Are you getting the real Galaxy S5 ? [ The latest flagship smartphone by Samsung ]

The latest flagship "Galaxy S" series smartphone by Samsung will be releasing worldwide tomorrow. It was first announced at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) held in Barcelona this February.

Different variants of the device are being released in different markets of the World. The criterion for different hardware choices is only known to Samsung; mainly connected with marketing and pricing.

The variant announced for India on March 27 is based on a Exynos octa-core processor. Samsung likes to call the chipset as Adonis Prime2 which contains a 1.9 GHz A15 Quad-core + 1.3 GHz A7 Quad-core + Intel XMM6360 Modem. So the SoC is equivalent of the Exynos 5420 found on Samsung Note 3. We will discuss more on that.

Meanwhile the Indian variant has some popular features missing compared to the Global Snapdragon 801 2.5 GHz processor based variant. Some say it's unfair. Is it?

Samsung "Galaxy S5" has started shipping into India from Vietnam [ Available from: April 11, 2014 ]

The Latest flagship mobile device by Samsung, the Galaxy S5 has been launched in India on 27 March 2014 at Delhi. The variant for the Indian market would be different from the US & European markets with regards to the SoC (System-on-Chip, which includes the Processor, GPU, Wireless Modules, Sound chips etc). Samsung did not give the exact pricing on launch day, but said that it will be available to buyers on April 11 for a price between Rs.51,000 to Rs.53,000. 

Meanwhile the phone units have started to ship into India since March 31, according to an Import data portal and the above retail price by Samsung is shockingly higher than Import price !


Update: 33,786 units (White + Black + Blue) have arrived in stores !

Google-Motorola designed "Moto X" finally launching in India today [ Rs.23,999 for 16 GB Black / White versions ]

The First flagship smartphone of the erstwhile Google-Motorola merger, the Moto X is finally coming to India this week. This news comes in the backdrop of the successful launch of the company's budget high-end phone Moto G, in India a month ago.

The E-commerce giant Flipkart.com will once again be the exclusive seller of the Moto X as it did with the Moto G a month ago.

So with almost 2,50,000 dual-sim units of Moto G sold in India since launch, will the Moto X also be a hit ?

Update: 5000 units in Stock before launch ! Buy now. 3000 Black & 2000 White.

Update 27 Mar 2014: Walnut & Teak wood variants have arrived. 3,993 units available for buying. 

How to ROOT Android mobile device, unlock boot-loader, install Custom Recovery and more [NEXUS DEVICES]

So you have got an Android device and like to know about the fashionable yet useful thing called "Rooting" or you own a Nexus device and searching for a hassle-free method of exploring the skeletons of your powerful device ? 

This article will try to explain and simplify the steps that go into unlocking a device boot-loader, enabling root permissions, installing custom recovery software, replacing the kernel with a custom feature-packed one.

Also it will tell how to undo and restore your device back to original.

Install "Google Now Launcher" on your android phone or tablet [Get "Okay Google" voice activation for Google search ]

Today Google launched the official "Google Now Launcher" on the play store. Until recently it was only available for the Nexus 5 smartphone. From today it can be downloaded onto other older Nexus devices and Google Play edition (GPE) devices like Nexus 7 (2013), Moto G (GPE) etc.

But you can still install the same using side-loading method (APK file), on some devices running Jelly-Bean OS or higher. For example: on Samsung Galaxy S4 or Moto G (Motorola Edition).

Read on to know steps and requirements for both type of installation.

WhatsApp Install Hack : How to install and use WhatsApp messenger on your tablet too !

So you have been using WhatsApp messenger application on your Android phones, but can't figure out how to install and use it on your Tablet too ?

You must have noticed that while searching for the "WhatsApp" application on the Google Playstore from a tablet, the app is either not shown or is not available for download and install. This is because it is originally supposed to run on a  a mobile phone having a valid phone number.

But we can easily by-pass this hurdle and install it on an android tablet ! Read on to know how.

Google Motorola Moto G launch in India and accessories

Motorola launched its's much awaited Indian version Moto G deal on Feb 5, 2014 at an event in New Delhi, which was co-hosted by Flipkart, the leading E-commerce retailer in India. 

Flipkart then opened ordering pages for two models of Moto G and Motorola branded colored covers, on its website at around 11:50 PM on the same night.

Within 15 Minutes, the 16 GB version of the phone was SOLD OUT and buyers made heading for the 8 GB option, fearing a complete sell out of all units.

"BubbleUPnP" DLNA app for Android Devices makes the home media network simple and smoother.

DLNA stands for Digital Living Network Alliance; A consortium promoted by 24 companies worldwide including Sony, Samsung, Google, Intel, DOLBY, DTS and others. Apart from the promoters, there are over 100+ member companies who are registered as contributors.

Many media devices of today are designed for interoperability. This can be important especially in a home environment, when the user requires a seamless and smooth playback between different media devices like smartphones, tablets, TV, music systems, game consoles or home theater systems.

How to Backup your Android Device to a Windows PC (No Rooting/Unlocking required)

You must have seen a lot of Backup & Restore Apps on Google Play store, but most good ones would likely require your phone/tab to be rooted or boot-loader unlocked. Titanium Backup is one such popular app which requires root access of the android Phone or Tablet. Also such apps usually backup the data onto your device Internal storage or SD card.

So what if we want to do a automated backup of android phone onto a PC or Mass Storage connected to the PC ? We now discuss the steps to easily perform such a backup.

QR-Code vs NFC - Which one will die a slow death ?

If you know what the image on the left is, you may well scan it using your smartphone to be led to this website's homepage automatically.

It's called a QR code (Quick Response code). These are the modern version of the BAR codes. It can contain information in text, numbers, binary, URL, etc. 

To read the information, a scanner is focused on it. It was originally developed by Toyota in 1994 to track vehicle parts in production. Nowadays we can use QR scanner apps on phones to read such codes through the phone's camera.

Numerous applications are possible with QR codes including advertising, website log in, payments and social networking. We will now see what the future holds for QR code and whether NFC will take over?

KitKat Nexus 7 Winners in India cheated ??

Why KitKat gave away Nexus 7 "2012" instead of promised Nexus 7 "2013" ?

See the above picture. On to the left is the specification of Nexus 7 (2012) 16GB from Flipkart and to the right is the snapshot of the package shipped to Kitkat winners. Compare the part number and other details, and you know it is Nexus 7 (2012) 16GB version that is being given away to Kitkat Winners in India.

Free calls to USA from India - Use Gmail to Make Free Calls to regular phone numbers in the US and Canada.

We all know about the popular Google Voice Service. It's a VoIP based service through which any person with a Google Voice account can call any regular phone number from a PC or mobile phone connected to the Internet. 

For a user residing in USA or Canada, the calls from Google Voice account are absolutely free within the country limits. For users outside North America the calls are charged according to rates specified by Google. The rates are the cheapest among any other VoIP service or Telecom service providers worldwide. Unfortunately this hugely popular service is not yet available to Google users in India.