NokDroid

Nokia plans to launch its first Android based smartphone on February 24, according to a report of The Wall Street Journal. This is however not the first time that reports of a Nokia Android phone has surfaced. The Mobile Indian had earlier also reported about the Nokia X with Android operating system.

The Nokia X is expected to feature a 4-inch touchscreen display with 480x800 pixel resolution. Its design would be a simple marriage of the Nokia Asha and Nokia Lumia series models. Reports also suggest that the smartphone would be powered by quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 200 processor and 512 MB RAM. The Nokia X will be offered in dual-SIM and is expected to be priced under Rs 10,000 for India.

In terms of software, Nokia will obviously arm the phone with its exclusive apps like HERE Maps, Nokia Music along with other popular apps such as WhatsApp, Facebook and Twitter. It would be interesting to see if Nokia has taken inspiration from Amazon who uses a stripped down Android version in its Kindle series devices. As of now, there is no clarity whether the Nokia X Normandy would be like any other average Android smartphone or the one with software customisations tailored by Nokia.

Hewlett-Packard (HP) will launch two voice calling tablets with Android operating system in India on February 13.

The company has sent invitations to media groups regarding the same as well. Though officially HP has not announced their prices as of now, according to media reports, the tablets are expected to be priced below Rs 20,000. The tablets are part of HP's VoiceTab series and are named as HP Slate6 VoiceTab and HP Slate7 VoiceTab.

As the name suggests, the HP Slate6 VoiceTab has a 6 inch touchscreen while the HP Slate6 VoiceTab has a 7 inch screen. Also, both the devices come with voice calling feature - they are equipped with a 3G Dual SIM with Dual Standby feature.

Moreover, both the Slate 6 and Slate 7 are to come with quad core processors and Android operating system. The tablets are said to have front-firing stereo speakers, high definition front and rear camera, and pixilated, scratch-resistant back cover.

Not much other these above mentioned features about the devices are known right now. The devices will make their global debut on Thursday this week in New Delhi and soon after that we will come out with our complete report on both the devices so till then stay tuned.

With PC sales slowing down day by day, computer makers have now turned their attention to the smartphone and tablet market. Last year, Lenovo- another PC giant - jumped in the smartphone fray calling it a PC Plus segment. Thus HP's this smartphone and tablet push is not at all surprising. HP made a big bet on smartphone and tablet space by purchasing Palm (one of the first smartphone makers) in 2010, but soon exited the market after its WebOS based products failed to take off. Even before that HP had a line of smartphone under iPAQ brand name. Now both tablet and smartphone markets in India are quite crowded with MNC as well as Chinese and Indian players. So it would be interesting to see how HP prices these devices and what would be their features.

Budget smartphones might not attract as much attention as their high-end counterparts, but there is no denying that these devices are in massive demand, especially in markets like India. Motorola's Moto G is an attempt to grab buyers' attention by offering a number of features at an extremely reasonable price.

After a brief sabbatical, Motorola has returned to the Indian market with its Moto G smartphone, which is an affordable device for cost-conscious consumers worldwide. This phone was designed as part of Google's plan to focus on creating a distinctive lineup of devices for different markets. Now, with Lenovo recently acquiring Google's stake in Motorola Mobility, we don't know whether or not the company will stick with the same strategy.

Motorola underscored its plan to focus on emerging markets by unveiling the Moto G at a huge event in Sao Paulo, Brazil in November last year. The budget-friendly smartphone was supposed to have reached Indian shores by January 2014, and it's here after only a short delay. As promised, it comes at a decent price.

We got our hands on the black version of the Moto G (single-SIM). Does this low price come at the cost of performance?

Look and feel

The first thing that struck us about the Motorola Moto G was its novel packaging. When it came to our doorstep, we didn't realise that the sleek box hid a mobile phone inside. Amazingly everything from the device to the charger fits within this slim box.

The Moto G is a candybar phone. It doesn't have any contours - the design is very basic yet modern. When we first looked at the Moto G, we mistook it for the company's flagship Moto X.

The G looks like a replica of the Moto X (except for its size), which is not really a bad thing considering the premium look of its elder sibling. However, the Moto G is different in a few ways. It's definitely thicker, measuring 129.9x65.9x11.6mm compared to 129.3x65.3x10.4mm for the X. At 143 grams, the Moto G is also heavier than the Moto X (130 grams). However, we assume that for an average buyer in this price segment, thickness and weight of a smartphone are not the biggest concerns. The Moto G features curved edges that offer a good grip.

The Moto G's front panel is dominated by a 4.5-inch screen, which is only marginally smaller than 4.7-inch display found on the Moto X. The front panel features a black strip of glass around the screen that visually differentiates the plastic front and rear panels. Notably, the Moto G does not have any logo or branding on the front.

There's a 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera which to the left of the chrome earpiece. There are no soft-touch capacitive buttons on the front panel, a design touch that is commonly seen on the Nexus range of devices. It's worth pointing out that Google's Nexus 7 (2013) tablet's front panel also bears a lot of similarities to the Moto G. The new Nexus 7 features a glass strip around the screen, identical to the Moto G.

It seems Google wanted to align the industrial design of its hardware products. The Nexus line and Motorola's two recent phones do have a family resemblance that sets them apart from Samsung's and HTC's phones.

Motorola has also used a nano-coating on the Moto G that acts as light water repellent. This does not make the Moto water resistant, but it can protect the smartphone from light splashes of water, which is still an interesting touch for a smartphone at this price point.

The curved rear panel is made of a soft-touch polycarbonate, and is comfortable to hold. Yes, it sometimes gets badly smudged by fingerprints, but this is nothing that cannot be cleaned. The panel is removable even though the battery isn't. Motorola has announced that there will be accessories including rear shells and flip covers (both in seven colour options) and Grip Shells (in five colour options). This means that customers will have a choice of colours, something we generally see on Nokia's Lumia range.

The power and volume rocker buttons are placed on the right side of the Moto G, while the 3.5mm audio jack is on the top and the Micro-USB port is on the bottom panel. The placement of the physical buttons is fine and we had no problem reaching them even when we were not looking at the device. The Moto G's back houses a 5-megapixel camera with an LED flash with a speaker grille to its left. The Motorola logo is embossed just below the LED flash and is identical to the one found on the Moto X. Peel off the back panel and you can get to the SIM slot, which accepts a Micro-SIM. The unit we received was a single-SIM device, though Motorola has introduced a dual-SIM Moto G variant in India.

The Motorola Moto G has an overall solid build, though it does feel bit plasticky. Yes, it follows a tried and tested design rather than a radically new one, but it certainly has its own identity and there's no mistaking it for any other phone from any other company.

Screen

One of the biggest highlights of the Moto G is its 4.5-inch 720x1280-pixel IPS LCD, which works out to a density of 329 pixels per inch. Notably, the Moto G's screen is a bit sharper than Apple's iPhone 5s, which offers 326ppi.

Motorola has also used Corning Gorilla Glass 3 on the Moto G to protect it from scratches. It's worth pointing out that Gorilla Glass is usually found on premium devices priced at Rs. 30,000 and above.

The IPS LCD screen doesn't have the fullest colour reproduction like the HTC One and LG G2 or the deepest blacks like Samsung's high-end Galaxy smartphones (Galaxy S4 or Galaxy Note 3) with AMOLED screens do, but it is bright and colours are consistently vibrant. Thankfully the viewing angles are never a problem. The screen is not very reflective and visibility in bright sunlight was also acceptable. Further, the Moto G's 4.5-inch screen is fine for video playback and gaming.


Text on the Moto G is always crisp and clear.

There is no denying that many brands have launched smartphones with full-HD screens of late, but after using the Moto G for some time we felt that 329ppi is more than enough for a screen of this size. Motola has definitely upped the ante for phones in this price bracket.

Camera

The Moto G sports a 5-megapixel rear camera accompanied by an LED flash, and also has a 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera. At this price point, we didn't expect a higher megapixel count. The camera delivers decent but uninspiring shots in good lighting conditions.

We tested the Moto G's rear camera both outdoors and indoors in a variety of lighting conditions and found that images taken outdoors during daylight came out well, though they were a little over-saturated and we could detect a little bit of noise at the edges. You can notice that detail is lacking if you zoom in to a photo taken with a Moto G. Other than that, we found the quality of images taken in sufficient light to be satisfactory. However, the same could not be said for indoor and low-light shots. Photos taken in artificial light (without using the LED flash) are not very impressive, as background noise does tend to creep in.


The Moto G's rear camera can be set to take 5-megapixel shots in the 4:3 aspect ratio, while 16:9 shots will come out at 3.8 megapixels.

The Moto G's camera app is not stock and adds a bit of flavour the otherwise vanilla OS. Motorola's camera app has a circular control bar that pops out from the left of the screen when tapped. Additional features include 4X digital zoom, slow motion video, burst mode, auto HDR mode, Panorama and tap to focus. The Moto G's burst mode allows users to take up to 99 shots at once; users just need to long-press the camera soft key on the screen to start shooting. Notably, there are no ISO and exposure control settings on the Moto G.


The 1.3-megapixel front facing camera can be used for selfies and video chats. We found that videos and images captured indoors or even outdoors with this camera were a bit grainy.

We would have liked a physical button for the camera as one has to rely on the soft key on the screen to click images.

Software/ Interface

When the Moto G reached our office, the device was running Android 4.3 out of the box. However, we soon encountered an alert that said "Please update your Moto G to Android's latest version (4.4.2)." Motorola had rolled out the Android 4.4.2 KitKat update for the Moto G ahead of schedule in December last year.


The Moto G with Android 4.4.2 KitKat is most updated smartphone in its price segment and offers a stock Android experience.

The Nexus 5 was the platform lead for Android 4.4 (KitKat) and the Moto G bears a lot of similarities to it in terms of software. Android 4.4 has a number of visual changes compared to Android 4.3 (Jelly Bean), including a new launcher that makes the interface even more minimalistic. The Moto G also has flatter design elements, more muted colours in the status icons, more transparency, and smoother transition animations.


We noticed a smooth flyaway animation on the Moto G, similar to the one seen on the Nexus 5, while moving between the app launcher and homescreen. The Moto G's app launcher features app icons and widgets; now due to the icons being larger, you'll see a grid of 4x5 instead of a 5x5.

The Moto G offers five customizable homescreens, and lots of widgets and apps classified into preloaded and downloadable categories. Notably, you cannot go beyond five homescreens, unlike with the Nexus 5.

Shortcuts for the dialler, Chrome browser, main menu, Messages and camera app remain visible when you swipe between homescreens. Notifications in the tray can be expanded with a two-finger pull gesture, and there are buttons for clearing all notifications and showing the quick settings shortcuts. These include toggles for Brightness, Settings, Wi-Fi, Network, Battery, Airplane Mode, Bluetooth, and Location settings. Unlike the Nexus 5, the Moto G does not have a quick Alarm clock shortcut.

Long-pressing on the Moto G's homescreen brings up options to change the wallpaper. A choice of still, live and custom wallpapers are now available under a single menu.

Another feature that gives the Moto G a clear advantage in the affordable smartphone segment is the voice guided search feature. This was also first seen on the Nexus 5. A user can initiate a voice search on the Moto G when it's unlocked by simply saying, 'OK Google.' However, it is only available when the language is set to US English.


The Moto G also includes a revamped Phone app that now automatically prioritises contacts based on who you talk to most often. The app includes a search bar, space for the most frequently called contacts and favourites, and shortcuts to the contact list, dialling pad, call history and settings.

The Moto G also features a new Photos app that allows viewing and editing of locally stored and Google+ images. The new Photos app features deeper integration with Google+ and can be used to tag photos.

The Email app on the Moto G has also been revamped, and it now displays pictures of contacts for emails. Navigation has been made identical to the Gmail app and you can swipe messages to delete them.

The Moto G also includes Google Drive, Keep, Play Games, Play Movies, Play Movies, Play Books, Play Newsstand and Quickoffice for creating and editing documents, spreadsheets and presentations. You can print documents through the Google Cloud Print plugin, or apps made by printer manufacturers.

Motorola preloads two other major apps on the Moto G. Motorola Migrate can help move the contents of an old Android phone to your new Moto G. Motorola Assist allows users to silence the device while you're sleeping or driving. We tried it out, and noted that the app automatically sent a text message to callers in the time we told it we were busy.

Performance/ Battery Life

The Moto G is powered by 1.2GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 processor with Adreno 305 graphics and 1GB of RAM onboard. The Moto G comes in two storage capacities: 8GB and 16GB, and does not support expandable storage. We received an 8GB unit, of which only 5.5GB was user-accessible.

Even though the Moto G falls in the budget smartphone segment, the limited storage on the device is definitely a limiting factor. Google is offering 50GB of free Google Drive storage for two years for every Moto G buyer, which is additional to the standard 15GB available to every Google account user. However, cloud storage is no substitute for physical storage, especially since budget users won't have very expensive data plans.

The Moto G definitely ups the ante in terms of innards. Brands such as Micromax and Xolo, which have come to dominate the sub-Rs. 15,000 segment, usually use MediaTek chipsets.

The overall experience of navigating through the Moto G's interface was extremely impressive, thanks to all the power under its hood, and the fact that the UI is devoid of unnecessary bells and whistles such as transition effects. We did not experience any lag at all while launching apps, playing light games, scrolling through web pages and switching between apps on the Moto G.

With its quad-core processor running under the hood, the Moto G manages to chug along just fine. We multi-tasked all day, which included chatting via WhatsApp and Hangouts, browsing the Web and playing games like Temple Run 2 and Plants vs. Zombies 2 without any trouble. In day to day activities the Moto G worked smoothly and we were never left wanting for more power - that is until we tried a few heavy games like Shadow Gun and Dead Trigger.

The clarity of the Moto G's loudspeaker is good, but isn't too loud and breaks at its highest volume. Motorola does not supply any headphones in the Moto G box, which is a surprising omission.

The Moto G's 4.5-inch IPS LCD HD screen is good for movies and videos. We were impressed with the colour reproduction and viewing angles on the Moto G.

Call quality on the Moto G was impressive and the device was able to latch on to cellular networks even in weak signal areas, which came in handy at times. Our tests were performed on a single-SIM model, although Motorola will be selling the dual-SIM version here.

The Moto G scored well in our benchmark tests. We recorded a score of 11,874 in AnTuTu, which was right behind the Nexus 4 and Samsung Galaxy S III. Quadrant gave us a score of 8,569 which is ahead of HTC's flagship smartphone from two years ago, the One X. On the graphics front, the Moto G remarkably reached 11 frames per second in the GFXbench test, and 5629 in the 3DMark Ice Storm Extreme run-through.

The Moto G packs a 2070mAh battery which is non-removable and can deliver a mixed usage time of up to 24 hours, according to Motorola. We were able to get about a day (22 hours) of normal usage on the Moto G, which consisted of Web browsing and watching videos on YouTube, a few calls lasting for about an hour, with Wi-Fi switched on, the display set to auto brightness, and the usual notifications for the messages, emails, Facebook, Hike and WhatsApp enabled.

With heavy usage, which included calls lasting for about two hours, 3G turned on all the time, casual photography and watching a movie for around two hours, an hour of casual gaming (Temple Run 2 and Dead Trigger), and notifications enabled, the device lasted for about 12-13 hours, which was not bad.

In our video loop rundown test, the Moto G was able to able to deliver 8 hours and 30 minutes of battery life.

Verdict

What makes the Moto G special is the fact that it is one of a very small number of devices running the latest version of Android, and one of the only ones priced this low to be doing so.

The Moto G scores heavily in terms of style and substance, and our only major quibbles are the non-expandable storage and below-par camera performance. The 4.5-inch HD screen is wide, and yet the phone is small enough to hold in one hand and type easily with a thumb. Most of all, praise be, the Moto G is also extremely affordable.

This phone is definitely aimed at price-conscious Indian smartphone buyers, and its array of colourful back shells will attract the style-conscious as well. Yes, it isn't perfect, but it isn't meant to compete against the likes of the Samsung Galaxy S4, HTC One or LG G2. At its price, we're willing to overlook its faults.

The Moto G is available in two variants: 8GB for Rs. 12,499 and 16GB for Rs. 13,999. At this price point, no other phones offer an experience that is as good, so in that sense the Moto G is a game changer. If you have your eyes set on the Moto G, we recommend you spend the extra bucks and get the 16GB version, given the limited user accessible storage available in the 8GB version. Our only other complaint with the Moto G is the average camera, but the only phone that offers a better camera in the same price bracket is the Nokia Lumia 720, so the newest Motorola smartphone is a winner overall.

Budget Android phones have had a bad reputation for years. They're usually flimsy, slow, ugly, and sold by relatively unknown brands. But could all that be changing now? It seems as though high-end components are popping up in low-priced phones, construction quality has improved by leaps and bounds, and most of these companies have been around for long enough to be considered familiar.

Lava is one such company, and its latest product might actually change people's perceptions of what a mid-budget Android phone can be. It isn't bad looking at all, and even though the iPhone-inspired styling is a bit obvious, it has a few unique touches. In terms of specifications, the full-HD 1080p screen is the star of the show. As far as construction goes, you probably wouldn't be able to tell at first glance that this is not a high-priced phone. In short, it's one of a new breed of budget Android devices - ones that are trying very seriously to attract customers who wouldn't ordinarily even think of giving them a second look.


Look and feel

There's no denying the fact that the Iris Pro 30 is an iPhone lookalike. Everything from the proportions to the curves to the band around its sides is reminiscent of the design that was the hallmark of Apple's iconic iPhone 4 and 4S, although its physical size is more like the iPhone 5 and 5s. Where the Iris stands apart is in its use of materials and proportions. The rear panel is entirely made of plastic, which looks textured but is smooth to the touch. The Iris is also thinner and lighter, but taller and wider, to accommodate a larger screen.

The front face is almost entirely black. You can clearly see the speaker grille and camera on top, but the capacitive buttons below the screen are invisible till you touch the spaces where they should be. The metallic rim around the edge is a gunmetal colour, rather than stainless steel. You'll find the power/lock and volume rocker on the right edge, a 3.5mm headset jack on the top, and a Micro-USB port on the bottom. Other than that, there are no visible buttons, flaps or ports.


The rear cover is thankfully free of garish branding. There's a subtle Iris Pro 30 logo right in the middle, and a more prominent Lava logo on the bottom. Even the cutouts for the camera lens, dual-LED flash and speaker grille are tastefully designed. We're also happy to note that the camera lens doesn't protrude from the back.

The cover peels off quite easily, but we're not sure how long the 12 tiny clasps around its edges will last. Beneath the cover, you can see the battery in a compartment by itself, but it isn't removable. One of the SIM card slots fits regular sized SIM cards while the other takes Micro-SIMs. The microSD card slot can be found right next to them. The slots aren't well labelled and each of them has a different mechanism - the larger SIM slot is designed such that cards can just be slid into it, whereas the other two have metal flaps that need to be raised. The Micro-SIM has to be slid into its slot's metal flap which then flips back down to lock, but the microSD card needs to be laid flat on the slot's bare metal prongs, after which the flap can be secured on top of it. The whole process is unnecessarily fiddly and time consuming.

Lava claims that the Iris Pro 30 is the lightest and slimmest phone in its category. We aren't sure how Lava defines this category, but the phone is definitely easy to hold and comfortable over long hours of use. It's almost a relief to hold a phone of this size again, and especially to type on a keyboard that isn't too wide -- too many phones these days come with screens larger than five inches, which makes them bulky and unwieldy.


Features, specifications and software

As impressive as the Iris Pro 30 looks on the outside, it's what's inside that counts. The processor is a 1.2GHz quad-core Mediatek MT6589 which is not exactly the newest kid on the block. It's over a year old, and we've encountered it in other budget phones that like to advertise themselves as quad-core. The processor has an integrated PowerVR Series5XT GPU along with logic for Wi-Fi n, Bluetooth 4.0, Miracast, FM radio and GPS.

There's 1GB of RAM and a paltry 4GB of storage space, of which 2.43GB is available to the user. This shockingly low figure is less than a quarter of what a phone in this segment should be equipped with. You can add a microSD card of your own, but even that is limited to 32GB. We're extremely disappointed, especially since Lava is trying to portray the Iris Pro 30 as a high-value product.


On the other hand, the 4.7-inch screen really is very good. Full-HD might be the current buzzword, but it isn't necessary on a screen of this size. Text is crisp and colours are vibrant. Lava tells us the screen is sourced from Sharp, and it uses a lamination technique to minimise space between the glass and the actual LCD substrate. Viewing angles are excellent and there's no discolouration at all even when you hold the phone nearly perpendicular to your line of sight. The screen is a huge part of what makes this phone feel like a premium product.

In terms of hardware, there isn't much else to talk about. Lava has wisely decided to focus on the Iris Pro 30's looks and a couple of software tricks that it has worked in. The phone runs stock Android 4.2.1 without any customisations save for a Lava Support app that lists the company's service centres sorted by state and city.

The four features that Lava is most proud of aren't apps, but settings. The first two relate to call handling: you can flip the phone over to silence it when it rings, and use the proximity sensor to automatically answer calls when you raise the phone to your ear. We wish there had been some kind of guide to finding and enabling these features - even the pocket-sized printed manual had no mention of them. It turns out that the flip-to-mute setting can be found in the General section of the Audio Profiles settings, while the automatic answer (and a similar automatic dial) feature is buried in the dialler app's own settings. We tried both, and results were hit-or-miss. The latter feature was less useful overall, since we found lifting a ringing phone to our ear less comfortable than simply hitting the Answer button. People with injuries or limited mobility might appreciate these features more.

The other two settings have to do with unlocking the phone when it wakes from sleep. In addition to the usual passcode and pattern unlock options, the Iris lets you use face and voice pattern recognition. Both options can be found in the Security section. To set up face recognition, you have to hold the phone such that the front camera can get a clear photo of you. The size and positioning are indicated by a circle of dots on screen. It takes about 10 seconds for the Iris to save (and presumably process) the image of your face. When waking the phone from sleep, it takes about two seconds for the camera to recognize your face.

We were surprised by the recognition accuracy. As long as your eyes and nose are visible, the software works. It wasn't fooled by glasses, and didn't false trigger at all with other people's faces. Our tests were conducted under good indoor lighting, so we can't be sure how well the feature will work at night. In any case, you can tap once to skip the recognition and use a passcode or pattern instead.


Voice pattern recognition was less successful. You need to record a multi-syllable phrase at least three times, but the software was easily fooled by rhymes and similar sounding words. This is more of a gimmick, since there really aren't that many situations in which unlocking a phone with a voice command is easier or quicker than tapping out a PIN.

Camera

The Iris Pro 30 has an 8-megapixel camera with a twin-LED flash. Lava tells us the camera is sourced from Samsung and has a backside illuminated (BSI) sensor which means it should be able to capture more detail and work better in low light. We put it to the test and were actually quite pleasantly surprised by the quality of images we were able to take in daylight. The details are a bit murky and there's definitely a lot of compression going on, but we found the images to be more than satisfactory for a phone in this price range.

The HDR setting also makes a marked difference. HDR images tend to be a little worse in terms of detail, so this only works well for images that you don't need to see at full size. Sadly, low-light performance was just not good at all. The flash doesn't adapt to the situation at hand, so although it is powerful, subjects in close-up shots might be completely drowned out.

Video was good, and were pleased to note that details and moving objects in the distance were well defined. The front camera also took pretty sharp shots, though performance was heavily dependent on ambient lighting.

Performance and battery life

The Iris Pro 30's benchmark results were extremely enlightening. This is a phone that's being sold purely on the basis of its looks and cost. Even Lava's own website neatly skims over the parts where hardware specifications come into play. Considering the other corners that have been cut, we were expecting performance to suffer quite a bit, and it did.

The Mediatek MT6589 processor is simply not cut out to be a speed demon, and as a result, the Iris Pro 30 returned rather mediocre results in most of our formal tests. The score in AnTuTu was 13,755, which is about half of what a high-end phone should achieve today. The Quadrant test was much the same: only 3,936 points as opposed to at least 5,500 for similarly priced phones. SunSpider took 1445.2 milliseconds to run, which is also about 30 percent slower than we would have liked. Graphics-intensive tests didn't fare too well either. 3DMark's Ice Storm Extreme scenario returned a score of 1554, and our GFXbench simulation ran at only 4.9 frames per second.

We also have to note that the phone didn't feel snappy enough when loading apps and multitasking between them. This is the tradeoff we were expecting in a phone with a full-HD that costs less than Rs. 16,000. Don't expect to be playing any high-end Android games on this phone.

On the other hand, we were impressed with the Iris Pro 30's battery life. Lava claims another innovation here: a content-adaptive backlight that can automatically dim itself to conserve power when the situation demands it. We were happy to discover that the battery lasted through a full day of medium to heavy usage with a fair amount of power left over at the end. In our formal rundown test, which consists of an endless video loop with the brightness set to 50 percent and features such as Wi-Fi and Bluetooth deactivated, the phone lasted for an impressive span of seven hours and fifty minutes.

We also tested the phone's audio and video playback capabilities. Our more lightly encoded 1080p H.264 videos played well apart from a little stuttering at the beginning and when we jumped around the timeline. The phone's speaker was loud, but music sounded tinny with the highs over-emphasised. The bundled headset had a hollow kind of sound which we weren't happy with at all.

Verdict

With the Iris Pro 30, the age-old maxim that you get what you pay for really does apply. In this case, the money is allocated to looks and not performance. Lava has chosen a smart set of features to emphasise - people will certainly notice the body, construction quality and battery life, while hardware performance is not as readily quantifiable. These are the things that buyers care about, and these are the things that Lava has delivered in the most attractive package it could come up with. If you're concerned about gaming or HD video, you really shouldn't be looking at phones priced below Rs. 20,000 anyway.

As far as alternatives go, the recently launched Moto G is a better rounded product and is actually quite a bit cheaper. You'd have to do without the iPhone-like looks, but you will get the most recent version of Android and four times the internal storage space. You could also consider the Sony Xperia C, Nokia Lumia 625, Lenovo S820 and Micromax Canvas Turbo which are all only slightly more expensive.

All things considered, the Iris Pro 30 offers pretty good value for money. If you want a phone that looks good and feels good to use, but can't scrape together the money for a mid-range Samsung or Sony, this is the one to get. It's one of the first phones from an Indian company that doesn't have that distinctive "made in China" feel to it. In fact, this might be the phone that catapults Lava into the big leagues. We can't wait for the company to attempt something similar with genuinely powerful components, when they're confident enough to launch a model that costs a few thousand rupees more.

Nokia X, the rumoured budget Android smartphone also known as Nokia Normandy, has been again spotted under a benchmark which tests the camera section of the handset.

Nokia X has been spotted under the CamSpeed test database, the benchmark test for Sophica with a nearly zero focusing time, hinting the rumoured Android device will come with a fixed focus camera. The device was identified with model name RM-980 once again.

The Nokia X handset, handset was previously said to sport a 5-megapixel rear camera, however the CamSpeed benchmark hints the handset will arrive with a lower 3-megapixel shooter.

Similarly, contradicting the previous rumours of running a highly customized version of Android 4.4 Kitkat OS, the Nokia X will be running Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean OS, according to Sofica's Twitter post.

Also last week, a new leak via Browsermark 2 benchmark's database purportedly revealed the alleged Nokia X phone to come with model number RM-980. Unfortunately, the listing did not reveal any details about the device, but includes an image that purportedly showed Nokia X wearing Nexus 5's wallpaper and home screen icons.

Some of the other rumoured features of the Nokia X smartphone include a dual-core Snapdragon processor clocking at 1GHz, a 4-inch TFT display with a resolution of 480x854 (FWVGA) pixels, 4GB storage with microSD card, 1500mAh battery, 512MB RAM, and dual-SIM support.

Besides the often appearing leaks online, one can almost confirm the existence of the handset through various other sources. Recently enough, Nokia X was reported to get certified in Indonesia and Malaysia. The handset is said to fall under Nokia's Asha line-up and will be unveiled officially in March, according to a report claiming to quote an unnamed senior Nokia India executive.

HTC India has issued the Android 4.4 KitKat update for its HTC One smartphone in India. The update, apart from the KitKat version, also brings may improvements for the HTC One.
 profiles. The update also brings improved memory management for the HTC One.

The entry level segment gets yet another stylish mobile - iBall King 1.8D. Touted as "Sound Ka Maharaja", the King 1.8D promises louder sound and is priced at Rs 1,099.

The iBall King 1.8D is aptly named for it carries a 1.8-inch display and touts multimedia functionality like no other entry level device. iBall has added WAP functionality to download the basic J2ME platform apps and other multimedia. It features a micro USB port to transfer files and multimedia easily.


The King 1.8D comes integrated with a built-in FM Radio and also offers FM Radio recording facility. For input, the phone features English and Hindi language support. Not only that, iBall has also added mobile tracker and number blacklisting feature to bar the nuisance callers.

The iBall King 1.8D competes with the entry-level Nokia 106 and Nokia 107 Dual-SIM phones.

Motorola has formally announced the launch of Moto G in India. The 8 GB version of the smartphone is priced at Rs 12,499 while its 16 GB costs Rs 13,999. Both the versions though face tough competition from MNC as well as Indian handset players like Micromax who had recently launched its Canvas Turbo Mini which is available for around Rs 14,500.

Here is a comparison of the Canvas Turbo Mini A200 with the Motorola Moto G (16 GB) on the basis of their features.

Display

The Moto G comes with a 4.5 inch display with 1280x720 pixels resolution, which means it has huge 329 ppi pixel density. Micromax Canvas Turbo Mini has a slightly bigger 4.69 inch display but with the same 1280x720 pixel resolution.

Exact dimensions of Turbo Mini are not known but it is designed like the Canvas Turbo. The Turbo Mini has a metallic body and ofcourse a non-removable battery. The Moto G too has a non-removable battery but it has not a metallic body.

Moto G though has garnered rave reviews for its curvy body and removable and colourful back panel. Moreover, its display has Corning Gorilla Glass protection and it comes with water-repellent nano-coating inside and out.



Camera

The Motorola Moto G has 5 megapixel rear camera which can click pictures in 4:3 ratio while you can capture 16:9 ration images at 3.8 megapixel resolution. The rear camera has 4x digital zoom facility along with slow motion video shooting feature. It also has burst mode, HDR, and panorama features. There is 1.3 megapixel camera in its front as well.

The Micromax Canvas Turbo Mini comes with an 8 megapixel auto focus rear camera with geo tagging, touch focus, and face detection features. There is an LED flash in the phone as well for low-lighting photography. But notably, it has a 5 megapixel front facing camera.

Performance

The Motorola Moto G has Android 4.3 Jelly Bean operating system but the Android KitKat update has already been announced for it. Motorola said during its Indian launch event that the update will be issued in India within a week. Besides, Moto G has 1.2 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 quad core processor, Adreno 305 GPU, and 1 GB RAM.

The Micromax Canvas Turbo Mini has the 1.3 Ghz Mediatek MT6582 quad core processor, Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean operating system, and 1 GB RAM.

Memory, Connectivity, and Battery

The Turbo Mini has 4 GB internal storage of which 1.6 GB is available for users but it has 32 GB micro SD card slot as well. On the other hand, the Moto G has 16 GB (it also comes in 8 GB version which costs Rs 12,499) internal storage but it has no micro SD card slot.

The Motorola Moto G has a dual SIM support, WiFi (b/g/n), Bluetooth 4.0, micro USB 2.0, and 3G connectivity (21 Mbps download speed). The Turbo Mini too has dual SIM support, 3G connectivity (21 Mbps download speed), WiFi (b/g/n), Bluetooth 4.0, and micro USB 2.0.
The Moto G has a 2070 mAh Li-Ion battery which claims to provide 24 hours of back up on "mixed usage". The Canvas Turbo Mini has a 1800 mAh battery which claims to provide 6 hours of talktime and 180 hours of standby on 2G network.


Conclusion

The Moto G and Canvas Turbo Mini are quite different when it comes to look and feel. The Motorola phone is entirely plastic but colourful while the Canvas Turbo Mini is metallic. The Snapdragon 400 is still the low cost processor of Qualcomm and since we have not tested either Moto G or the Turbo Mini, we at this point of time cannot say for sure which one is better.

Also while the Moto G has a bigger battery, the Canvas Turbo Mini has more storage space. So it seems like the Micromax Canvas Turbo Mini has an edge over the Motorola Moto G. We will try to review the phones as soon as possible to discover the truth; till then keep checking The Mobile Indian.

If you feel like your Facebook news feed is flooded with Look back videos, there’s a simple explanation for that. It is.

The ‘look back’ initiative was released by Facebook  as part of its tenth year ‘celebrations’.  It is essentially a one minute glimpse (complete with emotional piano score) into your first ‘moments’ on the social networking site as well as your most popular status updates and photographs.

And given that social media and Facebook is essentially a celebration of the individual, the videos have been welcomed with open arms. A couple of hundred million of them in fact. That’s right. Facebook has confirmed that ‘hundreds of millions’ of the videos have been made, although it declined to give an exact figure. So don’t expect the deluge of ‘“Here’s my Facebook movie. Find yours at https://facebook.com/lookback/ ‪#‎FacebookIs10′ that’s all over your newsfeed to stop anytime soon.

The company said that the videos would be available for about a month. And if you want to keep your video forever, then you need to share it. And why not. What’s one more ‘Lookback’ video among the hundreds of millions of videos that are invading News feeds everywhere?

As far as initiatives go, this has proved to be insanely popular. Too bad Facebook didn’t bung a few ads on to those videos. That could have easily made them a few more billions of dollars. But Facebook seems to have found a winning formula in combining nostalgia and narcissism. The next one probably won’t come free.

LG Electronics today announced that its Knock-ON feature would now be included as a standard feature in its L Series II smartphones. The Knock feature, first introduced in LG G2, allows you to lock and unlock the device by simply double tapping on the screen of the device.

The Knock-ON feature is now available on LG L1 II, L3 II, L4 II, L5 II and L7 II.
"Knock-ON is a distinct part of LG's updated UX, and a great example of a blend between state-of-the-art technology and consumer-centric insights", said Amit Gujral, marketing head, LG India.

"Knock-ON has been very well received ever since we first introduced it to the LG G2. We listened and learned from consumers, and proactively adapted this unique feature to all L-series II phones," Amit further added.

This update is all set to begin its roll-out from this month.

Motorola will release Android KitKat update for its Moto G smartphone in India within a week. Motorola India's spokesperson announced this during the launch event today. Motorola Moto G was launched in India today with Android 4.3 Jelly Bean operating system. The phone comes in 8 GB and 16 GB versions; while the former is priced at Rs 12,999, the later costs Rs 13,999.

Motorola Moto G comes with replaceable and colourful back panels which has created quite a buzz in the US market. It flaunts a 4.5-inch IPS LCD display with 1280x720 pixels resolution which means this display has 326 pixels per inch pixel density. The display has been constructed using the Corning Gorilla Glass 3 which provides some protection against the normal wear and tear.

The Moto G is powered by a quad-core 1.4 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 mobile chipset, Adreno 305 GPU, and 1 GB RAM. Motorla Moto G measures 11.6 mm thick and weighs 143 grams. Note that Moto G does not have a memory card slot.

Thankfully, it bundles Google Drive 50 GB storage free for two years. At the rear, Moto G packs 5 megapixel camera with autofocus and LED flash along with imaging features such as geo-tagging, touch focus, face-detection, panorama and HDR. The camera can record HDR videos and videos at 720p (HD) quality. In the front, it has a 1.3 megapixel camera for making video calls.

Motorola has packed WiFi (802.11 b/g/n) in the Moto G for faster mobile web experience. Moto G supports quad-band HSPA+">HSPA network for faster mobile internet and can accommodate a micro-SIM module. Other features of Moto G include Bluetooth 4.0, USB Host, micro USB 2.0 and GPS with A-GPS and GLONASS. The smartphone has a good looking 2070 mAh non-removable battery.

Oppo Neo

Oppo has also listed few other smartphones on its Indian webpage but has not revealed their prices.

Oppo, a Chinese handset vendor who recently entered India with its Oppo N1 that claims to be the first smartphone in the world with a rotating camera module, has now announced on its Facebook product page that it will soon launch a new dual SIM handset called Oppo Neo.

As per the listing on its webpage, the Oppo Neo comes with a 4.5 inch IPS display which you can even operate while using a glove. Like the Oppo N1, it too comes with the Color OS which is actually based on Android operating system.


Though the Oppo's Indian website does not have the full specification of the new handset, as per GSMarena's listing, the Oppo Neo comes with a dual core 1.3 GHz processor, 5 megapixel rear camera, 2 megapixel front camera, 512 MB RAM, 4 GB internal storage, and 32 GB expandable storage slot. Besides, the phone is said to have a 1900 Li-Ion mAh battery, GPS, FM radio, WiFi, Bluetooth, and micro USB port.

Oppo Neo

LG has shared more details about the 13 megapixel camera used in the upcoming G Pro 2 and has implemented an improved Optical Image Stabilization Plus.

LG has shared more details about its upcoming G Pro 2 smartphone. LG has now revealed that the G Pro 2 will feature a 13 megapixel camera with improved Optical Image Stabilisation Plus technology for better imaging experience. Not only that, the 13 megapixel camera in G Pro 2 will be capable of recording Ultra HD video as well.

Last month, LG had merely announced to launch the G Pro 2 at the Mobile World Congress 2014. Following that, images of the LG G Pro 2 surfaced online. However, no specifications were revealed. But now LG has posted a new information related to the G Pro 2. Its predecessor, the LG G2 had the Optical Image Stabilisation feature that reduces the shakes caused by hands to click better captures. The OIS also corrects the blurs on the software front.


With the LG G Pro 2, LG has integrated a 13 megapixel camera with the advanced Optical Image Stabilisation Plus technology. The new OIS Plus basically an improved and advanced version of the OIS included in the G2. The new OIS Plus will promise blur-free crisp images even in dark.


Apart from that, the G Pro 2 camera will also support recording video in Slow Motion and also capable of recording video in Ultra HD (3840 x 2160) resolution. The camera will also allow shooting 20 photos in one image to create a burst shot.

It is safe to assume that the G Pro 2 will be powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 mobile chipset with at least 2 GB RAM. There might be a larger full 1080p HD resolution supporting display. We shall wait for LG to share more details at the Mobile World Congress 2014 starting February 26 in Barcelona, Spain.

Now avaialble for Rs 13,999, it comes with a 5 inch FHD screen and 1 GB RAM.

Celkon, an Indian handset brand, has recently launched a new Android smartphone with an unbelievable 8 megapixel front camera. The phone, named as Celkon S1, was launched last week and is now available from Snapdeal for Rs 13,999.

The dual SIM smartphone comes with a 13 megapixel rear camera as well, along with dual LED flash. It has Android 4.2.1 Jelly Bean operating system, 1.5 GHz quad core processor, and 1 GB RAM. It has a full HD (1920x1080 pixels) resolution based 5 inch display.


The 6.5 mm thick smartphone weighs 137 grams and has a 2300 mAh battery. It has 16 GB internal storage but as per the listing it does not have any expandable storage slot. It has WiFi, Bluetooth, 3.5 mm jack, and a micro USB port as well. Besides, the Celkon S1 has light, G-sensor, and proximity sensor.

The Intex Aqua N8 comes with 5 inch display, quad core processor, and 8 megapixel rear camera.

Intex has silently made available yet another Android smartphone. Named as the Intex Aqua N8, this handset is now available on few e-retailers' website for Rs 8,990.

The Intex Aqua N8 comes with 4.5 inch display with 854x480 pixels resolution. It has dual SIM slots of which one is meant for 3G network. The Aqua N8 comes with Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean operating system, 1.3 GHz quad core Mediatek 6582M processor, 512 MB RAM, 4 GB internal storage and 32 GB expandable storage slot.


Besides, the Intex Aqua N8 has an 8 megapixel rear camera, a 2 megapixel front camera, and a 1750 mAh battery. For connectivity, this 3G handset has WiFi (with hotspot capability), Bluetooth, and micro USB port. There is GPS in the Aqua N8 as well for navigation.

Lava Iris 408e has 4-inch display, 1 GHz processor, 3MP camera and runs Android 2.3 Gingerbread.

Lava continues to expand its portfolio with a new budget Dual-SIM smartphone - Iris 408e. The Lava Iris 408e is listed at Saholic website for Rs 3,829. The Iris 408e has a 4-inch touchscreen display and is powered by a single-core 1 GHz mobile processor.

Lava  Iris 408e

Lava's new budget Iris 408e has a 4-inch TFT LCD display with 480x800 pixel resolution. The smartphone is powered by a single-core 1 GHz mobile processor coupled with 256 MB RAM and offers 512 MB on-board storage with a memory slot. We do not know why but believe mostly for the hardware constraints, the Iris 408e comes preloaded with age old Android 2.3 Gingerbread update. Not that, it is totally unusable but the users may not be able to enjoy all modern apps.


At the back is a 3 megapixel camera with LED Flash and there is a 0.3 megapixel camera in the front. The rear camera offers digital zoom and can record VGA quality video. For connectivity, the maximum available luxury is a 2G network support and there is no WiFi either.

LavaIris 408e

The Iris 408e supports dual-SIM and offers Dual-Standby feature as well. Lava has added 1500 mAh battery to promise about 5 hours of talk time. This is a no frills version of dual-SIM smartphone for those who simply want an Android device.