Flipkart and Xiaomi Could Have Avoided the Backlash With OnePlus One-Like Invites

Both Flipkart and Xiaomi are celebrating the flash sales of the Xiaomi Mi 3 in India - the handset has been put on sale on the e-commerce website twice now, and each time, has been completely sold out almost immediately. According to Xiaomi's official release on the subject, this week's entire Mi 3 stock was sold out in five seconds, and the company has now sold a total of 20,000 units of the phone.

However, a lot of potential customers have been very upset, since they had to pre-register to purchase the phone, but faced a lot of difficulties such as orders being cancelled immediately after being booked, or simply finding that the phone went out of stock in the time it took for the buy button to show up on their screens. For example, one of our readers, Senthil Kumar wrote in via comments: "After reviewing your technical specification, i eagerly plan to buy the phone. Then i have registered on last Wednesday and further i have tried twice but website threw that i was registered already. Finally yesterday & today i got reminder mail from flipkart, then i was eagerly waiting for purchase. Once i clicked then i got the message that i am not registered. Really shocked. Within 2 seconds, i tried to buy again with the same account then i got out of stock message. So, it seems that it's totally fraud sales. please don't encourage these type of business which makes people as foolish. So, please stop updating any messages about flipkart and Mi3 phones further. Both of them cheating our entire nation."

Other readers had similar experiences. Chethan wrote: "These #flipkart crashing & #Xiomi Mi3 out of stock in minutes stories are just bogus. it's their brand building tactics... I mean I was watching the countdown and hit BUY the moment it hit 00:00 & it showed 'Out of Stock'... come on...!"; Santoshwrote: "Its showing Out of stock at 2:01 pm, when the sale was to start at 2pm.. Is it a joke?"; Manojwrote: "The Mi3 sale on Flipkart is a bloody joke. The phone went out of stock at 14:00 Hrs!!!! Are you kidding Flipkart?".

The frustration that so many people who went to buy the phone are feeling is palpable. In light of this negative reaction, Xiaomi's response starts to look a little tone deaf:

Panasonic eyes 5 per cent share of Indian smartphone market 

NEW DELHI: Japanese tech giant Panasonic today said it plans to introduce as many as 15 new devices in the next few months as it aims to garner five per cent share of the Indian multi-billion dollar smartphone market. 

Panasonic, which entered the smartphone market here last year, has also declared India as the headquarters for its handset business. 

"India is a very important market and that is the reason why it is also the headquarters for the phone business for us. There is a huge opportunity here for companies like us, who want to offer quality products at right prices," Panasonic India Managing Director Manish Sharma told PTI. 

He added that the company is looking at aggressively expanding its portfolio in the country to take its market share to 5 per cent in the next one year. 
The company claims to have about three per cent share currently. 

"We will launch 15 smartphones and eight feature phones this year. We will launch feature phones because we believe there is still an audience for that, but the focus definitely is on smartphones," he said. 

Panasonic today launched its new 'Eluga' series of smartphones in India with the unveiling of 'Eluga U', priced at Rs 18,990. 

Over the past few months, the smartphone market has seen fierce competition, fuelled further by new entries like Gionee, Oppo and Xiaomi from China. 

In 2013, smartphone sales in the country grew almost three-fold to over 44 million, as per research firm IDC. In Q1 of 2014 alone, 17.59 million smartphones were shipped in India with sales being driven by affordable devices. 
While Samsung is the category leader with a 35 per cent market share in Q1, local firms like Micromax (15 per cent), Karbonn (10 per cent) and LAVA (six per cent) also held significant share of the market. Nokia had 4 per cent share. 

"We will have devices across price points. However, for us the sweet spot would be between Rs 16,500 to Rs 20,000," Sharma said. 
Asked if the company was looking at setting up a manufacturing unit in India, he said the company would look at one after it has "certain economies of scale". 

"In two years, we will be in a position to take a firm call," he said. 

Talking about the Eluga U handset launched today, Sharma said the handset will be available in the first week of August. 

The dual SIM device features a quad-core Snapdragon processor, five inch IPS HD display, the latest Android Kitkat operating system and 2GB RAM. It also sports 16GB memory (expandable upto 32GB), 13MP rear and 2MP front camera and 2,500 mAh battery. 

New Jaguar XE sedan to make global 

debut in September

The Jaguar XE will use a new grade of high strength aluminium called 'RC 5754', which has been developed specifically for the XE, the company said in a statement.

Tata Motors -owned Jaguar Land rover will hold the global premiere of the new Jaguar XE luxury sedan in London on September 8 with which it is looking to bring new levels of aluminium-intensive lightweight construction expertise to the segment. 
The Jaguar XE will use a new grade of high strength aluminium called 'RC 5754', which has been developed specifically for the XE, the company said in a statement. 
"This new alloy features a high level of recycled material and makes a significant contribution to Jaguar's goal of using 75 percent recycled material by 2020," it said. 
Commenting on the new product, Jaguar's Chief Technical Specialist Mark White said: "The Jaguar XE body uses over 75 percent aluminium content, which far exceeds any other car in its class.
" He further said: "We've made sure our aluminium-intensive body structure exceeds all global safety standards without compromising on vehicle design or refinement.
" Designed and engineered in the UK, the Jaguar XE will be the first Jaguar to be manufactured at a new purpose-built production facility at the company's Solihull plant in the West Midlands in the UK. 
"The world premiere of the new Jaguar XE will be held in London on September 8," the company added .
 It further said the XE is projected to deliver fuel economy of less than 4 litres/100km on EU combined cycle. 
JLR has been focussing on lightweight construction for its Jaguar brand. The Jaguar XJ, XK and F-Type have all been developed using aluminium structures. The XE becomes the latest model to use aerospace-inspired technology in cars. Tata Motors stock price On July 28, 2014, Tata Motors closed at Rs 453.15, down Rs 8.75, or 1.89 percent. The 52-week high of the share was Rs 488.05 and the 52-week low was Rs 272.50.
The company's trailing 12-month (TTM) EPS was at Rs 1.04 per share as per the quarter ended March 2014. The stock's price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio was 435.72. The latest book value of the company is Rs 59.58 per share. At current value, the price-to-book value of the company is 7.61.

Samsung Galaxy Star 2 Plus launched at Rs 7,335

NEW DELHI: Samsung has unveiled Galaxy Star 2 Plus smartphone in India, a budget Android 4.4 (KitKat) handset that competes against the likes of Moto E and Micromax Unite 2. Along with Galaxy Star 2 Plus, the South Korean website has also taken the covers off Galaxy Ace NXT smartphone. 
Both smartphones have been priced at Rs 7,335 and listed on Samsung's India e-store, but neither is available in the market officially. Galaxy Ace NXT has been available in the market for the past couple of weeks via online retailers like Amazon. On the other hand, Galaxy Star 2 Plus is not available in the market at all currently. 
Samsung Galaxy Star 2 Plus has a 4.3-inch screen with 480x800p resolution and runs on a 1.2GHz processor paired with 512MB RAM. The Android 4.4-powered smartphone has Samsung's TouchWiz skin on top and comes with 4GB internal storage and supports microSD cards up to 32GB. The smartphone has a 3MP rear camera, 1,800mAh battery and connectivity features like Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.0. 
Galaxy Ace NXT has the same specifications and software as Star 2 Plus, but has a 4-inch screen and 1,500mAh battery.

Faired version of Bajaj Discover 150 spotted at dealership

Bajaj plans to leave no stone unturned to become the top seller in the Indian motorcycle market. The latest product to join Bajaj’s Discover family is a semi-faired version of company’s commuter motorcycle, the Discover 150F.

But is the Discover 150F just another Discover with more plastic?
In terms of looks, yes, it is the same commuter motorcycle, with addition of a small fairing. However, the engine has been replaced by a newly developed 150cc 4-stroke 4-valve unit. The company has remained silent about the power figures but expect it to be a tad lower than that of the Pulsar 150. The Discover 150F will get a five-speed gearbox.
Other features include front disc brake, MRF Nylogrip Zapper tyres and a monoshock suspension setup at the back.
What motorcycles is it likely to compete against?
Nothing really. I mean you can say Honda Stunner or Hero Ignitor but then both those motorcycles fall in the 125cc engine displacement segment and are better looking as well. The Discover 150F on the other hand feels like just another product which has been introduced for the sake of variety. A sportier rear end and split seats would have made huge difference.

So who is the target audience?Well, the Bajaj Discover 150F is mainly targeted to younger audience base who like sporty motorcycles with lower running costs. But we really doubt that the Discover 150F would succeed to attract the young crowd as much sportier and appealing motorcycles like the Honda Stunner and Hero Ignitor being present in the market.

The Discover 150F has already started reaching the dealerships for display. With the festive season just around the corner, we expect Bajaj to start the bookings soon. The Discover 150F is likely to be priced between Rs 60,000-65,000 range.So would you invest your money on this new Discover? Share your opinions through comments below. Stay tuned into Motoroids for all the dope from the world of auto.

Google’s Nexus saga continues: Motorola’s 5.9-inch ‘Shamu’ tipped to be Nexus 6

While we were made to believe that Google plans to pull the plug on its celebrated Nexus lineup in favour of the new Android Silver series, several reports circulating the web have been suggesting otherwise. In this conundrum over whether Nexus will survive or not and who is building the next device, a new report now talks about the next Nexus smartphone and that it could be built by Motorola.

A new report by AndroidPolice says that Motorola is working on a new smartphone codenamed Shamu, hinting it could probably be the upcoming Nexus 6.  “We are confident that Shamu is a real device under active development, and fairly confident that it is a contender for the Nexus program, but are just slightly less confident about its specs, simply due to the information at our disposal,” says the report.

Just like most of the earlier reports that lacked conviction, the new Motorola built Nexus 6 appears to on similar lines, at least for now. It is rumoured to sport a large 5.9-inch display and run Android L. Expected to launch in November, no other specs of the device are known yet.

Apple is planning a large 5.5-inch variant for the iPhone and given the existing fad for giant screen devices in the market, we wouldn’t be surprised to see a large Nexus 6 phone. However, a 5.9-inch display appears far too large, even in this current market situation. After all, none of the 2014 flagships have exceeded 5.5 inches for display size. For now, let’s take this news with a pinch of salt.

A tweet from Google’s official handle had sparked some rumour around the Nexus 6 last month. The tweet was intended to show off the new ingredients feature in Google Search, and the UI was rendered on an all new device, which was highly speculated to be the Nexus 6. Now, if you remember, Nexus 5 was first spotted in a promotional video last year.

Earlier this year, rumours around Google’s premium lineup known as Android Silver spread like wildfire. It was speculated that Silver would replace Nexus. Moreover, at the Google I/O, the company spoke about Android One for the budget segment. So, obviously, it led to speculation that the budget ‘Droids would fall under the One segment while the expensive, premium lineup of device will be branded Android Silver, with Nexus killed off.

But just then there were reports about HTC ‘s Nexus tablet. A 9-inch Nexus tablet codenamed Volantis popped up. We got more evidence that the Nexus programme is not going anywhere, from the company itself.  Google’s Dave Burke, the head of Android engineering and the Nexus programme had disclosed the company plans to keep building Nexus phones.  “We are still invested in Nexus. People have been commenting about Nexus because there is something else and they think that means the end of Nexus. That is the totally wrong conclusion to make,” he said.

Whether the Nexus programme survives the cut or not, we are surely in for some new hardware, as Google prepares to release Android’s L version in the fall.

Mercedes-Benz India sales up 25% in first half

The flagship S-Class sedan, the ML-Class SUV and the NGC (new generation cars) portfolio pushed the growth

New Delhi: German luxury car maker Mercedes-Benz on Monday reported a 25% growth in its India sales for the first half of 2014 at 4,717 units. 

The flagship S-Class sedan, the ML-Class SUV (sports utility vehicle) and the NGC (new generation cars) portfolio, which comprises the A-Class and B-Class, contributed significantly to this growth, the company said in a statement. 

Mercedes-Benz India managing director and chief executive officer Eberhard Kern said: “The first six months of sales growth reaffirms Mercedes-Benz India’s strong brand premium and competitive edge in terms of offering continuous product innovations...a benchmark production facility, extending an enriching after-sales experience and strengthening its qualitative network presence.” 

“With some of the most fascinating products lined up in the remaining two quarters, including the much awaited GLA-Class, Mercedes-Benz is all set for another year of strong growth,” he added.

 The company said that while the C-Class and the E-Class luxury sedans remain top sellers, the AMGs range continues to grow in the performance segment it created.

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Chinese smartphone OnePlus One to hit Indian market soon

Zee Media Bureau/Vibhuti Jaitly 

New Delhi: Chinese smartphone brand OnePlus is set to enter the booming Indian mobile market. There are already many Chinese brands such as Xiaom, Lenovo, ZTE, Gionee, Oppo and few others, that are eyeing the growing Indian handset market and have been received quite well by the people.
OnePlus will launch its smartphone in India but the company hasn't revealed the price and date yet. Rumour has it that the phone will come at a competitive price tag. The smartphone is already retailing in the US where it is priced at $299 for 16GB and $349 for 64GB.
In India, the 16GB smartphone, when launched, could be priced under Rs 20,000 which would put it directly against the Xiaomi Mi 3. Considering there are no 64GB Android phones in the Indian market, the consumers can only expect the 16GB model that will hit the Indian stores.
The smartphone sports a big 5.5-inch LTPS IPS display having Gorilla Glass 3 protection. It has a 13-megapixel rear camera that offers a shutter speed of 0.3-seconds and a 5-megapixel front camera. 
The phone has the latest Android 4.4 KitKat software. The phone is powered by the quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 clocked at 2.5GHz with Adreno 330 GPU.

Xiaomi, China's 'Apple-like' smartphone maker, to take on Samsung & Micromax in India 

Innovation distinguishes a leader from a follower — Steve JobsOn Tuesday, around the time some 100,000 pre-registered Indian consumers were going berserk trying to get their orders through for Xiaomi's Mi 3 platform on e-commerce local heavyweight Flipkart's website, the Chinese budget handset maker was living up to its image of the Apple of the East back in Beijing.

A plush event to launch the flagship smartphone Mi 4 at which founder, chairman and CEO Jun Lei was clad like the late Steve Jobs, in the iconic black top and blue jeans, had many things common with an Apple launch gig — including the celebrated 'one more thing...' slide that the Cupertino, California-headquartered cult handset maker has been accustomed to unveiling in the run up to a product launch.The reliance on Apple imagery pretty much ended there, though. Especially when Jun didn't leave anyone guessing as to who he was targeting with the Mi 4 (pronounced as me 4) launch. "Our product really is better than the iPhone," Reuters quoted Jun as saying. "Even our white colour [phone] is whiter," he joked.If that wasn't enough, vice-president Hugo Barra, Xiaomi's prize catch from Google who heads its global business and is leading the charge into emerging markets, let on that he was "sick and tired" of the Chinese handset maker (pronounced as Shao-mee) being labelled an Apple copycat. The Mi 4 (16 GB) is priced at $320 in China, against $854 for the iPhone 5s which debuted there early this year.
The Apple halo certainly works — especially when the promise is an iPhone-like product at much less than half the price. Some 10,000 Indian consumers who succeeded in wrapping their hands around the Mi 3 earlier this week certainly felt it was worth the wait — and the money. (The Mi 4's base model is more expensive than the Mi 3 by roughly Rs 5,500, has a superior camera, higher RAM and a better processor and screen resolution.)
Priced at just under Rs 14,000 and loaded with top-end features that rivals are offering at over three times that price, the frenzied demand for the Mi 3 with its Apple-like interface led the to the Flipkart website (capable of handling 3 million customers daily) crashing.Twitter was abuzz. Newspapers headlined the event (the online sale binge and the website crash) and buyers talked about it. "I was lucky I got it. At that price, it is a great product," says Chander Sharma, 38, a Delhi-based private sector executive."We are super-excited," says Manu Jain, Xiaomi India head. Adds Michael Adnani, vice-president, retail, Flipkart: "We are working with Xiaomi to ensure that the purchase experience lives up to our promise."Creating A BuzzThe hype and buzz sit nicely on Xiaomi, a four-year-old Chinese company that has seen a meteoric rise and is now hailed as the world's fastest growing handset vendor. Valued at over $10 billion, it is already the sixth largest smartphone vendor globally. And it harbours big ambitions — to sell 68 million handsets in 2014 and 100 million in 2015. In 2013 it sold 18.7 million. Business Insider calls it the next Samsung.A few days ago, Samsung reported disappointing earnings and shrinking margins globally for the second quarter of 2014, partly due to competitors like Xiaomi. In a price-sensitive market like India, experts expect the leaders — volume players like Samsung and desi brand Micromax — to get hit the most by Xiaomi's India thrust. If Apple is in Xiaomi's cross hairs in China — where in 2013, it overtook the iPhone maker — in emerging markets like India where the American handset maker has still to make an all-out assault, the Mi 3 maker hopes to get a head start on the real McCoy.The strategy is clear-cut: package the product like Apple, offer high-end features to rival not just Apple but other high-end smartphones on memory, storage, battery et al — and, best of all, price the product at audacious levels.Xiaomi's calling card clearly is that "we'll give you an Apple-like phone at a fraction of the price".From product design to packaging, Xiaomi has copied Apple's playbook page by page. Like Apple, its zany marketing ploys — online-only retail and word-of-mouth no-advertising strategy — stand out.If Apple's strategy is to build an exclusive premium product, price it high and build an entire ecosystem, like iTunes, around it to keep customers hooked, Xiaomi too wants to do most of that — expect that it wants to be unabashedly mass market. If Apple's strategy is to build an exclusive premium product, price it high and build an entire ecosystem, like iTunes, around it to keep customers hooked, Xiaomi too wants to do most of that — expect that it wants to be unabashedly mass market. Xiaomi wants to combine quality with quantity, operate on wafer-thin margins, use consumer feedback to constantly upgrade its product and offer an array of apps and services around its products to keep customers hooked. Like, as Jun suggested, the Amazon Kindle which is priced at near cost and monetizes with volumes and other services and products it sells. China, the world's most efficient factory, wants to move up the value chain. Its government is pushing its companies to think brand and innovation, so far scarce in China.China, the world's most efficient factory, wants to move up the value chain. Its government is pushing its companies to think brand and innovation, so far scarce in China. From automobiles to consumer electronics, companies like Geely (which audaciously acquired Volvo of Sweden) and Lenovo (which bought IBM's desktop and server business) are snapping up established global brands to play the brand game. Xiaomi is perhaps the purest homegrown effort in that direction.From automobiles to consumer electronics, companies like Geely (which audaciously acquired Volvo of Sweden) and Lenovo (which bought IBM's desktop and server business) are snapping up established global brands to play the brand game. Xiaomi is perhaps the purest homegrown effort in that direction. 

Harley-Davidson Project Livewire will feature in the new ‘Avengers’ movie

Scarlett Johansson will be playing Natasha Romanoff, a.k.a. The Black Widow in the new Avengers: Age of Ultron movie. She will be seen riding Harley Davidson’s first ever electric bike, the Project Livewire, on screen. Now, cast an actress like Johansson in a movie, give her an appealing name like ‘Natasha’, and if that wasn’t enough, make her ride a bike called ‘Livewire’. Men would be climbing barbed wires to witness this particular scene in the movie.So apparently The Black Widow will be seen riding this new gen Harley in an epic scene which will also feature Captain America. Harley-Davidson confirmed this in an announcement they made at the San Diego Comic-Con. Along-with the Project Livewire the Street-750 will also play a part in the movie.

“Our partnership with Marvel continues to provide thrilling platforms to showcase our latest innovations to existing and new fans of the brand,” said Dino Bernacchi, Harley’s director of U.S. marketing, in a statement. “Not one, but two bikes will be featured in Avengers: Age of Ultron.”The new movie also features Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark/Iron Man; Chris Hemsworth as Thor; Mark Ruffalo as Hulk; Chris Evans as Captain America; Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye; and Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury.

Aston Martin confirms bespoke Super Saloon for Middle East

Luxury supercar maker Aston Martin has confirmed a bespoke product programme for a new super saloon that will see the revival of the Lagonda nameplate in a strictly limited series. As has traditionally been the case, the Lagonda badge will once again sit on a luxurious and exclusive super saloon. The luxury super saloon revives the Lagonda ethos of ‘the finest of fast cars’ and will be offered exclusively in the Middle East, as a result of specific market demand.
The return of Lagonda follows in the wake of other headline-grabbing projects such as the One-77 hypercar, V12 Zagato and last year’s CC100 Speedster Concept – then seen as the ultimate Q by Aston Martin car – which started out simply as a centenary celebration design concept and, as a result of exceptional demand, later turned into two customer commissions.
Based on the brand’s existing flexible VH architecture, the new car draws inspiration from the highly sought-after William Towns-designed Lagonda of 1976 and features many of the same engineering techniques seen in modern Aston Martin sports cars such as the use of carbon fibre in the body panels.The new super saloon will be offered for sale by invitation only and, while precise pricing details remain confidential, the asking price will be commensurate with the car’s exclusivity, quality and luxurious nature.
Expressing his views on the new upcoming Lagonda, Aston Martin Design Director Marek Reichman said, “The debut of this luxury super saloon in the Middle East market will be an exciting moment not only for Aston Martin, but for discerning customers who are seeking the ultimate in luxury and personalisation.”
“The new model, like its exclusive siblings the One-77 and V12 Zagato, has been created as a piece of exceptional automotive art. It has been designed and developed entirely in keeping with the spirit and ethos of previous Lagonda super saloons – notably the William Towns Lagonda – and as a tribute to this car it proudly bears the Lagonda nameplate.”
The only question remains: Why just the Middle East? We are pretty sure there are non-oil digger billionaires who would be happy to buy the Lagonda. What do you think? Share your thoughts and comments below.

New Cars to Be Launched in August 2014

Here's a list of cars that are expected to be launched in August 2014:

1. Audi A3 Sedan

To be priced around Rs. 25 lakh, the A3 compact sedan will be Audi's most affordable vehicle in India. The car made its Indian debut at the 2014 Delhi Auto Expo in February, while media drives were conducted earlier this month. Though there's no direct competitor for the A3 for now, it will find competition in the upcoming Mercedes-Benz CLA Class. Also if the car is priced competitively, it will eat into the sales of D2 segment cars like Honda Accord, Volkswagen Passat, Toyota Camry, Hyundai Sonata, Skoda Superb, etc.

Though the A3 will initially be launched in the sedan avatar, rumour has it that the company is considering bringing in the hatchback and sportback version as well. The compact sedan will be offered with two engine options: the 1.8-litre TFSI petrol and the 2.0-litre TDI diesel, mated to a 6-speed S-tronic dual-clutch transmission.

Launch: August 7, 2014

Expected Price: Around Rs. 25 lakh

2. 2014 Fiat Punto Evo

Fiat India's flagship hatchback, the Punto is now all set to receive a major mid-life makeover. While there are no mechanical upgrades, the car has received several cosmetic changes that give it a fresh look. The front fascia of the new Punto Evo looks has taken its inspiration from the Avventura Concept showcased at the 2014 Auto Expo. It gets gets new blacked out headlamps, a rounded corned rectangular shaped grille, a revised bumper with trapezoidal shaped fog lamp with chrome-lined housing. The side profile of the updated Punto remains almost unchanged, though the new set of alloy wheels give it a sporty appeal.

Launch: First half of August

Expected Price: Rs. 4.5 lakh - R 6.5 lakhs.

3.Tata Zest

The Tata Zest is undoubtedly one of the most awaited vehicles of the year since it is the first from Tata's new-breed of global cars. What makes it an even more special car is the fact that it will enter the country's most competitive segment, the entry-level sedan, which already has some really capable cars like Maruti Swift Dzire, Hyundai Xcent and Honda Amaze. The Zest will be made available with two engine options : the 1.2-litre Revotron petrol 84bhp, 140Nm and 1.3-litre multijet diesel 89bhp, 200Nm.

Launch: Second or Third Week of August

Expected Price: Rs. 4.75 lakh - Rs. 7.50 lakh

4. New 2014 Hyudai i20

Hyundai's next new product for India is expected to be the next-generation i20, which has been spotted several times during its test-runs in India. The car is expected to make its debut in India in August 2014, even before its unveiling at the 2014 Paris Motor Show.

The spy shots suggest a host of fresh elements - a much better side profile with more synchronized Fluidic design, brake lights with LED elements, differently designed air-dams, swept back headlamps and new ORVMs, which give it an entirely new design. The rear profile too will receive 'boomerang' shaped tail lights. There could be a few cosmetic changes inside the cabin as well.

Launch: August-September 2014

Expected Price: Rs. 4.80 lakh - Rs. 8.00 lakh

Lenovo K920 Vibe Z2 Pro Specifications Confirmed Ahead of August 5 Launch

Lenovo had unveiled its latest flagship, the K920, at the Mobile Asia Expo in Shanghai, last month. The company has now announced August 5 launch date, along with the full specifications of the device, which will be sold as the Vibe Z2 Pro.
Lenovo's Chief Marketing Officer for China, Arthur Wei, on Friday posted the specifications along with a selfie showing of the the devices' back, on his Weibo account. The pricing and availability of the Lenovo K920 is expected to be revealed at the launch.
According to Wei's post, the dual-SIM Lenovo K920 is said to be the successor of Lenovo's flagship Vibe Z and will be sold as Lenovo Vibe Z2 Pro. It runs Android 4.4 KitKat with Lenovo's Vibe UI 2.0 on top.
The Lenovo Vibe Z reached the Indian market earlier this year, and was launched at Rs. 35,999. The smartphone at launch ran Android 4.3 Jelly Bean out-of-the-box.
The Lenovo Vibe Z2 Pro of K920 will feature a large 6-inch QHD (1440x2560 pixel) display. It will pack a 2.5GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 processor coupled with 3GB of RAM. Front camera on the device will be 16-megapixel with dual-LED flash and optical image stabilization, while secondary front facing camera will be 5-megapixel.
Internal storage on the device is listed for 32GB, but Wei didn't mention any microSD card expandability. The Lenovo K920 is also said to come with 4G LTE support. The large screen smartphone will have a massive 4000mAh battery, and measures 156x81.3x7.7mm.
Last month, a Chinese publication had listed the specifications of the Lenovo K920, which included almost same specifications as revealed by Lenovo's Chief Marketing Officer.

Is India Ready For Electric and Hybrid Vehicles?

After venturing into the electric hybrid segment in India, BMW is now getting ready to bring second its offering in this segment. The company intends to bring the i8 plug-in hybrid supercar to India by the end of this year. Unveiled earlier this year at the 2014 Delhi Auto Expo in Greater Noida, the vehicle will be brought to India as a completely built unit (CBU). The electric-hybrid segment in India has scant offerings since India doesn't respond too well to such vehicles, primarily due to the lack of proper infrastructure.Since they are brought to India via the CBU route, such vehicles end up attracting heavy excise duty that consequently leads to a hefty price tag. Launched yesterday in India, BMW 7 Series ActiveHybrid has been priced at Rs. 1.35 crores. (ex-showroom, Delhi). Even low priced electric vehicles, like Mahindra Reva e2odo not find many takers; Toyota also offers the Prius and Camry hybrid in India. Despite a handful of good products, the sales of electric-hybrid vehicles are almost non-existent in the domestic market. However, efforts are still being made to encourage the sales of electric and hybrid vehicles in India.

Government of India is chalking out a scheme to encourage sales of EVs and hybrid vehicles in India, which would involve a colossal investment of Rs.s. 14,000 crore.The subsidy will be a proportion between the cost of fossil fuel required for running a car as against that of an electric or hybrid vehicle. The Department of Heavy Industry has suggested that owners of pure electric vehicles should get a maximum subsidy of 35 per cent, while customers who opt for hybrid vehicles that can run up to 15kms at one go should get benefit of 25 per cent.

The Government of Delhi is also contemplating offering a subsidy to those who wish to switch to electric cars by adding a special conversion kit in their car. For the ease of customers, government is also mulling the installation of public charging points. However, no official announcement has been made about this subsidy yet since it is still in a nascent stage.

Dell, BlackBerry downplay threat from Apple-IBM alliance

Toronto: IBM Corp`s recent move to partner with Apple Inc to sell iPhones and iPads loaded with corporate applications has excited investors in both companies, but two rivals say they are unperturbed for now. 
Top executives at Dell and BlackBerry Ltd scoffed at the threat posed by the alliance this week, arguing the tie-up is unlikely to derail the efforts of their own companies to re-invent themselves.
"I do not think that we take the Apple-IBM tie-up terribly seriously. I think it just made a good press release," John Swainson, who heads Dell`s global software business, said in an interview with Reuters in Toronto on Thursday. 
PC maker Dell and smartphone maker BlackBerry are in the midst of reshaping their companies around software and services, as the needs of their big corporate clients morph. 
Swainson, who spent over two decades in senior roles at IBM, said, "I have some trouble understanding how IBM reps are going to really help Apple very much in terms of introducing devices into their accounts. I mean candidly, they weren`t very good at doing it when it was IBM-logoed products, so I do not get how introducing Apple-logoed stuff is going to be much better."
While conceding that Apple products hold more allure, Swainson said they lack the depth of security features that many large business clients like banks covet.
IBM and Apple could not immediately be reached for comment.
BlackBerry Chief Executive John Chen similarly downplayed the threat of the alliance in an interview with the Financial Times on Thursday, likening the tie-up to when "two elephants start dancing." 
NO COMMENT ON POSSIBLE ALLIANCE
Dell and BlackBerry declined to discuss whether they would consider teaming up, but some analysts, bankers and others have argued in the past that a partnership between the two underdogs potentially made sense.
Texas-based Dell has a huge sales team, vast network of business clients and is focused on growing its security and device management capabilities, long strong suits for BlackBerry.
The Canadian company is building on its heritage by adding capabilities to manage not just BlackBerry, but iOS-, Android- and Windows-based devices on its infrastructure. 
"Dell`s always been in a partnership-driven model. As Dell has evolved it has focused on some pieces of the equation, but not all," said Swainson, adding that the need to broaden partnerships is growing, but declining comment on a potential tie-up with BlackBerry.
Chen told the Financial Times that BlackBerry was in early discussions with some companies about working together in parts of the enterprise market, but did not name them.
Whether a BlackBerry-Dell partnership will materialize is unclear for now.
Initial speculation about a tie-up between the two began a year ago, when both players were exploring buyouts. At the time, one source told Reuters that BlackBerry had held talks with private equity firm Silver Lake Partners about collaboration in enterprise computing. 
Silver Lake, along with Dell`s founder, Michael Dell, were at the time in the midst of taking Dell private. 
At the time, the source said if the buyout succeeded, one option was a collaboration with BlackBerry in mobile computing.
Both Swainson and Chen were senior advisors with Silver Lake before moving into their roles with Dell and BlackBerry.
BlackBerry, under the leadership of Chen, has been busy forging alliances and earlier this week announced it was going to allow third-parties to host its device management services. 

Top executives at Dell and BlackBerry Ltd scoffed at the threat posed by the alliance this week, arguing the tie-up is unlikely to derail the efforts of their own companies to re-invent themselves.
"I do not think that we take the Apple-IBM tie-up terribly seriously. I think it just made a good press release," John Swainson, who heads Dell`s global software business, said in an interview with Reuters in Toronto on Thursday. 
PC maker Dell and smartphone maker BlackBerry are in the midst of reshaping their companies around software and services, as the needs of their big corporate clients morph. 
Swainson, who spent over two decades in senior roles at IBM, said, "I have some trouble understanding how IBM reps are going to really help Apple very much in terms of introducing devices into their accounts. I mean candidly, they weren`t very good at doing it when it was IBM-logoed products, so I do not get how introducing Apple-logoed stuff is going to be much better."
While conceding that Apple products hold more allure, Swainson said they lack the depth of security features that many large business clients like banks covet.
IBM and Apple could not immediately be reached for comment.
BlackBerry Chief Executive John Chen similarly downplayed the threat of the alliance in an interview with the Financial Times on Thursday, likening the tie-up to when "two elephants start dancing." 
NO COMMENT ON POSSIBLE ALLIANCE
Dell and BlackBerry declined to discuss whether they would consider teaming up, but some analysts, bankers and others have argued in the past that a partnership between the two underdogs potentially made sense.
Texas-based Dell has a huge sales team, vast network of business clients and is focused on growing its security and device management capabilities, long strong suits for BlackBerry.
The Canadian company is building on its heritage by adding capabilities to manage not just BlackBerry, but iOS-, Android- and Windows-based devices on its infrastructure. 
"Dell`s always been in a partnership-driven model. As Dell has evolved it has focused on some pieces of the equation, but not all," said Swainson, adding that the need to broaden partnerships is growing, but declining comment on a potential tie-up with BlackBerry.
Chen told the Financial Times that BlackBerry was in early discussions with some companies about working together in parts of the enterprise market, but did not name them.
Whether a BlackBerry-Dell partnership will materialize is unclear for now.
Initial speculation about a tie-up between the two began a year ago, when both players were exploring buyouts. At the time, one source told Reuters that BlackBerry had held talks with private equity firm Silver Lake Partners about collaboration in enterprise computing. 
Silver Lake, along with Dell`s founder, Michael Dell, were at the time in the midst of taking Dell private. 
At the time, the source said if the buyout succeeded, one option was a collaboration with BlackBerry in mobile computing.
Both Swainson and Chen were senior advisors with Silver Lake before moving into their roles with Dell and BlackBerry.
BlackBerry, under the leadership of Chen, has been busy forging alliances and earlier this week announced it was going to allow third-parties to host its device management services. 

Hot launches: Smartphones of July 2014

Stunning design and build

The Moto clan has set out some cut-throat competition in the mobile space, especially India. When we just thought how difficult it could be to dethrone the Moto devices, two companies are already in line to show they can offer more. The new Chinese entrant Xiaomi along with Asus has set the budget market on fire, while LG has finally launched its flagship in the country. Here’s a quick look at the hot launches for July.

LG G3

Following all the other leading phone makers, LG has finally launched its flagship smartphone G3 in India. At Rs 47,990, the LG G3 is a good pick as far as flagship Androids go. It has a rock-solid feature set backed up by very good design and build quality which makes it highly recommendable. The 2K display appears to be over-hyped, but the premium-looking device gets an excellent camera and 4G support. Read the complete LG G3 review. The 16GB variant of G3 is priced at Rs 47,990 while the 32GB model costs Rs 50,990. However, you can get it online for a price lesser by Rs 1,000. The G3 India launch offer also includes Rs 5,000 discount on the company’s all-new Android Wear-based G Watch.

LG G3 now in India

 Xiaomi Mi 3

Xiaomi made a grand entry into the Indian market with the Mi 3 earlier this month. In fact, its first batch of devices sold within an hour. The Mi 3 could be the company’s bestselling device yet and will go head-to-head with the high-end Android clan. At just Rs 13,999, it packs a Snapdragon 800, which is by far the cheapest high-end phone available in the market. It will compete with the likes of the Nexus 5, Galaxy S4, Xperia Z at nearly half the price. The quad-core processor has been being clocked at 2.3GHz and the chipset also has an Adreno 330 GPU. It includes 2GB of RAM, which is good enough to handle all those apps and services, running on the custom MiUI OS.

The hardware buttons on the right edge stick out far from the body

Xiaomi has released some benchmarks claiming that the Mi 3 is faster than some devices from big brands such as the  Samsung Galaxy S4 and HTC One.  It comes with a 13-megapixel rear snapper and a 2-megapixel front shooter for selfies. Besides, it features some other standard features such as dual LED flash, f/2.2 aperture and 28mm wide angle lens. The Mi-3 comes with a pretty impressive 3,050mAh battery. Read our complete Xiaomi Mi 3 review.

Xiaomi Redmi 1S, Redmi Note

Along with the Mi 3,  Xiaomi has also launched the Redmi 1S, a low-end entry level model priced at Rs 6,999, and the slightly expensive Redmi Note phablet priced at Rs 9,999. The Redmi 1S sports a 4.7-inch 720p IPS display, and the other features include 1.6GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 quad-core processor coupled with 1GB RAM, 16GB onboard storage, microSD card slotand a 2000mAh battery. It runs Android 4.3 Jelly Bean with Xiaomi’s MIUI layer on top. One can also expect an 8MP rear shooter and a 1.6MP front camera.

Xiaomi’s hot-seller RedMi Note comes to India

The Note has a larger 5.5-inch 720p IPS display and boasts of 1.7GHz MediaTek MT6592 octa-core processor. Other specs include 8GB onboard storage, microSD card slot up to 32GB, 3MP rear camera, 5MP front shooter for selfies and 3100mAh battery.

Asus Zenfone series

Earlier this month, Asus launched a series of new smartphones with varying screen sizes of  4, 4.5, 5 and 6 inches. The frontrunner in Asus’ latest smartphone range is a 6-inch phablet. It runs on a 2GHz Intel Atom dual-core processor, which Asus claims is faster than quad-core Cortex A7 class ARM processors. It features a decent 1280×720 pixel IPS display, 13MP rear camera with f/2.0 aperture and a 2MP front camera for video calls and self shots. It is available in 8GB, 16GB and 32GB variants, expandable up to 64GB.

Sitting in between the higher-end Zenfone 6 and low-end Zenfone 4 is the dual-SIM Zenfone 5, which features a 5-inch screen. The Zenfone 5 also has a 1280 x 720 pixel IPS display, but sports a 8MP rear camera. It also lacks the f/2.0 aperture for low light shots. There’s the standard 2MP camera for selfies and video calls. It runs on the same 2GHz Intel Atom dual-core processor as on the Zenfone 6, so it should be just as speedy. It’s available in both 8GB and 16GB versions and you can add up to 64GB with an microSD card. Read our Zenfone 5 review, to know more about the device.

Zenfone is available in varying screen sizes. The above image shows Zenfone 4.5

The youngest in the Zenfone family is the 4-inch and 4.5-inch Zenfone 4. The former has a screen resolution of 800×480 pixels, while the 4.5-inch model has a slightly higher 854×480 pixel resolution. It runs on a low-powered 1.2GHz Intel Atom dual-core processor, though it should be able to handle light web browsing and gaming with little effort. Both come with 1GB of RAM, and while the larger model has a 1750 mAh battery, the 4-inch model sports a 1600 mAh battery. It has a 5MP main camera and a 0.3MP front camera, and is available with 8GB storage.The larger phone has a 8MP front camera. Both are dual SIM phones and have 1 year’s warranty from Asus.

The 4-inch Zenfone 4 has been priced from Rs 5,999, while the 4.5-inch model has a price tag of Rs 7,499. The Zenfone 5 will come in two variants – 8 GB and 16 GB models, with prices starting from Rs 9,999. Finally, the Zenfone 6 has been priced at Rs 16,999.