Spice launches two Jelly Bean-running smartphones

Spice Mobiles has launched two smartphones today – the Smart Flo Space Mi 354 and the Stellar Glamour Mi 436. 

The Smart Flo Space Mi 354 smartphone sports a 3.5-inch display and offers dual-SIM capabilities. It is powered by a 1GHz dual-core processor and runs Android 4.2 Jelly Bean OS. All this is fuelled by a 1450 mAh strong battery.  

The Spice Smart Flo Space Mi 354 smartphone

Here’s a quick look at the specs of the Smart Flo Space Mi 354:

3.5-inch capacitive touch screen display Wi-Fi with Edge 3MP camera with LED flash, 1.3MP front-facing cameraA-GPSBluetooth 3.0FM Radio Memory expandable by up to 32GB

The Spice Stellar Glamour Mi 436 smartphone sports a 4-inch display, which is powered by a 1.2 GHz dual-core processor and runs Jelly Bean 4.2 OS. The smartphone comes with 4GB ROM and a 512MB RAM memory, which is expandable up to 32GB through a microSD card. All of this is fuelled by a 1400mAh battery.

'Glamour'ous?

Here’s a quick look at the specifications of the Stellar Glamour Mi 436:

4-inch capacitive touch screen displayWi-Fi Tethering5MP rear camera, 1.3MP front-facing cameraA-GPS/GMSBluetoothMemory expandable by up to 32GB

It also comes loaded with 6 months free NQ Antivirus and a free back cover worth Rs. 500. Both the devices come preloaded with apps such as Whatsapp, Facebook, Spice Gang and TOI. 

The Smart Flo Space and Stellar Glamour smartphones will be available across India through all major retail stores and www.saholic.com at an MOP of Rs 3,799 and Rs 5,999, respectively.

Spice Cloud provides Spice consumers with Cloud Backup of 2GB free Data storage and seamless access to user photos/documents/music/videos and contacts across the devices along with advanced security and anti-theft features. Users can access them all using the web interface at www.spicecloud.in.

Commenting on the launch, Mr. T M Ramakrishnan, CEO – Devices, S Mobility Ltd, said, “We have witnessed massive growth with low-cost offerings and delivering the best android experience without sacrificing on performance or features. These products position themselves as premium budget phones with enhanced features and better than what competition is offering.  This latest offering by Spice is a perfect amalgamation of functionality, style & entertainment. ”  

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Falling rupee to make Indian smartphones costlier

The falling Indian currency is proving to be a major cause of concern for the country right now. In fact, the situation is so worrying that one fears that the commodities that are already expensive will get costlier. 

Without a doubt, several sectors are likely to bear the brunt of the weakening rupee, and as much as you’d hate to know it, the smartphone you’ve probably been eyeing for a while now may just get costlier. The Economic Times confirms that the present situation is likely to make low-cost phones costlier. Worse still will be the predicament of entry-level and mid-level smartphone makers owing to the stiffening competition in the top-level and feature phones segment in the country. 

Will you still  be able to buy it? (Image credit: Getty Images)

Lava, one of the popular smartphone manufacturing brands in the country, has confirmed that it will hike the prices of feature phones and smartphones by at least 10 percent. The confirmation came from the company’s co-founder and director SN Rai, who was further quoted by the daily as saying that they decided so to protect their margins against the weakening rupee. Rai added that their margins have taken a hit by 10-15 percent already. 

Karbonn, another popular brand, also confirmed that it will be increasing prices by 5-10 percent within this week across its handset portfolio. Micromax, though, is currently gauging the situation and has confirmed with ET that it will raise the prices if the rupee falls any lower from existing levels. 

However, you can breathe easy if what you were eyeing is an iPhone or a BlackBerry 10 device, for there doesn’t seem to be any price revision coming in for those handsets. As for the other biggies in the market – Samsung, HTC, Nokia, and Sony – the report has suggested that Samsung, HTC and Sony are “watching the rupee situation carefully".

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First batch of Jolla Sailfish smartphones sold out, follow-up campaign a possibility

Finnish startup Jolla has now closed the first batch of orders before the general release of the Sailfish OS-sporting smartphone. The team, which was assembled from Nokia's abandoned MeeGo experiment, is now looking at planning a follow-up campaign.

Back in May, Jolla launched its “Other Half” pre-sale campaign to understand the demand for its Sailfish OS smartphone. It also hoped to find committed buyers ahead of the launch of its first device. Jolla is not giving out the exact number of devices that were pre-booked due to “customer confidentiality”, according to ZDNet. However, a spokesperson for the startup has said that the normal size of a production batch for a mobile device vendor is 50,000 units.

Consumers in the European Union as well as Norway and Switzerland were earlier offered a deal wherein they could make a €100 ( Rs 8,610 approx) down payment to get a €100 voucher off the overall €399 (Rs 34,230 approx) price of the device as well as "priority pre-order status".  

Jolla has closed the booking orders for the first batch of its Sailfish OS running smartphone

While the actual number of pre-orders is still unconfirmed, Jolla has said that both consumers and “selected sales channels” have bought out the first batch. The smartphones are stipulated for delivery by the end of the year. The startup has also claimed that it received pre-orders from 136 countries. This is up from the 118 countries that were earlier reported.

It should be noted that the €100 down payment option was only open to consumers in the EU, Norway and Switzerland, though. Consumers from outside these countries had the option of booking the device without a down payment, according to what a Jolla spokesperson told the source. 

So far, the only carrier that has committed to sell the smartphone once it is available is DNA, one of Finland’s largest operators. The startup is looking at expanding its carrier support, but the spokesperson would not expand on what the startup meant by "selected sales channels". The spokesperson did say that Jolla was in talks with "several other operators in various countries".

The startup’s CEO, Pienimäki, has given disappointed fans who may have missed out on the first batch some hope, though. According to the source report, the Jolla headhoncho said, "For those, who missed the first opportunity, we are now doing our best to offer a second chance, a new batch of Jolla smartphones later in the autumn. I encourage everyone interested in Jolla to sign up at jolla.com and be the first to know about any new developments, such as the opening of the next pre-sales campaign."

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LG Display develops world's first Quad HD display for smartphones

The world's first Quad HD smartphone display is here, if one were to believe this latest announcement by LG Display.

In its official release, the company claims that this new 5.5-inch Quad HD AH-IPS LCD smartphone display boasts a resolution of a whopping 2560 x 1440 pixels, and adds that it also features the highest pixel density on a mobile device, at 538 ppi. The Quad HD display’s thinness measures at a mere 1.21 mm and it features a 1.2 mm bezel measured in LCD modules (LCM); LG Display claims that this new Quad HD panel is both the world's slimmest and narrowest panel.

Here's the world's first Quad HD display!

The company claims that this Quad HD display, in contrast to the Full HD variant currently available in the market, realises clearer images with 4 times more pixels, thereby enabling it to bring out more delicate colours, while also improving contrast and vividness. This new display will also treat users to a full view of PC-version web pages at a single glance minus any image distortion - Full HD displays realise only 3/4th of a full screen. 

Dr. Byeong-koo Kim, Vice President and Head of LG Display's IT and Mobile Development Group, said: "LG Display, which pioneered the high resolution mobile market with introduction of the world's first Full HD smartphone panel in 2012, again opens new possibilities with the successful application of QHD technology. With this breakthrough, LG Display will continue to raise new standards for mobile resolution and lead the mobile display market."

It is based on Low Temperature Poly-Silicon (LTPS) substrate and the panel also realises superior brightness of 430nit with improved transmittance and larger aperture opening size.

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