Spice Online Retail Wins Two Indian eRetail Awards

Spice Online Retail (www.saholic.com) has secured two prestigious awards at the Indian Retail Congress organized by Franchise India on 25th April 2014 at Hotel Hyatt Regency, Gurgaon.

The first award is eCommerce Site Innovation Award, which has been given to www.saholic.com considering the tremendous advancements it incorporated, in terms of content, technology integration, service and marketing. The site’s developments are beyond the ordinary norms of click and buy.

The second award is “Best Mobile and Accessory Brand  with Outstanding eRetail Performance”, which is given to Saholic for the second consecutive year, considering the best practices the company follows in eCommerce business. “On Time Delivery” concept, which gives customers an assurance that he will be receiving the shipment on or before the promised date is the main feature that helped Spice improve customers’ trust. In case Saholic delivers an order later than promised date, the site compensates the customer, which is a feature sole to Saholic. Furthermore, the In Store Pick-up, which lets buyer pay online and collect the product from the desired Spice Hotspot outlet and Insurance Against Theft of the smartphone bought from Saholic, are two other features that made the site a winner in this category.

Franchise India has awarded best performers across various verticals in the Indian retail and e-retail industry. The players who enjoy big market share and those who drive innovations are awarded at the Indian Retail Congress.

EVLeaks Suggests Nokia is Working on Android Smartphone

EVLeaks, the popular technology focused Twitter account mentions about new Nokia smartphone - Nokia X. It has also posted features of the device. If EVLeaks is to be trusted, Nokia X will be an Android device.

Already there have been many speculations about Nokia's interest in Android ecosystem. Earlier EVLeaks posted about Nokia Normandy - A Symbian based Android phone in the Asha series. This time, it has feature packed dual-SIM phone with 4 inch touchscreen. EVLeaks says, the phone is powered by a dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 200 mobile processor and 512MB RAM. The phone will have a 5MP primary camera. There is no trace of front camera on Nokia X. The phone will have 4GB internal storage, obviouly, it will have support for microSD card for memory expansion. There is a plan to fuel this device with 1500 mAh battery.

As of now, there is no new about 3G support to the device. But if the maker will boost the device with 3G, at least to one SIM card slot, it will be great. It seems the device will not support Android Market; instead it will have its own Nokia Store with support for third part apps. There is no news about the Anrdoid version that will be incorporated in this phone. The report suggests it will be again a device with heavily modified Android version. We have to wait for some more days for substantiation of any Nokia Android phone till Nokia itself unwraps the folds.

Lava Iris Pro 30 Review

Got a chance to experience Lava Iris Pro 30 for just 10 minutes. Wow…Fantastic look; the iPhone 5 lookalike accentuates elegance! The magnesium alloy body imparts weightlessness; at 114 grams, the device is one of the lightest in its category. The black back panel with matte finish also is as elegant as the front panel. Minimal design, with a subtle Lava logo at the back panel. 10/10 in design and feel.

Display

Another highlight of the device is its 4.7 inch HD IPS LCD, based on OGS technology. OGS technology – for those who are not familiar with the term OGS – eliminates a layer of glass on display. Result is reduced thickness. You actually feel like seeing images, videos, and text right on the top panel. It’s really worth mentioning that the device comes with an amazing display, with great color reproduction and great viewing angle. Kudos to Lava.

Hands-on video

Interface

The app drawer, keyboard, notification bar etc are run-of-the-mill, ie, it’s just like any stock Android interface. But it sports a little bit enhanced dialer, giving a better feel. No ornaments for the camera interface.

Hardware

The 1.2 GHz quad core processor, together with and 1GB RAM, is adequate to provide swift performance. Did not get a chance to play a highly graphic intensive game on the device.  But I’m optimistic about the performance even while doing such tasks.

Software

Android 4.2 (Jelly Bean):Though, it is not the most advanced version, it provides you the best of Android so far, in terms of simplicity, speed and versatility.

Connectivity

It comes with almost all the connectivity options including Dual-SIM, 3G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, USB, and GPS. NFC is missing (who cares?? :-), currently it doesn’t apply anywhere). One thing I really liked about this product is its support for USB OTG, i.e, you can simply connect your pen drive to the handset via USB OTG cable and transfer data to and from the device, as easily as you do on a computer. OTG support takes portability and convenience to a new level.

Battery

The 2000mAh is mediocre; just gives you juice for a day of average use. This could have been slightly made better, as the device is intended to use for games and multimedia.

Lava Iris Pro 30 specifications

4.7-inch HD IPS display (1280 x 720 pixels), complemented well with OGS technology and Gorilla glass

1.2 GHz quad-core processor

Android 4.2 (Jelly Bean)

Dual SIM (normal + micro)

8MP rear camera with dual LED Flash, 3MP front camera

3.5mm audio jack, FM Radio

1GB RAM, 4GB internal memory (2.43GB user memory), microSD card support ( up to 32GB)

3G, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS, USB OTG
2000 mAh battery

Verdict

You will fall in love with the device, for sure. It is that elegant! At a price of around Rs 15000, the device is great to own, use and flaunt :-). Go for it..

Spice Pinnacle Stylus Mi-550 Review

The ever-expanding screen sizes of smartphones have baffled some people, who want excellent viewing experience as well as comfort of holding. Pinnacle StylusMi-550 from Indian brand Spice finds the right balance of screen size and holding comfort. The USP is obvious in the name itself. The product comes with round headed stylus that makes taking notes a very easy task.  In my view, it's just elegant and sophisticated like Note 2. Let me reveal more on the product.

Aesthetics

The phone looks great with a massive display that utilizes the front real estate smartly. It looks much similar to Samsung Galaxy Note 2.  There is no physical button on the front panel; 3 capacitive buttons are given at the bottom side. Volume control on the left hand side; 3.5mm audio jack on the top; a microUSB port at the bottom; and power button on the right hand side. There is a thin silver colored bezel along the sides that adds to the visual appeal. The stylus can be inserted and pulled out as and when required from slot given at the bottom of the device. The back panel has a glossy white finish. An 8MP camera, dual-LED flash and speaker complete the back panel. The free flip cover that comes in the pack is extremely attractive. It fits very well to the device, giving access to all controls. Removing the back panel welcomes a 2500 mAh battery, 2 SIM card slots, and a microSD card slot.

Unboxing and Hands-on video

Camera, music and video

The 8MP camera records 1080p HD videos @30fps. In addition, it offers you various features like Self portrait, Geotagging, Face detection, Self timer, Zero shutter delay etc to customize and get desired pictures. There is a 2MP camera on the front panel for video chat. The pictures clicked using the front camera also looked great. No need to ask anyone to click your self portrait, you can get a good one using the Pinnacle Stylus front camera. I clicked a few indoor and outdoor pics using this camera. Really satisfied with the picture quality. The earbud type headset quality is good, not excellent though. The speakers delivered loud enough sound; even the quality of music is really good. It plays HD video.

Call and Data

Pinnacle Stylus showed consistent 3G data performance. Call quality seemed good with no call drop and voice cracking. The device does not have native 3G video call option, but you always can enjoy video calling via 3^rd party applications like Skype and Gtalk.

Display

Trust me, the 5.5 inch display with HD (1280 x 720px) resolution is just amazing. The display shows vibrant colors. Images are crisp and sharp. The spaciousness of the screen also makes it really great for viewing Web pages and multimedia. The touchscreen is very responsive.

User interface

The onscreen QWERTY keyboard is good for typing. I have given it to a couple of friends who accurately typed a sentence with ease. I did not judge the keyboard myself because; I’m not really good in typing on mobile screens, no matter how good the keyboard is. The dialer is plain with no adornment. I personally like a bit colourful or button like look in place of simple digits on the dialer. You can easily access call logs and contacts from the dialer itself. Quick access to connectivity settings, display auto-rotation settings and brightness settings can be opened from the notification bar. The camera interface is neat and clean.

Processor and memory

The device comes with 1.2 GHz quad core processor that does seamless multi tasking. Memory specs encompass 8GB internal memory, 1GB RAM, and 32GB expansion via microSD card. 

Software and apps                                        

The handset ships with Android v4.2 (Jelly Bean) and comes with a number of Google's services, like Chrome, Gmail, Google Maps, Gtalk, and YouTube. Above all the Google Play store gives you an option to download a number of games and useful apps. Preloaded apps include NQ Mobile security, Ever Note, Opera Mini, News & Weather, and Hungama. Spice Note, an app from Spice, helps you take notes on your phone.

Connectivity

It offers all the standard connectivity options including dual-SIM, 2G/3G, Wi-Fi, USB, and GPS. The only option not given is NFC, which any way doesn’t affect much, as it is not used commonly in India now. It would be icing on the cake if Spice has given USB OTG feature as well; the first Pinnacle device Mi-530 featured it.

Battery

It comes with a 2500 mAh battery. The phone was alive for more than a day of average use – Did gaming, surfing, music playing and calling moderately.

Conclusion

The big yet gorgeous artefact, with its looks and performance, is expected to grab the market. A worth buy at a price of Rs 15499. I hope the price to satisfaction ratio will push its penetration in the market. Good job Spice!!!

Lenovo P780 review

Lenovo P780 is going to give its buyers a most useful feature - which is the ability to function as a power bank, which none of the other handset offers. All you need to to is connect the phones using USB and OTG cable. The 4000 mAh colossal battery starts charging your friend's smartphone. You can simply reverse the cable connection to charge your phone using any other phone. I think this features would be somthing everyone wants to have; especially people who travels a lot.

I have written a review of Lenovo P780 on Saholic blog.

Pl read
Lenovo P780 review