Lenovo A5000 quietly makes its way to India for $162

The competition in the sub-$160 smartphone is really intense and hot. Lenovo is one of the companies aiming to gain ground in that segment, launch a host of models there. After introducing Lenovo A6000, A6000 Plus, and A7000, the company is soon expected to introduce the new A5000 at INR10,250 ($162), as estimated from a retailer Mahesh Telecom's post.

Yesterday, the A5000 was introduced in Russia for $227 which is way higher than the price set for India.

The A5000 features a 5" 720p display with special nano coating for prevention from water splashes. It is powered by a MediaTek MT6582 SoC with quad-core 1.3GHz CPU, 1GB of RAM, 8GB of storage, 8MP rear snapper with LED flash, 2MP front camera, Bluetooth 4.0 and FM radio.

Weighing about 160 grams because of the 4,000 mAh battery, A5000 is a 10mm thick dual-SIM phone with 3G…

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Qualcomm cuts outlook for fiscal 2015, blames Samsung

Qualcomm has again cut its revenue forecast for fiscal 2015, with the company now expecting a revenue of between $25 billion and $27 billion, compared to $26.3 – $28 billion it was expecting earlier. The chipmaker has also cut its earnings outlook for the year.

The warning comes from the company's report on its fiscal second quarter, which saw a 45% decline in its year-on-year earnings.

"While we remain confident in the significant growth opportunities ahead, we are reducing our QCT outlook for fiscal 2015, primarily due to the increased impact of customer share shifts within the premium tier and a decline in our share at a large customer," said CEO Steve Mollenkopf.

No points for guessing that Mollenkopf was referring to Samsung, which ditched Qualcomm's Snapdragon 810 chipset in favor of its own Exynos 7420 for both new Galaxy models, the S6 and S6 Edge.

Mollenkopf also announced that the company will look at ways to cut costs. "In addition to our ongoing expense management initiatives, we have initiated a comprehensive review of our cost structure to identify opportunities to improve operating margins while at the same time extending our technology and product leadership positions," he…

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LG G4 dual-SIM version leaks, with extra details and images

A treasure chest of info on the LG G4 has emerged and it shows a dual-SIM version of the phone, details its dimensions, screen and battery with plenty of pictures.

One live photo of the phone shows a SIM switch button in the lower right section of the screen, though it seems that both SIM slots were empty. There's a promo image of the LG G4, but it looks like it's an image of the single-SIM version, the other slot appears to be a microSD slot.

SIM switch button hints at dual-SIM version • the back of the single-SIM LG G4

Another promo image shows the 3,000mah battery. The battery will support Qi wireless charring and it seems that LG is readying accessories to go with including a dock. It seems plain white, which doesn’t really match the leather-bound look of the G4.

3,000mAh battery with Qi charging

The camera on the back has been confirmed as a 16MP shooter with a wide f/1.8 aperture. The camera will allegedly support manual controls with an on-screen histogram and showing in RAW (plus RAW+JPG mode).

16MP f/1.8 camera • manual controls and RAW shooting

The screen will be a new 5.5" QHD unit, but will use quantum dot tech for improved contrast, brightness and 120% coverage of sRGB colors. The screen is very slightly curved, you can barely see it. The LG G4 will run the latest LG UX 4.0 and the company has already teased some of the new features. There will be new QuickCircle cases too.

Keep in mind that these images and specs are not official yet, the LG G4 is expected to go official on April 28.

Source (in Persian) |…

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The Xiaomi Mi 4i goes official with 5″ 1080p screen, 13MP camera

Just moments Xiaomi's latest handset was made official at a dedicated event in New Delhi. Just as expected, the Xperia Mi 4i is a more-affordable alternative to the Xiaomi Mi 4 and comes with a polycarbonate unibody.

The Snapdragon 801 has been swapped with a Snapdragon 615, which is less powerful, but does offer an important upgrade over the aforementioned chip – it is 64-bit. The SoC in question is octa-core with Cortex-A53 cores clocked at 1.7 GHz and the other four at 1.1 GHz. The device is equipped with 2GB of RAM an onboard storage is 16GB. Graphics are courtesy of the Adreno 405.

The smartphone is built around a 5.0" Full HD OGS IPS display with a density of 441 ppi. The panel comes with adaptive brightness technology, called Sunlight display, which improves its legibility when outdoors. Sony have been using such a technique for quite some time and it essentially boils down to brightening darker areas under direct light.

The camera setup is also changed and the Mi 4i now offers 13MP F/2.0 main snapper and a 5MP F/1.8 front-facer. The main camera packs a dual tone dual LED flash for better white balance in low light shots. There are a lot of changes on the software side as well and not just the camera app. Beautify and HDR have received a major overhaul. Low-light quality is improved and the new image filters now come with an array of clever algorithms that are custom-tailored for the best possible results on facial features, based on an estimation of your age and sex.

In terms of connectivity the Xiaomi Mi 4i offers dual-SIM slots with 4G support on both of them. There's also dual-band MU-MIMO Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac support – ensuring the fastest local transfer speeds around. Bluetooth version is 4.1, while the microUSB 2.0 port supports USB host mode.

The Xiaomi Mi 4i is powered by a 3,120 mAh battery. It will be available in a total of five color choices – white, blue, orange, yellow and pink. It exact dimensions are 138.1 mm x 69.6 mm x 7.8 mm, and weighs in at 130 g, making it smaller and lighter than the Mi 4.

On the software side, we find Xiaomi's own MIUI 6. It is based on Android 5.0 Lollipop so you get a really up-to-date experience. Xiaomi has also developed a few interesting new features, like IVR (Interactive Voice Recognition), to simplify annoying service line calls.

The most impressive bit about the Xiaomi Mi 4i however is its pricing. The smartphone will cost $205 (INR 12,999) when it launches on April 30 on Flipkart. Registrations start today at 8PM IST. Unfortunately we didn't get anything on international availability. …

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OnePlus One resumes Lollipop update, OK OnePlus in tow

OnePlus has started seeding a new update for the OnePlus One smartphones as promised by the co-founder, Carl Pei. The new Cyanogen OS 12 update is being made available to all supporting countries.

The new Cyanogen OS 12 update with build number YNG1TAS17L and weighing about 584MB is being seeded to the One devices. This update packs the long promised ‘OK OnePlus’ voice activation feature which works even when the phone is in sleep mode.

However, the update only mentions power improvements and security enhancements for the device.

The One phone still remains on Cyanogen OS 12 based on the Android 5.0.2…

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Watch the Xiaomi Mi 4i get unveiled live

Xiaomi is prepping backstage in New Delhi for the Mi 4i event, which starts at 4PM local time or in about an hour. The Xiaomi Mi 4 was unveiled in July last year and boasted flagship specs for the time. From what we've seen from leaks the new Xiaomi Mi 4i will be a more affordable alternative instead of an upgrade.

So far it looks like the chipset will be swapped from Snapdragon 801 to a newer but less powerful 615. It packs eight 64-bit Cortex-A53 cores and an Adreno 405 CPU. The imaging department is set to bring the other big change, dropping the 2160p video capture and cutting the selfie camera resolution. No card slot or 64GB version either.

The Mi 4i will be getting dual-SIM connectivity though and the Xiaomi Mi 4i will launch with Android 5.0 Lollipop.

Again, this is just hearsay, we're on our way there to get the official details first hand. You can watch with us via the livestream below:

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Apple stores won’t sell the Watch tomorrow, others will

Tomorrow, April 24 is the launch day of the awaited Apple Watch. The pre-order campaign is now over, sort of, and the first batch of Watches is now slowly starting to ship. Slowly because due to the high demand and limited stock if you order and Apple Watch it will still ship in 4 to 6 weeks.

Apparently no Apple Store worldwide will be offering the Watch for a walk-in purchase. You are able to try it at Apple Retail, but it won't be in stock tomorrow, not even a single unit. Eventually, when Apple catches up with the demand, the Watch will arrive in Apple Stores, but there is no information on when this is going to happen. Judging by the massive online delays, it won't be soon.

There are six stores, which will be selling the Apple Watch from day one, though. Those are fashion boutiques and were actually advertised before by Apple for the same thing. The six boutiques are scattered around the world, require an appointment and will have a rather limited stock of few hundred units.

The six exclusive stores are 10 Corso Como in Milan, Italy; The Corner in Berlin, Germany; Colette in Paris, France; Dover Street Market in London, UK and Tokyo, Japan; and Maxfield in LA, USA. Those fashion boutiques will have the Apple Watch in stock tomorrow for sure.

Do you plan of getting an Apple Watch? Share with us your thoughts bellow.

Source •…

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Asus reportedly expecting to ship 30 million ZenFone units this year

Asus has revised its smartphone shipment forecast for the ongoing year, with the company now expecting to ship 30 million units of its ZenFone-series smartphones, up from 25 million it was aiming earlier, according to a Digitimes report.

"Shipments of Asustek's new ZenFone 2-series smartphones will reach two million units in May after their launch in March," said sources from the company's upstream supply chain. "The monthly shipments will rise to 2.5-3 million units in June."

While the ZenFone 2, which comes in two variants including the one that has 4GB RAM, is powered by Intel Atom chipset, the report says that the Taiwanese company could use Qualcomm's chips in future ZenFone products.

In addition, it was also revealed that Asus is expecting to ship around 300,000 to 500,000 units of its VivoWatch- and ZenWatch-series smartwatches this…

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Apple is a potential buyer of Nokia’s HERE mapping business

According to a report in Bloomberg, Apple is among the potential buyers for Nokia’s HERE mapping business. The Cupertino giant is among the high-profile suitors approached by the Finnish company about interest.

Other potential buyers of HERE include Alibaba, Amazon, Facebook, Baidu, and a group of German carmakers among others. A number of private equity firms are also said to be interested.

Nokia has been working with a financial advisor on the sale of its mapping unit. The Finnish company is seeking more than €3 billion (about $3.2 billion), with the first bids due to arrive at the end of next week.

Nokia has been busy making headlines lately. The company acquired Alcatel-Lucent for €15.6 billion. It is also rumored to return to making phones next year.

An acquisition of HERE would make a great deal of sense for Apple, as it will give its own Maps service a welcome boost. Since its launch in 2012, the Cupertino giant’s mapping service has failed to catch up to Google Maps.

Source…

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Bezelless Oppo R7 and R7 Plus might be unveiled on May 20

The upcoming Oppo R7 has been leaking a lot lately, as it's apparently going to feature a pretty unique 'bezelless' touchscreen. Unique, that is, if you don't count the also oft-leaked ZTE Nubia Z9, which will supposedly use a display with minimal lateral bezels as well.

One thing we haven't found out so far is when we should expect Oppo to finally make the R7 official. Today a new rumor out of China claims the big unveiling will happen on May 20 (which incidentally is exactly two weeks after the Nubia Z9 will be outed).

Furthermore, Oppo is apparently going to present an R7 Plus model alongside the R7. Not much is known right now about the Plus version, but we assume it will be bigger than the vanilla R7. Thus it should fit a higher capacity battery, which should allow for increased autonomy.

On the other hand, because of its thin (under 5mm) profile and 4.7-inch screen, the Oppo R7 will only fit a 2,000 mAh battery. Its display resolution is set to be 1080p, and there will be some 2.5D glass on top creating that 'bezelless' effect. It's unclear if we'll find the same tech on the R7 Plus as well.

The Oppo R7 is said to feature a 20.7 MP rear camera, and should be powered by MediaTek's 64-bit MT6795 chipset coming with an octa-core processor.

Source (in Chinese) |…

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