The Indian manufacturer Micromax has announced the launch of X259 handset, which comes with a built-in solar panel. Priced at Rs. 2,499, it is the first solar phone from the company.

The built-in solar panel allows the phone to get automatically charged when exposed to sunlight. It is targeted to rural consumers, who constantly grapple with power cuts over long durations. According to the company, three hours of solar charge provides 1.5 hours of talk time on the phone.

Micromax X259 also features a 2.4-inch QVGA screen with a resolution of 240x320p, 1000mAh Li-ion battery and dual-SIM dual-standby feature. The handset also supports Bluetooth connectivity.

"We have been at the forefront of innovation. We have introduced many categories into this competitive Industry be it long battery life phones or dual SIM phones. With the introduction of this our intent is to get rid of the mobile phone charger by including a solar panel on the device itself," stated Rahul Sharma, co-founder, Micromax.

Micromax X259 key specs

• 2.4-inch display with 240x320p resolution
• VGA camera
• GPRS
• Bluetooth
• Mi-Zone/Mi-Store
• 1000 mAh battery
• Dual-SIM support

Lenovo's IdeaPad

It’s time for something NEW... Lenovo has officially introduced its latest and amazing Ice Cream Sandwich(ICS) based tablet, IdeaPad S2109. It has a screen similar to the one used in older version of Apple Ipad. 

The S2109 features an 8.9mm-thick unibody shell, Micro HDMI out, four speakers, a microSD slot, and an eerily familiar display. It has a 9.7-inch 4:3 display with IPS technology for wide viewing angles. Although the tablet includes a 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera, it appears as though Lenovo has decided against adding a rear camera — something we’re thoroughly unbothered by.

The battery gives 10 hours of runtime. Also, the device will have access to over 450,000 apps through Google Play, the rebranded version of the Android Market and Lenovo’s app Shop. Lenovo has not revealed pricing or the launch date of the IdeaTab S2109.

Features and Specification :-

• OS : Ice Cream Sandwich aka Android 4.0
• Camera : 1.3MP Front Facing Camera
• Display : 9.7-inch 4:3 display with IPS technology for wide viewing angles
• Battery : 10 hours , 30 Day stand by time
• Processor : IdeaPad S2109 is most likely to have a TI OMAP processor along with 1 GB of memory. 
• 8.9mm-thick unibody shell
• Micro HDMI jack
• Micro USB Slot
• MicroSD Memory Card Slot
• The device will have access to over 450,000 apps through Google Play

Lumia900 and Lumia610 coming tomorrow

Nokia India is set to roll out two new smartphones running on Windows Phone 7.5 (Tango) in India tomorrow, Lumia 900 and Lumia 610. As per the press invite sent by the Finnish manufacturer, it will also launch The Dark Knight Edition of the former at the event. There is no official statement regarding the prices of the phones.

Lumia 900 is a top-end smartphone that boasts of a 4.3-inch AMOLED display and 8MP rear camera. It will run on a 1.4GHz processor coupled with a 512MB RAM and have 16GB internal memory. The Lumia 900 Batman edition smartphone, which has already hit stores in UK, will be offered with exclusive The Dark Knight Rises content, including themed wallpapers, ringtones and limited edition Batman or Bane character images.

The other phone to be launched tomorrow is the Nokia Lumia 610, which had made its debut atMobile World Congress. It sports a 3.7-inch display, 5MP camera, 800MHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, 256MB RAM and 8GB of internal memory. The Mobile Indian has reported that this smartphone will cost around Rs 11,000.

Microsoft, which has developed the Windows Phone platform, has stated that it will upgrade these devices to Windows Phone 7.8, which consists of some Windows Phone 8 (WP8) features. However, these devices will not receive the Windows Phone 8 update, Microsoft has said.

VLC Media Player for Android - beta version launched

It has been described as the Swiss Army knife of media players because no file extension seems to stymie it. And for many computer users, VLC is easily the most important application on their desktop. And now it’s on Android.

The player rolled out an iPhone app some time ago, but has finally announced a beta version for Android as well. You can download the app from here.

The Android beta version of the app is only available for users with Android 2.1 or higher devices. It can be downloaded on select Android devices running on specific versions of ARM processor. So don’t be alarmed if you find out that your Android is not compatible with the app.

According to tech website Software crew, ”

As you would expect, VLC Beta (NEON version) can be used to play audio and video files that you have stored on your Android based phone or tablet, but there are also streaming options that means you can play files that you have stored on your computer or a network location. VLC has become the go-to app for anyone wanting to ensure that they are able to playback almost any file format imaginable, and the mobile version features this same luxury”.

And the review page for the app adds,

“Just as with the desktop version of the software, there is support for an impressive range of file formats and you can view videos complete with subtitles or alternative soundtracks. Auto-rotation ensures that the best use is made of available screen space depending on the orientation of your device, and gestures are available for controlling volume. Volume can also be controlled using the bundled widget.”

But even if you do download the app, don’t be too disappointed if it doesn’t work too well since it is still in Beta and not very stable.

The review page of the app warns,

It is important to note that this is beta software and the developers themselves point out that it is not stable and is only really suitable for power users and hackers. In reality, it is unlikely to cause any damage to your Android device, but don’t expect blistering performance or uninterrupted playback at this stage. This are shaping up well, but there is still some way to go before this is an app that is suitable for day to day use.

Nokia Lumia 610 - Feather in cap for Nokia

Nokia Lumia 610

On the surface, the Lumia 610 is yet another Windows Phone device. It retains the basic design of almost all Windows Phone – a touchscreen slate design, three soft keys, a dedicated two-stop camera button and 5MP camera. The glossy plastic body with tacky chrome band doesn’t scream premium, but you wouldn’t expect that in a device at this price range anyway. While the design is as generic as it gets, at least it is an improvement over the Lumia 710, which takes the award for ugliest Windows Phone. Still, despite being a cheap device, the Lumia 610 is solidly built. It will be available in four separate colours – cyan, magenta, white and black.

The 3.7″ 480×800 display is the same size as found on its more expensive Lumia siblings, the 710 and 800. With a pixel density of 252 ppi, it is one of the sharpest screen I have seen on an entry level smartphone. But in order to get the price down, Nokia had to cut out the much regarded Clear Black Display filter. The lack of CBD layer resulted in a display that is highly reflective. In fact you could almost replace a mirror with this.

The biggest difference between the Lumia 610 and 710 are the inclusion of a much slower clocked speed processor and less RAM. The single core 800MHz Qualcomm processor and 256MB RAM might sound like a huge compromise to performance, but it isn’t. The Lumia 610 feels snappy at all times, thanks to the hardware accelerated UI. After all, Windows Phone was already optimised to run well on the Adreno 200 GPU found inside the Lumia 610 – it is the same GPU used on all first generation Windows Phone devices. Compared to the HTC Wildfire S, which struggles to runs on the same SoC, the Lumia 610 would fly. Not bad for an entry level smartphone with a 480×800 display to power.

HTC One S arrives @ 33,590

 HTC has formally launched its One S smartphone in India. The company had unveiled One S at the Mobile World Congress(MWC 2012) earlier this year.

The latest offering from HTC boasts of a dual-core processor wrapped under a 4.3-inch AMOLED screen. It runs on Android 4.0 powered by 1650 mAh battery.

HTC One S is equipped with an 8-megapixel camera with several advanced camera functions like auto-focus and continuous shooting mode. One S also has HD video recording facility.The connectivity features include, 3G, Bluetooth 4.0, WiFi 802.11 and GPS/aGPS.

The HTC One S will be available at an MOP ( Best buy) of Rs 33,590.

Key specs:

* 1.7 GHz dual-core Snapdragon S3 processor

* 8MP auto focus camera with flash

* 1080p HD video recording and front-facing VGA camera

* Beats Audio integration

* 25GB free Dropbox space

* Other features include, 3.5 mm stereo audio jack, stereo FM radio with RDS, 1 GB RAM, 16 GB internal memory.

Samsung Galaxy S III

Is it the best Android phone — nay make it the best smartphone — ever made? Is it worth the hefty price tag? Many questions, we know. Let's find the answers.

Similar to other Galaxy flagship phones, SGS III uses a Super AMOLED screen. It has a resolution of 1280x720 pixels (720P) and is very sharp. SGS III is very fast and snappy phone. The device is very smooth irrespective of tasks it is running. Multitasking is lag-free. And so is web browsing, whether a user is zooming on to a page or playing embedded videos. Navigating around the phone, playing 1080P videos, applying filters to images and reading PDF documents barely stress the phone. The GPS on SGS III is incredibly fast and accurate. This should appeal to people who like to use their phone for navigation or to find their way in unknown cities.


SGS III runs Ice Cream Sandwich aka Android 4. But the user interface is the next version of Touchwiz, Samsung's own customized skin. Touchwiz doesn't look as elegant as the default Android interface or HTC Sense, which is used on One X. But if you can live with the looks, there is a lot of functionality backed in the device. For example the modified notification bar in SGS III gives users option to toggle 10 settings!


While the performance and unique features are expected given it's a flagship Galaxy phone, where SGS III really surprises is its camera performance. The still pictures and videos shot with the device have surprisingly good amount of details to them. This makes Galaxy S III a very handy shooter when a user doesn't have a standalone camera with him. Getting camera in phone right is not easy.


Battery life is stellar. In fact, it is one the best we have seen on an Android phone. When used with 3G for emails, calls, Twitter, Facebook, an hour or so of casual gaming with Angry Birds and Temple Run, some photography the phone lasts over 16 hours. Fully drained, SGS III can take up to nearly four to five hours to reach 100% battery status.