Tech News # 8

Samsung Galaxy Note 7 Breaks Pre-Order Record in South Korea

It has been a week since the launch of Samsung's Galaxy Note 7 and the phablet has reportedly already broken the record for most pre-ordered Galaxy smartphone in the company's home country South Korea.

According to a report by The Korean Herald, the company has received over 200,000 pre-orders for the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 within two days of its announcement, which is supposedly double what the Galaxy S7 received.

Samsung has been busy promoting the Galaxy Note 7 in the country, offering deals such as free Gear Fit 2 worth KRW 198,000 (roughly Rs. 12,000), 50 percent discount on screen repair, and a gift card worth KRW 100,000 (roughly Rs. 6,000) with every purchase of the device.

The Galaxy Note 7 has been launched with some major features like an iris scanner and dual pixel rear camera along with top-of-the-line specs including 4GB of LPDDR4 RAM, 64GB of inbuilt storage that's expandable via microSD card (up to 256GB), and it is powered by either a Snapdragon 820 SoC or Exynos 8890 SoC, depending on the region.

Furthermore, the phablet comes with IP68 certification which means it is dust and water resistant and can survive for up to 30 minutes or 1.5 meters underwater. The Note 7 borrows the 'Dual Pixel' 12-magapixel rear camera sensor from the Galaxy S7 with OIS (Optical Image Stabilization), f/1.7 aperture and dual-LED flash.

The India launch of the Galaxy Note 7 will take place on Thursday, based on the invites sent out by the company last week. In the meanwhile, the dual-SIM version of the smartphone was spotted on the company's India site.

The Samsung Galaxy Note 7 was announced to be available globally from August 19 at a price of KRW 988,900 (roughly Rs. 59,810) and will be offered in Blue Coral, Gold Platinum, Silver Titanium, and Black Onyx.

Facebook 'Express Wifi' Service Being Tested in India

Facebook may have faced disappointment earlier this year with its Free Basics project being shut down by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai), but that hasn't stopped the social giant from testing its new Wi-Fi service in India.

Facebook has confirmed that it is testing the Express Wifi service with multiple ISPs (Internet service providers) in the country. BBC reports that Facebook's Express Wifi is under a pilot run, and is currently being offered at 125 rural Wi-Fi hotspots. The social giant in a statement confirmed that the Wi-Fi service testing is being carried out with "multiple local ISP partners". Facebook intends to expand the availability of its Express Wi-Fi to other regions soon, it told the publication.

Swipe Konnect Plus With 13-Megapixel Camera Launched at Rs. 4,999

Swipe Telecom has launched a budget smartphone in India, the Konnect Plus, priced at Rs. 4,999. The smartphone is available exclusively via Snapdeal.

The highlight of the Swipe Konnect Plus is its sandstone finish back panel, which just like the Zen Cinemax 3 released earlier this week appears to be inspired by the OnePlus One. The dual-SIM (Regular + Micro) Swipe Konnect Plus runs Android 5.1 Lollipop, and features a 5-inch HD (720x1280 pixels) IPS display with a pixel density of 320ppi.

The Swipe Konnect Plus is powered by an unspecified MediaTek quad-core SoC clocked at 1.2GHz, coupled with 2GB of RAM. The smartphone sports a 13-megapixel rear camera with flash, and a 5-megapixel front-facing camera. It bears 16GB of inbuilt storage that can be expanded via microSD card (up to 32GB).

Connectivity options on board the Swipe Konnect Plus include 3G, Wi-Fi, GPS, FM radio, Bluetooth, 3.5mm headphone jack, and Micro-USB. The smartphone is powered by a 3000mAh battery that's rated to deliver up to 10 hours of talk time, and up to 220 hours of standby time.

Sensors on the Swipe Konnect Plus include an ambient light sensor, a proximity sensor, and an accelerometer. The smartphone measures 144x73x9.8mm, and weighs 156 grams.

Late last month, Swipe announced a partnership with Indus OS alongside Celkon to bring the domestically-made operating system to more devices in the country. The tie-up is in addition to the one Indus OS already enjoys with Micromax.

Google Maps for Android Gets New Offline Features in India

Google on Tuesday expanded the offline features of Google Maps for India. Now, Android users in the country will be able to turn on Wi-Fi only mode, and, also save maps to their SD card for offline access.

Announcing the new Google Maps offline features in an emailed statement, the search giant said they are most useful when travelling in areas without data. The company confirmed the gradual rollout to the Android app, but did not detail when the new features would arrive for iOS users.

Getting to the features - Google Maps for Android users in India can now save maps for offline use to an external SD card. This will help users keep their inbuilt storage free. To use the feature, navigate to Menu > Offline areas > Settings > Storage preferences > Device, and then select SD card.

As for Wi-Fi only mode, the feature enables users to utilise Google Maps for Android completely offline. The app will then only use data from offline areas users have already downloaded. To use the feature, go to Menu > Settings and select Wi-Fi only.

Google Maps for Android got a major update last month, with its interface being revamped for a cleaner look, while the app also gained Areas of Interest. Shortly after, the iOS app was updated with the option to navigate to multiple destinations, allowing users to add pit-stops mid-route - with the app dividing them into Point A, Point B, and so forth.

Pokemon Go Banned in Iran Over Security Concerns: Report

MediaTek Helio X30 Deca-Core SoC With PowerVR ZXT GPU Launched

The MediaTek Helio X30 is built on TSMC's 10nm FinFET architecture, and sports a quad-core PowerVR 7XT GPU.

MediaTek on Monday announced the Helio X30 SoC, its new flagship deca-core SoC for mobile devices that with its powerful GPU is considered to be especially appropriate for devices with virtual reality capabilities. It is expected to be seen in products shipping in the second half of 2017.

Lyf Wind 3 and Flame 8 Budget Android Smartphones to Be Available Online

Reliance Retail's Lyf brand is gearing up to launch two new smartphones, the Wind 3 and Flame 8, in India. Both the smartphones will be the first to go on sale via a third party e-commerce website Flipkart. As of now, there is no word whether both these handsets will be also available via the company's offline retail channel.

The Lyf Wind 3 (seen above) has been priced at Rs. 6,999 while the Lyf Flame 8 will be available at Rs. 4,199. Both these smartphones are still listed as 'coming soon', and are expected to go on sale from Wednesday under Flipkart's Freedom sale. The company via its Twitter handle confirms the Wednesday availability of the Lyf Wind 3 on Flipkart, and that it will come with the Jio Preview Offer for 3 months. The Lyf Flame 8 is expected to be available under a similar offer.

Much like other Lyf-branded smartphones, the Lyf Wind 3 and Flame 8 smartphones support 4G LTE bands in India - FDD-LTE Band 3 (1800MHz) and TDD-LTE Band 40 (2300MHz). Both handsets also support VoLTE (voice over LTE) with HD voice call compatibility.

The dual-SIM (Micro-SIM + Micro-SIM) Lyf Wind 3 sports a 5.5-inch HD (720x1280 pixels) IPS LCD display with Asahi Dragontrail Glass and 267ppi pixel density. It runs Android 5.1 Lollipop out-of-the-box. The Wind 3 smartphone supports 4G connectivity only on a single SIM card slot at a time.

The smartphone is powered by 1.2GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 (MSM8916) processor coupled with 2GB of RAM. It sports an 8-megapixel autofocus rear camera with LED flash and a 2-megapixel fixed-focus front camera. The smartphone packs 16GB of inbuilt storage and supports expandable storage via microSD card (up to 64GB).

Connectivity options include GPRS/ EDGE, 3G, GPS, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and Micro-USB, apart from 4G (LTE Cat. 4 support). The handset measures 152.6x76.6x9.4mm and weighs 160 grams. The Lyf Wind 3 is backed by a 2920mAh battery.

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