Facebook’s phone-calling app Hello for Android launched

Facebook’s new phone-calling App Hello comes with dialler and caller id

Not to be outdone to its subsidiary, WhatsApp, Facebook has launched a full fledged standalone phone calling App called Hello for Android.  Incidentally, Hello for Android was launched on the same day that WhatsApp voice calling was enabled for iPhone and iPad users.

“Hello” for Android is the brainchild of Facebook Creative Labs, the company’s arm tasked with creating new applications outside of Facebook.

Unlike WhatsApp voice calling where the user just sees the user’s profile on the smartphone screen, Hello is a full fledged dialler with caller id facility. Because it’s connected to Facebook, Hello users can see information about their callers’ identity even if the caller is not in their friends list.

Facebook said that calling facilities on Hello are currently available select countries like US, Brazil and Nigeria.

If you are staying in either of these three countries, you can download the ‘Hello’ for Android here.

Lenovo launches A5000 Smartphone with 5-Inch HD Display and 4000mAh Battery

Lenovo A5000 Android Lollipop powered smartphone with 5-Inch HD Display and 4000mAh Battery launched by Lenovo

The new A-series smartphone, the A5000 was quietly launched by Lenovo in Russia. At the same time, the handset is also listed without pricing details on Lenovo’s official UAE site.

The Lenovo A5000 smartphone is now up for sale in Russia at RUB 12,000 (approximately Rs. 14,500), however, there has been no declaration for other markets.
One of the most remarkable features of the Lenovo A5000 is that it is supported by a large 4000mAh battery touted to deliver up to 17 hours of talk time and up to 792 hours of standby time on 3G networks.

On the flip side, the smartphone might just support 3G connectivity with no 4LTE support, as suggested in the official listing of the Lenovo A5000. The company also proclaims that not only the smartphone’s Quick Charge feature allows the battery to get fully charged in 3 hours, it also offers up to 4 hours of talk time with a 15-minute charge.

The Lenovo A5000 is a dual-SIM (Micro-SIM and regular SIM) device which runs Android 4.4 KitKat out-of-the-box. It comes with a 5-inch HD (720×1280 pixels) IPS display with a pixel density of 300ppi. The Chinese company also states that the handset has features like rain and splash-proof screen protection.

The smartphone comes with 1GB of RAM and Mali T760-MP2 GPU and is powered by a 1.3GHz quad-core MediaTek (MT6582) processor . The Lenovo A5000 comes to an inbuilt storage of 8GB, which is further expandable via microSD card (up to 32GB). It has an 8-megapixel autofocus rear camera with LED flash along with a 2-megapixel fixed-focus front-facing camera.

The Lenovo A5000 offers GPRS/ EDGE, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, GPS/ A-GPS, Micro-USB, and Bluetooth connectivity options other than 3G.

It comes in two color variants, Black and White. It measures 140×71.4×9.98mm and weighs 160 grams. The Lenovo A5000 also has sensors such as an accelerometer, ambient light sensor, and a proximity sensor.

India too, can soon expect the launch of the Lenovo A5000 smartphone which will be aimed at affordable section and 3G users. On the other hand, the new Lenovo A6000 Plus andLenovo A7000 handsets with LTE support has already been launched in India.

Asus Zenfone 2 is world’s first 4GB RAM smartphone priced at Rs.19999

Asus launches its Zenfone 2 in India with 4GB RAM for Rs.19,999.00

Asus today launched their mega 64-bit dual channel 4GB RAM smartphone ASUS Zenfone 2 in India at a glittering event in Gurgaon. They have launched two smartphones in Zenfone 2 range and the flagship Zenfone 2 (ZE551ML) will be available to Indians for Rs.19,999.00

The first one of the two models is Zenfone 2 model ZE551ML and features a 5.5-inch full HD IPS display and is powered by 2.3 GHz quad core Intel Atom Z3580 processor and PowerVR G6430 GPU. As said above the Zenfone 2 is the first smartphone is the world to be run on 4GB dual channel RAM. It will be available to Indians for Rs.19,999.00 for 32GB version and Rs.22,999.00 for 64GB version.

The second variant of Zenfone 2 model ZE550ML comes with a 5.5-inch display with 1280 x 720 pixels resolution. It runs on 1.8Ghz quad core Intel Atom processor and has a 2GB RAM. The Zenfone 2 model ZE550ML is cheapest of the Zenfone 2 lot and is priced at Rs 12,999.

The third variant will be sold by Asus for Rs.14,999.00 and comes with a full HD display, 1.8 GHz quad core processor, 2GB RAM and 16GB storage.

All the three smartphones have some common specifications which include

• microSD slot for expansion up to 64GB
• dual SIM with dual active feature
• 3,000mAh battery
• Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, GPS
• Android 5.1 Lollipop
• Asus Zen UI with 1000 + enchancements
• 13MP Rear camera with f2.0 aperture and dual-tone LED flash
• 5MP front camera with f2.0 aperture and 85 degree wide angle lens for selfies.
• 4G (LTE) – 150 Mbps HSDPA

You can buy all the versions exclusively on Flipkart the links of which are given below :

• Asus Zenfone 2 model ZE551ML 4GB RAM 32GB storage – Rs.19,999.00
• Asus Zenfone 2 ZE550ML 2GB RAM 16GB storage -Rs.12,999.00
• Asus Zenfone 2 ZE551ML 2 GB RAM 16GB storage – Rs.14,999.00

UI Improvements, New Mail And Calendar Apps to be brought by New Windows 10 Build 10061

New Windows 10 Technical Preview Build 10061 released, to bring New Mail and Calendar Apps and UI improvements

Microsoft released a new version of Windows 10 build today that includes bug fixes, user interface improvements and new Mail and Calendar applications.

Microsoft has added a new ‘black system theme’ in the new build for a number of crux user interface elements, which includes the Start Menu and Taskbar. The company has also remodeled Windows 10’s tablet mode, officially called Continuum, to make it simple to select the most used buttons by enlarging them.

Microsoft’s effort to make one operating system that can run on any device form factor depends on that sort of work working. If you are a regular Surface user, you are probably very much aware of the the jerk that happens when you switch from a tablet mode to a desktop mode and back. However, Microsoft has some more time to solve the glitch.

There are bug fixes with all the Windows 10 builds. For example, creating a new Universal app project will no longer crash the Visual Studio. There is a fix coming for downloading music in the Xbox Music and Music Preview apps which is currently broken, so on and many more.

Microsoft, in addition, has also released a new Windows 10 for phones build yesterday. It almost seems that the company is hastening the speed of its build cycles. This is kind of different given that Build, Microsoft’s yearly developer confab, is next week.