Page 851 – GadgetByte Nepal

BlackBerry Mercury with Physical Keyboard showcased on CES 2017

Blackberry

GadgetByte

-

January 5, 2017

BlackBerry Mercury with Physical Keyboard showcased on CES 2017

BlackBerry is dead for all that we know but it refuses to keep buried and keeps coming back from the ashes to show one more smartphone. Last year, BlackBerry announced that it was done with making smartphones themselves and will only focus on the software side of things to make it more secure and powerful. BlackBerry has outsourced the development of its phones to Chinese electronics company TCL who also happens to make Alcatel phones which explain the similarity in design of previous BlackBerry DTEK phones. While most of the smartphone manufacturer are focusing on the features of tomorrow, BlackBerry seems to be clinging to its traditional roots.

Today on CES, BlackBerry showcased their brand-new smartphone, DTEK70 code-named Mercury. A lot of leaks had appeared suggesting a new BlackBerry phone with a keyboard which most of us found stupid but it’s a reality now. Unlike the Blackberry Priv, Mercury doesn’t have a sliding keyboard, so the keys are here to stay. The keyboard also acts as a trackpad which takes swiping gestures to make browsing and typing easier. The cool thing, though, spacebar acts as a home button and fingerprint sensor.

BlackBerry Mercury packs a tiny 4.5inch Full HD display and comes with Gorilla Glass 5 protection. Design wise, it looks really robust with industrial rectangular design and curved edges. Despite being showcased at CES, the specs haven’t been made clear as BlackBerry states the phone is still a prototype. But based on few leaks earlier, the Mercury will be powered by Snapdragon 625/821 processor with 3GB RAM and 32GB Internal storage. The phone is running the latest Android version 7.0 Nougat which is almost stock like and will have a lot of BlackBerry services and security features.The phone will feature a 3,400mAh battery and comes with fast charging. Blackberry has managed to keep the 3.5mm headphone jack alive despite the use of USB C. The phone is likely to have an 18MP rear camera and 8MP front-facing camera.

These are all the specs about Mercury that is out there, the phone is still a prototype and BlackBerry stated that the phone will officially launch during the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona late February. We can expect the price to be around $500 as BlackBerry’s doesn’t come cheap.

[where-to-buy buy_id=21562]

Apply for MRP Passport from your smartphone!

Featured

GadgetByte

-

January 4, 2017

0

Apply for MRP Passport from your smartphone!

Yes, you read the title right. You can now apply for MRP Passport with an app!

Department of Passport, Nepal launched a mobile application called Nepal Passport yesterday. Minister of Foreign Affairs, Prakash Sharan Mahat, officially inaugurated the app yesterday at DoP office in Narayanhiti. You can download the app from Google Play Store or iOS store.

According to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the app will not only save the time of the applicants but also will ease the process of applying for the passport. However, for now, the online application service will only be available in certain passport application centres where the live enrollment system exists– DoP Office Narayanhiti and some Nepali Diplomatic Missions abroad. If you live elsewhere, you will have to wait for this service according to the Secretary of DoP, Sankar Das Bairagi.

How does the online process work?

After you complete filling the passport form in the app, you will have to submit the online application. And once the form is submitted, the applicant will receive a personalized bar code. Then, the applicants should contact the DoP or other live enrollment centers with the bar-code for further process.

However, you will still need a recommendation letter from your concerned District. And also will need to visit the DoP physically to pay the fee, to click the photo and to submit your fingerprint.

Even if the online application service is not available in your district, I think, you should still install the app. Because the app has a lot of information regarding the passport application process.

In conclusion, the app is very useful because this app will surely answer all the questions you have regarding the MRP.

Download the app here: Android iOS [where-to-buy buy_id=23420]

New Tech & Gadgets to expect at CES 2017

Featured

GadgetByte

-

January 4, 2017

0

New Tech & Gadgets to expect at CES 2017

More than 3,000 tech companies and innovators, including manufacturers, developers and suppliers of consumer technology hardware, content, technology delivery systems and more are headed to Las Vegas for CES 2017 that will start this week.

The 50th CES will officially start from 5th January and will end on 8th January. It is at CES, we can expect to see some futuristic gadgets. So, what new tech and gadgets can we anticipate at CES 2017? Well, pre-show news, whispers and rumors say we will see the glimpse of future technology at CES this year. Let’s look at some of them in this post.

VR and Augmented Reality

2016 was a great year for VR and AR. We saw products like HTC Vive, Oculus Rift and PlayStation VR. These VR headsets showed the real potential of a VR, the jump from simple VR like Google Cardboard was applaudable. Read about VR technology here.

There are rumors that we will get to see a wireless HTC Vive at CES 2017. The Chinese company Huawei is also said to release it’s VR sets at CES.

If we do see some VR headsets at CES, we will be seeing some real innovation. We might see VR that can be controlled with our body parts like eyes, feet. For example, FOVE, a VR headset that was crowdfunded at Kickstarter with eyes tracking abilities, will be introduced at CES 2017.

Beside VR, AR (Augmented Reality) could also gain some hype at CES 2017. Although AR has been an industry focused tech till now, we could see some companies using Google’s Project Tango to bring AR to normal consumers– technologies like Microsoft Hololens, for example.

Drones and Self-Driving Cars

Drones have gained a lot of popularity as a consumer electronics in recent years. Although DJI is still the protagonist of the drone show, we could see some more advanced drones like indoor optimized drones, high-speed drones and drones that can go underwater from other companies at CES 2017.

Similarly, Intel might also be pushing its Aero Compute Board, a board to make your own drone.

Talking about cars, CES 2017 might be a great platform to show autonomous cars to the consumers. After Tesla revolutionized the electric cars, a lot of large Automakers are now working on self-driving cars. However, at this CES, we will just be seeing the demo of the possibilities. We will have to wait for future CESs to see a practical and fully autonomous cars.

Moreover, as self-driving requires a constant Internet connection for checking road signals and conditions, we might see chip manufacturers pushing 5G technology at CES 2017. Overall, CES 2017 will act as a floor for software and hardware companies working towards making fully autonomous cars.

Mobiles

CES 2017 won’t be so special if you are looking forwards to seeing new phones because phone companies usually wait until World Mobile Congress to launch their best products. However, that being said, most of the smartphones companies will be present at CES 2017 for small announcements. Xiaomi is attending the event for the first time so we could expect the Chinese manufacturer highlighting some of its smartphones at the show.

PCs

CES 2017 is said to bring back life to Personal Computers (smartphones have been overshadowing them in recent years)- the Microsoft Surface Studio has shown us that PC are still in the game.

At CES 2017, we might see AMD challenging Intel with the release of AMD Ryzen. Also, Intel will be throwing it’s quad-core Kaby Lake processors in its defense (we saw dual-core Kaby Lake processors in the market last year). This CES will be a battle of processors and GPUs.

Furthermore, with PC compatible VR headsets, both VR and PC might see a rise with this CES. This is a good news for PC gamers as they could get their VR-ready PCs and laptops under $1000. Also, we might see more on Project Christine- the Razer’s modular PC tower at CES 2017.

Advanced Wearables

We have seen wearables in the past. Do you think they are good? Well, you will be surprised to hear that we will be seeing more than wrist wearables at CES 2017. The wearables at CES 2017 will not only be able to count steps and track heart rates (like the wearables we know now) but also be able to take the readings of other body organs.

This might sound like a science fiction but an Israeli company will be introducing the Tytohome, an FDA-approved device, that can take readings of your heart, lungs, throat, skin, abdomen and other organs’ and send it to your doctor. This means you don’t need to wait in line to see your doctor. This device will revolutionize the Telemedicine.

Additionally, there will be wearables that will charge with your body heat. We will also see some wearables with built-in airbags to prevent from fall injuries. Moreover, another interesting wearable we will see is a scarf that will act as a mask. Yes, an air-filtering internet-connected scarf from Wair that has cooling fans, and has an app to monitor your breath!

Besides the health wearables, we might see tech in our clothing too- the world’s first vibrating tight cut jeans might be announced at CES 2017. This jean will allow wearers find directions without having to look at the mobile screen.

TVs

TVs has been the most featured gadget since the very beginning of CES and the norm is going to continue at CES 2017 as well.

We will see four main rivals, Panasonic, LG, Sony and Samsung, battling to show off their technology. LG, Panasonic and Sony will showcase their OLED displays while Samsung will be promoting its QLED (quantum dot) technology. Besides these four companies, we will also see countless other manufacturers.

Most importantly, this CES will be a display of HDR (High Dynamic Range) technology- HDR10, Dolby and BBC’s LHG. The HDR has been in the market for a couple of years. HDR10 technology has gained more popularity than Dolby Vision in the market, but we will have to wait and see which HDR technology wins at CES 2017.

Internet of Things and Smart Homes

Well, Internet of Things (IoT) is a hot topic. Many manufacturers are working on making all your devices connected to each other by adding sensors and Wifi to almost all the electronic devices. These devices will be used to make your home Smart!

At CES 2017, we will see many smart gadgets, from Fridgecam- a device that checks the stock on your fridge and notifies you to Air Quality sensors for your home and smart thermostats. Additionally, we might also see Google’s Android Things platform for home devices at CES 2017.

The good thing about these smart devices is that you don’t need an expert to install them. You can just buy them at the market and use it without any professional’s guidance. However, the major concern regarding these kinds of devices is security. Because IoT has been an easy target for attackers and had been used for DDoS attack frequently. At CES, we will see how companies will cope with the vulnerabilities.

Other Exciting Gadgets at CES 2017

BliTab- a “iPad” for blinds. This tablet will produce small physical bubbles like Braille above the touchscreen.

Olly Robot- a robot that adapts to the personality of the users.

Unibot- a modular robot that changes its function depending on which modules are connected to it.

Rumors Round-Up of Samsung Galaxy S8

Featured

GadgetByte

-

January 4, 2017

1

Samsung, a tough competitor to both Apple and Google, has become a point of interest to many tech followers worldwide. After the Note 7 fiasco, everyone is eagerly waiting for Samsung’s Next Galaxy, the S8. As the date of S8’s release is getting nearer, rumors are being widespread more than ever. In this post, we’ll be rounding up all its rumors. Let’s found out what we can expect from the Samsung’s next flagship phone.

Samsung’s new AI assistant: Bixby

AI assistance in a phone has become more user-friendly and productive lately. Google’s Assitant is promising and Apple’s Siri doesn’t lie far behind. When it comes to Samsung, the S-Voice is truly the assistant of the past. Samsung will be using a new AI assistance of its own in the next galaxy. The Samsung Galaxy S8 will have the Bixby, a newer replacement to the S-Voice. The voice-guided assistance will be capable of doing things that Siri is doing in the iPhones. It is said to be integrated with Samsung’s app and will be more productive than ever. From the next galaxy, you’ll be able to ask your phone to show the photos you took yesterday or on the beach. Yes, that’s something Apple’s Siri and Google’s AI assistant been doing for a while now. It is an appreciable effort from Samsung to make a better version of its own AI assistant.

A new design language: S8, the first all display phone from Samsung

Mobile phone industry has kind of saturated when it comes to design. Many phones get released every month but they come in the design that we are already familiar with. But, as far as trustable rumors are concerned, Samsung is going with a newer design this time around. Samsung Galaxy S8 could be the first Samsung’s device to go completely bezel-less. Yes, the edge-to-edge design that Samsung introduced with the S6 and followed by S7 was widely accepted. Now, the Samsung is stepping up its game and coming with the phone that will sport all display on the front. Well, that sounds like an interesting phone already.

Dual Cameras in the back: S8, the first Samsung phone with dual cameras

Dual Cameras are becoming the new cool in the mobile industry. Many big names in the mobile industry are releasing phones with dual cameras in the back one after another. Samsung is yet to release one, though. But the trustworthy source says the Galaxy S8 will be the Samsung’s first phone to sport dual cameras in the back. The rumor claims this set of the dual lens will be of 16 Megapixels and 8 Megapixels. Not all dual cameras in the phones work the same way so it is yet to see how Samsung will be making the use of dual cameras in the S8.

Optical Fingerprint Sensing Technology: the very first of its kind

Samsung always adds some new flavors with every release of its flagship. The Note 7 had the retina scanning technology which was something we hadn’t experienced before. So, after the Galaxy S8, Samsung is likely to get rid of its home button and will embed optical fingerprint sensor under the glass. Since it’s going to be an all-screen phone, it was obvious there was no place for a mechanical home button. If I get an edge-to-edge screen at a cost of home button then I’m down with that.

3.5 mm Headphone Jack is Dead: Yes, just like the way apple did

Sources claim that Samsung will be joining the war against the 3.5 headphone jack along with the Apple. Well, I wish if 3.5 mm headphone jack stayed a little longer but it is not us who decides whether to keep it or get rid of it. Yes, with the new Samsung Galaxy S8 you won’t be able to charge your phone and listen to music at the same time unless you buy a pair of BT headphones or a dongle that lets you do both at the same time.

Newer Names and Newer Screen Size: the S8 and the S8 Plus

The new variants of Samsung’s yet-to-be-released flagships will be named the S8 and S8 plus. Yeah, that sounds like a naming scheme inspired from the Apple. These two S8s will come at the screen size of 5.5 inches and 6.2 inches. The plus model obviously being of the bigger screen-size.

Well, these are all the rumors we were talking about. So, what will turn into reality and what will die a rumor is something we can only confirm after the release of the highly anticipated Samsung’s Galaxy S8. The S8 is likely to be announced at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona this February. Are you excited for the next Galaxy?? Feel free to write in comments which rumor you want to turn into reality.

Colors Pride P-50 touch Review: Fingerprint on a Budget

GadgetByte

-

January 3, 2017

2

Colors Pride P-50 touch Review: Fingerprint on a Budget

A couple of years ago, only a few high-end flagships used to sport fingerprint sensors. It is only recently that many phones of different price segments started to offer fingerprint sensors in them. Now, you can buy a phone with fingerprint sensor even under 10K and Colors P-50 touch is one of those. We put this phone under different tests to find out if it is worth buying a phone this affordable as someone’s daily driver. In this post, we’ll be sharing our views regarding different aspects of Colors Pride P-50 touch.

Colors Pride P-50 touch is a good plastic built phone. The design language is okay considering its price tag. The phone is noticeably thick and has kind of raised display.

1 of 4

The phone has a 5 inch IPS LCD display with the resolution of 1280*720 pixels. This display standard has become a common standard for budget phones in Nepal lately. Since it’s a budget phone, you gotta live with the thick bezels, forehead, and chin. To make the best out of this display, you better use it without much of tilting.

Under the hood, the phone is powered by quad-core MT6580 processor clocked at 1.3GHz with ARM Mali400 MP2 GPU. It has a 1 GB RAM and 8 GB built-in storage that can be expanded up to 32GB via microSD card. The performance is satisfactory. Well, it’s a budget phone. So, occasional lags and longer loading time are just obvious. The loudspeaker placed at the rear bottom is loud enough but distortions are there more noticeable than ever.

As far as the cameras are concerned, there is a 8 MP on the back and 5 MP on the front. Well, they are a budget phone’s camera so don’t expect much from them. They just get the job done and for doing video calls at night you might wanna be in a well-lit room. To get decent photos you must be in a well-lit environment or else you’re gonna get photos full of grains. If you’re into taking videos, you just can’t rely on its autofocus, touch-focus is something that you should be using for better results.

Pride P50 Touch Rear Camera samples during Day Light

Pride P50 Touch Front Camera samples during Day Light

The fingerprint sensor on its back is the real head-turner in this phone. I doubted its performance at first. But when I started using it, I was surprised. They are little slower but work accurately even when fingers are placed at odd orientations. The sensor does more than unlocking the phone, you can unlock apps too. Plus, there’s an option to launch four different apps by swiping left, right, up and down in the sensor. Additionally, while using cameras, photos can be taken by tapping on this sensor.

1 of 2

Colors PRIDE P-50 touch houses a 2200 mAh battery but the battery doesn’t seem to be much optimized here. In heavy usages, you’ll be getting only a couple of hours of screen on time. Plus, charging is a real pain here. The phone takes much longer to charge as well.

The phone boots on Android 6.0 with Color’s generic UI on top. Yes, you can change the theme but the option is limited to four themes to choose from. There are these soft keys for navigation instead of capacitive one. Plus, you can change the ordering of these soft keys depending on whether you want the back button to the left or right.

Colors Pride P50 Touch User Interface

1 of 7

Is it worth buying Colors PRIDE P-50 touch?

To conclude this review, well Pride P-50 touch is one of the cheapest budget phones that is worth considering. But, we would like to get few things straight, if you’re opting for a phone worth Rs. 9,500 don’t expect it to give you the best of everything. Yes, the fingerprint sensor is there, it is a reliable one but is slow. The camera’s autofocus is almost like hit or miss. So manual touch focus is something you should rather be using for better results. The videos happen to be too sharp and color reproductions are far from accurate. The screen isn’t that bright outdoors so you might wanna use it in shades as opposed to direct sunlight. All in all, it’s worth buying if you want a cheap budget phone capable of doing everything to be one’s daily driver.

TU Transcript Application Form Now Online

Featured

GadgetByte

-

January 3, 2017

0

TU Transcript Application Form Now Online

Gone are the days when you have to travel miles and spend hours in a sluggish line just to drop an application for the transcript. Understanding these difficulties, Office of the Controller of Examinations, Balkhu has now decided the submission process of TU transcript application form be online.

Tribhuwan University (TU), being the prestigious university of Nepal has always been a pain in the neck in the matter of distribution of transcript and character certificates. On the visit to Office of the Controller of Examinations, Balkhu, we could always see a long line of applicants and transcript receivers. Being in a sluggish line and waiting hours to drop the application form had never been an easy job. Despite the endeavor, TU gives a waiting time of 15 days before you could grab the transcript. However, this procedure to get the transcript is going to be obsolete. TU has now decided the submission process for the application form of the transcript to be online. However, this might take a time to be effective.

According to the news, the transfer of students’ databases is being carried out from old software to the new software. Office of the Controller of Examinations, Balkhu estimated the transmission of databases from old to new software to take nearly a month of time. As the transmission process turns successful, the online submission of the form will soon come live.since the form will be submitted through the online procedure, as the application form is once submitted, students can directly go to

Since the form will be submitted through the online procedure, as the application form is once submitted, students can directly go to Office of the Controller of Examinations, Balkhu and grab their transcripts. As the Office of the Controller of Examinations, Balkhu is also a governmental body, we can easily expect that receiving of the transcript will take few days time even after the form submission. Yet this is a good step from Office of the Controller of Examinations as this involves saving the time of students to be in a line and saving the employee of the Office from the workload.

[where-to-buy buy_id=21581]

Locus 2017 Largest Innovative Tech Fair in Nepal Scheduled for Next Month

GadgetByte

-

January 3, 2017

0

Locus 2017 Largest Innovative Tech Fair in Nepal Scheduled for Next Month

Locus committee has set a foot ahead in the track of organizing the largest tech festival ‘Locus 2017’ in Nepal. The date of the events and pre-events are fixed. So, mark your calendar and be ready for being the part of the largest innovative tech fair of Nepal. Locus 2017 is scheduled to run for three days starting from 9th of February, 2017 (2073 Magh 27).

What is Locus?

Locus is a student-run organization established with a mutual collaboration of students from Department of Electrical, Electronics and Computer Engineering of Pulchowk Campus. This organization serves as host to organize a national wise technological festival (or technological exhibition) annually in IOE Central Campus, Pulchowk. Contrary to the theoretical teaching approach in our education system, this organization provides the platform to excel and demonstrate the hardware skills, software skills, and skills for logical reasoning. And to unveil potentiality of discovering and inventing, Locus organizes various events and pre-events. This year’s Locus tech-fest is baptized as Locus 2017 themed with Renovating Society.

Pre-events in Locus 2017

As mentioned previously, Locus provides a platform to discover and invent ideas related to technology and to implement them. For this, Locus 2017 is packed with a series of events and pre-events. Some of the finalized events and pre-events are mentioned here. We will keep you updated with any further additions or modifications.

1. Robotics Crash Course

This course has been introduced to enlighten the basic ideas and principles regarding the field of electronics and making them capable of building hardware projects. This course is categorized into two levels. One is beginners’ Robotics Crash Course designed for the rookies and another is an advanced Robotics Crash Course, which is designed for the ones having a sound knowledge of basic theory and principles of electronics. Students from any engineering colleges can book a seat for themselves. The registration fee is Rs. 1000 and the course will last for more than 7 days. Every detail of this pre-event is mentioned on the photo, which is attached herewith.

2. Case Study competition

In this pre-event, any student with a keen interest in any topic/field can perform a research. At the end of the research, he/she is expected to submit a report regarding the topic. Among the submitted reports, the best will be selected and rewarded. However, this competition is only for the students of Pulchowk Campus. The briefing will be done to the students on Poush 21 and the deadline for the submission of case study reports will be then finalized. In order to take part in the competition, Rs. 100 is to be paid for the organizers from each team.

3. Maya Animation Workshop

This is a two-day workshop, where the enthusiasts will be briefed about Maya software and its uses. Further, in this workshop, learners will be taught to create and design animations. This workshop will be on 24th and 25th of Poush.

4. Photoshop + Illustrator Workshop

In this workshop, any students, who are zealous about the Graphics designing, will be enlightened with the knowledge of Photoshop and Illustrator software. The learners will not only be taught about the tools in the software and its uses but also the designing works using such software. Every zealous student is welcomed by Locus for this workshop. However, a pre-registration is required in order to take part in the event. This workshop will be on Poush 26 and 27.

5. Git Workshop

Wikipedia has described Git as a widely used source code management system for software development and a distributed revision control system with an emphasis on speed, data integrity, and support for distributed, non-linear workflows. For the programmers, who are habituated in doing projects individually or in a group of small number, working among a team of many members will be troublesome. If there is not proper division and synchronization of the project, there will be the growth of chaos. To cope such problems, Git is a correct platform. Visualizing this platform as a must for the programmers and software developers, Locus has managed to enlist it among the number of pre-events. Git workshop is scheduled for 26^th of Poush.

6. +2 Level Quiz

In order to boost the General Knowledge of +2 students, Locus has managed to embed +2 Level Quiz in the list of its pre-events. A team of +2 students from any college can take part in this program. However, a registration is required to be the contestant in the quiz. The registration costs Rs. 2500 per team. The date for the +2 Level Quiz is scheduled on Magh 8.

7. Tech Debates

This is the new pre-event added in the Locus timeline. In this pre-event, participants are expected to perform logical reasoning in the given topic. This will be in a similar pattern to World Universities Debating Championship (WUDC) following the format of British Parliamentary Debate. This program will go on for three days starting from 14^th of Magh. And the mandatory number of participants in the team is two.

8. Talk Show

In this pre-event, a successful personality will be invited. The invited personality shares his expertise and unveils the challenges regarding his work. This pre-event is expected to provide motivation and inspiration to make a change in the country and to stretch the feet in the path of entrepreneurship. The talk show will be held on 17^th of Magh.

9. Hack a Week

This is the most awaited pre-event in Locus. This pre-event provides a platform to the app developers, programmers, and tech enthusiasts to bring their ideas to life with the development of software prototypes. This is a themed pre-event and all the developers are expected to develop the prototype of the software based on the given themes. The contestants should develop their software prototype based on the theme of art & culture, entertainment, or on social impact. As the name suggests, this is 7 days pre-event and at the end, there will be the submission of the works done. This event will run from 18^th of Magh to 24^th of Magh.

Main Event of Locus 2017

The main event of the Locus 2017 includes hardware and software competitions. The competition is divided into the theme and non-themed category. All the hardware and software projects aiding in the renovation of society will be quarantined in the themed section and remaining in the non-themed section. The main event will start from 27^th of Magh and will for three days. At the ending day i.e. 29^th of Magh, all the winners of main events and the winners from the competitions of pre-events will be rewarded.

If you are willing to take part in any of the pre-events or events then just do not build a second thought. Pick an idea and start giving shape to your project. If you are not interested or eligible to take part but yet interested in having a look to the event then just mark your calendar and manage your schedule. You will be privileged to see the innovative tech discoveries for free, as no entry fee is required.

For more information, you may dial one of the following numbers.

Samip Subedi, Coordinator– 9806622311
Prateek Raj Joshi, Event Manager– 9849713996

Samsung Galaxy A Series 2017 announced!

Samsung

GadgetByte

-

January 2, 2017

0

Samsung Galaxy A series is a premium mid-range segment where the high-end build meets the affordability. A series has been a much-appreciated line of Samsung smartphone, probably because of its build and camera quality. So 2017 kicks off with the new line up from Samsung, the Galaxy A series, which includes the usual A3, A5, and A7.

[Update: Only Samsung Galaxy A7 2017 Launched in Nepal so far and it is priced at Rs. 42,490. Galaxy A5 and Galaxy A3 is not expected to launch in Nepal]

The initial launch of these phones will be in Russia this January and will soon follow other international markets including Nepal. We assumed these phones would be revealed during CES, looks like Samsung can’t wait to restore the market blown up by the Note 7. These phones sport an improved camera, 3D glass rear builds like S7/Edge & Note 5, Always ON Display, USB C 1.0 and most importantly IP68 water and dust resistance. However, to add a slight disappointment, all these three phones run on Android Marshmallow.

Samsung Galaxy A3(2017):

Galaxy A3 2017 comes with a portable size of 4.7-inch which is same as the last year. The display type also remains the same with 720P Super AMOLED panel. Storage wise, the phone has 16GB of onboard storage which is expandable up to 256GB. Powering the phone is a 1.6Ghz octa-core chipset (Exynos 7870) coupled with 2GB of RAM. The rear camera remains the same 13MP with f/1.9 and the front camera is upgraded to 8MP with f/1.9. A3 now also houses a fingerprint sensor up front which was missing last year. Backing up the phone is a decent 2350mAh battery.

4.7-inch Super AMOLED display
1.5GHz Octa-Core Exynos 7870 14nm processor with Mali-T830 GPU
2GB RAM, 16GB Internal Storage, expandable upto 256GB via micro SD card
Android 6.0 (Marshmallow)
Dual SIM ( nano + nano)
13MP rear camera with LED flash
8MP front camera
Fingerprint Scanner, Water resistant body
Dimensions: 135.4 x 66.2 x 7.9mm
4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.1, GPS
2350mAh battery

Samsung Galaxy A5 (2017):

Galaxy A5 2017 also comes with the same 5.2-inch Full HD Super AMOLED panel like the last year. Powering the phone is the Exynos 7880 Octa-core chipset coupled with 3GB of RAM. Storage wise it comes with a sizable 32GB onboard storage, expandable up to 256GB. Optics wise it comes with 16MP camera with f/1.9 on both front and back which are likely to be really awesome. The rear camera is also equipped with OIS. A5 comes with 3,000mAh battery and fast charging.

5.2-inch (1920×1080 pixels) Full HD Super AMOLED display
1.87GHz Octa-Core Exynos 7880 processor with Mali-T830 GPU
3GB RAM, 32GB Internal Storage, expandable upto 256GB via micro SD card
Android 6.0 (Marshmallow)
Dual SIM ( nano + nano)
16MP rear camera with LED flash
16MP front camera
Fingerprint Scanner, Water resistant body
Dimension:146.1 x 71.4 x 7.9mm
4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, Bluetooth v 4.2, NFC, USB Type-C
3000mAh battery with adaptive fast charging

Samsung Galaxy A7 2017:

Galaxy A7 2017 is the biggest among the A series. Phones display has been bumped to 5.7inches with Full HD Super AMOLED panel. A7 is powered by Exynos 7870 Octa core 1.9Ghz chipset coupled with 3GB of RAM. Storage wise, it also comes with 32GB onboard storage which is expandable up to 256GB. It houses similar optics like the A5. It is backed up by a 3,600mAh battery.

Samsung is likely to bring these phones to Nepal as soon as they’re ready to ship to international markets. The price however at this moment has not been revealed but they will be more or less the same as the last year models.

5.7-inch (1920×1080 pixels) Full HD Super AMOLED display
1.87GHz Octa-Core Exynos 7880 processor with Mali-T830 GPU
3GB RAM, 32GB Internal Storage, expandable upto 256GB via micro SD card
Android 6.0 (Marshmallow)
Dual SIM ( nano + nano)
16MP rear camera with LED flash
16MP front camera
Fingerprint Scanner, Water resistant body
Dimensions:156.8 x 77.6 x 7.9mm
4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, Bluetooth v 4.2, NFC, USB Type-C
3,600mAh battery with adaptive fast charging

Samsung Galaxy J7 Prime Gets a Price Reduction

GadgetByte

-

January 2, 2017

3

Samsung Galaxy J7 Prime Gets a Price Reduction

Samsung Galaxy J7 Prime is a good looking mid-range smartphone with metal unibody from Samsung Nepal. Overall, the phone is a good value for money. And, to give you the best bang for your bucks, you are also getting a Rs 1,000 cash back on Samsung Galaxy J7 Prime. This means you can get this great phone at Rs. 28,490 (Rs. 29,490 previously).

Specs of Samsung Galaxy J7 Prime:

The Samsung Galaxy J7 Prime features a 5.5-inch IPS FHD (1080×1920) display that results in a pixel density of 401 ppi. It comes preloaded with Android Marshmallow 6.0.1 and has been frequently getting security updates. The phone is loaded with a 1.6 GHz Exynos 7870 Octa-core 64-bit processor.

In terms of storage, the J7 Prime has 16GB of internal memory that is expandable up to 256 GB via a microSD card. Similarly, the RAM on this device is 3GB. Furthermore, the Samsung Galaxy J7 Prime has a good camera with 13MP on the back and 8MP on the front. The 3,300 mAh battery on this device is removable that provided good backup during our review.

Check out our video review of Samsung Galaxy J7 Prime before thinking of buying:

Xiaomi Mi 5s in Nepal : Prebooking starts from Jan 3

GadgetByte

-

January 2, 2017

0

Xiaomi Mi 5s in Nepal : Prebooking starts from Jan 3

Vatsal Impex Pvt. Ltd., the authorized distributor of MI products in Nepal, is accepting pre-booking for Xiaomi Mi 5s starting from Jan. 3, 2017 to Jan. 6, 2017. For those looking forward to buying Mi 5s, pre-booking the phone at the introductory price of NRs. 45999 seems like a good deal. That way, you can save NRs. 4000 since once the phone goes on sale starting from Jan. 7, it’ll be priced at NRs. 49,999. The Xiaomi Mi 5s launching in Nepal will be of 3GB RAM+64GB ROM variant. The phone will come in Gold color option only.

Xiomi Mi 5s, the full-metal unibody phone launched back in October, is one of the specs-heavy phones you can buy under NRs. 50,000. Talking about what the phone has to offer, it features a 5.15 inch IPS LCD display that has the resolution of 1920*1080 pixels. Under the hood, the phone packs the quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 processor clocked at 2.15 GHz along with Adreno 520 GPU. It comes with LPDDR4 3GB RAM and unexpandable built-in storage of 64GB.

The camera units used in Mi 5s are 12MP (Sony IMX378 CMOS image sensor with large 1.55μm pixels) primary shooter on the back and 4MP front shooter for the selfies. The phone looks more like a video camera phone as it can shoot 4k at 30fps and 1080p at 120fps. The full HD taken at 120fps will give some decent slo-mo outputs for sure. The front shooter can also take videos at the highest resolution of 1080p as well.

Mi 5s runs on Android 6.0 with MIUI 8.0 layered on top. It houses a non-removable 3200 mAh battery. Plus, it even supports Qualcomm’s Quick Charge 3.0. That means charging can be as fast as 83% in just 30 minutes of time. It comes with USB Type C version 1.0 that is reversible. It’ll be easier to plug in as opposed to traditional USB type B. But remember, there are very few phones with USB Type C so many of your friends’ data cables won’t be compatible with your phone.

The Xiaomi Mi 5s is among very rare phones to sport under the glass ultrasonic fingerprint sensor right on the front.

Here’s all you need to know about the Xiaomi Mi5s :

DISPLAY	5.15-inch; 1080 x 1920 pixels display
CHIPSET	Qualcomm Snapdragon 821
CPU	Quad-core (2×2.15 GHz Kryo & 2×1.6 GHz Kryo)
GPU	Adreno 530
OPERATING SYSTEM	Android 6.0 Marshmallow with MI UI 8 on top
INTERNAL MEMORY	64GB
EXPANDABLE MEMORY	NO
RAM	3GB
REAR CAMERA	12 MP Sony IMX378 with f/2.0 aperture, Phase detection autofocus
FRONT CAMERA	4MP with f/2.0 aperture
SIM	dual SIM (nano)
BATTERY	3200mAh
FINGERPRINT	Available (Under-glass)
FAST CHARGING	Quick Charge 3.0 available (83% in 30 min)
COLOR(S) AVAILABLE	Gold
PRICE	NRs. 49,999 (regular) NRs. 45,999 (pre-booking)