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The Nokia Lumia 1520 can be pre-ordered for Rs. 45,999. The handset is expected to hit the Indian stores next week. Lumia 1520 runs on WP8 OS and sports a 6 inch screen with full HD resolution.

The Lumia 1520 phablet is powered by 2.2 GHz quad core processor (Qualcomm Snapdragon 800) MSM8974 coupled with Adreno 330 GPU. This is a single SIM (GSM) handset with a NANO SIM slot. This handset sails on Windows Phone 8 OS with Touch user interface.

The IPS LCD screen is 6 inches supporting 1920×1080 pixels with 16M colors. The screen can easily be read under direct sunlight and comes with Corning Gorilla Glass 2 protection. Another interesting feature is the 20 megapixel primary camera with dual LED flash. The rear camera with ZEISS Optics can record full HD videos. There is a front camera too of 1.2 megapixel resolution.

Nokia Lumia 1520 is 8.7mm thick and bit heavy with a weight of about 210 grams. The handset comes with 2GB RAM, 32GB internal storage and 64GB micro SD card support. Other features are 3G (42Mbps), Wi-Fi (a/b/g/n/ac), GPS with GLONASS / A-GPS, Bluetooth 4.0 and NFC.

A 3400 mAh non-removable battery gives talk-time of up to 25 hours on 3G, 27 hours on 2G and about 760 hours of standby time over the 2G networks.

The Nokia Lumia 1520 is listed on Flipkart (for preorder) for Rs. 45,999.

The XOLO Play Tegra Note got listed on Flipkart a few days back and now it has been officially launched for a price tag of Rs. 17,999. The Tegra Note also claims to be the world’s fastest (7 inch) tablet running on the Android 4.2 OS.

This 7 inch tablet is powered by quad core cortex A15 Nvidia Tegra 4 processor clocked at 1.8GHz with GeForce GPU (72 core). The XOLO Play Tegra houses a 7 inch IPS screen with HD display of 1280×800 pixels resolution.

Android 4.2 runs on Tegra Note, entitled for the 4.3 upgrade via OTA updates. The software updates will directly come from NVIDIA. There is 1GB RAM, 16GB storage and 64GB external card support. Other connectivity options are micro HDMI port, 3.5mm audio jack, micro USB port, Bluetooth 4.0 and Wi-Fi (b/g/n).

This tab also comes with 5MP rear camera without flash support and 0.3MP front camera. There is built in GPS receiver that works with Google maps and supports GLONASS. In addition there are stereo speakers placed on the front with bass reflex port and pure audio (NVIDIA) processing.

The battery mAh is 4100 with video playback time is up to 10 hours. The tablet also incorporates the NVIDIA DirectStylus technology for impressive stylus experience for broader and finer strokes.

The XOLO Play Tegra Note is priced at Rs. 17,999 – silver cover and the DirectStylus pro pack will cost extra.

Be-Bound is a new mobile app for Android that uses text messaging as the means by which to provide internet access at very low bandwidths to mobile devices when there is little or no data connectivity available through a Wi-Fi or 3G connection.

Most travellers will have experienced the frustration of being disconnected from the internet when abroad – or facing expensive hotel Wi-Fi charges to go online.

But those days are set to be consigned to the recycle bin of history thanks to a new free Android app called Be-Bound that connects users to the web even when there’s no data connectivity.

It doesn’t need a Wi-Fi signal, 3G or 4G to work, but instead moves information around on the 2G network, the same bandwidth used to send text messages

The app, which launched in the UK on October 21, includes built-in applications for email, weather report, news, stocks quotes, geolocation services and even Twitter.

‘We started with a simple observation: everybody has faced connection issues, even in covered areas like trains, subways, indoor buildings or any other areas with poor or limited connectivity,’ said Albert Szulman, CEO of Paris-based Be-Bound.

‘We aim to connect the world. There’s no plan or contract, you buy credits, and use it.’

Be-Bound’s app requires no infrastructure investment and will eventually works with every phone carrier in the world.

The service is free when there’s a data network available, with users having to spend prepaid messaging credits called Be-miles when there isn't.

The price for 80 Be-miles is currently £4.30. 'Light' apps like the stock exchange or weather use one Be-Mile, apps that use up more memory like email or the search function use two Be-Miles or more.

It's Bound to be popular.

The Lenovo IdeaPad S210T is a touch laptop powered by 3rd generation Intel dual core Celeron processor with 2GB RAM and 500 GB HDD storage. This laptop sports an 11.6 inch 10 point touch screen and comes with AccuType Keyboard. It is priced at under Rs. 28,000.

There are two S210T versions available in the market one with 3rd gen Celeron 1.6GHz dual core and other with 3rd gen Pentium dual core clocked at 1.9GHz. The Pentium touch IdeaPad S210T laptop is priced at Rs. 29,990.

Box Pack

Inside the box you will find the Lenovo IdeaPad S210T laptop, 3 cell battery of 2200mAh capacity, power adapter, power cable and quick start guide / warranty booklet. Depending from where you buy this laptop you can get a free Lenovo Branded Backpack or some other accessories. I got a USB mouse, headphone with speaker and desktop speakers for free.

It would be better if you ask and insist for the Backpack as some shop keepers might avoid giving that and instead give you other option and sell off the Backpack later on as an individual item and make extra money.

Lenovo IdeaPad S210T design and specifications

The S210T weighs around 1.5Kg and is of dimension 299x207x22.3mm. I got the black color model, it has a texture on the top. The laptop is sleek with good built quality. There is one touch recovery button on the left side along with RJ 45 port, HDMI port and USB port. On the right side there is 3.5mm audio jack, 2 in 1 card reader, another USB port and power port. There is 1xUSB 2.0 and 1xUSB 3.0 ports. Wi-Fi and Bluetooth are also included. In addition there is a 720p HD camera on the front.

This laptop runs on windows 8 OS (64 bit) and can be upgraded to 8.1 for free. It is powered by 3rd gen Celeron Dual core processor (1017U) clocked at 1.6GHz coupled with Intel HD graphics processor.

There is 2GB RAM and 500 GB storage. Touch screen is 11.6 inches with resolution 1366×768 pixels – 10 point multi touch supported. For input there is touchpad and AccuType Keyboard – this is different from traditional keyboards, it’s fast, accurate and comfortable to use. Almost all of the IdeaPad laptops come with AccuType keyboard. On the front side there is the standby and low battery indicator.

Performance

The laptop performance is pretty good; the touch experience is good and gives the tablet feel. 2GB RAM is enough but in case you want you can add additional RAM of up to 8GB. This is not a very powerful laptop (Not recommended for gaming users), but decent enough for everyday general use like checking emails, surfing, social networking, office work, etc.

Sound output is really good thanks to the Stereo Speakers with Dolby Advanced Audio v2 technology.

Battery

The 3 cell battery gives a usage time of up to 4 hours. Full recharge in 2 hours 52 minutes from 12% to 60% with off sate and then in standby mode. Battery backup is 3 to 4 hours and even more depending on your usage. With continuous usage (minimal brightness) battery life is 3 to 3 hours 30 minutes.

Verdict

The under Rs. 20K Netbooks have almost disappeared from the markets. And when it comes to laptop with touch features there are in fact very few affordable option. The lowest touch laptop is the Lenovo Essential A10 that is powered by quad core and runs on Android 4.2 OS for around Rs. 20K. The other option is the IdeaPad S210T touch screen laptop for around Rs. 27,890.

Huawei today launched a quad core tablet for Rs. 24,990 in India. The Huawei MediaPad 10 what they call sports a 10.1 inch IPS screen with HD display running the Jelly Bean 4.1 OS. This tablet can be pre-ordered from Flipkart and it does come with built in 3G SIM slot.

The Huawei MediaPad 10 is 9.9 mm thick and weight is 640 grams. This tab comes powered by 1.2 GHz Cortex-A9 Quad Core (Hisilicon K3V2) with 16 cores GPU. It runs on the Jelly Bean 4.1 with 1GB RAM and 16GB internal storage.

The 10.1 inch screen of capacitive nature supports 1280×800 pixels resolution with 10 point multi touch. There is a front 0.3MP camera and a rear 3MP. It’s a fixed focus camera. As mentioned there is built in SIM slot that supports 3G SIM. In addition there is Wi-Fi, GPS, Bluetooth, micro USB and 3.5mm audio jack.

The battery is 6000 mAh Li-po that gives standby time of about 600 hours and video playback time / internet browsing time of up to 8 hours.

Huawei MediaPad 10 key features and specifications

Built in SIM slot. (micro SIM I guess).

Quad core Cortex A9 1.2 GHz Hisilicon K3V2 + 16 core GPU.

Android 4.1 Jelly Bean.

1GB RAM, 16GB storage and micro SD card slot (32GB).

10.1 inch capacitive touchscreen with 1280×800 pixels resolution (16M colours ~ 149.45).

3MP FF primary camera + 0.3 MP FF secondary camera. Full HD playback and HD recording supported.

3G (42mbps), 2G, Wi-Fi (b/g/n), Bluetooth 3, 3.5 mm audio jack, micro USB and GPS.

Sensors: Light and Accelerometer.

Li-po 6000 mAh battery with up to 8 hours of usage time.

Price Rs. 24,990 (via Flipkart).

The Karbonn smart A34 HD tablet with dual SIM slot is now available for Rs. 7,290. This 7 inch tablet runs on the Android 4.0 OS and comes powered by 1GHz cortex A9 single core processor.

Tablets with built in SIM slot and phone functionality are not that popular. It does sound exciting until you purchase it. Many of the users who have bought tablet with phone functionality have at some point of time moved to smartphones as it is more convenient specially when making or receiving a call.

The Karbonn A34 HD sports a 7 inch screen with 1024×600 pixels resolution. The ICS OS runs on this tablet with 512MB RAM and 4GB storage. There is a rear camera of 2MP resolution and a front VGA camera. The key attraction is the dual SIM option; however do note that 3G is not supported. You can connect an external 3G dongle if you need 3G accesses, but via the SIM slot only the 2G network (EDGE) is available.

Other features are Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS (needs confirmation), micro USB port and 3.5mm audio jack. The battery is of a standard 3000 mAh capacity. The Karbonn A34 tablet with 800×480 pixels resolution is available for Rs. 6,999 on Flipkart and the Karbonn A34 with HD screen resolution comes for a price tag of Rs. 7,290 on Infibeam.

has launched another 3G calling tablet called the Swipe MTV Slate for a price tag of Rs. 14,999. This tablet comes with single SIM slot and a 7.8 inch screen.

The MTV Slate runs on the Jelly Bean 4.2.2 OS with on-board 1GB RAM and 8GB storage. There is a single SIM slot – 3G / 2G supported with voice call functionality. Additional storage can be added via the Micro SD slot (up to 32GB). This tab is loaded with quad core processor (MT6589 MTK8389) clocked at 1.2GHz (cortex A7) coupled with PowerVR SGX 544MP GPU.

The IPS touch screen is 7.85 inches with 1024×768 pixels resolution. This tab also comes with dual cameras. There is a VGA camera on the front and a 5 megapixel camera on the rear. The Swipe MTV Slate Tablet is 8.4mm thick and weight is 400 grams. There is built in FM receiver and full HD playback is supported.

Other features are 3G, 2G, Wi-Fi (b/g/n), Bluetooth 4.0, probably GPS (needs confirmation) and OTG support. Battery is of 3200 mAh (li-ion) capacity which seems too less for the size.

Kindle Fire HDX tablets will be more powerful and lighter than its predecessor. Amazon announced the Kindle Fire HDX 7 and Kindle Fire HDX 8.9 tablets with a price tag of $229 and $379 respectively. The 8.9 inch tablets also come in 4G LTE variant for $479.

The Kindle Fire HD tablet prices had already dropped a few days back, that was an indication of new arrival’s. These tablets run on Fire OS 3.0 Mojito with new features, platform updates from time to time and access to Amazon exclusive services.

The Kindle Fire HDX 7 sports a 7 inch screen with 1920×1200 pixels resolution i.e. 323 ppi. It is powered by 2.2GHz quad core processor. The 7 inch version may also come with optional 4G which will cost more.

The 7 inch Fire HDX supports Wi-Fi, comes with front facing HD camera, optional 16/32/64GB storage space, Dolby audio and dual stereo speakers. This tab is 9mm thick and weighs 303 grams for Wi-Fi version and 311 grams for 4G version. On a full charge the tab gives 11 hours of usage and up to 17 hours when reading. The price is $229.

Amazon Kindle Fire HDX 8.9 too is powered by quad core processor clocked at 2.2GHz. It houses a 8.9 inch screen with 2560×1600 pixels resolution (339 ppi). Other features are Wi-Fi, optional 4G, optional 16/32/64 GB storage, Dolby audio / Dual stereo speakers, front HD camera and 8MP rear camera. On a full charge this 8.9 inch tab gives 12 hours usage and 18 hours of reading.

The Micromax Canvas Tab P650 is here to compete with the Samsung Galaxy Tab. The P650 is loaded with 1.2GHz quad core processor running 4.2 Jelly Bean OS with 1GB RAM and 16GB storage. This tablet is priced at under Rs. 16,500 is it worth it, find out.

Box Pack

The box looks attractive and is quite heavy. The Sar value is mentioned on the box – 1.00 W/[email protected] head and 1.49 W/[email protected] body. Inside you will find the tablet attached with a good quality snap cover. Other accessories included are power adapter, data cable, earphone and warranty statement / user manual.

Design, Display and OS

The Micromax Canvas Tab P650 tablet weight is 448 grams without snap cover, the weight with snap cover is over 500 grams (585 grams). Tab is 9.55mm thick. The P650 has got curved edges and available in blue and white (sliver) colors. The one that I used for the review is shiny silver color with matte finish and the snap cover is white color.

The snap cover is something that you might have seen with the Apple iPad. You can fold it and use it as a stand, check the review video. The cover comes with a plastic case – the tablet is clipped in. Volume rockers are placed on the right side along with micro USB port and a single SIM slot that houses a normal SIM. This tablet supports 3G with phone functionality. The power button, 3.5mm audio jack and micro USB port is placed on the top.

There is no dedicated buttons on the front panel, when you power on the tablet you will get the onscreen buttons. There is in call speaker and front camera of 2MP resolution. The Build quality and finishing is very good, though the tab feels a bit heavy.

The Micromax Canvas Tab P650 runs on Android 4.2.1 and sports an 8 inch screen with 1024×658 pixels with 16M colors, but because of the absence of dedicated navigation buttons the usable screen resolution is 976×768 pixels.

There are accelerometer, orientation and magnetic sensors. The magnetic sensor is indeed present and may sound weird as most of the Micromax handsets never come with this particular sensor.

Memory, Storage and OS

RAM is 1GB of which 650 MB is available and of the 16GB storage 1.73 GB is allocated for apps (1.59GB free) and 10.95GB as USB storage (it’s a tab and hence they used the word USB storage instead of phone storage). There is micro SD card slot that supports 32GB card. You can install / move apps on external storage. I tried connecting a pen drive using OTG cable, and it doesn’t work. OTG not supported.

Performance and Benchmark

The Canvas Tab P650 is powered by quad core cortex A7 MT8389 chipset clocked at 1.2GHz with PowerVR SGX 544 MP GPU. The performance is smooth without any lags.

Benchmark scores

Quadrant Benchmark: 4052.

Antutu Benchmark : 13274.

Vellamo Benchmark : HTML5 – 1497, Metal – 503.

Nenamark2 : 51.2fps.

Epic Citadel Benchmark: 59.1 in high performance and 27.0 in ultra high quality mode.

Multi Touch : 5 point.

OTG is not supported.

The scores are a little better than as seen on Samsung Galaxy Tab 3.

Camera and Entertainment

The rear auto focus camera is 5MP resolution without LED flash. Still image long shots are okay and close ups are good. The camera can record videos in 1080p resolution at 30fps the video quality is also good. There is a 2MP front camera, its fixed focus. Check out the samples and video at the end.

Gaming

I tried Dead Trigger in high graphics mode and Asphalt 7, both these games worked smoothly without any issues. The games got installed on the external SD card. I then tried the MC4 (Modern combat 4) that unfortunately did not work.

Others

There is built in 3G, you can use the handset as a phone, either via Bluetooth, earphone or simply place the in-call speaker near the ear and talk (this might look odd cause of the size). 3G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth worked well. I did not get the time to check the GPS, but I think you should get a lock within 30 seconds easily. Speaker volume is much louder and clear.

Battery

The 4800 mAh Li-ion battery gives a talk-time of up to 10 hours and usage time of up to 5 hours. I played some games for about 16 minutes and battery level dropped to 6% and temp rose by 2 degrees, the max temp was 35 degrees.

Micromax Canvas Tab P650 review (verdict)

The MMX Canvas Tab competes with Samsung Galaxy tab. If you compare it with the Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 (T211) (with 8GB and 3G), there is much more that the P650 is offering, the price is near about the same. It will be interesting to see what Xolo Tegra Note will be priced at.

Of course Canvas Tab P650 is a better option specs wise but brand wise Samsung still rules. Nevertheless Canvas Tab is a good option with snap cover.

Lava mobiles has launched their first dual SIM tablet Lava E-Tab IVORY, that runs on Android 4.1 OS and supports 3G with voice calling. The E-Tab IVORY is priced at Rs. 10,199 and will hit the stores with few days.

The Lava E-Tab IVORY comes powered by MediaTek dual core processor with PowerVR SGX 531 Ultra GPU. The SGX 531 Ultra GPU is clocked at 500 MHz that should be good enough for gaming and overall performance.

The IVORY E-Tab sports a 7 inch screen with 1024×600 pixels resolution. You can use two SIM cards. 3G including voice call facility is supported. This tab comes with dual cameras of 2MP resolution that is placed on the rear and a 0.3 MP (VGA) resolution placed on the front.

Lava E-Tab IVORY is 10.8mm thick. Tabet also includes Wi-Fi, GPS and Bluetooth. Android 4.1 jelly Bean comes loaded with 4GB internal storage and 1GB RAM + MicroSD card support. The battery of 3000 mAh seems too less for this specification, however Lava has mentioned that the battery backup is about 5 hours on a full charge

The IVORY Tab with dual SIM and 3G support coming soon for Rs. 10,199.