5 large screen budget phablets under Rs. 15,000

February 28, 2013

phablets_under_Rs._15000Phablets are the latest trend in the smartphone industry - thanks to Samsung which started the once-upon-a-time 'niche' category. After the success of the original Galaxy Note, many Indian manufacturers followed suit offering decent specs with larger screen sizes.

In case you're unaware, phablets are smartphone-tablet hybrids with screen sizes of 5-inches and above. This new category has created a lot of hype and to get you acquainted with it, we've put together a list of 5 devices over 5-inch screens. We decided to leave out the ones that have exactly 5.0-inch displays, in case you're looking to move on to 'bigger things in life'. The best part, all these devices cost less than Rs. 15,000, so they won't hurt your pocket either.

1. Intex AQUA Style -Intex is the latest company to join the above 5-inch pool of phablet offerings. The company has marked its spot in the category with the AQUA Style sporting a massive 5.9-inch capacitive touch display with a resolution of 480X800 pixels. The dual-SIM device comes with Android 4.0 pre-installed and features an 8-megapixel rear camera with flash and a 1.3-megapixel front camera as well.

It is powered by a 1GHz dual-core processor along with 512MB RAM, has 4GB of internal storage expandable up to 32GB via microSD and a 2,500mAh battery. Standard connectivity options include Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, 3G and GPS.

Pre-loaded apps on the AQUA Style include Gmail, Nimbuzz, Facebook, WhatsApp, Google Maps and YouTube. The Intex AQUA Style will be available in black and white colours, through Intex's exclusive retail stores (Intex stores) and popular multi-brand outlets. It was priced at Rs. 11,200 during launch but is now available for Rs. 10,799, making it the cheapest phablet in our list.

2. Spice Stellar Pinnacle Mi-530 -Spice is known for its Stellar series of phones that are offered at budget prices. The company recently added a phablet to the series in the form of the Stellar Pinnacle Mi-530 priced at Rs. 13,999.

Specs wise, the dual-SIM device (3G+3G) boasts a 5.3-inch qHD IPS display and runs on Android 4.0, though the company says it is upgradable to Jelly Bean. Imaging needs are taken care of by an 8-megapixel rear auto focus camera. However, the key highlight of the device is that it is the first ever budget smartphone to don a 5-megapixel auto focus front camera.

Underneath, the device is powered by a 1.2GHz dual-core processor with 1GB RAM. It comes with 16GB of internal storage that can be expanded by an additional 32GB via microSD. The 2,550mAh Li-ion-Polymer battery claims a talk-time of more than 4 hours.

Connectivity options include Wi-Fi, 3G/HSPA, Bluetooth 4.0 and an array of sensors.

Stellar Pinnacle Mi-530 comes with other features like USB OTG, Pop-up play, Flip to Mute, Intelligent Answer, Direct Call, Gesture Screen Lock, Hi Connect, Boot Acceleration and Power Saving Mode.

3. Karbonn A30 -Karbonn is another home grown manufacturer known to launch products in quick succession. It was the first Indian manufacturer to enter the phablet scenario with the A30 Ta-Fone. The device was initially launched for Rs. 12,990 but can now be availed at a best buy price of Rs. 11,100.

The device directly competes with the Intex AQUA Style with almost identical features. It has a 5.9-inch capacitive touch display with 480x800 pixels. It also runs on Android 4.0 and features an 8-megapixel autofocus camera with LED flash and a 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera on-board as well.

On the inside, the device is powered by a 1GHz dual-core processor alongside 512MB RAM. It comes with 4GB of internal storage with external expansion options of up to 32GB.

Connectivity options on the Karbonn A30 - Ta Fone include, Wi-Fi, 3G, Bluetooth and USB.

The device supports dual-SIM functionality (3G+2G) and comes with a 2,500 mAh battery claiming up to 10 hours of talk time. Apps such as Facebook, WhatsApp, PayTM, Saavn and Karbonn Smart come pre-loaded on the Karbonn A30 Ta-Fone.

4. Swipe MTV Volt -Swipe is a California based company that has many tablets under its brand name. Now the company has partnered with MTV India and launched the MTV Volt boasting a 6-inch (854x480 pixels) capacitive 5-point multi-touch display. The device is priced at Rs. 12,999.

Unlike most other devices in this list, MTV Volt runs on Android 4.1 Jelly Bean out of the box. Like other phablets we mentioned here, it has an 8-megapixel rear camera with LED flash and a 1.3-megapixel front facing camera too.

Under the hood, this beast is powered by a 1GHz dual-core MTK 6577 processor with 512MB DDR3 RAM. There's 4GB of internal storage that can be expanded by another 32GB via microSD card. Another feature that makes this device stand apart is an inbuilt TV-player that offers on-the-go access to MTV and also features FM Radio with FM Transmitter.

The MTV Volt supports dual-SIM (GSM+GSM) functionality and comes with a 3,200mAh battery claiming anywhere between 8 to 10 hours of talk time. The device boasts connectivity options like WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, 3G, Bluetooth 4.0, USB 2.0 EDGE and GPS and also comes with an additional navigator flap cover.

5. Byond Phablet PII -Here is a company that has launched not one but two phablets within a short span of 2 months. Byond was the first company to launch a 6-inch phablet literally named Phablet PIII priced at Rs. 14,999 (now available for Rs. 12,999), completely blurring the divide between smartphones and tablets. The company recently launched the Phablet PII as well at a best buy price of Rs. 14,999 that made it to this list.

The Phablet PII seems like an improvement over the PIII with a slightly trimmed down screen size and offering an HD resolution, though camera, processor, RAM and storage specs remain the same. It sports a 5.7-inch multi-touch HD IPS capacitive display with a 1280x720 pixel resolution. It also comes with Android 4.1.1 Jelly Bean. Again this was the first company in the under 15k category to launch a phablet with Jelly Bean straight out of the box.

The device is powered by a 1GHz dual-core processor alongside 1GB RAM. There is 4GB of internal storage that can be expanded by an additional 32GB via microSD. It comes with a 2,500 mAh battery claiming 100 hours of stand-by time.

The dual-SIM (GSM+GSM, single active, 3G-enabled) device features connectivity options like Wi-Fi, 3G, GPS and Bluetooth amongst an array of other sensors. It comes with social media apps like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Skype and games such as Angry Birds Rio and Temple Run are also pre-installed on the device.

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Agencies
July 4,2020

The Mars Colour Camera (MCC) onboard ISRO's Mars Orbiter Mission has captured the image of Phobos, the closest and biggest moon of Mars.

The image was taken on July 1 when MOM was about 7,200 km from Mars and 4,200 km from Phobos.

"Spatial resolution of the image is 210 m.

This is a composite image generated from 6 MCC frames and has been color corrected," ISRO said in an update along with the image.

Phobos is largely believed to be made up of carbonaceous chondrites.

According to ISRO, "the violent phase that Phobos has encountered is seen in the large section gouged out from a past collision (Stickney crater) and bouncing ejecta."

"Stickney, the largest crater on Phobos along with the other craters (Shklovsky, Roche & Grildrig) are also seen in this image," it said.

The mission also known as Mangalyaan was initially meant to last six months, but subsequently ISRO had said it had enough fuel for it to last "many years."

The country had on September 24, 2014 successfully placed the Mars Orbiter Mission spacecraft in orbit around the red planet, in its very first attempt, thus breaking into an elite club.

ISRO had launched the spacecraft on its nine-month- long odyssey on a homegrown PSLV rocket from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh on November 5, 2013.

It had escaped the earth's gravitational field on December 1, 2013.

The Rs 450-crore MOM mission aims at studying the Martian surface and mineral composition as well as scan its atmosphere for methane (an indicator of life on Mars).

The Mars Orbiter has five scientific instruments - Lyman Alpha Photometer (LAP), Methane Sensor for Mars (MSM), Mars Exospheric Neutral Composition Analyser (MENCA), Mars Colour Camera (MCC) and Thermal Infrared Imaging Spectrometer

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Agencies
June 16,2020

Paris, Jun 16: Increasing numbers of readers are paying for online news around the world even if the level of trust in the media, in general, remains very low, according to a report published Tuesday.

Around 20 percent of Americans questioned said they subscribed to an online news provider (up to four points over the previous year) and 42 percent of Norwegians (up eight points), along with 13 percent of the Dutch (up to three points), compared with 10 percent in France and Germany.

But between a third and a half of all news subscriptions go to just a few major media organisations, such as the New York Times, according to the annual Digital News Report by the Reuters Institute.

Some readers, however, are also beginning to take out more than one subscription, paying for a local or specialist title in addition to a national news source, the study's authors said.

But a large proportion of internet users say nothing could convince them to pay for online news, around 40 percent in the United States and 50 percent in Britain.

YouGov conducted the online surveys of 40 countries for the Reuters Institute in January, with 2,000 respondents in each.

Further surveys were carried out in six countries in April to analyse the initial effects of COVID-19.

The health crisis brought a revival of interest in television news -- with the audience rising five percent on average -- establishing itself as the main source of information along with online media.

Conversely, newspaper circulation was hard-hit by coronavirus lockdown measures.

The survey found trust in the news had fallen to its lowest level since the first report in 2012, with just 38 percent saying they trusted most news most of the time.

However, confidence in the news media varied considerably by country, ranging from 56 percent in Finland and Portugal to 23 percent in France and 21 percent in South Korea.

In Hong Kong, which has been hit by months of sometimes violent street protests against an extradition law, trust in the news fell 16 points to 30 percent over the year.

Chile, which has had regular demonstrations against inequality, saw trust in the media fall 15 percent while in Britain, where society has been polarised by issues such as Brexit, it was down 12 points.

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Agencies
June 12,2020

Mumbai, Jun 12: Following an overwhelming response for the mega rights issue of Mukesh Ambani-owned Reliance Industries, the partly paid-up rights shares are set to debut on stock exchanges on June 15.

The biggest ever Rs 53,124 crore rights issue was subscribed 1.59 times and received bids worth Rs 84,000 crore on June 3.

Reliance said the rights issue saw a huge investor interest, including from lakhs of small investors and thousands of institutional investors, both Indian and foreign.

In 2019, Ambani said in the Reliance's annual general meeting that the company will be net zero debt by March 2021. The company is on course to achieve its target ahead of the deadline.

"In spite of the COVID-19 crisis and the lockdowns, the due-diligence by Saudi Aramco for the planned investment in the O2C business is on track as both the parties are committed and actively engaged," he said recently.

"With a strong visibility to these equity infusions, Reliance is set to achieve net zero debt status ahead of its own aggressive timeline. We believe rights issue was a part of the company's strategy of deleveraging its balance sheet," said Ambani. 

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