Meizu m3 note First Impressions

• The new Meizu m3 note includes an all-metal body.
• The m3 note has been priced at Rs. 9,999 in India.
• One of the biggest highlights of m3 note is it supports multi-window.

Chinese handset maker Meizu on Wednesday unveiled its new m3 note smartphone in India. At an event in New Delhi, Meizu showcased the new m-series smartphone which brings a host of improvements over its predecessor, the Meizu m2 note. Some of the improvements in the new Meizu m3 note include an all-metal body, a new fingerprint scanner, multi-window support, and a larger battery.

Leon Zhang, Marketing Head, Meizu India, also talked about how the brand has grown in India since its debut. The company claimed it now has over 100 service centres and also introduced a new WhatsApp service for Meizu users. At the event, we spent some time with the Meizu m3 note and here are our first impressions.

To start off, the Meizu m3 note doesn’t really look anything the company has launched before. Zhang noted that the m3 note was the first all-metal m-series smartphone. The device sports a unibody design and is made of 6000 series aluminium alloy. The front is dominated by the screen which sports 2.5D curved glass. There is a physical home button as well, with an embedded fingerprint scanner. You’ll also see a camera, earpiece, and sensors above the display.

The rear has antenna bands running along the top and bottom. The primary camera is placed in the centre and is accompanied by a dual-LED flash. The Meizu logo is embossed lower down. The power and volume buttons are on the right, while the left has the SIM card and microSD card slot. The 3.5mm audio jack is on top, while charging port and speakers are on the bottom.

Overall, the m3 note looks like a solid device and fits well in hand. The device definitely feels sturdier than the m2 note which was all plastic. Despite featuring a 5.5-inch screen, the m3 note was easy to use with just one hand. The physical home button was easy reachable with our thumb.

The m3 note features a 5.5-inch full-HD (1080×1920 pixels) LTPS screen with a pixel density of 403ppi. Zhang added that the screen has a high contrast ratio of 1000:1 and is bright at 450 nits.The handset is powered by an octa-core MediaTek Helio P10 SoC (four 1.8GHz Cortex-A53 cores and four 1GHz Cortex-A53 cores, plus Mali-T860 graphics) which the company claimed offers 125 percent better graphics performance compared to the m2 note. The 4100mAh battery is one of the highlights of this device.

Meizu had launched two variants of the m3 note in China, one with 2GB of RAM and 16GB of inbuilt storage, and the other with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of inbuilt storage. The company has brought only the latter variant to India.

During our limited time with the handset, the Meizu m3 note handled multitasking and app switching pretty easily without any lag. For connectivity, the smartphone supports 4G on both SIMs. The company claims that the m3 note supports 6 modes and 18 frequency bands, including Indian LTE bands.

The physical home button on the m3 note smartphone also works as a back button, just like the one on the Meizu m2 note. The Marketing Head of Meizu India explained during his keynote that users have to tap the home button to go back, while pressing it will take them to the homescreen. Unfortunately, we couldn’t test the fingerprint sensor on the phone at the launch.

The Meizu m3 note runs Flyme 5 OS based on Android 5.1 Lollipop and the company touted that it brings several improvements over Flyme 4.5. Meizu said that power consumption has decreased by up to 32 percent on m3 note running Flyme 5 compared to the m2 note.

One of the biggest highlights of the Flyme 5 is multi-window support, which splits the screen in two halves and allows users to perform two functions simultaneously. On the m3 note, users will have to swipe up from the bottom of the screen to access their recently opened apps, and the multi-window option appears on one of the app cards. The first half of the screen shows the app which was in use while the second half can be used for another app.

Some of the other enhancements that Flyme 5 brings are a revamped Gallery app which can now sort photos based on time or place; a new Wi-Fi doctor feature that can attempt to fix problems with connections, and new Quick Share feature that allows data to be transferred at 17Mbps through Wi-Fi. Some other features of Flyme 5 are an inbuilt storage cleaner, a RAM optimiser, and an anti-virus tool.

The company at the event also announced that the Flyme 5 will be rolling out to all Meizu smartphones launched in India this year.

The smartphone sports a 13-megapixel rear camera with an f/2.2 aperture and phase-detection auto focus. It also features Corning Gorilla Glass 3 for lens protection. There is a 5-megapixel front-facing camera with an f/2.0 aperture as well. The images we took in artificial indoor lighting seemed vibrant with good color reproduction. Low light shots taken with the m3 note seemed above average. The front 5-megapixel camera also produced decent-looking samples. We will however reserve our verdict on the phone’s overall performance and camera quality till we get the chance to put it through our detailed review process.

Final Thoughts

 At Rs. 9,999, the Meizu m3 note definitely looks like a great package and will give tough competition to other competitors in the price segment including the Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 (2GB RAM model), LeEco Le 1s Eco, and the Coolpad Note 3 Plus.

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Yu Yunicorn Flagship Smartphone India Launch Set for May 19

• Yu’s next flagship smartphone will be called Yunicorn.
• It will run Android OS instead of Cyanogen.
• Yu can be expected to sell the Yunicorn via online retailers only.

Micromax subsidiary Yu Televentures has sent out media invites for an event on May 19 where the company will unveil its next flagship smartphone – the Yunicorn. Yu confirmed the name of the next flagship smartphone ahead of its official unveiling. The invite said, “Join us in the unveiling of the phone that will redefine flagships.”

The company has already confirmed that the next flagship will run Android with a deep integration of Around Yu, a service aggregator platform that was introduced last year alongside the Yutopia smartphone. Yu is expected to sell the Yunicorn flagship via online channels only.

The company had recently also detailed their “Project Highway” which is a way the company wants to enable the community developers and others to contribute to the company’s source code.

Talking about the new Yu smartphone, Sharma had earlier added, “It’s insanely beautiful and it will break some hearts. It will break records, it will break the conventional, it will break the rules…WAIT, it will break the flagships.”

A recently leaked Yu smartphone codenamed Yu5530 was spotted in a Geekbench benchmark listing -tipping some innards of the handset. We can expect that the company may reveal the Yu5530 as the next Yunicorn smartphone this month. According to a benchmark listing, the Yu5530 will feature an octa-core MediaTek Helio P10 (MT6755M) processor clocked at 1.8GHz, and come with 4GB of RAM. The device is said to run Android 5.1 Lollipop, and may sport Cyanogen OS, though that was not listed in the benchmark listing. The Yu5530 scored 816 in single core test while gets a multi-core scored 3059.

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Lyf Flame 2, Wind 4 Dual-SIM 4G Smartphones With VoLTE Support Launched

• Both the Flame 2 and Wind 4 smartphones support 4G.
• The handsets both run on Android 5.1 Lollipop.
• The Flame 2 and Wind 4 both support VoLTE connectivity.

 

Reliance Retail’s Lyf brand has introduced two new smartphones in India – the Flame 2 and Wind 4. Both new Lyf smartphones are now listed on the company site. The Lyf Flame 2 is listed at Rs. 4,799 while the Lyf Wind 4 is priced at Rs. 6,799. We can expect that the new Flame 2 and Wind 4 smartphones are soon available to buy in India across physical retail stores.

Similar to other Lyf-branded phones, the Lyf Flame 2 (seen above) and Lyf Wind 4 smartphones support 4G LTE bands in India – FDD-LTE Band 3 (1800MHz) and TDD-LTE Band 40 (2300MHz). Both handsets also support VoLTE (voice over LTE) with HD voice call compatibility.

The dual-SIM (regular SIM + Micro-SIM) supporting Lyf Flame 2 smartphone features a 4-inch WVGA (480×800 pixels) display with a pixel density of 245ppi and runs Android 5.1 Lollipop out-of-the-box. The company says both SIM slots are 4G enabled; though, at one time only one SIM can use 4G while the other will work on 2G. The handset is powered by a 1GHz quad-core MediaTek MT6735M SoC clubbed with 1GB of RAM. It packs 8GB of inbuilt storage and supports expandable storage via microSD card (up to 32GB). It runs Android 5.1 Lollipop.

The Lyf Flame 2 sports a 5-megapixel autofocus rear camera with LED flash along with a 2-megapixel front-facing camera. Some of the camera features on the Lyf Flame 2 include face detection, and smile detection modes. Connectivity options include GPRS/ EDGE, 3G, GPS, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and Micro-USB.

Measuring 124.2×64.8×10.3mm, the Lyf Flame 2 weighs 145 grams. It packs a 1500mAh battery rated to deliver up to 8 hours of talk time and up to 190 hours of standby time on 4G network. It will be available in White and Black colour variants.

The dual-SIM (Micro-SIM + Micro-SIM) Lyf Wind 4 (seen above)  sports a bigger 5-inch HD (720×1280 pixels) IPS LCD display and also runs Android 5.1 Lollipop. Much like the Flame 2, the Wind 4 smartphone supports 4G on one SIM at a time. The smartphone is powered by 1.1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 210 (MSM8909) processor coupled with 1GB of RAM. It sports an 8-megapixel autofocus rear camera with LED flash and a 2-megapixel fixed-focus front camera.

Connectivity options include GPRS/ EDGE, 3G, GPS, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and Micro-USB apart from 4G. The handset measures 144x72x8.9mm and weighs 146 grams. The Lyf Wind 4 is backed by a 4000mAh battery, which is rated to deliver up to 28 hours of talk time and up to 630 hours of standby time.

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Samsung Galaxy C5, Galaxy C7 Price and Specifications Leaked

• Samsung may introduce a new C-Series smartphone range.
• It is reportedly working on Galaxy C5, Galaxy C7 smartphones.
• Both the smartphones will reportedly only be sold online. 

 

Samsung has been rumoured to be working on a new C-Series of smartphones, and now new leaks have emerged online adding more credibility. Unlike previous reports, the new information reveals that Samsung is planning to launch two metal-clad C-Series smartphones – namely the Galaxy C5 and Galaxy C7.

The leak out of China includes pricing information price of the two smartphones, as well as specifications. The Galaxy C5 is pegged to be priced at CNY 1,599 (roughly Rs. 16,400), while the Galaxy C7 is said to be priced at CNY 1,799 (roughly Rs. 18,500). Android Headlines reports that both the smartphones will have dual-SIM support, a metal unibody, and will be around 6 to 7mm thick. Additionally, the two smartphones will come with Samsung’s Ultra High Quality Audio (UHQA).

The Galaxy C5 will feature a 5.2-inch full-HD (1080×1920 pixels) display, while the Galaxy C7 will have a larger 5.7-inch full-HD (1080×1920 pixels) screen. The only difference between the two smartphones is going to be their size, and the rest of the specifications will be identical.

Both the smartphones will be powered by the 64-bit Snapdragon 617 octa-core processor paired with a hefty 4GB of RAM. Talking about optics, the report states that the Galaxy C5 and Galaxy C7 will sport a 16-megapixel rear camera, and an 8-megapixel front shooter.

The storage space is reported to be at 32GB on both the smartphones, and they are expected to be available in Silver, Gold, Pink and Gray colour variants. The Galaxy C5 and Galaxy C7 will reportedly also only be sold online, unlike most of Samsung’s other smartphones which reach out to both online and retail markets. A previous leak also suggests that the Galaxy C5 may run on Androind 6.0 out-of-the-box. However, we recommend you to take all of these details with a slight pinch of salt, till the official details are announced by Samsung.

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What is Server "Error in '/' Application Runtime Error.There is no row at position 0."

A search of the web didn't find many instances of this problem. It may be a temporary server problem which can't be resolved on your end.

Try clearing the Temporary Internet Files and Cookies from Internet Options> General> etc.

It may encounter an error page similar to the following if EmpowerID or IIS are misconfigured:

By default, detailed error messages can be only be viewed by browsing the web site from the server itself. If you browse the web site from a remote machine the true error will be hidden and you will only see the generic error page as shown above. If you wish to see the underlying detailed error message as a remote client you will need to adjust the web.config file for that application.

In the example above, the error is occurring in the Empower Id Web Id PForms application. In this case, we will open Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager and in the Connections pane on the left hand side, Expand Sites > Expand the name of the web site you deployed EmpowerID to > right click on EmpowerIDWebIdPForms and choose Explore. If the server error was occurring in a different application, you would substitute EmpowerIDWebIdPForms for the name of the application here.

In this folder you will see a web.config file. Open this file in a text editor of your choice and find the following section:

<system.web>
<globalization culture="auto:en-us" uiCulture="auto:en-us"/>
<caching>
<outputCacheSettings>

You will want to change this section to look like the following:

<system.web>
<customErrors mode="Off" />
<globalization culture="auto:en-us" uiCulture="auto:en-us"/>
<caching>
<outputCacheSettings>

NOTE: web.config files are case sensitive. Malformed web.config files will cause an outage in EmpowerID services. Please be careful when modifying web.config files in a production environment.

Save the web.config file and then attempt to reproduce the error. You will now see the true server error message that the application is throwing.

Please note that if you are accessing a load balanced URL you will need to perform this change on each IIS server that is a target of the load balancer. Please remember to remove the customErrors entry from the web.config file once the underlying issue is resolved, especially if this modification is being done to a production environment.

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Google Translate now works everywhere inside Android phone, even inside WhatsApp

Google On Wednesday night flipped a switch and transformed Google Translate from an app into a system-wide service that now works for every part of your Android phone. It will now translate text even inside thirds-party apps or browsers.

In a way, the Google Translate now works like Google keyboard. Anywhere, there is selectable text, the Translate will be available.

Say hello to Tap to Translate on Android. We know millions of you painstakingly copy-paste text between Google Translate and other apps. Now, you can just copy the text of a chat, comment, song lyric, etc. in whichever app you're using, and a translation will pop up right there-no need to switch apps," Barak Turovsky, product lead for Google Translate, wrote on the company's official blog.

Along with the new translate feature, Google also announced two more measures that will help phone users make sense of content even if it is in a language they don't know. The company said that it was adding the "small package download" feature to Google Translate for the iOS. This will help users download small language packs to access offline translation feature. It is particular useful for frequent travellers. The feature is already available on Android phones.

Additional, Google has announced that the Word Lens is now available for Chinese language.

"It's our 29th language for instant visual translation, and it reads both to and from English, for both Simplified and Traditional Chinese. Try it on menus, signs, packages, and other printed text. As with all Word Lens languages, it works offline," wrote Barak.

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iBall launches Windows 10-based CompBook laptops starting at Rs 9,999

Home grown brand iBall on Wednesday launched two new affordable Windows 10-based laptops under its CompBook line-up.

The 11.6-inch iBall Excelance and the 14-inch iBall Exemplaire are priced at Rs 9,999 and Rs 13,999 respectively, and are geared towards first time buyers. "With this new offering, iBall aims to address the need of affordable computing, in line with the Honorable Prime Minister's Digital India Initiative, to narrow the gap between consumer needs and the devices currently available in the market," the company said in a statement.

The laptops are backed by a 1.83 GHz Intel quad-core processor (unspecified chipset) coupled with 2GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage, which is further expandable by up to 64GB via microSD card slot. Connectivity options include: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth (v4.0), HDMI port and 2 USB ports. The laptops run Windows 10 Home version and Windows 10 Pro respectively.

"Our latest products at iBall are focused on innovation with pricing, as we understand the needs of young India and most of the digital gaps can be bridged if technology is made affordable. We at iBall, have made it our task to empower the lives of several Indians by delivering technologies that create a promising future for the society. iBall in association with Intel and Microsoft, is devoted to drive forward the digital revolution in India with World class products and offerings," Sandeep Parasrampuria, director and CEO of iBall said.

While the iBall CompBook Excelance is available in royal blue color, the Exemplaire comes in chocolate color. The Excelance weighs less than 1.1 kg and the Exemplaire less than 1.5 kg, according to the company.

The laptops are backed by a 10,000mAh battery which is rated to deliver up to 8.5 hours of working time, 8.5 hours of video playback and 22 hours of non-stop music on single charge.

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