General Mobile GM5 Plus - a premium mid-range $300 Android One smartphone

Google, in May last year, expanded its Android One initiative to Turkey with the launch of General Mobile 4G smartphone. Now the brand has launched an upgraded variant of the General Mobile called GM5 Plus runnuing Google's latest Android 6.0 Marshmallow operating system. The mobile device sports a metal frame and textured back cover.

The GM5 Plus sports a 5.5-inch Full HD (1920 x 1080 pixels) IPS display with 2.5D Gorilla Glass 4 protection, and is equipped with 1.5GHz octa-core Snapdragon 617 64-bit processor with Adreno 405 GPU, 3GB RAM, 32GB on-board expandable storage (up to 128GB supported), 13MP rear camera (w/ Dual LED flash, 1080p video recording) and 13-megapixel front camera (w/ LED flash, 1080p video recording). Connectivity features include 4G LTE, WiFi, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS and USB Type-C port. It is fuekled by 3100mAh battery that supports Quick Charge 3.0 technology.

The General Mobile GM5 Plus will be priced under $300 (Rs. 20,500) and will go on sale in Turkey soon. General Mobile said that the GM5 Plus will launch in in 15 more markets after Turkey in the coming months.

Considering the price, the GM5 Plus is the costliest Android One smartphone to date. When Android One initiative was launched, the first Android One phone offered entry level specs and had a price tag of $90 (Rs. 6,000). Over the period, the specs have been improved resulting in higher pricing. It seems like Google is revamping its strategy for Android One series by tapping the mid-range market segment.

OnePlus One gets $50 price cut for a limited time, now starting at $249

OnePlus has announced a special price for their flagship killer OnePlus One in Europe and the U.S. The new limited period price is $50 and EUR 50 less for the U.S and European market respectively.

The 16GB Silk White OnePlus One is priced at $249 | EUR 249 and the 64GB Sandstone Black OnePlus One is priced at $299 | EUR 299 for Europe and the U.S. The company will hold a series of flash sale starting June 1 to June 7 where it will offer limited quantity of the device on their website OnePlus.net. Here’s the daily sale schedule:

• June 1 – 12:00 GMT (8 am EST)
• June 2 – 2:00 GMT (10 pm EST -1 day)
• June 3 – 12:00 GMT (8 am EST)
• June 4 – 2:00 GMT (10 pm EST -1 day)
• June 5 – 12:00 GMT (8 am EST)
• June 6 – 2:00 GMT (10 pm EST -1 day)
• June 7 – 12:00 GMT (8 am EST) 

OnePlus also mentioned that the price cut will soon be announced for the India and South Asia in the coming weeks.“Our Flash Sale experiment will last all week, June 1-7. Times will vary every other day, so everyone around the world will have a fair chance to buy,” reads the company’s blog post.

To recap the specs, the OnePlus One features 5.5-inch full HD display, Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 processor, 3GB RAM, 13-megapixel rear & 5-megapixel front camera, 3100mAh battery 4G LTE support and runs Cyaongen OS 12 and Oxygen OS.

OnePlus One to get $50 price cut starting June 1

OnePlus recently posted a teaser on it's twitter handle which stated that the company is again looking to shake up the tech industry on June 1. Many of us came to the conclusion that OnePlus is going to announce the next OnePlus smartphone. 

Now, FoneArena has shared some information that will disappoint the OnePlus Fans. According to FoneArena's source, on June 1, OnePlus will announce a global price cut of its current flagship killer OnePlus One. 

The 64GB and 16GB OnePlus One model at present are retailing at $348 & $298 respectively, but starting June 1, the prices are expected to be reduced by $50. This means that from Monday onwards, the 64GB Variant of OnePlus One will be priced $298 and the 16GB variant will be priced $248.

FoneArena further reports that the OnePlus One prices will remain unchanged for the India maket, so the OnePlus One will continue to retail at Rs. 21,990 and Rs. 18,998 for the 64GB and 16GB variant. 

Last month, OnePlus announced that its flagship killer 'One' smartphone will be available without an invite forever.

Source : FoneArena

OnePlus to 'shake up the tech industry' on June 1, could be the OnePlus Two

OnePlus has teased the launch of the next OnePlus smartphone, expected to be called as the OnePlus Two.

The Chinese start-up teased the launch via social media channels saying "We're always looking for ways to shake up the tech industry. And we think it's time for change. Find out more June 1." The teaser image shows OnePlus One smartphone that is being erased and redrawn. The caption that reads "Time to change" hinting at the launch of OnePlus Two.

Earlier this month OnePlus CEO indicated that the OnePlus Two will be powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 processor and carry the price tag CNY 2499 ($400 | Rs. 25,000). 

In addition, according to benchmark results the OnePlus Two features full HD display, Snapdragon 810 processor, Adreno 430 GPU, 3GB RAM, 13-megapixel rear camera, 5-megapixel front camera and 3300mAh battery. The phone supports 4G LTE, GPS, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, Micro-USB and OTG connectivity. It runs Android 5.1 Lollipop out of the box.

Source : OnePlus Twitter

Get Rs. 2,000 worth Amazon gift card with the purchase of OnePlus One, valid till May 31

OnePlus announced that they are offering free Amazon gift card worth Rs. 2,000 on purchase of 16GB Silk White or 64GB Sandstone Black OnePlus One smartphone. The offer was announced to celebrate the company's upcoming six month anniversary of the launch of OnePlus One smartphone in India. The offer is valid from May 22 till May 31 2015. (both day inclusive)

The announcement was made via OnePlus Facebook account. The post read "Six Months of Memories, A small token of our appreciation. Get Rs 2000 Amazon Gift Cards on every purchase of ‪#‎OnePlusOne‬. Limited Period ‪#‎Offer‬ bit.ly/OPOffer"

The Amazon gift card will be sent to all registered users via email ID within 30 days of purchase. The gift card can be used to purchase all products except eBooks and apps.

The 16GB Silk White variant and 64GB Sandstone Black variants costs Rs. 18,998 and Rs. 21,998 respectively. Those who don't know, OnePlus One Smartphone features 5.5 inch full HD display, 2.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 quad core processor with 3GB RAM, Adreno-330 GPU, 64GB or 16GB internal storage option, 13 megapixel rear camera with dual LED flash, 4K video recording and 5 megapixel front-facing camera, 4G LTE connectivity and Android Lollipop OS.

Last month, OnePlus announced that its flagship killer 'One' smartphone will be available without an invite forever. Also the company announced that its legal troubles with Micromax over Cyanogen OS has come to an end. As a result, OnePlus One will receive OTA updates from Cyanogen, in-line with its users globally.

Source : Amazon India

Overcart to sell refurbished units of OnePlus One for Rs 16,999 on May 20

OnePlus has partnered with Overcart to sell refurbished (unboxed) units of the OnePlus One in India. The refurbished 64GB OnePlus One Sandstone Black variant will be available for purchase on May 20 at 2PM for Rs. 16,999. The original unit retails at Rs. 21,999 on Amazon India.

Unboxed or refurbished units are same as regular units, but were returned by original buyers after opening the seal of the boxes. The units will have some signs of usage, but Overkart promises that the OnePlus units will be subjected to extensive quality tests before qualifying for sale. Also Overkart promises 6 months of warranty coverage with the unboxed units.

The 64GB OnePlus One Sandstone Black variant sale is open to all and you can register for updates to purchase the device to be notified when the stock will be available, leading up to the sale at 2PM on May 20.

To recap, the OnePlus One smartphone was released in India in December. It features 5.5 inch full HD display and is powered by a 2.5GHz quad-core Snapdragon 801 processor paired with 3GB of RAM. It comes in two storage options 16GB and 64GB. Camera features include a 13-megapixel rear camera 5-megapixel front-facing camera. Connectivity features  include 4G LTE, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 4.0, and NFC functionality. OnePlus One is fueled by 3100mAh non-removable battery.

Back in April OnePlus announced that its flagship killer will be available without invites across the globe. Also the company recently announced that its legal issues with Micromax has come to an end in India and as a result OnePlus One will continue receiving Cyanogen's OS update in the country.

OnePlus One launched in Malaysia, to be available via stores for the first time

OnePlus has announced the launch of OnePlus One in Malaysia. It will be available exclusively via Malaysia's leading communication provider Maxis.

Starting tommorow 64GB Sandstone Black OnePlus One will be available to buy via Maxis stores with the MaxisONE Plan at just RM859 ($235). It is also available unlocked and off contract for just RM1199 ($330).

In Malaysia, OnePlus is offering premium service to its customers. The smartphone comes with one year limited warranty and one month of after sale services at Maxis Centers nationwide (including any 1 to 1 device swap until the end of May). In mid-May, immediate support for the OnePlus One smartphone will be available via walk-in and collection centers around the country.

With the launch, Malaysia becomes the first country where OnePlus One will be available to buy via stores. It is available to purchase through online in rest of the countries. Yesterday OnePlus announced that it will be terminating its invite based system forever.

Source : OnePlus Blog

OnePlus One Cyanogen OS 12 update paused to add 'OK OnePlus' feature

Android Lollipop based CM12 update that was rolling out OTA to OnePlus One has been paused temporarily. It started rolling out last week over-the-air.

OnePlus Co-Founder Carl Pei on his twitter account tweeted that the Cyanogen OS 12 update roll out has been paused temporarily due to the addition of 'OK OnePlus'. The new feature was due to be released last year in June. It will now be included with the Cyanogen OS 12 update. 

The OK OnePlus feature is similar to 'OK Google' voice search feature.

The Cyanogen OS 12 update should resume mid week bringing the new feature along. Users who have already updated to CM 12 will receive the Ok OnePlus feature in a seperate OTA update.

OnePlus One to be available without an invite 'forever'

OnePlus has announced that starting today the OnePlus One smartphone will be available without an invite forever. In other words anyone can purchase the phone whenever they wish without the need for invite. Both the 16GB and 64GB variants of OnePlus One will be available without invites. 

The company also announced that for the next 24 hours, it will be offering 75 percent discount on OnePlus Flip Covers and Premium Screen protectors. In addition the Bamboo StyleSwap covers will also be available without invite (until stocks last). The discount promotion is only vald for USA, Canada, European Union, Hong Kong and Taiwan.

For India, OnePlus is offering 50% off on accessories when bought along with OnePlus One smartphone. These include  OnePlus JBL E1+ earphones, OnePlus Flip cover (white) and OnePlus Premium Matte screen protector. The offer is valid till April 23.

This is not the end of the invite system entirely as OnePlus plans to bring it back for OnePlus 2, which the company will announce in Q3. Details about the device is scarce.

To recap, OnePlus One was launched exactly one year ago on April 23. This announcement is part of its one year anniversary.

OnePlus One features 5.5 inch full HD display. The device is powered by a 2.5GHz quad-core Snapdragon 801 processor paired with 3GB of RAM. It comes in two storage options 16GB and 64GB. Camera features include a 13-megapixel rear camera 5-megapixel front-facing camera. Connectivity features  include 4G LTE, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 4.0, and NFC functionality. OnePlus One 3100mAh non-removable battery. 

The 16GB variant of OnePlus One is priced at Rs. 18,999 and the 64GB variant comes with a price tag of Rs. 21,999.

Source : OnePlus

LeTV Unveils LeTV One, One Pro, LeTV Max ‘bezel-less’ flagships

Leading private Chinese entertainment company LeTV announced three new smartphones called LeTV One, LeTV One Pro and LeTV Max.

The LeTV One, One Pro and Max are the first 'bezel-less' phones. The phones are the first ones to come with USB Type-C Port. The company is also releasing full bill of materials allowing customers to see how much it costs to make a phone. The three devices run on Android 5.0 Lollipop with EUI 5.0 UI on top.

The LeTV One is a dual-SIM smartphone features  5.5-inch (1920x1080 pixels) display with Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protections and is powered by 64-bit 2.2GHz octa-core MediaTek Helio X10 processor paired with 3GB RAM. It comes with 16GB of internal storage and is backed by 3000mAh battery. Camera features include 13-megapixel rear camera with dual-tone flash, OIS and 5-megapixel front facing camera. The device is made out of plastic and glass and comes in White color only.

The LeTV One Pro sports 5.5-inch QuadHD display with 2560x1440 pixels screen resolution. It is powered by 64-bit Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 processor paired with Adreno 430 GPU and 4GB LPDDR4 RAM. It comes with 32GB of internal storage. Camera features include 13-megapixel rear camera with Sony IMX214 sensor, OISm dual-tone flash and 4-megapixel ultrapixel front facing camera. It is backed by 3000mAh battery. The handset is made out of metal and glass materials and will be available in Gold or Silver color options.

Lastly, the LeTV One Max is a dual-SIM device and offers a push-to-activate fingerprint scanner. It sports 6.33-inch QuadHD display with 2560x1440 pixels screen resolution. The phablet is powered by Snapdragon 810 processor coupled with 4GB LPDDR4 RAM and 64GB internal storage. Camera features include 21-megapixel rear facing camera with Sony's IMX230 sensor, OIS and dual-LED, dual tone flash. On the front it sports a 4-megapixel Ultrapixel camera. It will be available in Gold and Silver color options. There are no details on battery.

The LeTV One Pro and Max comes with 'LeHi-fi' audio processor that delivers enhanced sound quality.

The LeTV One is priced at 1499 yuan ($240 | Rs. 15,000), 1599 yuan ($260 | Rs. 16,000) and 1799 yuan ($290 | Rs. 18,000) for 16GB, 32GB and 64GB variants respectively. The LeTV One Pro is priced at 2499 yuan ($400 | Rs. 25,000) and 2,699 yuan ($435 | Rs. 27,000) for 32GB and 64GB variants respectively. The price of LeTV Max will be decided from people's vote said the company.

The smartphones will be available via flash sale from http://shop.letv.com/ later this month. The company is also planning to bring the smartphone to Indian shores later this year.

Android Lollipop-based Cyanogen OS 12 update now rolling out to OnePlus One

The much awaited, Android Lollipop-based Cyanogen OS 12 update is finally released for the OnePlus One. The update is now rolling out over-the-air (OTA) and the update package is 598.3MB.

The Cyanogen OS 12 includes revamped notifications, refreshed multitasking interface, lock screen notifications, redesigned interfaces based on Material Design. It comes with App Themer that lets you apply themes to indiviual apps.

Another new app in the update is Cyanogen email, powered by Boxer. The new email service brings Exchange support, multiple account integration and canned responses for quick replies. Users can also select different LED color for email notification.

Source : Cyanogen

Android 5.0-based OxygenOS for OnePlus One now available for download

OnePlus announced that the Android 5.0 Lollipop based OxygenOS is finally ready and available for download for the OnePlus One smartphone.

The OxygenOS is not available as an OTA (over the air) update, so interested users will have to download the ROM from OnePlus Website and flash it on their devices manually. The ROM's installation package weighs about 705MB. Users will find detailed instruction in OnePlus's official forum on how the flash the ROM on your device.

Download Oxygen OS from https://oneplus.net/oxygenos

Oxygen OS installation Guide https://forums.oneplus.net/threads/oxygenos-is-here-installation-guide.289398/

The company has also released a feedback app, which is meant for bug reporting, suggestions on future feature implementations.

The Oxygen OS brings gesture support (like double-tap to wake, draw O to open camera), customisation options (lock screen, choice of software and hardware, navigation keys, quick settings screen) and a new file manager to the OnePlus One smartphone.

As this is the first version there will be some issues, which will be fixed and improved in future updates. OnePlus posted a list of known issues on Oxygen OS.

• When printing images, printer service may stop
• Cannot hang up a call using headphone controls (intermittent)
• OTG can only recognize FAT32 file system
•  During system update, display of wifi/data notification may be incorrect
• During system update, display of version number may be incorrect
• Files sometimes crash when uploading files to the cloud
• Files may crash when renaming image files
• Files does not support multi-select deletes

Carl Pei, Director, OnePlus Global on the official blog, said: “Developing OxygenOS has been an incredibly fun and challenging experience for all of us. In this environment where everyone is fighting to standout with custom ROMs, we think it’s important to go back to basics. We place things like performance and battery life over gimmicks and bloated features. We want to be careful that we aren’t adding features simply for the sake of differentiation. We’ve implemented some important features thus far, but they are subtle and meaningful. That’s our philosophy behind OxygenOS: keep it light and essential,”.

Check out the video highlighting key features of the Oxygen OS.

Oxygen OS for OnePlus One delayed again

OnePlus representatives during an AMA (ask me anything) session on Reddit revealed that the release of OxygenOS buiild has been delayed. The company also revealed that the March 30  deadline for Lollipop based Cyanogen OS (CM12S) OTA will be missed as well.

The new OxygenOS was scheduled for release today. This is the third official delay in bringing the ROM out. Earlier the company had planned to make the ROM available by January which was later pushed to February.

OnePlus says that both OxygenOS and Cyanogen Mod 12S are ready to go, but certification issues are holding up the completion process.

OnePlus representatives said “I’m afraid not. We have five phones ready. Again, both releases are ready (I’m using CM 12S, Carl is using OxygenOS as daily drivers) and it’s just certification taking a bit longer.”

Unfrotunately, this time the company did not give a fixed date on when the ROMs will be available.

OnePlus One to go on 'Open Sale' via Amazon on March 24 in India

OnePlus announced that the OnePlus One smartphone will be available on Amazon via open sale on March 24. The open sale will start at 10am. This is the second open sale for the smartphone, the first one happened on February 10 to celebrate the successful completion of 10 weeks on OnePlus in India.

Both the 16GB Silk White and 64GB Sandstone Black variants of the OnePlus will be available for purchase next tuesday without the need of invites.

The number of units up for grab will be limited and is expected to go out of stock quickly given the One's high demand. (flash sale ?_).

The 16GB Silk White Edition of OnePlus One is priced at Rs. 18,999, while the Sandstone Black variant is available in 64GB and is priced at Rs. 21,999.

The OnePlus One will go on Sale in India at 10am on Tuesday, March 24 on Amazon India. If you were waiting to get your hands on the smartphone, this is the right time to grab one.

In related news, OnePlus announced a price hike of the One in Europe. The 16GB Silk White model is now priced at $324 (Rs 20,000) while the 64GB Sandstone black edition is priced $378 (Rs. 23,500). The reason behind the price hike is the decreasing value of the Euro.

The pricing in India is not increasing for the time being. However, in a press release the brand hints that the princing of the OnePlus One in India will be hiked in the near future.