x 76.1 x 8.7

152 x 76 x 8.6

Weight (grams)

167

136

175

190

175

190

211

Processor/RAM

Ouad-core/1GB

Quad-core/2GB

QS 801/3GB

QS 616/3GB

QS 430/3GB

Helio X10 /3GB

MT6735/3GB

Operating system

Android 5.1

Android 5.1.1

Android 5.0

Android 6.0

Android 5.1.1

Android 5.1

Storage/Expandable

8GB/64GB

16 GB/64 GB

64GB/No

32GB/128GB

32GB/-

32GB/128GB

8.0MP/2.0MP

13.2 MP/5.0MP

13MP/8MP

13MP/5MP

16MP/8MP

21MP/8MP

13MP/5MP

3,000

2,500

4,100

3,000

4,100

3,100

6,020

2G/3G/4G

Yes/Yes/Yes

Dual SIM

Yes

Yes/Yes

Yes/-

Yes/No

Yes/Yes

May, 2016

December, 2015

November,2016

April,2016

November,2015

11,000

14,500

13,499

16,499

17,999

19,999

17,500

Model

Rear/Front Camera Battery (mAh)

Music Player/FM Launch Price Rs.

www.mymobileindia.com

NEW

JANUARY 2017 I 127

MYGUIDE RS. 15,000 – RS. 19,999

RS. 15,000 – RS. 19,999

MODELS

RS. 15,000 – RS. 19,999

GIONEE

PARAMETERS

HTC

LENOVO

S6s

Desire 728 LTE

Desire 828

Desire 825

HTC 10 Lifestyle

Vibe P1

Display (inches/res)

5.5/ 720 x 1280

5.5/1920x1080

5.5/ 720 x 1280

5.5/720 x 1280

5.5/ 1280 x 720

5.5/1920x1080

5.5/1080x1920

Dimension (mm)

151.9 x 74.6 x 6.9

154.5x75.6x8.15

157.9 x 77.8 x 7.8

157.9 x 77.8 x 7.89

156.9 x 76.9 x 7.4

156.9x76.9x7.7

152.9 x 75.6 x 9.9

Weight (grams)

147

166

153

148

155

187

MT6753T /3GB

1.3GHZ OCTA CORE/3GB

MT6753/2GB

MT6753/1.5GB

QS 400/2GB

QS 400/3GB

QS615 /2GB

Operating system

Android 5.1.1

Android 6.0

Android 5.1.1

Android 5.1

Android 6.0

Android 5.1

Storage/Expandable

32GB/128GB

32gb/128gb

16GB/200GB

16GB/2TB

32GB/2TB

32GB/128GB

13MP/5MP

13MP/8MP

13MP/5MP

3,150

3,159

2,800

2,700

5,000

2G/3G/4G

Yes/Yes/Yes

Yes/Yes/No

Yes/Yes/Yes

Dual SIM

Yes

Yes/Yes

Yes/No

Yes/Yes

November, 2015

August,2016

November, 2015

February, 2016

September,2016

October, 2015

19,999

17,999

15,500

18,700

14,490

15,990

15,499

Model

Processor/RAM

Rear/Front Camera Battery (mAh)

Music Player/FM Launch Price Rs.

RS. 15,000 – RS. 19,999

MODELS

RS. 15,000 – RS. 19,999

LENOVO

PARAMETERS

LYF Earth 2

MOTOROLA

NEXTBIT

Moto X Play

Robin

Vibe Shot

Vibe X3

Z2 Plus

Earth 1

Display (inches/res)

5.0/1080 x 1920

5.5/1080x1920

5/1920x1080

5.5/1080x1920

5/1920x1080

5.5/1080 x 1920

5.2/ 1080 x 1920

Dimension (mm)

142.7 x 70 x 7.6

154 x 76.5 x 9.3

140.2x60x6.2

154 x 76.6 x 7.25

142x76x7.9

148 x 75 x 10.9

149 x 72 x 7

Weight (grams)

145

175

150

162.5.

140

169

Processor/RAM

QS 615/3GB

QS 808 /3GB

QS 820/3GB,4GB

QS 615/3GB

QS615 /2GB

QS 808/3GB

Operating system

Android 5.1

Android 6.0

Android 5.1.1

Android 5.1

Android 5.1.1

Android 6.0

Storage/Expandable

32GB/128GB

32GB,64GB/128GB

32GB/32GB

32GB/64GB

16GB,32GB/128GB

32GB/ 100GB

16MP/8MP

21MP/8MP

13MP/8MP

13MP + 2MP/5MP

13MP/13MP

21MP/5MP

13MP/5MP

3,000

3,500

2500

3,630

2,680

2G/3G/4G

Yes/Yes/Yes

Yes/Yes/yes

Yes/Yes/Yes

Dual SIM

Yes

Yes/Yes

Yes/-

Yes/Yes

Yes/No

June, 2015

December, 2015

September,2016

January, 2016

Sept, 2015

May, 2016

18,500

19,999

19,499

16,999/ 17,999

19,999

Model

Rear/Front Camera Battery (mAh)

Music Player/FM Launch Price Rs.

128 I JANUARY 2017

NEW

19,999

MYMOBILE

MYGUIDE RS. 15,000 – RS. 19,999

RS. 15,000 – RS. 19,999

MODELS

RS. 15,000 – RS. 19,999

PARAMETERS

OPPO

SAMSUNG

VIVO

F1 S

Galaxy J7 (2016)

Galaxy On8

On Nxt

J7 Prime

5.5/1280x720

5.5/1920x1080

5.0/1280×720

5.5/1280x720

Dimension (mm)

154 x 76 x 7.38

76 x 151 x 7.8

151.7x76x7.8

151.7x75x8

143.6 x 71 x 7.5

153.8x75.5x7.55

Weight (grams)

160

169

167

138

154

Processor/RAM

MTK 6750/3GB

Exynos 7870/2GB

Octa-core/3GB

QS 616/3GB

octa-core/4GB

Operating system

Android 5.1.1

Android 6.0

Android 5.1

Android 6.0

Storage/Expandable

32GB/128GB

16GB/128GB

32GB/256GB

16MP/256GB

32GB/128GB

Rear/Front Camera

13MP/16MP

13MP/5MP

13MP/8MP

13MP/20MP

3,075

3,300

2,550

3,000

2G/3G/4G

Yes/Yes/Yes

Yes/yes/Yes

Yes/Yes/Yes

Dual SIM

Yes

Yes/No

Yes/Yes

Yes/yes

Yes/Yes

Yes/-

Yes/Yes

August, 2016

May, 2016

September,2016

October,2016

September,2016

May, 2016

November,2016

17,990

15,990

15,900

18,490

18,790

17,980

18,288

Model Display (inches/res)

Battery (mAh)

Music Player/FM Launch Price Rs.

RS. 15,000 – RS. 19,999

NEW

RS. 20,000 – RS. 29,999

MODELS

RS. 20,000 – RS. 29,999

ZOPO

PARAMETERS

APPLE

ASUS

BLACKBERRY

COOLPAD

Zenfone 3 Ultra

DTEK 50

Max

6.8/(1920x1080)

5.2/1920x1080

5.5/1920x1080

147x72.5x7.4

152x75.5x7.6

Model

ZOPO SPEED 7

ZOPO SPEED 7 PLUS

Display (inches/res)

5.0/1920 x 1080

5.5/ 1920 x 1080

Dimension (mm)

153.6 x 76.5 x 8.8

Weight (grams)

164

112

144

233

135

170

Processor/RAM

Octa-core/3GB

Octa-core /3GB

Dual-core/1GB

QS 625/3GB,4GB

QS 652/4GB

QS 617/3GB

QS 617/4GB

Operating system

Android 5.1

iOS 9.2.1

Android 6.0

Android 5.1

Storage/Expandable

16 GB/64 GB

16GB,32GB,64GB/No

32GB,64GB/2TB

64GB/128GB

16GB/2TB

64GB/128GB

Rear/Front Camera

13 MP/5.0MP

8MP/1.2MP

16MP/8MP

23MP/8MP

13MP/8MP

13MP/5MP

2,500

3,000

1,560

4,600

3000

2,800

2G/3G/4G

Yes/Yes/Yes

yes/yes/yes

Dual SIM

Yes

yes

Yes/Yes

Yes/No

Yes

Yes/Yes

yes

September, 2013

August,2016

August, 2016

November,2016

May, 2016

15,500

17,500

23,000 onwards

21,999/ 27,999

29,999

21,990

24,999

Battery (mAh)

Music Player/FM Launch Price Rs.

www.mymobileindia.com

iPhone 5S

Zenfone 3

4.0/640 x 1136

5.2,5.5/(1920x1080)

123.8 x 58.6 x 7.6 146.87 x 73.98 x 7.69 186.4 x 93.9 x 6.8

JANUARY 2017 I 129

MYGUIDE RS. 20,000 – RS. 29,999

RS. 20,000 – RS. 29,999

MODELS

RS. 20,000 – RS. 29,999

GIONEE

PARAMETERS

HONOR

HTC

LEECO

M5 Plus

Gionee S6 Pro

Honor 8

Honor 7

6.0/1920 x 1080

5.5/1920x1080

5.2/1920x1080

5.2/1080 x 1920

5.5/ 1080 x 1920

5.5/1920x1080

5.7/(2560X1440)

Dimension (mm)

153x75.3x7.6

145.5x71x7.45

143.2 x 71.9 x 8.5

153.9 x 75.9 x 7.99

156.5x76x7.86

156.8 x 77.6 x 7.99

Weight (grams)

210.8g

170

153

157

170

165

185

Processor/RAM

Octa Core/3GB

octa-core/4GB

Kirin 950/4GB

HS Kirin 935/3GB

MT H X10/ 3GB

Helio P10/4GB

QS 820/4GB, 6GB

Operating system

Android 5.1

Android 6.0

Android 5.0

Android 6.0

Storage/Expandable

64GB/128GB

64GB/256GB

32GB/128GB

16GB/128GB

32GB/2TB

64GB/2TB

32GB, 64GB

13MP/5MP

13MP/8MP

12MP,12MP/8MP

20MP/8MP

13MP/5MP

20MP/13MP

21MP/8MP

5,020

3,130

2,900

3,100

3,000

3000

3,100

2G/3G/4G

Yes/Yes/Yes

Yes/Yes/yes

Yes/Yes/Yes

Yes/Yes/yes

yes/yes/yes

Dual SIM

Yes

yes

Yes/Yes

Yes/No

Yes/Yes

Yes/No

Yes/Yes

yes

May, 2016

October,2016

October, 2016

July, 2015

May, 2016

November,2016

June,2016

27,000

21,130

29,000

22,999

25,990

26,490

22,999/ 29,999

Model Display (inches/res)

Rear/Front Camera Battery (mAh)

Music Player/FM Launch Price Rs.

RS. 20,000 – RS. 29,999

NEW

Max 2

RS. 20,000 – RS. 29,999

MODELS

RS. 20,000 – RS. 29,999

Desire 10 Pro

PARAMETERS

MOTOROLA

NUBIA

ONEPLUS

Stylus 2

Stylus 2 Plus

Nexus 5X

Moto X Style

Moto Z Play

5.7/1280X720

5.7/ 1920 x 1080

5.2/ 1080 x 1920

5.7/ 1440 x 2560

5.5/1920x1080

5.5/1920z1080

5.5/1080p

Dimension (mm)

155 x 79.6 x 7.4

155 X 79.6 X 7.4

147 x 72.6 x 7.9

153.9 x 76.2 x 11.06

156.4x76.4x6.99

151.8x72.3x7.5

151.8x74.9x9.85

Weight (grams)

145

146

136

179

165

162

175

Processor/RAM

Quad Core /2GB

Octa Core/3GB

QS 808/2GB

QS 808/3GB

QS 625/3GB

QS 820/6GB

QS 810/3GB&4GB

Android 6.0

Android 5.1

Storage/Expandable

16GB/2TB

32GB/2TB

16GB,32GB/No

16GB,32GB/128GB

32GB/2TB

64GB/2TB

64GB

Rear/Front Camera

13MP/8MP

16MP/8MP

12.3MP/5MP

21MP/5MP

16MP/5MP

16MP/8MP

13MP/5MP

3,000

2,700

3,000

3,510

3000

3,300

2G/3G/4G

Yes/Yes/Yes

Dual SIM

Yes

Music Player/FM

Yes

Yes/Yes

Yes/No

Yes/Yes

Yes/No

May,2016

July, 2016

October, 2015

September, 2015

October,2016

December,2016

July, 2015

20,500

24,000

24,490/30,645

26999/ 28,999

24,999

29,999

22,999

Model Display (inches/res)

Operating system

Battery (mAh)

Launch Price Rs.

130 I JANUARY 2017

Z11

NEW

MYMOBILE

MYGUIDE RS. 20,000 – RS. 29,999

RS. 20,000 – RS. 29,999

MODELS

RS. 20,000 – RS. 29,999

ONEPLUS

PARAMETERS

Model

SAMSUNG 3T

NEW

SONY

Galaxy A7

Galaxy A5 (2016)

Galaxy A7 (2016)

t phone

Xperia XA

5.5/1920x1080

5.5/1080 x 1920

5.2/1080 x 1920

5.5/ 1080 x 1920

5.5/1920x1080

5.0/1280 x 720

Dimension (mm)

152.7X74.7X7.35

152.7x74.5x7.35

151 x 76.2 x 6.3

144.8 x 71 x 7.3

151.5 x 74.1 x 7.3

158.2x78.2x6.98

143.6 x 66.8 x 7.9

Weight (grams)

158

141

153

169

149

137

Processor/RAM

QS 820/6GB

QS 821/6GB

Octa Core/2GB

Octa Core/3GB

QS 810/4GB

MTK H P10/2GB

Operating system

Android 6.1

Android 6.0

Android 5.0.2

Android 5.1.1

Android 6.0

64GB

16GB/64GB

16GB/128GB

64GB/128GB

16GB/200GB

16MP/8MP

16MP/16MP

13MP/5MP

13MP/4MP

13MP/5MP

3,000

3400

2,600

2,900

3,300

3,000

2,300

2G/3G/4G

Yes/Yes/Yes

Dual SIM

Yes

Yes/No

Yes/Yes

Yes/yYes

Yes/No

June, 2016

December.2016

February, 2015

April, 2016

December, 2015

July,2016

May, 2016

27,999

29,999

22,900

21,900

25,900

22,999

20,990

Display (inches/res)

Storage/Expandable Rear/Front Camera Battery (mAh)

Music Player/FM Launch Price Rs.

RS. 20,000 – RS. 29,999

MODELS

RS. 20,000 – RS. 29,999

SONY

PARAMETERS

XIAOMI

VIVO

Xperia Z3+

Xperia C5 Ultra Dual

Xperia M5 Dual

Xperia XA Ultra

Mi 5

X5 Pro

V3 Max

Display (inches/res)

5.2/ 1080 x 1920

6.0/1080 x 1920

5/ 1080 x 1920

6/1920x1080

5.15/1080 x 1920

5.2/ 1080 x 1920

5.5/1080 x 1920

Dimension (mm)

146.3 x 71.9 x 6.9

164.2 x 79.6 x 8.2

145 x 72 x 7.6

164x79x8.4

144.5 x 69.2 x 7.25

147.9 x 73.5 x 6.4

153.9x77.1x7.58

Weight (grams)

144

187

143

202

129

151

168

Processor/RAM

QS 810 /3GB

MTK6752/2GB

MT H X10/3GB

MT6755/3GB

QS 820/3GB

QS 615/2GB

QS 652/4GB

Operating system

Android 5.0

Android 5.1

Android 6.0

Android 5.0

Android 5.1

Storage/Expandable

32GB/128GB

16GB/200GB

32GB/No

16GB/128GB

32GB/128GB

Rear/Front Camera

20.7MP/5MP

13MP/13MP

21.5MP/13MP

21.5MP/16MP

16MP/4MP

13MP/8MP

2,930

2,600

2,700

3,000

2,450

3,000

2G/3G/4G

Yes/Yes/Yes

Dual SIM

Yes

Yes/No

Yes/Yes

Yes/No

Yes/Yes

June, 2015

August, 2015

September, 2015

July,2016

April, 2016

June, 2015

April, 2016

26,990

27,799

27,990

29,990

24,999

21,400

23,980

Model

Battery (mAh)

Music Player/FM Launch Price Rs.

www.mymobileindia.com

JANUARY 2017 I 131

MYGUIDE RS. 30,000 AND ABOVE

RS. 30,000 AND ABOVE

MODELS

RS. 30,000 AND ABOVE

APPLE

PARAMETERS

iPhone 6

iPhone 6Plus

iPhone SE

iPhone 6S

iPhone 6S Plus

iPhone 7

iPhone 7 Plus

Display (inches/res)

4.7/750 x 1334

5.5/1080 x 1920

4.0/640 x 1136

4.7/750 x 1334

5.5/1080 x 1920

4.7/1334x750

5.5/1920x1080

Dimension (mm)

138.1 x 67 x 6.9

158.1 x 77.8 x 7.1

123.8 x 58.6 x 7.6

138.3 x 67.1 x 7.1

158.2 x 77.9 x 7.3

138.3x67.1x7.1

158.2x77.9x7.3

Weight (grams)

129

172

113

143

192

138

188

Processor/RAM

A8,M8/1GB

A9,M9/2GB

iOS 9

iOS 9.3

iOS 9

16GB,64GB/No

8MP/1.2MP

12MP/1.2MP

12MP/5MP

12MP/7MP

12MP,12MP/7MP

1,810

2,915

1,614

1,715

2,750

1,960

2,900

2G/3G/4G

Yes/Yes/Yes

Yes/yes/Yes

Yes/Yes/Yes

Dual SIM

Yes/No

September,2014

March, 2016

September,2015

October,2016

0ctober,2016

38,000/48,000

48,000/ 58,000/ 67,000

Model

Operating system Storage/Expandable Rear/Front Camera Battery (mAh)

Music Player/FM Launch

38,000/46,000

Price Rs.

49,500/57,000

iOS 10

16GB,64GB,128GB/ No 16GB,64GB,128GB/ No 32GB/128GB/256GB 32GB/128GB/256GB

55,000/68,000/ 77,000

60,000/70,000/80,000 72,000/82,000/92,000

RS. 30,000 AND ABOVE

MODELS

RS. 30,000 AND ABOVE

A10 Fusion, M10/2GB A10Fusion, M10/3GB

ASUS

PARAMETERS

BLACKBERRY

GOOGLE

HUAWEI

Model

Zenfone Zoom

Zenfone 3 Deluxe

Priv

DTEK 60

Pixel

Pixel XL

Nexus 6P

Display (inches/res)

5.5/1080 x 1920

5.7/(1920x1080)

5.4/1440 x 2560

5.5/2560x1440

5/1920x1080

5.5/2560x1440

5.7/1440 x 2560

Dimension (mm)

158.9 x 78.8 x 11.95

156.4x74.4x7.5

147 x 77.2 x 9.4

153.9x75.4x7

143.8x69.5x8.5

154.7x75.7x8.5

159.3 x 77.8 x 7.3

Weight (grams)

185

172

192

165

Processor/RAM

IA Z3590/4GB

QS 820,821/6GB

QS 808/3GB

QS 820/4GB

QS 821/4GB

QS810 /3GB

Android 5.0

Android 6.0

Android 5.1

Android 6.0

Android 7.1

Android 6.0

128GB/ 128GB

256GB/128GB

32GB/2TB

32GB,128GB/ No

32GB,64GB/No

13MP/5MP

23MP/8MP

18MP/2MP

21MP/8MP

12.3MP/8MP

3,000

3,410

2,610

2,770

3,450

2G/3G/4G

Yes/Yes/Yes

Dual SIM

Yes

Yes/No

Yes

Yes/No

Yes/Yes

January, 2016

September,2016

October, 2015

November,2016

October,2016

October, 2015

37,999

49,999

34,999

46,990

57,000/66,000

67,000/76,000

34,999/ 39,999

Operating system Storage/Expandable Rear/Front Camera Battery (mAh)

Music Player/FM Launch Price Rs.

132 I JANUARY 2017

178

MYMOBILE

MYGUIDE RS. 30,000 AND ABOVE

RS. 30,000 AND ABOVE

MODELS

RS. 30,000 AND ABOVE

PARAMETERS

HUAWEI

HTC

LEECO

One A9

Le Max

G4 Dual SIM

Display (inches/res)

5.2/1920x1080

5.0/1080 x 1920

5.2/ 2560X1440

6.33/2560 x 1440

5.5/1440 x 2560

5.3/ 2560x1440

5.7/2560x1440

Dimension (mm)

145x70.9x6.95

145.75 x 70.8 x 7.26

145.9 x 71.9x 9.0

83.5x167.1x8.95

148.9 x 76.1 x 8.9

149.4x73.9x7.3

159.5x77.9x7.6

Weight (grams)

144

143

161

204

155

159

174

Processor/RAM

Kirin 955/3GB,4GB

QS 617/3GB

QS 820/4GB

QS 810 /4GB

QS 808 /3GB

QS 820/4GB

Android 6.0

android 6.0

Android 6.0

Android 5.1

Android 6.0

Android 7.0

32GB,64GB,/128GB

32GB/2TB

64GB,128GB/No

32GB/2TB

32GB/100GB

64GB/2TB

12MP,12MP/8MP

13MP/4MP

12MP/5MP

21MP/4UP

16MP/8MP

16MP,8MP/5MP

3,000

2,150

3,000

3,400

3,000

2,800

3,200

2G/3G/4G

Yes/Yes/Yes

Dual SIM

Yes

Yes/Yes

Yes/No

August,2016

December, 2015

May,2016

January, 2016

May, 2015

April,2016

December,2016

39,999

31,990

52,460

32,999/ 36,999

34,800

52,990

54,999

Model

Operating system Storage/Expandable Rear/Front Camera Battery (mAh)

Music Player/FM Launch Price Rs.

RS. 30,000 AND ABOVE

NEW

RS. 30,000 AND ABOVE

MODELS

RS. 30,000 AND ABOVE

V20

MOTOROLA

PARAMETERS

ONEPLUS

SAMSUNG Galaxy S6

Galaxy S6 Edge

Galaxy A9 Pro

Samsung Galaxy Note 5

5.5/1920x1080

5.1/ 1440 x 2560

6/1920x1080

5.7/1440 x 2560

153.3x75.3x5.19

152.7x74.5x7.35

143.4 x 70.5 x 6.8

142.1 x 70.1 x 7

161.7x80.9x7.9

153.2 x 76.1 x 7.6

169

136

158

138

132

210

171

Processor/RAM

QS 810 /3GB

QS 820/4GB

QS 821/6GB

Octa core /3GB

octa-core/4GB

Quad core /4GB

Operating system

Android 5.1.1

Android 6.0

Android 5.0.2

Android 6.0

Android 5.1.1

32GB,64GB/2TB

64GB/2TB

128GB

32GB,/No

32GB/No

32GB/256GB

32GB/No

21MP/5MP

13MP/5MP

16MP/16MP

16MP/5MP

16MP/8MP

16MP/5MP

3,760

2,600

3,400

2,550

2,600

5,000

3,000

2G/3G/4G

Yes/Yes/Yes

Dual SIM

Yes

Yes/Yes

Yes/No

Yes/Yes

Yes/No

Yes/Yes

Yes/No

November, 2015

October,2016

December.2016

March, 2015

April, 2015

September,2016

August, 2015

34,999/ 37,999

39,999

34,999

33,900

34,900

32,490

40,900/43,900

Moto X Force

Moto Z

Display (inches/res)

5.4/1440 x 2560

5.5/2560x1440

Dimension (mm)

149.8 x 78 x 9.2

Weight (grams)

Model

Storage/Expandable Rear/Front Camera Battery (mAh)

Music Player/FM Launch Price Rs.

www.mymobileindia.com

NEW

JANUARY 2017 I 133

MYGUIDE RS. 30,000 AND ABOVE

TABLETS

MODELS

RS. 30,000 AND ABOVE

SAMSUNG

PARAMETERS

SONY

APPLE

Galaxy S7

Galaxy S7 Edge

Xperia Z5 Dual

Xperia X

Xperia Z5 Premium

Xperia XZ

iPad Mini 2

Display (inches/res)

5.1/2560 X 1440

5.5/2560 X 1440

5.2/1080 x 1920

5/1920x1080

5.5/ 2160 x 3840

5.2/1920x1080

7.9/1536 x 2048

Dimension (mm)

69.6x142.4x7.9

72.6 x 150.9 x 7.7

146 x 72 x 7.3

143 x 69 x 7.7

154.4 x 76 x 7.8

146x72x8.1

200 x 134.7 x 7.5

Weight (grams)

152

157

156.5g

152

181

161

331

Processor/RAM

Exynos 8890/4GB

QS 810/3GB

QS 650/ 3GB

QS 810/3GB

QS 820/3GB

A7,M7/1GB

Operating system

Android 6.0

Android 5.1

Android 6.0

iOS 8

Storage/Expandable

32GB/200GB

64GB/ 200GB

32GB/200GB

64GB/256GB

16,32GB/No

12MP/5MP

23MP/5MP

23MP/13MP

23MP/5MP

23MP/13MP

5MP/1.2MP

3,000

3,600

2,900

2,620

3,430

2,900

23.8w

2G/3G/4G

Yes/Yes/Yes

Yes/Yes/No

Dual SIM

Yes

Yes/-

Yes/Yes

Yes/No

March, 2016

November, 2015

July, 2016

November, 2015

October,2016

November, 2015

43,400

50,900

37,000

38,990

47,990

49,990

17,949 onwards

Model

Rear/Front Camera Battery (mAh)

Music Player/FM Launch Price Rs.

TABLETS

MODELS

TABLETS

APPLE

PARAMETERS

Model

iPad Mini 4

iPad Pro 9.7-inch iPad Pro 12.9-inch iPad Air 2 with Wi-Fi WiFi/ Wi-Fi + Cellular WiFi/ WiFi + Cellular

ASUS

MICROMAX

SAMSUNG

ZenPad 8

LapTab

Galaxy Tab S2 9.7

7.9/1536 x 2048

9.7/2048x1536

9.7/1536 x 2048

12.9/2732 x 2048

8.0/1280 x 800

10.1/1280X800

9.7/ 1536 x 2048

Dimension (mm)

203.2 x 134.8 x 6.1

240 x 169.5 x 6.1

305.7 x 220.6 x 6.9

209 x 123 x 8.5

259.2 x 175.4 x 9.2

237.3 x 169 x 5.6

Weight (grams)

298.8/304

437

713/ 723

350

1.1kg

392

Processor/RAM

A8,M8/2GB

A8X,M8/1GB

A9X,M9/2GB

"A9X,M9 /4GB"

QS MSM8929/2GB

Intel 4 Gen/2GB

Octa core/3GB

iOS 9

iOS 9.3

iOS 9

Android 5.0

Windows 10

Android 5.0.2

16GB,64GB,128GB/No

16GB, 64GB/No

32GB,128GB,256GB/No

32GB/No

16GB/-

32GB/64GB

32GB/128GB

8MP/1.2MP

12MP/5MP

8MP/1.2MP

8MP/2MP

2MP/2MP

8MP/2.1MP

19.1W

27.3W

27.9 W

38.5W

4,000

7,700

5,870

2G/3G/4G

Yes/Yes/Yes

Dual SIM

Yes/No

Spetember, 2015

October, 2014

March, 2016

November, 2015

July, 2015

2,015

September, 2015

12,496

10,999

38,500

Display (inches/res)

Operating system Storage/Expandable Rear/Front Camera Battery (mAh)

Music Player/FM Launch Price Rs.

134 I JANUARY 2017

28,500

38,000

49,900 Onwards/ 61,900 onwards

65,900 nwards/ 85,900 onwards

MYMOBILE

Gadget Corner

ETCETERA

Logitech K375s MultiDevice Wireless Keyboard and Stand Combo: A Desktop Duo for Any Device

ith the ever evolving needs of new-age consumers, multitasking has become an

indispensable part of their lives. Logitech K375s offers a great solution to consumers who want to stay connected across their preferred devices and platforms. The all news K375s not only connects with multiple devices at the same time but also comes with a universal stand that a helps you keep your mobile device at the right typing angle and hence making the typing experience much faster, smoother and convenient.

Price: Rs. 1,995

With Logitech K375s Multi-Device keyboard, one can type comfortably on all the devices that one has on desk, while using the convenient universal stand to keep mobile device at the right typing angle and within reach whenever you need it. The K375s MultiDevice also lets one easily switch between devices with the push of a button. One can start typing on the computer and finish an email message on tablet or create a text on phone with just one key. The full-size layout and special function keys provide a quiet and comfortable typing experience in a spillresistant design. Availability & Price: The K375s Multi-Device Wireless Keyboard is available at Logitech.com for a suggested retail price of Rs 1995. n

www.mymobileindia.com

january 2017 | 135

Gadget Corner

ETCETERA PTron Tronite One Smartwatch A Perfect Gift

Tron Tronite One Smartwatch is a perfect gift to give your loved ones. The

smartwatch comes with a metal case with quality silicon strap. It also has 1.54â&#x20AC;? high sensitive capacitive touch and has build in 0.3MP camera & a micro SIM card slot. Other features of the smartwatch are mentioned below: n Support n Can

TF card up to 32GB

make or receive calls, text and read or

send emails etc n Anti-loss,

Pedometer, Sleep Monitor,

Sedentary Reminder, Audio and Video Player etc n

Price: Rs. 1,499

136 | january 2017

MYMOBILE

Livefun 550 from Envent For Exceptional Audio Experience

nvent Livefun 550 headphones

in the sound. Once connected, you

comes with its unique mix of

donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have to carry your device around!

immoderate design and technology,

With additional port to connect 3.5 mm

teamed up to give you that unmatched

line-in, you will never stay away from

sound quality. The design offers you an

your music entertainment even when

unparalleled combination of comfort

the battery is down.

and music. The mechanics of the

Easy to handle and wear - With its

device are silk smooth, primed to give

unique foldable design, you can easily

you that flawless fit. The Livefun 550 is

fold it and pack in your Notebook bag

constructed with the finest materials.

or carry purse. The light weight built

Built-in MIC & Bluetooth Connectivity

wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t add bulk to your bag. Get the

- With Livefun 550, make and receive

perfect fit with a silk smooth slide

calls easily. The headphones are

construction. Armed with ear cushions

supported by Digital Signal Processing

from soft breathable material, you can

Echo Cancellation Technology, to

wear them for hours without any strain

host calls with pure clarity. The RF

on your head or ears. The Livefun550

frequency range of 2.402 to 2.480GHz

Headset has a unique feature of voice

gives you a smooth user experience.

dialing. So, switch your cell phone onto

Livefun550is compatible to almost all

voice dial once you connect and then

Bluetooth input devices and give you

just say a name to make a call. And with

that seamless music experience. The

its 250mAh Lithium Polymer battery,

Bluetooth range is also phenomenal.

you can enjoy music up to 8 hours. It

With a range of around 30ft, you can

comes with a stand by time of more

roam around without an iota of break

than 180 hours. n

Gadget Corner

ETCETERA

Price: Rs. 1,190

www.mymobileindia.com

january 2017 | 137

Gadget Corner

ETCETERA PTron Bluetooth Wireless Headset For the Music Lovers

mart looking Bluetooth wireless headset is a perfect gift for a

music lover. Its appearance is quiet attractive and has an elegant design. PTron Bluetooth Wireless Headset BH23 is compatible with most of the devices which have in-built Bluetooth function like iPhone, iPad and PSP etc. Its main feature is that the music can be enjoyed wirelessly from Bluetooth enabled devices. This Bluetooth Headset accepts incoming calls or toggle between tracks with the touch of a button. It is lightweight, comfortable

Price: Rs. 999

design for all-day listening. PTron Bluetooth headset is compatible With laptops, tablets, Ipad, Iphone and cellphones via Bluetooth. n

PTron Portable Power Bank A Battery Booster on the Go

he use of smartphones has seen a steady and rapid

increase over time and space. A good smartphone can allow you to accomplish more than you thought you could - whether professional or personal. Due to this ever increasing use of mobile phones, the battery of your smartphone gets drained easily. To bring about a solution to this, there has been a growing demand for Powerbanks - an on the go charger for your phone. n

138 | january 2017

Price: Rs. NA

MYMOBILE

AGON X series The premium professional gaming monitors

Price starts from: Rs. 29,000

OC, the international brand of TPV Technology, a US$

It supports Adaptive-Sync technology to eliminate tearing,

12.2 billion business conglomerate and an international

stuttering and input lag.

display screen manufacturing giant has launched a new

The new gaming monitors are packed with other useful

range of gaming monitors â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;AGON X-Seriesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; exclusively

features like AOC Shadow Control allowing users to adjust

for the professional gamers. The new AGON series is a

contrast in overly bright or dark game areas. The Quick

brand extension of AOC series of monitors, ingrained

Switch controller feature (a separate box unit) makes

with premium AOC technology to provide users the most

switching in monitor options and settings smooth, much

versatile gaming experience. The series includes models

easier than the limited controls built into the monitor

enriched with Free-Sync and Flicker-free Technology.

itself. The AGON X Series has been ergonomically and

These gaming monitors are said by the company to

aesthetically designed for an easy setup and comfortable

have received great reviews in many countries including

usage. AGON X Series gives the user liberty to adjust

Australia, New Zealand, Denmark, Russia and Singapore.

the screen in 3 modes: Height, Tilt, and Swirl. Voguish

The X-series comes in two screen sizes; 24and 27inch and

sophisticated back panel of the monitor gives it a modish

offer a record response time of 1ms (TN) and a vivid QUAD

finish, to perfectly complement these high-end gaming

HD resolution of 2560 x 1440 pixels. The AGON X Series

battle stations. In addition, the AGON X series offers an

with AOC Flicker-Free Technology and Blue light mode

unmatched display performance with unparalleled color

reduces eyestrain, meant for long term gaming sessions.

reproduction in its matte display screen finish. n

www.mymobileindia.com

Gadget Corner

ETCETERA

january 2017 | 139

Gadget Corner

ETCETERA

Altec Lansing IMW 140 Dual Motion Speaker

lightweight, portable speaker that brings the party with you. The dual Motion is

wireless and Bluetooth enabled, so that you can play music from your device or take calls with its in-built microphone. Its Lithium Ion battery ensures a 6 hour playback time. SMALL SIZE, BIG SOUND. Despite its compact size, the Dual Motion produces powerful sound. The additional features like onboard song navigation controls, a 33 feet Bluetooth range and the integrated carry strap frees you to roam which means you will always have high quality sound near or far away from you. n

Price: Rs. 3,290

140 | january 2017

MYMOBILE

Amkette Trubeats X Series

ho knew technology could be as fashionable

as this? Say hello to the ultimate audio experience that transforms your style quotient and say goodbye to your boring earphones

Price: Rs. 899

Gadget Corner

ETCETERA

with tangled wires! The Trubeats X series range brings two modish variants for both fashion freaks and music lovers. These stylish colourful earphones are as much of a fashion statement as they are audio accessories. With a sleek street style chic design and comfy fit, the X series is the ideal choice for those looking for a fashionable fit along with a comforting music experience. The ultrastylish X series is available in two variations X7 Street earphones and X9 Metal earphones. Intended to make sure the earphones m a t c h a n i n d i v i d u a l â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s personality and style quotient, these earphones seek to fuse technology and fashion in a sophisticated way without compromising on the premium sound. n

www.mymobileindia.com

january 2017 | 141

Gadget Corner

ETCETERA

Fitbit Flex 2

tressing over the holiday fat? Don’t worry, we have

it covered for you. Gift your loved ones a Fitbit Flex 2 which helps you track all-day activity, exercise and sleep. Fitbit’s ultraslim, first-ever swim-proof fitness wristband, features a removable tracker that transforms with classic bands making it a perfect match for your holiday’s attire matching your style quotient. Add a pop colour, or carry it as a piece of jewellery maintaining your calorie intake this festive

Price: Rs. 9,499

UE Boom Speakers

season. n

ift your loved ones UE Boom 2 Speakers, a 360 Degree surround sound speaker, water proof, dust proof speakers that personify style elegance and

panache. A perfect companion for the new journey ahead! You could connect to over 50 speakers at the same time with the new Party Up Update – Wow! n

Price: Rs. 11,990

142 | january 2017

MYMOBILE

Belkin Mixit DuraTek Lightning to USB cable

ith great-specced smartphones

for iOS devices and can resist over 40.47

comes great accessories or as Belkin

pounds of force.

says ‘smartphone necessities’. Catering to

So, the cable is pretty good looking and

the basic necessity of smartphones, Belkin

stylish and there is no doubt about it. It

has now launched the new Mixit Duratek

stands first in the ‘looks’ round. It can also

lightning to USB cable. Adding style to it,

be attached to your handbag which acts

we have the brown Mixit lightning to USB

as an add-on and plus becomes extremely

leather tassel iPhone cable. One thing worth

portable. Talking about the performance,

noting is that the cable is specifically meant

the USB cable is indeed a good one and

for iPad and iPhone users.

charged the iPhone it was tested real fast,

Starting with some of the features the

from 30 per cent to 50 per cent in just 10

cable possesses, the Mixit Duratek cable is

minutes. Yet again, in terms of performance

made up of Kevlar, which is a high synthetic

it performed pretty well. However, the length

fiber, in order to increase the conductivity

of the cable being 118 mm is very short:

and protection. The double-braided cable

you can’t really use and charge your device

is protected by abrasion-resistant nylon

simultaneously, but is convenient to connect

outer coating with insulated conductors for

with a portable charger.

flexibility and protection with reduction of

Overall, the cable is a pretty good option

friction. Also, the Thermoplastic elastomer

to consider, but one major concern is the

(TPE) cable jacket is environment friendly.

price. Yes, the cable comes at a price of

The laser-welded connector in the cable

Rs.3,199 and Rs.2,499 for the normal

can support up to 12W of optimal charging

Duratek cable, which the Indian market

Gadget Corner

ETCETERA

might not really wish to spend. How Belkin plans to convince people is one thing but if you wish to buy a stylish USB cable for your iPhone with quick charging capabilities, this is the option for you. The cable comes in three other option. n

Price: Rs. 2,499

www.mymobileindia.com

january 2017 | 143

Gadget Corner

ETCETERA Altec Lansing MZW100 Bluetooth Sport Earphones

o you enjoy listening to music as you sweat it out in the gym or the great outdoors or even when you go for

a swim? Looking for a headset that will give you unmatched sound quality without getting in the way? If so, then the Altec Lansing IP67 Sports MZW100 Bluetooth Wireless Headset is exactly what youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve been looking for. You can enjoy excellent sound performance from this durable, lightweight and everything proof headset that is protected from rain, sweat and other elements and upto 8 hours of battery life. Being a waterproof earphone, this MZW100 can be your perfect swimming companion. It is an ultracomfortable fit for active lifestyles with its lock that ensures that it doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t fall out. It includes a pouch, small, medium and large ear tips and ear hooks along with flat cable design to reduce tangles. n

Price: Rs. 3,090

144 | january 2017

MYMOBILE

Logitech Bluetooth Audio Adapter

etâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s see what you can do with those giant speakers

that once bought with a lot of love and now looming in a corner, forgotten. You can

enable them with the Logitech Bluetooth Audio Adapter.

49 1,6 . s R ce: i r P

Gadget Corner

ETCETERA

This device gives you the convenience and ease of Bluetooth and makes listening to music much convenient. n team@mymobile.co.in

www.mymobileindia.com

january 2017 | 145

Exclusive

Vantage Point

How television moved to the internet! A typical and romantic imagination of an Indian household

shift to the OTT format. Feature films, TV shows, documentaries,

contains the clunky, ubiquitous TV in the middle of a

sports- every form of entertainment and information is now available

living room, family members of all ages huddled around

on the internet, with the video-on-demand market becoming more

it. A faint humming sound emitting from the set, large knobs that

and more lucrative every day. In other words, almost everything

turn with a little effort- if this image seems antiquated, the reason

that was on TV is now online.

is that it is an image no longer very common in the country. Not

“The boundless expanse of the internet allows creators

only have TV sets become slimmer and more user-friendly, they

liberation from most regulations and from the usual restrictions of

have also all but broken up with the cable or satellite connection

time. User feedback is also instantaneous, allowing for closeness to the audience and a greater opportunity to quickly adjust to viewer preference.” To add to this scenario, original shows available on the internet are garnering phenomenal viewer response. This content is nurtured by freedom from censorship, leading to the creation of a world parallel to television and the movie industry. The best evidence of this new wave is the fact that established film celebrities have recently appeared in short web series and famous film-makers have begun contributing to exclusively digital content. The boundless expanse of the internet allows creators liberation from most regulations and from the usual restrictions of time. User feedback is also instantaneous, allowing for closeness to the audience and a greater opportunity to quickly adjust to viewer preference. Many-a-times this swiftness of feedback is enabled by features as simple as the availability of the comments box. Another reason for the TV becoming almost obsolete is the

earlier needed to operate them. Though the journey of the Indian TV universe began with families patiently waiting for that one hour of entertainment a day- and we do all have fond memories of catching episodes of Ramayan and Mahabharat- entire households are now ditching cable TV for a world of internet-delivered content. While some content creators are catering to the younger generation, who have shorter attention spans, are used to having multiple options and are more inclined to viewing their personalized screens, others have been quite successful in making videos and shows that bridge the gap between different age groups. In the last few years, the traditional TV-viewing experience has become increasingly insignificant with most content moving to the internet and new short films and series being available exclusively on the web. The existence of Over-the-top (OTT) platforms has revolutionised the nature of movies and shows- how they are made as well as how they are watched. Popular TV channels and production agencies are either broadcasting some or all of their content for internet audiences as well, or are moving to the internet entirely. Trying to keep up with online consumption trends, producers all over the country have realised how rewarding it is to become ‘smarter’ and 146 | january 2017

rather obvious size of it. The slimmest of TV cannot match the compactness of a smartphone or a tablet. It is not an exaggeration to say that OTT video content has transformed our phones into TVs that can be carried in our pockets. Entertainment is now ondemand and on-the-go, which clearly explains the remarkable growth in the country’s OTT/Mobile TV industry. The crux of the entertainment revolution is live programming, with internet TV making it easy to view what we want, when we want, how we want, where we want- can anyone ask for more! To conclude, the internet has not only managed to blur the lines between different types of media, it has also provided endless opportunities for the creation of new dynamic content. The internet is essentially the next stage of evolution for entertainment as a concept, whereby viewers no longer have any need to subscribe to a traditional cable or satellite pay-tv service. It is convenient for both content creators and consumers, and is well on its way to being the ultimate replacement for television as we used to know it. n — Abhesh Verma, Chief Operating Officer at nexGTV (Opinions in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the stance of the magazine)

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