Porsche Design's BOOK ONE is like a Surface Book that can rotate 360 degrees

Porsche Design has unveiled a new Windows 10 Pro convertible called BOOK ONE at the ongoing MWC 2017 event in Barcelona. The convertible sports a premium aluminum design with matte anodized finish, and includes a high-quality stainless steel 360-degree hinge.

The BOOK ONE takes its design cues from Surface Book, but has the ability to have its display in different orientations. Thanks to the 360 degree hinges, the device can be set in various modes like stand or tent, as well as the display can be detached from the keyboard dock to use as tablet.

The Porsche Design Book One features 13.3-inch QHD (3200 x 1800 pixels) touch display and is powered by Intel Core i7 processor with 16GB RAM and 512GB SSD. The convertible has up to 14 hours of battery life.

There's a 5MP front camera and infrared sensor for secure log in via Windows Hello, stereo speaker and support for Bluetooth 4.1 and WiFi 802.11ac for wireless connectivity.

The tablet part includes a headset jack and a Thunderbolt 3/ USB Type-C port, while the keyboard dock has 2 x full sized USB 3.0 ports, a USB 3.1 Type-C port and a microSD card slot. The keyboard also features precision touchpad.

It also supports a digital stylus (supports up to 2,048 levels of pressure sensitive input) that docks on the right side of the convertible via magnetic connection.

The Porsche Design BOOK ONE is priced at $2495 (Rs. 1,66,500) and will be available in Germany from April 17 through Porsche Design stores and specialist retailers.

Panasonic outs rugged Toughbook CF-33 Windows convertible

Pansonic is expanding its rugged Toughbook line up with the Toughbook CF-33. It's a laptop/tablet hybrid and comes with a detachable keyboard, so that it can be used as laptop or six other modes depending on the usability.

Similar to previous Toughbook offering the CF-33 is IP65 rated for water and dust resistance, and can survive bumps, drops, harsh environment and extremely cold weather. It also comes with a IP55 rated digitzer pen compatible with Windows Ink feature.

The Panasonic Toughbook CF33 features 12-inch QHD (2160 x 1440 pixels) anti-reflective high brightness outdoor display and is powered by Intel Core i5-7300U vPro Kaby Lake processor with 8GB RAM and 256GB SSD. It runs Windows 10 Pro and has an 8MP rear camera and 2MP webcam on the front.

The tablet part comes with USB 3.0 port, 4G LTE, HDMI, LAN, microSDXC and headset ports, while the keyboard dock includes 2 x USB 3.0 port, USB 2.0 port, Serial port, LAN, HDMI, SDXC card reader and VGA ports.

The Panasonic Toughbook CF-33 is priced at $3799 (Rs. 2,33,500) for the tablet only, and $4099 (Rs. 2,73,500) for the tablet with keyboard. It will be available from May 2017 in the U.S and Europe.

General Mobile GM 6 Android One smartphone with Nougat, fingerprint sensor announced

Turkey based General Mobile has introduced, the GM 6, the company's latest Android One smartphone, in partnership with Google at MWC 2017 in Barcelona. It is the successor of GM 5, and gets major upgrades in the processing department, selfie camera, a bigger battery, as well as double RAM and Storage, than its predecessor.

Nothing has changed in terms of design, and the GM 6 sports rubbery plastic rear panel and metal frame. It runs Android Nougat and is the first Android One smartphone to boast fingerprint sensor, which is embedded into the home button.

The GM 6 features 5-inch HD IPS 2.5D curved glass display with Gorilla Glass 4 protection and is powered by 1.5GHz quad-core MediaTek MT6737T processor backed by Mali-T720 GPU and 3GB RAM. On-board storage is 32GB, which can be expanded via microSD card.

For photography, there's 13MP rear camera with dual LED flash and 1080p video recording, and the selfie shooter is a 8MP unit assisted by LED flash. Connectivity options include dual-SIM slots, 4G LTE, WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.1 and GPS. A 3000mAh battery gives the phone juice to run.

The General Mobile GM 6 comes in Space Grey, Gold and Rose Gold color. Pricing and availability details are yet to be announced, however, General Mobile says it plans to sell the GM 6 in 45 countries. Previously the company sold Android One device in almost 20 markets.

Speaking of Android One, for those uninitiated, its an initiative, Google announced back in 2014, to bring affordable Android smartphones to emerging markets. The Android One initiative was initially launched in India, and has expanded to more than 30 counties ever since. Google is also expected to launch Android One smartphones in the U.S soon.

Samsung, Reliance Jio to improve LTE services in India

At the ongoing MWC 2017 in Barcelona, Mukesh Ambani led Reliance Jio announced it is extending its partnership with Samsung to bring 5G to India. In addition Samsung announced a new initiative called I&G (Infill & Growth) Project, aimed at improving the current 4G network's capacity as well as network coverage in the country.

The project will utilise Reliance Jio's spectrum in the 850, 1800 and 2300 MHz bands, to enable seamless indoor and outdoor coverage in dense urban areas. The project will also extend Jio's coverage in rural areas by expanding it reach over 90 percent of the country's population.

Samsung-Reliance Jio relationship goes back to 2012, when both companies signed turnkey agreements. Samsung already provides LTE core, base stations and solution required for VoLTE services and massive deployment services for establishing a nationwide network for Jio. The two companies have successfully established the world's largest greenfield LTE network. Moreover, the South Korean tech giant also enabled assisted to offer Quality Monitoring and Analysis (VoMA) and Cognitive Traffic Monitoring and Optimizer for a superior user experience. 

Samsung at the event also showcased several 5G ready networking technologies exclusively made for India including home routers, 5G radio base stations and modern chipsets. They will be launched in the country in the future.

Alcatel introduces Plus 12 Windows 10 2-in1 tablet with detachable keyboard

Alcatel at the ongoing MWC 2017, Barcelona announced the A5 LED with LED back cover, along with the entry-level A3 and U5. In addition the company also introduced a Windows 10 2-in-1 tablet called Alcatel Plus 12.

Similar to other 2-in-1 tablet, the Alcatel Plus 12 also comes with a detachable keyboard which is powered by Qualcomm MDM9207 and includes 128MB RAM, a 2850mAh battery, USB-A port for connectivity and supports 4G LTE and WiFi hotspot for up to 15 devices. The keyboard connects to the tablet through seven pogo pins. The tablet also comes with a Stylus Pen compatible with Windows Ink.

The Alcatel Plus 12 features 11.6-inch Full HD display and is powered by Intel Celeron N3350 processor with 4GB RAM and 32GB eMMC + 32GB embedded microSD storage configuration. The storage is also expandable up to 128GB via microSD card.

The tablet comes with 5MP camera, fingerprint scanner, dual speakers and includes 4G LTE support (via keyboard), WiFi 802.11ac, Bluetooth 4.2, USB Type-C port, micro HDMI port and 3.5mm audio jack. It packs a 26.8Whr (6900mAh) battery.

Alcatel is yet to announce the pricing and availability details.

Alcatel A3, U5 affordable Android smartphones announced

Besides the world's first LED cover totting A5 LED, Alcatel also unveiled two affordable smartphones — the Alcatel A3 and U5 — with entry-level specs. Both phone runs Android Marshmallow and includes selfie flash but only the Alcatel A3 gets a fingerprint scanner which is located at the back.

The Alcatel A3 comes with 5-inch HD display and is powered by 1.25GHz quad-core MediaTek 6737M processor with 1.5GB RAM and 16GB internal storage, which can be expanded via microSD card. For photography, there's 13MP rear camera and 5MP front camera. Connectivity duties are handled by 4G VoLTE, WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.2, NFC and GPS. A 2460mAh battery runs the show.

The Alcatel U5 on the other hand gets its specs stripped down when compared to the A3. It comes with 5-inch FWVGA display, a quad-core MediaTek MT6737M processor, 1GB RAM and 8GB internal storage, which can be expanded via microSD card. It is equipped with 5MP rear camera and 2MP front camera, and packs a 2050mAh battery. It supports 4G LTE, WiFi, Bluetooth and GPS for connectivity.

Although Alcatel has not revealed the price of the phone, it claims the A3 to be the  most affordable 5-inch HD smartphone, while the U5 the most affordable 4G smartphone.

Alcatel A5 LED features the world's first interactive LED cover

Alcatel is launching a new smartphone at MWC 2017 in Barcelona —   the Alcatel A5 LED — claimed to be the world's first interactive LED-covered smartphone.

The Alcatel A5 LED delivers fun colorful features for which it uses a unique snap-on rear cover embedded with an array of LEDs which light up dynamically and produce unique patterns for notifications.

The LED lights can provide users with features like —

• Light up your notifications with a different light show for important incoming calls, messages, alarms, and social media alerts
• Creating unique LED cover patterns and themes using Color Catcher 2.0
• Create eye-catching personalized light show
• Add light shows to your music

The LED back cover is removable and Alcatel is offering other options for the snap-on rear covers including a battery pack and speaker with kickstand. The cases snap to the phones body and interfaces with the hardware via spring-loaded pins. It seems like Alcatel is following Motorola, with its own modular design with snap on back covers.

Even though the phone packs some interesting features, there is nothing special about the specs, as it comes with the usual entry-level innards. The Alcatel A5 LED features 5.2-inch HD display and is powered by 1.5GHz octa-core MediaTek MT6752 processor with 2GB RAM and 16GB storage, which can be expanded via microSD card.

For photography, it gets 8MP auto-focus rear camera with dual-LED flash and 5MP front camera assisted with LED flash as well for quality selfies in low-light environment.

Connectivity options on-board include 4G LTE, WiFi, Bluetooth and GPS. It runs Android Marshmallow and is fueled by 2800mAh battery.

Alcatel is yet to announce the pricing and availability details.

ZTE shows off Gigabit, the world's first 5G enabled smartphone

ZTE at MWC 2017 in Barcelona, showed off the Gigabit Phone, which it claims to be the worlds first smartphone to deliver download speeds of 1Gbps, thanks to support for 5G mobile network internet service. The Chinese device maker touts the phone as "a forward-looking 5uper Generation smartphone".

The Gigabit Phone is powered by Snapdragon 835 processor with an integrated Snapdragon X16 LTE modem, which utilizes a combination of carrier aggregation, 4×4 MIMO antenna technology, and 256-QAM modulation to achieve LTE download speeds that are up to 10x faster than first generation LTE devices.

Image Credit

In addition, the Gigabit Phone can take advantage of ZTE's 5G and Pre5G+ Giga+ MBB solutions to process data three time faster in the same network, when compared to 4G devices.

With a speed of 1Gbps, the ZTE Gigabit Phone is capable of streaming 360-degree VR contents, instant cloud storage access, streaming music and movies in high quality, and and instant APP, which removes the need for download or installation of applications.

As of now the Gigabit Phone is a concept, and is meant to show the connectivity prowess of 5G networks.

Meizu’s Super mCharge tech can fully charge a 3000mAh battery in just 20 minutes

Now a days smartphones pack big battery capcity of 3000mAh and above, and this means it will take couple of hours to fully charge or atleast provide 50 percent juice. However, thanks to fast charging technology, phones with bigger batteries take less than an hour to charge. While chip makers Qualcomm and MediaTek embed their own fast charging technology into their chip, there are few smartphone makers who prefer their own technology. For instance OnePlus has Dash Charge and Oppo has VOOC.

That said, today at MWC 2017, Meizu has introduced its own fast charging technology called Super mCharge, which it claims to be the world's quickest fast charging solution. According to Meizu, Super mCharge can fully charge a phone with 3000mAh battery from 0 to 100 percent in 20 minutes. 

It is also capable of offering up to 85 percent charge level in 15 minutes, up to 60 percent in 10 minutes and up to 30 percent charge in just 5 minutes. 

The new fast charging technology uses 11V/5A charger that boasts a maximum power of 55 percent, compared to 18W in Qualcomm's Quick Charge 3.0 and 20W in Oppo's VOOC. Meizu says that it spent more than a year of R&D to improve the power of Super mCharge to 55W, and its fast charging tech is safe, secure, energy efficient, and keeps the charging device cool, going up to a max 39-degrees Celsius (102.2 degree Fahrenheit).

Citing test results, Meizu claims a 3000mAh ATL battery retains over 80 per cent capacity after over 800 charge and discharge cycles using Super mCharge, giving it a service life of more than two years.

The company has also designed a new data cable for utilizing Super mCharge that can carry up to 160W of power, three time more than the safety margin.

Meizu's Super mCharge fast charging tech will most likely be utilized in the company's upcoming smartphones, due for release later this year.

nubia N1 lite is a toned down version of the 5.5-inch nubia N1

ZTE's sub-brand nubia has introduced a lite variant of its mid-range nubia N1 smartphone at MWC called nubia N1 lite. To make the phone more affordable, most of the specs are toned down, however it gets the rear-mounted fingerprint scanner and has a new design. 

“With its finely textured coating and inward-sloping sides, the phone sits comfortably in the user’s palm. The rear-mounted ‘unipanel’, comprised of a fingerprint sensor and rear-facing camera, features a decorative metallic design, adding an additional layer of sophistication to the phone’s stylish appearance,” said nubia regarding the design of nubia N1 lite.

Coming to the specs, the nubia N1 lite features 5.5-inch HD IPS display and is powered by quad-core MediaTek processor with 2GB RAM and 16GB internal storage, which can be expanded via microSD card.

It is equipped with 8MP f/2.0 rear camera with dual LED flash, and 5MP front camera assisted by LED flash as well and beautification mode. The dual-SIM phone runs Android Marshmallow and supports 4G LTE, WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, 3.5mm audio jack, Bluetooth 4.0 and GPS for connectivity. A 3000mAh battery runs the show.

For comparison, the nubia N1 had 5.5-inch Full HD display, MediaTek Helio P10 chip, 3GB RAM/64GB storage, 13MP front and rear cameras, USB Type-C, 5000mAh battery, and a price tag equivalent of $255 (Rs. 17,100).

The nubia N1 lite is priced at 159 Euros ($168 | Rs. 11,000) and will release at the end of March in European countries including Germany, Spain, Italy, Czech Republic and Asian countries like India, Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia soon.

MediaTek Helio X30 10nm processor goes into mass production, available Q2 2017

MediaTek's Helio X30 is a 10nm chip with deca-core processor. It was announced back in September 2016, and now at MWC 2017, in Barcelona, MediaTek has announced that the Helio X30 is entering mass production.

The Helio X30 utilises MediaTek's 10-core Tri clusture architecture, and is the company's first 10nm chipset, that promises 35 percent increase in performance, and more than 50 percent power saving, compared to Helio X20.

The deca-core CPU features two high performance ARM Cortex A73 cores at 2.5GHz; four lower power ARM Cortex-A53 cores at 2.2 GHz and four energy efficient ARM Cortex-A35 cores at 1.9GHz. It supports up 8GB LPDDR4X RAM and is embedded  with LTE WorldMode Cat.10 for seamless and reliable connectivity and supports three downlink Carrier Aggregation (3CA) with performance of 400MB/s and two uplink Carrier Aggregation (2CA) with 150MB/s.

For graphics, the Helio X30 packs PowerVR Series7XT Plus GPU clocked at 800MHz, and offers power savings up to 60 percent, while increasing performance by up to 2.4 times than its previous platform. It also supports major commercial VR SDKs.

The Helio X30 is the first mobile chip, to bring hardware based 4K2K 10-bit HDR10 video decoding to smartphones for a true-to-life viewing experience.  It also features CorePilot 4.0 for intelligent task scheduling system, thermal manage and system monitoring to control power consumption, as a result delivering enhanced battery back up.

The chip incorporates two 14-bit ISPs (image signal processors) supporting 16MP + 16MP dual cameras, for advanced functionality such as wide + zoom combination lenses for real-time depth of field effects, fast auto-exposure and better images in low-light conditions. It also has Imagiq's dual camera zoom for 2x optical zoom in a super slim form factor.

MediaTek says that smartphones powered by Helio X30 chip will be available in Q2 2017.

OPPO introduces world's first 5X Dual Camera Zoom technology

At the 2016 edition of MWC, Chinese device maker Oppo introduced SmartSensor, which it claimed the world's smallest OIS (optical image stabilizer), along with Super VOOC fast charging technology. Now one year later at this year's MWC, Oppo has introduced a new camera technology called 5X Dual Camera Zoom tech for smartphones, which it claims to be the world's first periscope style dual-camera technology. 

The new 5X Dual Camera technology uses a unique periscope-style setup to divert  lights through prism into a telephoto lens at a 90 degree angle. As a result it is able to achieve lossless 5X zoom, when within the periscope by shifting the light's natural path. The module is 5.7mm thick, and Oppo claims phones utilizing the new camera module will not have camera bump.

According to Oppo the new technology offers a precision of 0.0025-degrees and 40 percent improved OIS, allowing for precise tuning. As the zoom rises, slight vibration can have effects on the photo, but thanks to the new camera technology, the photos snapped even at full 5X zoom will remain clear and sharper. 

Oppo also said that it took over a year in developing the new technology, and it packs more than 50 parts that has been stacked inside the 5.7mm module. Currently it is not known, when the new camera technology will be available in mainstream smartphones, but it will most likely debut with Oppo's camera-centric R and F series devices later this year.

Selfie-centric Gionee A1, A1 Plus announced

Gionee is launching two new camera-centric smartphones at MWC —  the A1 and its bigger sibling A1 Plus —  boasting premium all-metal unibody design, fingerprint scanner, bigger batteries, Waves MaxxAudio, fast charging. Both run the latest Android Nougat based Amigo 4.0.

The main highlight of the Gionee A1 series is the camera. The Gionee A1 features 13MP rear f/2.0 PDAF rear camera with LED flash, and 16MP f/2.0 front camera assisted by selfie flash for quality selfies in low-light environment. The Gionee A1 Plus has dual-camera module of 13MP + 5MP with autofocus, f/2.0 aperture, 5P lens and an LED flash. The selfie camera on the front is a 20MP unit with f/2.0 aperture and selfie flash as well.

As for the other specs, the Gionee A1 comes with 5.5-inch Full HD 2.5D curved glass display and is powered by 1.8GHz octa-core MediaTek P10 processor further aided by Mali T860 GPU and 4GB RAM. The storage capacity on-board is 64GB, which can be expanded via microSD card. In terms of connectivity, it gets dual-SIM slots, 4G LTE, WiFi 802.11ac, Bluetooth 4.1 and GPS. It is fueled by 4010mAh battery with fast charging support.

The Gionee A1 Plus gets a bigger 6-inch Full HD 2.5D curved glass display, 2.5GHz octa-core MediaTek Helio P25 processor (w/ Mali T880 GPU), 4GB RAM/64GB storage, and a bigger 4550mAh battery. Other specs are same as the Gionee A1.

The Gionee A1 is priced at 349 Euros ($369 | Rs. 24,630) and will be available from March 2017 in Gray, Black and Gold colors, while the Gionee A1 Plus will be available from April 2017 carrying a price tag of 499 Euros ($527 | Rs. 35,000) and Gray and Mocha Gold hues.

Lenovo outs Tab 4 series tablets with Snapdragon and Android Nougat

At the ongoing MWC 2017, Lenovo has introduced its all-new Tab 4 series Android tablets —  Tab 4 8, Tab 4 10, Tab 4 8 Plus and Tab 4 10 Plus —  running Android Nougat.

The Lenovo Tab 4 8 and Lenovo Tab 4 10 comes with features 8-inch and 10.1-inch display respectively bearing the screen resolution of 1280 x 800 pixels (HD). The Tab 4 8 packs a 4850mAh battery, while the Tab 4 10 has a beefy 7000mAh battery. Except these, the rest of the specs are same.

Lenovo Tab 4 8

The tablets are powered by 1.4GHz quad-core Snapdragon 425 processor coupled with Adreno 308 GPU and 2GB RAM. They come with 16GB storage, 5MP rear camera and 2MP front camera. For connectivity there's microSD card slot, 4G LTE (for voice calling), WiFi, Bluetooth and GPS.

Lenovo Tab 4 10

Similarly the Lenovo Tab 4 8 Plus and Tab 4 10 Plus comes with 8-inch and 10.1-inch display respectively but has a screen resolution of 1920 x 1200 pixels (Full HD) with a protective glass shielding both the display and the rear case. The 8-inch model has a 4850mAh battery, while the 10-inch model gets 7000mAh battery.

Lenovo Tab 4 8 Plus

The tablets have Snapdragon 625 processor (w/ Adreno 506 GPU), 3GB/4GB RAM, 16GB/64GB storage, 8MP rear camera and 5MP front camera. Other features include fingerprint scanner, Dolby Atmos, dual-front facing speakers, microSD card slot, 4G LTE, WiFi 802.11ac, Bluetooth 4.2, USB Type-C port and fast charging.

Lenovo Tab 4 10 Plus

Lenovo says, it will offer optional Kid's and Productivity packs with the tablets. The kid's Accessory pack include built-in kids content, safety tool and advanced parental controls. It also includes shock-resistant bumper, a blue light filter and a pair for colorful 3M stickers.

Lenovo Tab 4 with Kids Pack

The Productivity Pack includes a Bluetooth Keyboard (for laptop mode) that doubles as a protective sleeve and stand. The keyboard is optimized to work with the tablet and features taskbar and multi-window mode.

The Lenovo Tab 4 8 and Tab 4 10 prices start at EUR 169 ($179 | Rs. 12,000) and EUR 179 ( $189 | Rs. 13,300) respectively, while the Lenovo Tab 4 8 Plus and Lenovo Tab 4 10 Plus starts at EUR 259 ($274 | Rs. 18,500) and EUR 299 ($ 316 | Rs. 21,200) respectively. The new Tab 4 series tablet will be available globally from May.

Lenovo Yoga 520, Yoga 720 Windows convertible notebook announced

Lenovo is refreshing it Yoga convertible Windows notebook line up with the Yoga 520 and Yoga 720 with Intel's 7th gen chipset. The convertible notebook includes touch screen display, optional support for Lenovo Active Pen and  360-degree rotatable hinge, which allows the devices to be used in several modes including laptop, tablet, stand and tent. 

Lenovo Yoga 520 (will sell as Flex 5 in the US market)
The Yoga 520 will be available with 14-inch and 15.6-inch screen options with Full HD touch screen display and will feature up to Core i7 Kaby Lake processor, up to 16GB RAM and 10 hours of battery life. It also includes an optional fingerprint scanner for Windows Hello.

Specifications
14 inch, 1920 x 1080 pixel display
Up to a 7th gen Core i7 CPU
Up to 16GB of RAM
Up to 512GB of PCIe solid state stroage, 1TB of SATA HDD storage, or 128GB PCie + 1TB HDD storage
10 hour battery
2 USB 3.0 ports and a USB Type-C port
SD card reader
HDMI
Ethernet
Headset jack
720p webcam
802.11ac WiFi and Bluetooth
Stereo JBL speakers with Dolby Audio Premium
Optional Fingerprint scanner
Optional Lenovo Active Pen
Black, silver, and gold color options 

Lenovo Yoga 720
The Yoga 720 will be available in 133-inch and 15.6-inch display variants with the option of Full HD (1920 x 1080 pixels) or 4K (3840 x 2160 pixels) screen resolution. It will come with up to Intel Core i7 processor, up to 16GB RAM, up to 1TB PCIe SSD and an optional fingerprint reader. The bigger 15.6-inch model gets NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 discrete graphics and Thunderbolt 3 for high-speed data transfer speeds.

Lenovo says the convertible should be able to get up to eight hours of battery life on a 13.3-inch model with Full HD display or up to seven hours battery life on a 4K model. The bigger 15.6-inch model with Full HD screen should get up to nine hours battery life, while a 4K model should run for up to eight hours. 

Specifications
13.3-inch / 15.6-inch, 4K UHD display (3860 x 2160) or Full HD display (1920 x 1080)
Up to 7th-gen Intel Core-i7 CPU
Up to 16GB DDR4 RAM
NVIDIA GTX 1050M GPU (15.6-inch model only)
Up to 1TB PCIe SSD storage
720p webcam
Stereo JBL speakers with Dolby Audio Premium
Optional fingerprint scanner
Optional Lenovo Active Pen
USB Type-C with Thunderbolt
USB 3.1, 2x USB 3.0
802.11ac WiFi and Bluetooth
SD card reader
HDMI
Ethernet
Headset Jack
Platinum Silver and Iron Grey colors

The Yoga 720 will be available starting at 999 Euros ($1057) for the 13.3-inch model and 1099 Euros ($1162) for the 15.6-inch model in April 2017. The Yoga 520 will be available starting at 599 Euros ($633) in July 2017.

Sony Xperia Touch projector can turn any surface into a touchscreen

Sony at MWC unveiled four new Xperia X series phones boasting impressive design and superior cameras. The company also announced Xperia Touch, an Android Projector with multi-touch support that turns any flat surface into a 23-inch HD touchscreen. The device is capable of beaming images vertically or horizontally. 

The Sony Xperia Touch is built using the company's SXRD projection display technology, and the touch on the virtual image was made possible through a combination of Infrared light and real-time detection via its built-in camera, at a rate of 60 frames-per-second.

The home screen is designed to work in dark conditions, and provides real-time weather information, a memo board for doodles or video notes, calendar access and Skype video chat. It can also run any apps and games downloaded from Google Play Store as well. Thanks to the proximity sensors, the Xperia Touch will automatically turn on when it senses the user approaching. 

Sony Xperia Touch specifications
0.37-inch (1366 x 768 pixels) SXRD three primary colors LCD shutter projection system
10-point multi-touch input for projection at 23 inches
3GB RAM
32GB eMMC storage
13MP Exmor RS for mobile camera
Android Nougat
Two-way Stereo Speakers
Bluetooth 4.2
WiFi 802.11ac
USB Type-C
NFC
HDMI

The Xperia Touch will roll out to Europe via select retailers and Xperia Store online in selected countries from spring 2017, carrying a price tag of €1499 or around $1586 (Rs. 1,00,000).

Lenovo Miix 320 Windows 10 tablet with detachable keyboard announced

Lenovo is refreshing its Miix tablet line up with the Miix 320 convertible tablet at MWC 2017. Similar to the Miix 310, the new Miix 320 comes with a detachable keyboard, to use it as a laptop. It also gets more RAM and storage than its predecessor and apart of this, nothing much has changed.

The Lenovo Miix 320 features 10.1-inch Full HD display and is powered by an Intel Atom X5 processor, and comes with up to 4GB RAM (vs. 2GB RAM on Miix 310) and 128GB storage (vs 32GB on the Miix 310).

The Windows 10 tablet has 5MP rear camera and 2MP front camera and includes a USB Type-C port, 2 x USB 2.0 port, a micro HDMI port, microSD card, mic, headset jack and stereo speaker. There are two additional USB ports on the keyboard dock. The wireless connectivity will be handled by LTE (optional), WiFi 802.11ac and Bluetooth. 

The tablet measures about 0.3-inches thick and weighs about 1.2 pounds. With the keyboard attached, it measures about 0.7-inches thick and will weigh 2.2 pounds. It is rated to deliver up to 10 hours of battery life. 

The Lenovo Miix 320 is priced at 269 Euros and will be available in select market starting July 2017 in Snow White and Platinum Silver colors. Lenovo will also offer a model with Active Pen support and bundled Microsoft Office 365 subscription for 12 months, which will be available in select markets from July 2017.

ZTE Blade V8 Mini with dual cameras and Blade V8 Lite announced

ZTE today announced two new variants of Blade V8 smartphone at MWC in Barcelona —the dual camera toting Blade V8 Mini and the budget Blade V8 Lite — running Android Nougat and has rear-mounted fingerprint scanner of locking and unlocking the phones.

The ZTE Blade V8 Mini features 5.2-inch Full HD display and is powered by 1.4GHz octa-core Snapdragon 435 processor with 2GB RAM and 16GB storage which can be expanded via microSD card.

The main highlight is the the dual camera system— one with 13MP sensor for capturing image, and one 2MP sensor to collect depth information for Bokeh mode to take photos with a blurry background. On the front, there's 5MP camaera accompanied by LED flash, to offer quality-selfies in low-lights. It is fueled by 2800mAh battery.

The ZTE Blade V8 Lite, on the other hand has a slightly smaller 5-inch Full HD display, MediaTek MT6750 octa-core processor, 2GB RAM and 16GB expandable storage. It does not get the dual-cameras, instead a single 8MP camera sits at the back, and 5MP selfie snapper on the front. A 2500mAh battery runs the show.

Both come with the usual suite of connectivity — dual-SIM slots, 4G LTE, WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth, 3.5mm audio jack, microUSB port and GPS.

The ZTE Blade V8 Mini and Blade V8 Lite will release across European markets this Spring. Pricing is yet to be announced.

Sony announces Xperia XA1, Xperia XA1 Ultra mid-rangers

Besides the Xperia XZ Premium and Xperia XZs flagship, Sony at MWC also announced two mid-rangers ㅡ Xperia XA1 and Xpera XA1 Ultra ㅡ running Android Nougat and with impressive cameras.

The Sony Xperia XA1 and Xperia X1A Ultra boasts 23MP 24mm wide-angle f/2.0 camera with hybrid auto-focus, 1/2.3-inch Exmor RS image sensor, and with features like steady shot and 5X clear image zoom. For selfies, the Xperia XA1 gets 8MP 23-mm wide-angle f/2.0 camera for selfies, while the Xperia XA1 Ultra has 16MP front snapper with OIS, 23mm wide-angle lens, f/2.0 aperture and selfie flash.

Coming to the other specs, the Xperia XA1 has 5-inch HD edge-to-edge display, octa-core MediaTek Helio P20 chip, 3GB RAM and 32GB storage, which can be expanded via microSD card. other features include dual-SIM slots (depending on market), 4G LTE and NFC. A 2300mAh battery with fast charging support keeps the lights on.

The Xperia XA1 Ultra on the other hand features phablet-grade 6-inch edge to edge Full HD display, octa-core MediaTek Helio P20, 4GB RAM and 32GB/64GB storage options. It also comes with dual-SIM slots (depending on market), 4G LTE, NFC, USB Type-C and fast charging. A 2700mAh battery runs the show.

The Sony Xperia XA1  and Xperia XA1 Ultra will roll out globally starting Spring 2017 and will be available in comes White, Black, Pink and Gold colors. Pricing will be revealed at the same time.

Sony Xperia XZ Premium, Xperia XZs with motion eye cameras gets official

Sony at it MWC event in Barcelona today announced its next-gen flagships ㅡ the Xperia Z5 Premium and Xperia XZs ㅡ the world's first smartphone to boast Motion Eye cameras, which offer super slow motion video and Predictive Capture. Moreover, the Sony Xperia XZ Premoum is the world's first smartphone to flaunt 4K HDR display, and is also the first to be powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon 835 processor.

The Motion Eye cameras are capable of shooting 960fps video slow motion video, which allows slowing time 4x slower than the current camera phones standard. The phones also has anti-distortion shutters, which minimizes rolling shutter, and Sony's new memory-stacked sensor.

The Xperia XZ Premium and Xperia XZs' Motion camera is built around the 19MP f/2.0 camera with 25mm lenses and includes Predictive auto-focus,  Laser auto-focus, and an RGBC-IR sensor for true-to-life colors. It can also record videos at 4K, and features improved panorama mode and SteadyShot-5 axis digital stabilization for shake free videos. On the front both Xperia XZ Premium and XZs features 13MP f/2.0 cameras with wide-angle lens and Exmor RS mobile image sensor.

As far as other specs are concerned, the Sony Xperia XZ Premium sports 5.5-inch 4K HDR TRILUMINOS Gorilla Glass 5 display with X-Reality mobile picture engine and is powered by Snapdragon 835 processor paired with Adreno 540 GPU and 4GB RAM. On-board storage is 64GB, which can be expanded via microSD card. Running Android Nougat, the phone comes with fingerprint sensor, 4G LTE, USB Type-C port and a 3230mAh battery with Qnovo Adaptive charging. It has IP65/68 ratings for dust and water resistance.

The Sony Xperia XZs on the other hand features a smaller 5.2-inch Full HD TRILUMINOS display with X-Reality mobile picture engine, Snapdragon 820 processor, 4GB RAM, 32GB/64GB storage options, 2900mAh battery with fast charging, Android Nougat, 4G LTE, USB Type-C and fingerprint scanner. It also has IP65/68 ratings for dust and water resistance.

The Sony Xperia XZ Premium comes in Luminous Chrome and Deepsea Black colors, and will be available globally starting from later Spring 2017, while the Xperia XZs will go on sale in April in Ice Blue, Warm Silver and Black colors. Pricing is yet to be announced.