Huawei 6.1-inch Ascend Mate launched in India at Rs 24,900

Available in crystal black and pure white, the phone is available through online channels like Flipkart, Infibeam, Snapdeal, HomeShop 18, retail stores like Croma, Ezone, and multi-brand stores across India. 

Huawei launched the Ascend Mate smartphone with a 6.1-inch 720p display in India. The phone has a Gorilla Glass display for scratch resistance. 
Running Android 4.1 Jelly Bean OS, the Huawei Ascend Mate is powered by a 1.5 GHz quad-core processor and 2GB RAM. 
                              
It supports 1080p video recording and playback. 
One of the highlights of the phone is its 4050 mAh battery. The smartphone is claimed to provide two days of normal usage on a single charge. 
A fully charged Ascend Mate is claimed to offer 12 hours of continuous video playback.At 198g, the phone is light, but the oversized smartphone does not comfortably fit into a front pocket of jeans.
Besides, the gargantuan battery allows the phone to become a power bank. In other words, the phone can be used to charge other devices.
                               
I found the screen-size to be a tad bigger for a smartphone. Viewing angles are great and the touchscreen is highly responsive. The camera captures quality images. 
The Huawei Ascend Mate supports a micro SIM card and comes with an 8 GB of internal storage (of which 4.56 is user-accessible). The phone has a microSD card slot, which allows you to expand its memory. 
                               
It has an 8 megapixel rear camera with an LED flash and a 1 megapixel HD front facing camera. Its connectivity options include WiFi, WiFi Direct and Bluetooth 4.0 LE. 

China builds world's fastest supercomputer

Beijing: China Monday announced that it has built the world's fastest supercomputer which is capable of performing 33.86 quadrillion operations per second, surpassing the US Titan supercomputer.

The Tianhe-2 has a peak performance speed of 54.9 quadrillion operations per second, according to the National University of Defence Technology, which built the computer, reported Xinhua.

The computer's predecessor, the Tianhe-1A, was the world's fastest supercomputer from November 2010 to June 2011, when it was surpassed by Japan's K computer.

Micromax, Karbonn or someone else: Who will be India's enduring smartphone brand?

By now you might have seen the Micromax Canvas 4 teasers. And it looks like the Gurgaon-based company is stepping up to the next level in terms of design and positioning of its phones. 

Till now, we had expected good specs in a Micromax phone and a low price, but all that could change now that Micromax Canvas 4 is set to launch for around Rs 25,000. Micromax is playing the smart game by moving up the rungs one device at a time. No doubt the fast pace of mobile hardware development and the low production cost of mass manufacturing has helped Micromax launch products with more regularity and thus helped it climb the positioning ladder faster.

But Micromax isn’t the only runner in the race to the top for Indian manufacturers. The likes of Lava, Xolo and Karbonn are top contenders too, not to mention others like Maxx, iBall and Intex, who are also in the running but are trailing the pacesetters. Each of these has big ambitions, given the size of the smartphone pie and the growth potential of the market. Intex wants to sell 2 million phones this year and Lava is aiming for 1.5 million handsets sold by the Diwali season. This indicates that Micromax is going to start feeling the heat as other manufacturers play the same game. It also means it’s going to take more than just releasing a high-spec’d phone at a low price to win, because seemingly, more than two can play at that game.

All Indian companies have to face at least one common complaint. The lack of quality after-sales service is a big sore point for Indian consumers who have chosen domestic manufacturers for smartphones and tablets. Even with Micromax, which is the leading Indian smartphone maker, the one major complaint from consumers is the lack of a good service centre network. It just takes a cursory look at the comments on a news story of a Micromax launch or announcement to understand the bad sentiment among consumers. The company has listed all the service centres on its website, but that still pales in comparison to the network that Samsung, Nokia or Sony boast. Micromax is still a rookie when compared to those stalwarts, but its devices have still generated a whole lot of buzz and the Canvas range of smartphones have sold in excess of a million units. While we are seeing a small step-up in terms of its products, we have not seen the same maturity in the after-sales service. Micromax’s competitors are no better, and finding an authorised service centre for Karbonn or Lava phone can be quite difficult, too. 

Secondly, a major obstacle for seasoned smartphone users who would like to switch over to a Micromax or Karbonn phone is the lack of OTA updates. Micromax recently issued an Android 4.2 update for its Canvas HD smartphone, which, among other things, brought support for future updates to come OTA. This is a hurdle cleared by Micromax, as earlier users had to take their phone to the service centre to be given the update. So it’s not like Micromax isn’t trying at all to fix some of these issues. We can’t say the same about Lava or Karbonn, though, where OTA updates are an enigma. Android updates may not be top priority for first-time users, who still make a chunk of sales for Indian companies; those already accustomed to smartphones will expect them nonetheless.

Setting up an after-sales service network and OTA infrastructure is a tough ask for most low-cost players and only those who have had sales successes can afford to establish them.  There are other teething issues as well. For example, even two months after Micromax launched the Canvas HD, there were delays with the availability of the phone. This is a typical problem, where phones are promoted and advertised on TV, but there's no sign of them in the market. Customers are getting more and more aware of what goes into a smartphone, so much so that debates about the SoCs and displays are commonplace. In this environment, OEMs have to strive for even the slightest edge. This can be anything from the software experience (like theLava Iris 504Q’s gesture navigation feature) to extras like the JBL Tempo headset packed with the Micromax Canvas Music. This is where the smaller companies and those who have just hopped on the smartphone bandwagon after the boom (Intex and iBall being prominent examples) will feel the heat.  The Indian smartphone market is, in many ways, like China’s, where a plethora of players slug it out in a specs v/s price battle. Indian manufacturers’ challenge is to rise above and beyond that melee. To a certain degree, Micromax, iBall, Intex and Karbonn are doing it by being in the limelight and creating visibility for their products through sustained advertisement campaigns (albeit with some bad ads). The smartphone race is as much about creating a brand as it is about the device itself. As is usually the case with any market, there's only room at the top for two or three major players, and we expect this to happen with Indian manufacturers as well. At the moment, Micromax, Karbonn and Lava look poised to be there at the top or thereabouts, unless an underdog takes them by surprise. The rest of the players, the ones that make the tail currently, are in danger of losing their spot in the race.

Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 gets a new black and white avatar

Earlier this month, Samsung launched the new Galaxy Tab 3, which came in two variants: 8-inch and 10.1-inch.  While the specifications of the tab were upgraded, the base white appearance of the Galaxy Tab 3 was left untouched.

Now it seems like the Galaxy Tab may be coming to markets with a new wardrobe, according to Techtastic. According to the report, Samsung will be releasing a black two-tone Galaxy Tab 3 later in the year. From what can be seen so far, the new colour will be seen in the 8-inch variant first.

While the exact date for the launch cannot be fixed, Samsung might be looking at its June 20 event as the ideal platform to bring in the revamped look for the Galaxy Tab 3. From the images seen so far, it looks like the Galaxy Tab 3 will be sporting a white band around the device apart from the fully black case. In addition, the new Tab 3 will be seen with a white home button.

Apart from the new look, the revamped Galaxy Tab 3 will come with exactly the same specifications as the earlier released Tab. The 8-inch variant will have a 1280 x 800 display with a 1.5GHz dual-core processor being featured under the hood. Apart from that, the Galaxy Tab 3 will come with 1.5GB of RAM and a 4450 mah battery. In terms of connectivity, the Galaxy Tab 3 offers users LTE, GPS, Bluetooth 4.0 and Wi-Fi.

The tab also comes with a 5 megapixel rear camera and a 1.3 megapixel front camera. In terms of operating systems, Samsung has stuck to its guns by packing the Galaxy Tab 3 with Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean as well as its TouchWiz UI, similar to what you see on other recently announced Galaxy devices. Be that as it may, the two-tone Galaxy Tab 3 may be a welcome change for users among the white sea of Galaxy Tabs seen so far.

Low-cost triple SIM phones in India

While the dual SIM phones have more or less become a norm for budget phones, now manufacturers are coming up with entry-level handsets with triple SIM support. Here is a list of the triple SIM phones available in India. 
LG A 290: Available for Rs 3,000, it has a 2.2-inch TFT LCD Screen and a 1.3 megapixel rear camera. It lets you expand memory up to 32GB. 
Micromax Q36: It has a 2.3-inch display and a QWERTY keyboard. It costs approx. Rs 3,900. The phone has a 0.3 megapixel rear camera. 
Vox V3100: It is available for Rs 999. The phone has a 1.8-inch TFT LCD screen. It supports a microSD card up to 8GB. 
Beetel GT 415: It has a 2-inch display and a VGA camera. 
Olive Wiz V-GC800: It supports 2GSM Sim card and 1 CDMA card. It has a 2 megapixel camera. It also has a QWERTY keyboard. It costs around Rs 5,000. 
Zen M111: The phone has a 2.4-inch display and a 1.3 megapixel camera. It is available for Rs 1,800. 
Vox V21 Triple SIM: The phone has a 2-inch display and supports a microSD card up to 8GB. 

'Fukrey' Review: Too many gags, not enough plot

Cast: Pulkit Sharma, Varun Sharma, Richa Chadda

Director: Mrigdeep Singh Lamba

Four slackers in Delhi seeking fast cash make a deal with a ruthless don. But when things go wrong, as they inevitably do, they must pay the price for it. That familiar premise gets a fresh coat of paint in 'Fukrey', with co-writer and director Mrighdeep Singh Lamba putting a new spin on some old clichés. Yet, while individual scenes inspire laughs, the film doesn't quite fly because there are too many gags and not enough plot.

Hunny (Pulkit Samrat) and Choocha (Varun Sharma) badly want to get into college so they can ditch classes and ogle girls. Lali (Manjot Singh) is fed up of working at his father's eatery, desperate to "migrate" from his correspondence course to a campus. Meanwhile, brooding musician Zafar (Ali Fazal) sports a guitar and a permanently sad face, with neither aspirations nor inspiration in sight.

They're interesting protagonists, but the makers invest too heavily in them and not enough in the story, taking almost an hour before introducing the film's most delicious character, a tough-talking crime boss in high heels, Bholi Punjaban (Richa Chadda), who bankrolls the boys' harebrained plan to crack an underground lottery.

Unlike the far superior 'Delhi Belly', the writing in 'Fukrey' is never consistent. There are laughs to be had in the verbal sparring between Hunny and Choocha, and a running joke involving Lali being robbed each time he parks outside a gurdwara is sheer genius. Although many scenes work on the strength of sharp dialogue and spot-on performances, they don't always fit cohesively in the film's narrative thread. The solemn interludes with Zafar stick out like a sore thumb, and the anti-drug message in the end is just pat. Similarly, Hunny's romantic track with a simple girl from the neighborhood feels gratuitous at best.

A tighter script and more screen time for the excellent Pankaj Tripathi, as enterprising campus security guard Pandeyji, might have helped turn this moderately entertaining film into a rollicking good caper. I'm going with two-and-a-half out of five.

Rating: 2.5/5

Man Of Steel Review

It has been a black eye to Hollywood that throughout this, the unending and increasingly repetitive age of the superhero blockbuster, the comics' most iconic son has eluded its grasp like a bird or, if you will, a plane.

New hopes of box-office riches and franchise serials rests on Zac Snyder's 3-D Man of Steel, the latest attempt to put Superman back into flight. But Snyder's joyless film, laden as if composed of the stuff of its hero's metallic nickname, has nothing soaring about it.

Flying men in capes is grave business in Snyder's solemn Superman.Man of Steel, an origin tale of the DC Comics hero, goes more than two hours before the slightest joke or smirk.

This is not your Superman of red tights, phone booth changes, or fortresses of solitude, but one of Christ imagery, Krypton politics and spaceships. Who would want to have fun at the movies anyway, when you could instead be taught a lesson about identity from a guy who can shoot laser beams out of his eyes?

Man of Steel opens with the pains of childbirth, as Lara Lor-Van (Ayelet Zurer) and husband Jor-El (Russell Crowe) see the birth of Kal-El, the first naturally born child in years on Krypton. The planet — a giant bronze ball of pewter, as far as I can tell — is in apocalyptic tumult (the disaster film has gone intergalactic), and General Zod (Michael Shannon) attempts to take over power, fighting in bulky costumes with Jor-El.

His coup is thwarted (though not before killing Jor-El, who continues on in the film in an Obi-Wan-like presence), and he and his followers are locked away, frozen until Krypton's implosion frees them. Baby Kal-El has been rocketed away with Krypton's precious Codex, an energy-radiating skull.

                        

Kal-El rockets to Earth, setting up not a Midwest reprieve to the lengthy Krypton fallout, but a flash-forward to more explosions. Our next glimpse of Kal-El is as a young adult Clark Kent (the beefy Brit Henry Cavill) aboard a fishing vessel on stormy seas, where he — shirtless and aflame — saves the crew of a burning oil rig.

At this point, your Codex may be spinning. Working from a script by Blade scribe David S Goyer and a story by Goyer and Dark Knight director Christopher Nolan, Snyder has clearly sought to avoid some of the expected plotlines and rhythms of the familiar Superman tale. There's a constant urge to push the story to greater scale — a desperate propulsion that will surely excite some fans but tire others.

The film hops back and forth from Clark's grown-up life and his Smallville, Kansas, upbringing with Jonathan (Kevin Costner) and Martha Kent (Diane Lane). Costner, back among the corn stalks, makes the strongest impression of the cast as a severe father urging Kent to hide his gifts.

We're meanwhile introduced to Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Lois Lane (Amy Adams), fresh off a stint embedded with the military for the Daily Planet. Adams, as she usually does, helps animate the film, as she plunges into a bulldog investigating of Clark and spars with her editor (Laurence Fishburne).

Snyder brings to the film a sure hand for overly dramatic compositions that take after comic strip panels. He has a clearly sincere reverence for the source material (originally created in 1938 by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster). He's a filmmaker who, even with his last film, the abysmal "Sucker Punch," seems to precisely make the movie he intended.

Eager fans will likely thrall to the film's many overlong action set pieces, as Superman battles with Zod and his minions. There's little creativity to the fight sequences, though, which plow across countless building facades.

But Snyder doesn't have the material or the inclination to make Man of Steel as thought-provoking as Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy. Superman wrestles with his allegiance to humans or his home planet, but the quandaries of a superpowered man betwixt worlds doesn't have any real resonance. The gravity that cloaks "Man of Steel" is merely an en vogue costume.

While Snyder has succeeded in turning out a Superman that isn't silly (not a small feat) and will likely lay enough of a bedrock for further sequels, it's a missed opportunity — particularly with a bright cast of Shannon, Adams and Lane — for a more fun-loving spirit.

Cavill's performance is less memorable for his introspective brooding than for his six-pack (a fetish for Snyder, the director of 300). He's handsome and capable, but one can't help missing Christopher Reeve's twinkle. At least he smiled.

The awkward acrobatics to modernise Man of Steel are most evident with its explanation of Superman's shield. The "S'' doesn't stand for Superman, but is a Krypton glyph (an element first introduced in the original 1978 film) now defined as representing "hope." But if "S'' doesn't stand for "Superman," Man of Steel is the one with the identity issues.

Man of Steel, a Warner Bros. release, is rated PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi violence, action and destruction, and for some language. Running time: 144 minutes.