All you need to know about 'Super Selfie, Super Battery' Gionee A1

Gionee India launched its new Smartphone A1 with 16 MP Front Camera sporting a dedicated selfie flash on the front for selfies. The phone is promoted with the tag line of 'Super Selfie, Super Battery'. As the tag line suggests the phone does have sport a high end selfie camera with the flash support and is powered by 4010 mAh strong high density battery, which company claims can be charged to Full within just 2 hours using its powerful 18W charger.

Gionee A1 Launch

The Gionee A1 presser was rather a different one, starting from invite and registration like in immigration counter (story for another day), most surprising part was the company didn't disclosed the price of the device. Mr. Vohra , Country CEO and MD India on being asked about the price of the phone just commented that its priceless, well we were left speechless with this comment as why would a brand not unveil the pricing on the launch day. However, from reliable sources the price of Gionee A1 is said to be Rs 22000/- in India. The pre-orders will start from 31st of March and if you pre-order it then you will also be getting a two -year warranty and a JBL headphone or a Swiss Military Bluetooth speaker.

The dual-Sim 4G LTE phone comes with a 16 MP front camera equipped with a flash light to lighten up the selfies, whereas on the rear you have  a 13 MP camera. The A1 runs on an Octa-Core 64 bit process that gives better performance and less power consumption. Powered by a 4GB RAM, The A1 enables smooth multitasking and easy operation, while 64GB internal storage (Expandable up to 256GB) provide ample storage space. The Gionee A1 is based on the latest Android 7.0 and comes with the improved Amigo OS for a holistic and satisfying smartphone experience.

The A1 is equipped with the fastest fingerprint sensor as claimed  by the company unlocking the phone in just 0.2 seconds, for top-notch safety. For the humid Indian conditions, the sensor unlocks the device even with moist fingers. The finger print sensor also activates ‘Edgebar’ allowing users a hub for quicker access to their favorite apps. A1 boasts of a full metal body made out of A6000 aircraft grade material that is used in making premium cars and aircrafts.

4G and VOLTE enabled smartphone also offers a host of amazing features such as Split Screen, Maxx Audio, Virus detection amongst other key features.

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[Infographic]: Selfie Usage pattern amongst the Indian consumers

In past few years the word selfie has transformed from a jargon for taking one's own photo in early 2005 to becoming one of the "Top 10 buzzwords" of year 2012. In 2013 selfie went on to become the "word of the year" by the Oxford English dictionary. At the time of writing of this post #Selfie had more than 293 million search results. All these facts and data indicates how popular Selfie is in today's  world for social media users. It's no surprise that smartphone companies have focused themselves on front camera more than ever. OPPO is one such company with a proven track record of producing one of the finest quality selfie focused /camera centric smartphones in market. In its continued effort to listen voice of customers and understand the usage pattern amongst Indian consumers, OPPO recently conducted a survey with the leading market research company Nielsen, on The Selfie Usage Patterns amongst the Indian consumers, to deep dive into the unique patterns, characteristics, challenges and their definition of a ‘perfect selfie’ .

An infographic is compiled based upon the research done by Nielsen for OPPO India. All findings are based on Online Research in Delhi, Chandigarh, Jaipur, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Pune, Bangalore, Chennai, Cochin and Kolkata in February 2017 among 1001 consumers who purchased a smart phone after Year 2014 and took selfie at least once a week.

Below are some of the interesting facts extracted from above infographic.

 At an overall level, out of 10 pictures taken with mobiles, 6 are selfies.

 Out of 10 selfies taken, 6 are group selfies with two or more people

89% of consumers are more willing to take selfies when with family and friends!

96% of consumers take more than one selfie every time to get a perfect one

66% claim that the biggest issue they face while taking a selfie is the difficulty in fitting all people in one frame! This directly correlates to the fact that a wider angle camera is going to be the future of perfect group selfies – a feature that most Indian consumers are demanding in their smartphone cameras.

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Western Digital Allies with ‘Phillauri’ as their digital storage partner

Phillauri (Saved on WD) poster

Western Digital, a leading digital storage provider, has announced its association with film production houses Fox Star Studios and Clean Slate Films Private Limited - Anushka Sharma and her brother Karnesh Sharma's production house, one of long awaited movies ‘Phillauri’. WD has provided the film production house with its world-class storage products for studio editing, post-production, and storing top notch special effects. As part of the association the company has provided the production house with key storage products. These products have been used by Fox Star Studios & Clean Slate Films for studio editing, post-production, and storing world-class special effects.

Media companies are investing heavily in migrating from the traditional to digital value chain to achieve efficiency in processes and save costs. With digitization, managing assets and control over content, from the script to screen processes, is enhanced. Digitization also enables collaboration between geographically spread entities, distribute content through multiple media gateways and open new avenues for monetization of content. 

“Western Digital Corporation is one of the largest computer hard disk drive and solid state drives manufacturer, which enables creative professionals to store, collect, access, and use a vast and growing body of digital information. Our entertainment industry is growing at a high speed and editing requires high performance storage devices and we at WDC are trusted leaders.” said Khalid Wani, Managing Director for India Sales, Western Digital Corporation.

“Movies are shot on high end camera’s but the challenge is where to store these without compromising the quality of the footage. There is a continued need for storage high end workflows. Western Digital Corporation is a storage which is reliable with a huge capacity of terabytes. This association showcases the vital role storage products plays for production houses.” said Karnesh Sharma, Producer, Clean Slate Films.

As part of the association, Western Digital also offered an exciting chance to meet the star cast of the movie ‘Phillauri’ in an exclusive Meet & Greet event on 22nd of March in New Delhi. Additionally, the purchase of WD products under this promotion at www.flipkart.com and www.amazon.in also  allowed the first thousand purchasers to receive a free gift. The promotional offer lasted until March 20^th, 2017.

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5 Flagship Smartphones to Watch Out For in 2017

Game of Phones has just begun! The year 2017 has witnessed numerous tech companies emerging with their flagship smartphones lately, initially at CES in January. In fact, the MWC 2017 was no different given that brands like Nokia, LG, Huawei, Sony, BlackBerry and more showed off their lineup of flagship smartphones for this year. Considering the vast competition and plethora of options available in the market, we decided to list five flagship smartphones to watch out for in 2017. Here wo go!

Samsung Galaxy S8

South Korean giant Samsung has geared up to launch this year's flagship Galaxy S8 soon. Meanwhile, Samsung also has some press event scheduled for March 15 in New York where it is likely to expand its flagship Galaxy 'S series' lineup. It has been quite sometime now since the company's most-awaited phone of 2017 is making headlines. The Galaxy S8, similar to its predecessor, is expected with wireless charging and IP68 rated water and dust resistance. Rumour has it that the device might be powered by Qualcomm's newly announced flagship Snapdragon 835 chip with 6GB RAM.

Image for representation purpose only

Apple iPhone 8

Apple's iPhone unit is marking its 10th anniversary this year. You must have figured out by now that the year 2017 will undoubtedly be special for the Cupertino giant. India has been a growing market for Apple and we should expect the 10th anniversary iPhone to launch in India shortly after international announcement. Apple has already gained significant market share in India with the iPhone 5s being sold for sub Rs 20,000 in recent times and the price of iPhone 6 also seems to be headed in the same direction.

Reports suggest that Apple will release the next iteration of iPhone in October this year. While it happens sooner or later, let us see what all features we can expect in this year's iPhone 8. First thing first, it is expected that it will sport an OLED, edge-to-edge display and glass body. The display itself might deal with a selfie camera as well as an integrated Touch ID fingerprint sensor. If true, it will not sport a home button this time, though.

Image for representation purpose only

Xiaomi Mi6

Last year, Xiaomi launched the Mi 5s and Mi 5s flagship devices only in China. This year, however, Xiaomi is likely to release its flagship smartphone globally. That is where Xiaomi Mi6 comes into play. The phone is rumoured to arrive in multiple options -- Xiaomi Mi6 Lite, Standard and Pro. The Xiaomi Mi6 is expected pack Android Nougat-based MIUI software in addition to a bigger 4000mAh battery. The phone will likely come with up to 6GB RAM, considering the stiff competition with brands like OnePlus as well as Samsung. Remember the Galaxy C9 Pro? That aside, it is said to be powered by Qualcomm's high-end Snapdragon 835 octa-core chip.

Image for representation purpose only

LG G6

LG recently announced the LG G6 at Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2017 in Barcelona. Design wise, the device is no longer modular unlike its predecessor, the LG G5. It flaunts a metal frame, sandwiched between two layers of Corning Gorilla Glass protection. Furthermore, it comes with pretty thin bezels, wireless charging (region-specific), fingerprint scanner and IP68 rated dust and water resistance. Specs wise, it has a 5.7-inch QHD display, Snapdragon 821 quad-core processor, 4GB RAM and Android 7.0 Nougat OS. It also packs a 3300mAh battery with support for Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0.

LG G6

Sony Xperia XZ Premium

Sony recently held a press conference at MWC 2017 in Barcelona where it officially pulled the wraps off its flagship Xperia XZ Premium. It has a metal unibody design with the fingerprint scanner embedded on the home button. Interestingly, it is also the world's first smartphone to be powered by Qualcomm's flagship Snapdragon 835 processor. It has a 4K Triluminos display with Corning Gorilla Glass 5 protection layered on top. That aside, it houses a 19MP rear camera and a 13MP selfie camera. Running Android 7.0 Nougat OS, the Xperia XZ Premium is based on a 3230mAh battery with Qualcomm Quick Charge 4.0 technology. Xperia XZ Premium is also honored as 'Best New Smartphone' at the recently concluded Global Mobile Awards by GSMA.

Image for representation purpose only

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OPPO will be the next Indian Cricket Jersey sponsor after successful bid of $162 million

OPPO , one of leading smartphone brand from China has bragged rights for Indian Cricket Team sponsorship after successful bid of $162 million (1079 crore INR). The partnership with BCCI will start from 1st April 2017. OPPO outbid Vivo, another smartphone brand from China for the sponsorship rights. Vivo offered $115 million for a period of 5 years where as OPPO offered $162 million for same time period to become proud sponsor of Team India. 

This is a new step of OPPO in the field of cricket after becoming the official Global Partners of the International Cricket Council for 4 years from 2016 onwards.

Sky Li (President OPPO), Rahul Johri(CEO, BCCI) and Diana Edulji (BCCI)

Speaking on the partnership, Mr. Rahul Johri, CEO, BCCI said “On behalf of the BCCI, I would like to congratulate OPPO Mobiles India Pvt. Ltd., on winning the rights and welcome them to the BCCI family. OPPO Mobiles and the BCCI share a common vision and I am confident that we will work together to further grow Indian cricket.”

The team sponsorship rights include the right to be called the official team sponsor, and to display a commercial logo on the National Men's, Women's, Under-19 and India A teams' kits.

Mr. Sky Li, Global VP & President of OPPO India said, “Cricket in India is not just a sport, but also a way of life and culture, especially amongst the youth. The Indian National Cricket Team is the essence of cricket in India and the team’s spirit of marching forward and pursuing newer heights is highly consistent with OPPO’s pursuit of products with unmatched photography experience.”

Sky added, “The Indian national team receives high reputation and influence among young people. By partnering with the team, OPPO will not only further enhance its connection with the young consumers, but also engage with the country’s youth in its endeavor of providing them with the outstanding selfie-led photography experience.”

OPPO leads the smartphone photography developments in the industry. It started the trend of selfie beautification, first launched the motorized rotating camera phone N3, screen flash and other photography feature. In 2015, in line with its deep insight of young people’s behavior, OPPO first launched selfie focused smartphones——Selfie Expert F series in India. And its first batch products F1, F1 Plus and F1s received warm welcome and the brand leads the selfie trend in the country. Now the brand’s share in the offline market reached 11.7 percent and is ranked No.2 in the market, as of Jan 2017, as reported by research firm GFK.

OPPO is a young and dynamic company and has already established itself as one of the world’s leading smartphone brand with a base of more than 100 million young customers using OPPO mobile phones globally and the brand has become the most welcomed camera phone brand across the young Indians.

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