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Karbonn Mobiles has launched the Karbonn A15+ (A15 plus) an upgraded version of the Karbonn A15 handset. As compared with the A15 (priced at Rs. 5,380) the A15+ is priced at Rs. 5,890.

The Karbonn A15+ also comes with a new design, in fact looks much better than its predecessor. This is a dual SIM handset powered by MT6572 dual core processor clocked at 1.3GHz with Mali 400 GPU.

The display screen is TFT LCD of 4 inches with 800×480 pixels resolution. A15+ runs on Android 4.2 with 512MB RAM and 4Gigs of on-board storage plus 32GB micro SD card support. There seems to be only a single camera placed on the rear with 5MP resolution without flash.

The Karbonn A15 plus supports 3G, 2G (EDGE/GPRS), Wi-Fi (b/g/n), DTS (Digital Theater Systems) audio technology and Bluetooth with A2DP. A 1500 mAh removable battery should give a decent backup time. The market is flooded with many such handsets with 1.3GHz dual core. Micromax has just launched the Canvas Juice A77 with 3000 mAh battery.

The Karbonn A15+ handset is available in black and white colors, listed on Saholic for Rs. 5,890. The specs does not mention anything about the GPS, probably it is missing.

The Samsung Galaxy Grand was a huge success and taking a step further, Samsung has unveiled the Samsung Galaxy Grand 2 that runs on 4.3 OS, supports dual SIM and sports a 5.2 inch screen with 1280×720 pixels resolution.

Before we go through the Samsung Galaxy Grand 2 specifications let’s list out the differences between this and the Galaxy Grand. The Grand is with 5 inch WVGA screen where as the Grand 2 comes with 5.2 inch HD screen. Grand 2 comes loaded with 1.5 GB RAM, 8GB storage and runs on Android 4.3.

The Galaxy Grand 2 also comes with improved performance thanks to the 1.2GHz quad core chipset. In general there are a lot of improvements when you compare these two handsets.

The Grand 2 also houses an 8MP rear AF camera with flash and 1.9MP front camera. Micro SD card of up to 64GB is supported. Other features are 3G, Wi-Fi (a/b/g/n), GPS with GLONASS and Bluetooth 4.0. The handset weight is 163 gram and battery if of 2600 mAh capacity.

The Micromax A116i an upgraded version of Micromax A116 HD is available on ebay.in for Rs. 13,344. The handset is not yet listed on the Micromax official website, so we cannot really confirm if it’s for real.

Having gone through the specifications as mentioned the on ebay.in website, I did not find any differences between the Micromax A116i and the Micromax A116 model. Probably the magnetic sensors might have been added that was missing on the A116 model, though I am not sure. But anyways there has to be something new otherwise it will not make sense launching a new handset model with same specs.

As per the specs the handset sports a 5 inch screen with 1280×720 pixels resolution. It runs on Android 4.1 upgradable to 4.2 with 1GB RAM and 4GB storage. It is powered the quad core MediaTek MT6589 chipset clocked at 1.2GHz (Cortex A7).

There is 8MP rear AF camera with dual LED flash and front camera of VGA resolution. Other features are 3G, Wi-Fi, GPS and Bluetooth. Battery is 2000 mAh with up to 5 hours talk-time. The Micromax Canvas HD A116i is a dual SIM handset.

Micromax may or may not have launched this model, we are not sure yet. The image on the ebay.in website also looks like that of Micromax A116, there is no clear indication on the box to confirm if its A116i model.

The Lava Iris 456 with dual SIM support and powered by dual core processor running Android 4.2 is listed on Flipkart website for Rs. 7,018. The Iris 456 sports a 4.5 inch screen and comes with 512MB RAM.

I think it will be using the same MT6572 dual core processor with Mali 400 GPU. The MT6572 is clocked at 1.3GHz but on the Flipkart website it is mentioned as 1.2GHz. The IPS screen is 4.5 inches with 854×480 pixels resolution.

Android 4.2 runs on 512MB RAM and 4GB storage. Of the 4GB storage 1.27GB is assigned for apps and 1.27 as the phone internal storage. 32GB external micro SD cards can be used. The Lava Iris 456 dual SIM handset houses a 5MP auto focus camera with BSI sensor on the rear with flash and 1.3MP fixed focus placed on the front.

Handset weighs about 147 grams with 10.45mm thickness. Key features are 3G (21Mbps), Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. There is no mention of GPS in the specifications. The Battery is 1650 mAh.

Lava Iris 456 is priced at Rs. 7,018 and currently out of stock on Flipkart.

iBall Univo handsfree is now available for Rs. 599. The company claims that the Univo earphone is world’s first that works on almost every handset (universally compatible).

One of the common problems faced by mobile phone users is the 3rd party earphone compatibility. When their original earphone gets damaged or misplaced they would try out the other earphone of other models and in some cases it would not work.

Though all of the devices use a 3.5mm pin for microphone and audio but some handsfree earphones may not work because of the internal architecture. iBall has worked on this issue and have created the iBall Univo that works on multiple devices. If you are using multiple devices you can carry a single Univo handsfree that will work on all these devices.

The earphones are made with comfort in mind with perfect in ear fit for users. The ear plug is made of soft material that reduced background noise, significantly. It also comes with extra silicon ear caps for a comfortable fit.

The iBall Univo weighs just 12 grams and is priced at Rs. 599.

As expected the Gionee Elife E7 was announced today in Shanghai, China. The Elife E7 runs on Android 4.2 with Amigo 2.0 User Interface. The handset sails on 2.2 GHz S800 Qualcomm Quad core processor, the first smartphone using the Qualcomm 8974 chipset.

The handset sports a 5.5 inch LTPS screen with Ultra Bright display with resolution of 1920×1080 pixels. The display screen is with Gorilla Glass 3 protection that is more durable and 20x more scratch resistant when compared with Gorilla Glass 2. The touch is quite responsive and works with wet hands and gloves. The Gionee Elife E7 will be available in different versions WCDMA and TD-WCDMA. The Elife E7 with 4G support will use the 2.5GHz Qualcomm 8974AC chipset with 5 major modes with 15 bands.

When it comes to memory and storage there are again two options, users can choose 2G RAM with 16GB Storage or 3GB RAM with 32GB Storage. The handset is ultra slim with a 9.7mm thickness. Other key features are 4G (selected model), 3G, Wi-Fi, GPS, Bluetooth and NFC.

The primary camera placed on the rear is with 16MP resolution with various camera effects like Auto Makeup Effects, SR Auto screen recognition, foot print mode, meeting memo mode and more. The front camera is of 8MP resolution with Auto Focus feature. Users can wake up the screen using gesture (draw on off [blank] screen), double tap or via voice control.

The Gionee Elife E7 will hit the Indian stores in early 2014, for now it will be available in China from 5th December 2013. E7 will be available in orange, pink, white, black, yellow and blue colors. The Elife E7 price has not yet been disclosed.

Gionee is also planning to launch the octa core version (with MediaTek processor) that will be called the Gionee Elife E7 Mini.

The Lumia 525 rumor turned out to be true, the Nokia Lumia 525 is now listed on the official Nokia website with dual core processor, 1GB RAM and 8GB storage. The pricing details are not yet known.

Lumia 525 is 9.9mm thick and weighs about 124 grams. This windows 8 powered handset sports a 4 inch IPS LCD screen with 800×480 pixels resolution. It comes with light, accelerometer and proximity sensors.

Nokia Lumia 525 is a single SIM handset that supports a micro SIM card. Key features are 3G (21.1Mbps), 2G, GPS with A-GLONASS, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.0. There is a single camera without flash support of 5MP resolution placed on the rear side. Camera features – focal length 28mm, 4x digital zoom, Auto Focus with minimum range of 10cm. The ISO sensitivity is 100 to 800. Camera can record videos in 1280×720 pixels (HD) resolution at 30fps.

Inside the hood the Lumia 525 comes loaded with 1GHz dual core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 processor. Unlike its predecessor the Lumia 525 comes with 1GB RAM. Storage space is 8GB with micro SD card support of up to 64GB, plus 7GB free cloud storage.

The BL-5J 1430 mAh battery gives a talk-time of 10 hours on 3G and up to 16 hours on 2G networks. The Nokia Lumia 520 is priced at Rs. 7,789 and taking clue from it you can expect the Nokia Lumia 525 to be priced under Rs. 13,000.

HTC yesterday, announced the HTC Desire 300, Desire 501, Desire 601 and Desire 700 in Taiwan. The HTC Desire 700 is the costliest of the lot and Desire 300 is the cheapest NT$ 7,900 approx Rs. 17K.

HTC Desire 300

This smartphone comes powered by Snapdragon S4 dual core processor clocked at 1GHz (MSM8225 with Adreno 203 GPU). It runs on Android 4.2 with 512MB RAM and 4GB internal storage. Micro SD card up to 32GB is supported. The TFT multi touch screen is 4.3 inches with resolution of 800×480 pixels.

HTC Desire 300 supports 3G (7.2Mbps), Wi-Fi (b/g/n), Bluetooth 4.0 and GPS with A-GPS. A 1650 mAh battery gives talk-time of up to 11 hours. Desire 300 supports single Micro SIM and includes 5MP rear AF camera and front camera of VGA resolution. The Desire 300 is priced at NT$ 7,900 (approx 17K).

HTC Desire 501

This single SIM handset sports a 4.3 inch screen with 800×480 pixels resolution. It is loaded with 1GB RAM and 8GB storage along with 32GB micro SD card support. There is 8MP rear AF camera with LED flash. The rear camera can record HD videos and simultaneously shoot images too. Desire 501 also includes a front camera of 2.1MP resolution.

HTC Desire 501 comes powered by 1.2GHz dual core processor and runs on android 4.1OS with Sense UI. Other features are 3G (14.4Mbps), Wi-Fi (b/g/n), NFC, Bluetooth 4.0 and GPS with A-GPS /GLONASS. Battery is 2100 mAh capacity. Price is NT$ 9,900 approx Rs. 21K.

HTC Desire 601

The Desire comes powered by 1.4GHz dual core Snapdragon 400 CPU with Adreno 305 GPU. The 601 sports a 4.5 inch TFT screen with qHD resolution. The screen is with corning Gorilla glass 2 protection. RAM is 1GB and internal storage is 8GB. 64GB external micro SD card is supported.

The Desire 601 includes a 5MP rear AF camera with LED flash support and full HD video recording at 30fps. There is a front camera too of VGA resolution. Key features are 4G, 3G, 2G, Bluetooth 4.0, Wi-Fi (a/b/g/n) and GPS with A-GPS/GLONASS. Battery is 2100 mAh capacity with up to 12 hours talk-time. Desire 601 is priced at NT$ 10,900 – approx Rs. 23K.

HTC Desire 700

This is a dual SIM handset powered by 1.2GHz quad core processor. Desire 700 comes with 5 inch screen supporting 960×540 pixels resolution (qHD). It runs on android 4.1 with 1GB RAM, 8GB storage and 64GB external card support.

Key features are 3G, GPS with A-GPS/GLONASS, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.0. There is 8MP rear AF camera with flash that can record full HD videos and a front camera of 2.1MP resolution. Battery is 2100 mAh with up to 11 hours talk-time. HTC Desire 700 is priced at NT$ 13,900 – approx Rs. 29k.

Philips has launched the W8555 quad core handset belonging to the Xenium series. The Philips Xenium W8555 comes loaded with impressive specs and is expected to be priced between Rs. 22,000 to Rs. 30,000.

The W8555 weighs around 200 grams and sports a 5 inch screen with 1920×1080 pixels resolution. This dual SIM Philips handset sails on Jelly Bean 4.2 with 2GB RAM and 16GB internal storage with 32GB external card support. This handset is powered by 1.5GHz quad core processor (chipset unknown).

W8555 handset also comes with 13MP rear camera with auto focus, Geo tagging, face detection features and with LED flash. There is a front camera too. The rear camera can record full HD (1080p) videos at 30 frames per second.

Other features included are 3G, 2G, Bluetooth 4.0, NFC, micro USB 2.0, Wi-Fi (b/g/n) and GPS with A-GPS/GLONASS. Another impressive feature is the battery of 3300 mAh capacity with up to 18 hours of talk-time.

2GB RAM, NFC and a good battery capacity of 3300 mAh is the key highlight. The Philips W8555 is not yet listed on the official Philips (Indian) website. Expected price is under Rs. 30K.

Micromax has added a new model called the Bolt A61 to its Bolt series. The Micromax Bolt A61 is powered by a 1GHz single core Spreadtrum SC7710 chipset packed into a sleek metallic robust body.

The Micromax Bolt A61 runs on the Android 4.1 Jelly Bean OS over a 10.1 cm (4 inch) TFT touchscreen with 800×480 pixels resolution (16m colors). As mentioned it sails on 1GHz single core processor (cortex A5) that supports 3G (HSPA+) and 2G and coupled with Mali 400 GPU.

On board RAM is 256MB, internal storage space will be around 135MB with micro SD support (up to 16GB). The Bolt A61 also includes a front camera of VGA resolution and a rear fixed focus camera of 2MP resolution with video recording support of up to 640×480 pixels.

Other features are 3G (5.7Mbps), 2G (EDGE/GPRS), Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 2.1. Unfortunately this handset does not come with built in GPS receiver. Removable battery is of 1500 mAh capacity with talk-time of up to 3.5 hours.

The dual SIM supported A61 pricing details are not yet disclosed. The Micromax Bolt A62 is priced at Rs. 3,699 and the A61 is expected to be priced under Rs. 4,500.