Skype has officially announced that they are reinstating normal prices to landlines and mobiles starting Monday, June 15. Skype has been providing all Skype calls to landlines and mobiles in and out of Nepal free of charge since the devastating earthquake of 25th April.
The Skype Team writes: “After more than 6 weeks of free and discounted calls into and out of Nepal, we are reinstating our normal calling prices to landlines and mobiles from Monday 15 June 2015. Skype to Skype audio/video calls will remain free for everyone.”
In the dominant market of Android and iOS, we can barely think of any other operating system running in our smartphones. But we can’t deny the fact that there are still other OS out there. One of the promising OS that could possibly make it’s own rightful place in the smartphone market is theFirefox OS.
Firefox OS is built upon open web standards like HTML5, CSS3, and JavaScript and offers a very user-friendly user interface. Firefox OS is pretty different from other mobile OS, you can think of it as, something more than a browser running on a very lightweight Linux-based operating system. So the OS is basically very light and fluid. Overall it is a pleasant OS to look at and here’s how you can get it on your android device without having to flash any ROM or buying a Firefox OS itself.
2. Install the app in a normal way, make sure to select the unknown sources under the security settings.
3.It is a launcher so you have to set it as your default launcher and You’re set!
The customizations run pretty deep with this app/launcher as you will have an almost full Firefox OS experience, including:“ Launcher, Notification Drawer, Lock Screen and Settings.“ It doesn’t completely replace your ROM, but if you were considering buying a phone with Firefox OS or making the switch, this is a good way to find out what to expect.
Intel acquires chip maker Altera for $16.7 billion, embracing a class of microprocessors that represent the future of the massive data centers that underscore the world’s online services.
“The acquisition will couple Intel’s leading-edge products and manufacturing process with Altera’s leading field-programmable gate array FPGA technology,” Intel said in a statement. “The combination is expected to enable new classes of products that meet customer needs in the data center and Internet of Things (IoT) market segments.”
Altera makes FPGAs—chips you can program to perform very specific tasks. Since these chips don’t entail as much power and as much space as the microprocessors that have traditionally driven the world’s internet services, many believe they will become increasingly predominant in data centers. Microsoft is already using these chips in part to power it’s Bing search engine.
Huawei recently launched a new mid-range phone—G play mini for Rs.19,999 (USD $200) in Nepal. I have been using this handset for almost 2 months, and many of you have been asking me on whether Huawei G play mini stands out to be the best phone to buy for NRs.20,000. Well, let’s find out in this article.
Huawei Gplay mini looks identical to Honor 4c
More About Huawei G Play Mini
At a first glance at the specs, you will notice that the Huawei G play mini specs look identical to Honor 4c— the phone that was launched in India for INR 8,999 (NRs.14,400). So, you might want to know why are we paying more for the phone with almost same specs? Huawei Device Nepal says that Huawei Honor 4c and Huawei G play mini are different phones with Huawei G play mini sporting a superior design better suited for gaming. But, after some research and comparison, it turns out Gplay mini and Honor 4c has almost similar design. So, why is the Honor 4c cheaper? The main reason is that there is too much competition going on in Indian smartphone market with the likes of Xiaomi Redmi 2 and Micromax Yuphoria providing decent phones under INR 10K. But, unfortunately, that’s not the case here in Nepal.
Moving on… I actually bought Gplay mini for Rs.18,500 and also got a free screen guard and an egregious flip cover that will only make your phone look ugly. The box content comprises of a wall charger, data cable, and a chintzy earphone.
DESIGN & BUILD: 6/10
Like any other sub-20K phones, G play mini made up of plastic. Talking about ergonomics of this phone, the phone feels heavy and is extremely difficult to use with one hand as the phone comes with bigger bezels. The phone weighs 162 gms, which is abnormal for a 5-inch phone. Last year’s Huawei Honor 3c has a 5-inch display and weighs 140gms. Comparing it with other 5-inch devices, it feels bulky and heavy.
The Huawei G play Mini features a 5-inch (1280 x 720) pixel display with 294ppi (320dpi). High-definition displays are common these days in a mid-range segment, but what really matters is the quality of the screen, brightness, color reproduction and touch sensitivity.
As far as Huawei G play mini is concerned, the quality of the screen is really good with decent viewing angles thanks to the IPS technology. The display panel manages to produce vibrant and accurate colors, but there are two minor glitches that I saw in the display. First of all, the screen is not bright enough. Under normal usage, it’s okay but when you keep Honor 3c and Gplay mini side by side, Huawei Honor 3c screen is brighter and better compared to Gplay mini.
Another thing that might annoy you is how fingerprint magnet the screen is; it easily attracts smudge marks and you will find yourself cleaning the display quite often. Moreover, the display lacks Corning Gorilla Glass protection and is therefore prone to scratches.
SOFTWARE UI: 7/10
The Huawei G play mini is running the Huawei Emotion 3.0 UI on top of Android 4.4.2 KitKat. The Emotion UI is not stock, but the 3.0 version is much better than any of its previous version. However, there are still improvements to be done from Huawei in its Software UI.
PERFORMANCE: 8/10
The Huawei G play mini is equipped with Huawei’s in-house Kirin 620 chipset with an Octa core 1.2Ghz Cortex A53 64 bit processor supplemented by 2GB of DDR3 RAM.
The Kirin 620 Chipset is somewhat similar to Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 615 chipset seen on Micromax Yureka Yu, HTC desire 820 and Xiaomi Mi4i. Under normal usage like browsing, chatting,etc., the phone is deprived of any lags. The phone runs smoothly while multi-tasking or switching between apps.
I installed some heavy games like FIFA15, MC5, etc and it runs smoothly without any lags. It tends to heat after continuous usage, but that won’t bother you too much. Even flagship phones like Samsung Galaxy S6 and HTC one M9 heats up while playing that kind of graphics demanding games.
Overall, the performance of the G play mini is its biggest asset. If you want a phone with the best performance in this price range, G play mini would be a worthy choice.
MEMORY: 7/10
The Huawei G play mini comes with 8GB inbuilt storage out of which only 3.5GB is available to users. This big chunk of memory is taken by the Operating System. However, you can expand the memory via a microSD card slot up to 32GB. You can move most of the apps to SD card, but some apps can only be installed to the internal storage.
CAMERA
The Huawei G play mini is capable of capturing some nice shots as it’s been equipped with a 13MP rear facing camera – and decent feature for such a low-cost device. Up front, a 5MP camera can capture excellent selfies.
The13 MP back camera can capture good photos during daylight. Macro shots are amazing with lots of details, vividness, and accurate color reproduction. Low or artificial light shot is not impressive but doesn’t disappoint at all. Check out the photos sample here: LINK
BATTERY: 7/10
The non-removable 2550 mAh battery on the Huawei G play mini is more than enough for one day of moderate usage. You can watch Youtube Videos continuously for 4 hrs. Upon continuous browsing and chatting, it should give you 5 hrs of backup.
CONNECTIVITY: 8/10
The phone supports Dual GSM 3G SIM (HSPA). Other connectivity includes WiFi 802.11b/g/n, WiFi Direct support, WiFi hotspot, Bluetooth 4.0, and GPS/GLONASS. However, the phone doesn’t support USB OTG and neither has 4G LTE bands.
VERDICT:
Overall, the Huawei G play mini is among the good mid-range smartphones available in Nepal. At Rs. 19,999 it’s bit costly compared to the Honor 4c even though the smartphone has almost the same specs.
If you are looking for a Dual SIM smartphone with a really good performance around Rs. 20,000, the G play mini is a good choice. To summarize, here are the pros and cons of the smartphone.
#DealAlert: Xiaomi Mi4i Price in Nepal: Now Available for Rs.28,000.
Xiaomi is one the most influential and leading manufacturer of smartphones in the world right now. All of its devices are packed with high-end specs but with a price tag so low that everyone wants a piece of it.
Here in Nepal, although we don’t have the official Xiaomi online stores, people buying the device from the 3rd party retailers have really admired the Xiaomi’s approach on delivering affordable smartphones with high-end specs.
And now the miniature version of the Xiaomi’s flagship Mi4, Mi4i is available in Nepal with a very low price tag of just Rs.28,000 which is Exclusively Available on M.K.Tradeline.
5inch IPS LCD screen with the resolution of 1080 x 1920 pixels (~441 ppi)
Runs on Android 5.0.2 on top of MIUI v6.0
Qualcomm MSM8939 Snapdragon 615 Chipset
Quad-core 1.7 GHz Cortex-A53 & quad-core 1.1 GHz Cortex-A53 CPU with Adreno 405 GPU
2GB RAM with 16GB internal storage (No Card Slot)
13 MP, 4128 x 3096 pixels Rear Camera with 5MP Front Camera
Fast battery charging: 40% in 60 min (Quick Charge)
Li-Ion 3120 mAh battery
Mi4i specs looks promising and at a price of Rs.28,000 it’s a steal. It is certainly the best phone to buy right now for Rs.28,000. Here are the pros and cons of Mi4i:
Elife E8 is company’s flagship phone of 2015 and offers new high-end specs which we all have been waiting to see since the launch of Elife E7 back in 2013. The major attraction about the E8 is its 23.7 MP rear camera, which will be able to produce photographs up to 120 megapixels in resolution. And it will also be the first Android smartphone to offer lossless zoom. Gionee aims to make it as the best camera phone in the market, but again we shall wait and see.
Also, the Gionee Marathon M5 has caught a lot of attention with its dual battery. It packs a huge 6,020 mAh battery, a great improvement over the 5,000mAh battery in it ancestor M3. People have been plagued by battery problem since smartphone displays getting bigger and brighter, but thanks to M5 dual better that’s designed to solve this problem. Gionee says that the Marathon M5 will give a four-day battery life.
Gionee E8 Specifications:
6 inches AMOLED Screen with resolution of 1440 x 2560 pixels (~490 ppi)
TBC glass protection
Runs on Android 5.0 Lollipop on top of Amigo UI 3.0
Mediatek Helio X10 Chipset(MT6795) with OctaCore 2 GHz Cortex-A53 CPU and PowerVR G6200 GPU
3GB RAM and 64GB Internal Storage without expandable memory
24MP Rear Camera and 8MP Front Camera
Fingerprint sensor
Dimensions: 164.0 × 82.3 × 9.6 mm
Weight: 207 g
Dual SIM, 4G LTE, Wi-Fi 802.11 ac/b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0 with A2DP, GPS, NFC
Non-removable Li-Po 3250 mAh battery
Gionee M5 Specifications:
5inch AMOLED Screen with the resolution of 720 x 1280 pixels (~267 ppi)
Runs on Android 5.1 Lollipop on top of Amigo UI 3.0
1.3GHz QuadCore Processor
2GB RAM and 16GB Internal Storage, Expandable up to 64GB
13 MP (3264 x 2448 pixels) Rear Camera and 5MP Front Camera
Dual 6,020 mAh battery
Pricing: Gionee Marathon M5 is priced at $370 and it will be available for purchase starting June 25 whereas Elife E8 is priced at $645 and will be available for purchase starting July 15.
Lava Smartphone Nepal is set to announce a new budget smartphone—Iris X8. The phone comes with a 5 inch HD display, Octa-Core processor, 2GB RAM, 16GB internal storage, 8MP & 3MP cameras, and a 2500 mAh battery. The asking price should be around NRs. 16,000.
Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Wi-Fi hotspot, GPS, Bluetooth 4.0
BATTERY
Li-Ion 2500 mAh battery (non-removable)
BATTERY LIFE
291 hours of standby time and 10 hours of 3G talk time
PRICE
TBA
Lava Smartphone Nepal is yet to provide any further details on the pricing and availability of the Iris X8 in the market, but we expect the phone to arrive this month. Pre-booking has already begun .
DEAL ALERT: It’s been a few months LG officially unveiled the LG G4, and the price has gone down since then. Originally, during launch, the LG G4 was priced at Rs.75,000 in Nepal, but the price of the phone has gone down since then and you can buy one of these at a price of Rs. 50,000 from M.K.Tradeline shop.
5.5-inch Quad HD IPS Quantum Display (2560 x 1440, 538 ppi)
Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 system chip (Qualcomm MSM8992 )
3GB RAM
32GB storage
microSD slot up to 128GB
16MP 1/2.6-inch CMOS sensor with F1.8 aperture
3-axis optical image stabilization
Laser AF
Color spectrum sensor
4K video
8MP front camera with F2.0 aperture
Android 5.1 Lollipop
3,000 mAh battery (removable)
Color: Gold
G4 features a 16-megapixel rear camera and an 8MP front camera.
LG has emphasized more on its Camera specification in the G4 and touts its performance as a professional-grade DSLR. The phone comes with 16 megapixel 1/2.6-inch CMOS sensor with F1.8 aperture lens. The phone now sports improved optical image stabilization system with 3 axes. In addition, the G4 comes with laser AF for better focus and a new color spectrum sensor that reads RGB color and Infrared in order to recognize objects in a scene and their color. The raw data is then processed to optimize white balance and color processing. At the front, LG have opted for an 8MP sensor combined with an F2.0 aperture.
LG G4 is equipped with IPS Quantum QHD display.
In terms of Display, LG G4 has a new IPS Quantum Quad HD display, which is quite similar, yet better than G3. There is the slightly unusual processor inside the LG G4- the hexacore Snapdragon 808 processor with 4 Cortex A53 Cores and 2 Cortex A57. Obviously, this processor is less powerful than the latest Octa Core Snapdragon 810 seen in the HTC one M9 or the Exynos 7420 of Samsung Galaxy S6, but LG says the hexacore processor is destined to save more power and will give better battery life. The phone boast a 3000 mAh battery which can be removed as well. The body of the G4 is slightly curved, nothing like the G flex 2, but the curved design means it’s easier to grab in the hands. The G4 runs on Android 5.1 Lollipop operating system with the new human-centric UX 4.0.
Battery life has always been a big issue for smartphone these days. Keeping that into perspective, Gionee has decided to use two batteries inside a single smartphone. Teaser shows that the successor of Marathon M3—the Marathon M5 will boast two Batteries that will provide a battery life for four days. Rumors also point out the total capacity of batteries to be of 6000mAh.
Gionee is yet to reveal more official details about the device, but we expect Marathon M5 to be energy efficient and hence should boast a 5 inch 720p screen (1080P would be meaningless), low power consuming Cortex A7 Quad-core processor, LP-DDR4 memory, but then again official specs might surprise us all. So stay tuned for more information in the coming days.
Gionee Nepal recently launched its latest flagship phone from Elife series—GioneeElife S7. It is one of the thinnest phone measuring only 5.5mm thick, yet premium since the phone is build by aviation-grade alloy and a stainless steel sheet with nano-molding plastic making the phone solid and durable. In terms of display, Elife S7 sports a 5.2” AMOLED screen with 1080p resolution. It is powered by Mediatek’s new 64-but 1.7Ghz octa core processor with 2GB RAM and 16GB of storage. It is a dual sim phone with 4G LTE capability. It comes with Gionee’s new Amigo 3.0 user interface that is based on the latest Android 5.0 Lollipop. Read more
Nepal Telecom has come up with a new billing system for GSM prepaid users which automatically reserves Rs.7 as soon as you turn on your mobile data. The exact amount is then deducted after you turn off your mobile data.
Here’s a small illustration:
1. I have a balance of Rs. 90.58 right now.
2. As soon as I turn on my Mobile Data, NTC reserves Rs.7.01 from my account.
3. After browsing few websites and then turning off the mobile data, NTC deducts the amount that I surfed, Rs.0.11 in this case.
So, questions might be popping out of your head on why did NTC change their billing system to make it more complex? As far as I know, there was a flaw in their previous payment system. According to some NTC users, with the previous payment system, they were able to surf the internet for free with some tweaks. NTC has not mentioned anything about it, but this might be a viable reason for the upgrade.
Buy Now LG G4 
