Google Nexus 7, 32GB Wi-Fi only version available on Google Play for Rs 19K

It is a great tablet and is being loved by consumers in India. Google Nexus 7, 32GB Wi-Fi only version is available in India on Google Play for Rs 19K
Google’s Nexus 7, 32GB Wi-Fi version has been launched in the Indian market after months of wait. Earlier the company had introduced its 16 GB versions in the Indian market making life tough for Cupertino based Apple’s iPad Mini in the market. There is a whole lot of price difference between the two tablets from two tech giants and Google’s Nexus 7 may pose tough challenge before iPad Mini especially in the Indian market. For price and quality conscious Indian consumers a difference of Rs 6000-7000 in price is a huge difference and they will prefer cheaper version if the quality of the product is not compromised.
For Indian consumers the choice has become very wide, unlike the past and now there are all sorts of big 10 inch tablets and small 7 inch tablets vying for consumers’ attention. Several home grown tech companies producing smart-phones and tablets have also introduced several good tabs in the Indian market during the last few months and the best thing about those tabs is the fact that they are very affordable.

Google Nexus 7 comes with all the good things that a consumer may want to be in his or her tablet. It comes with great display quality and a very powerful processor. The Google Nexus 7 comes with an impressive 7-inch 1280×800 resolution display and is powered by a quad-core Nvidia Tegra 3 CPU and 1GB of RAM. The tablet comes with Android 4.2 Jelly Bean out of the box. The search giant has priced the tablet at Rs 18,999.

Asus launches FonePad in India for Rs. 15,999, supports voice calling

Asus has finally launched its FonePad in the Indian market. This device was unveiled by Asus earlier this year during the Mobile World Congress. It is priced at Rs. 15,999.

The Asus FonePad sports a 7-inch HD IPS display with a resolution of 1280×800 pixels. It is powered by an Intel Atom Z2420 processor which clocked at 1.2GHz. It is also equipped by a PowerVR GC540 GPU for improved graphics performance and has 1GB of RAM.

Apart from this the Asus tablet boasts a 1.2 megapixel camera on the front which is capable of recording videos at 720p. It comes in 16GB and 32GB size variants, has a microSD card for expandable storage and comes pre-loaded with Android 4.1 Jelly Bean.

On the connectivity front, the FonePad has a micro-SIM card slot, supports 3G and has voice calling capabilities. It also includes Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity.

Bharti SoftBank invests Rs 37 crore in Hike messaging app, to compete with Whatsapp

With Indian smart-phone and feature phone market expanding at breakneck speed, Bharti SoftBank is investing Rs 37 crore in Hike messaging app that will compete with Whatsapp besides other similar apps
Following the thumping success of its free messaging app “Hike”, which crossed the 5 million active subscribers mark within four months of its launch, the Bharti SoftBank (BSB) is all set to invest USD 7 million (about Rs 37 crore) in the app. The company has also launched the upgraded version of the app called Hike 2.0.
The app that was launched in December 2012 is a product of Bharti Soft Bank, a joint-venture between Bharti Enterprises and SoftBank Corporation, focussing on the mobile-internet space.  According to the company the decision of investing huge amount in the app that is free for use was taken only after looking at the success rate of the app that has earned the tag of being one of the fastest growing free mobile apps globally.

In a statement issued BSB Director Mike Kayamori said: “The traction for hike has been phenomenal, especially in such a competitive market. This new round of investment is an endorsement, of the great work put in by the entire team. What’s unique about hike is its seamless integration between instant messaging and SMS. This is a very powerful feature especially in a market like India where more than 90 per cent of the 900 million strong mobile populations is on feature phones.

The free messaging app Hike that competes with other similar apps including the arch rival Whatsapp, Facebook Messenger and Blackberry Messenger, provides faultless mixing between instant messaging and standard text messaging (SMS).
On the basis of the survey conducted by the company it was ascertained that 60 percent of the hike’s user base comes from India and the rest from Middle East and Europe. At present the app is available on iOS, Android, Windows Phone, Blackberry and S40 platforms.
Meanwhile, apart from announcing the investment plans, the company has also introduced an update called Hike 2.0, which allows the users to post updates about what they are up to or what they are thinking in real-time to their close friends only.
BSB’s head of product and strategy, Kavin Bharti Mittal said: An upgrade of the app which has been announced will offer new features for users. The Hike 2.0 update features Status Updates with Moods that lets users post updates about what they are up to or what they are thinking in real-time to their close friends only. Users can create a ‘Circle of Friends’ in the app to whom the update goes out to.