At its Windows event in San Francisco today, Microsoft announced the next release of its operating system. Known until now as codename Threshold, the successor to Windows 8 will officially be known as Windows 10. Terry Myerson, Microsoft’s Executive Vice President of Operating System, unveiled the name, after saying Windows is used by about 1.5 billion people. “Windows is at a Threshold and now it’s time for a new Windows,” Myerson said at the event. “It wouldn’t be right to call it Windows 9.”

The new operating system will offer a tailored experience for each device, but a single store will offer apps and updates across all devices. Windows 10 “will deliver the right experience on the right device at the right time,” Myerson said.

The Start menu not only has live tiles, but you can resize them, which impacts the overall size of the menu itself. You can also search the Web and receive results without opening up a browser.
While showing off the new operating system, Joe Belfiore, Corporate Vice President, Operating Systems Group at Microsoft, said today that going from Windows 8 to Windows 10 is like going from a Prius to a Tesla. “They don’t have to learn any new way to drive.”





Despite the focus on the mice and keyboard today, Microsoft will keep the touch part of Windows 8 around. The argument here is that touch users have higher satisfaction on Windows 8 devices than on Windows 7 devices. The opposite is true for mouse and keyboard users. As a result, Microsoft wants businesses to think of Windows 10 as a merging of Windows 7 and Windows 8.

“One of the most important customers for Windows is the enterprise,” Myerson said at the event. Redmond is very interested in communicating that it has been hard at work to move away from Windows 8, which many have criticized for not being as easy to use with a mouse and keyboard.
The next version of Windows was widely expected to arrive sometime next year. Even the Wi-Fi password at the event was chosen to remind everyone of this: “Windows2015.”

With a seemingly ever-growing number of streaming music services available via the Web and dedicated mobile and tablet apps, choosing the one that best fits your need is an increasingly difficult task.There are lots of options out there, but here are some of the biggest and most notable that are worth checking out.

Spotify

Spotify is one of the best-known music services available, and as such it has a 20 million strong catalogue of tracks available to listen to – it also means there’s a thriving hub of third-party apps too, like the BBC’s Playlister service among many other, with which to extend your listening.

Pandora

Although Pandora is still only available to users in the US, Australia and New Zealand, it’s a veritable granddaddy of online music streaming, but walks a different line to Spotify. Rather than providing tracks on-demand, Pandora users pick an song and let it create a radio station of similar and related music. Thankfully, and as you might expect given its the primary function, this actually works pretty well and keeps recommendations sensible.

For a yearly payment of $36 or a monthly payment of $3.99, Pandora listeners can, however, upgrade to a Pandora One account, which removes all the advertising, and provides access to the service through the standalone Pandora One Desktop app.

Google Play Music All Access

OK, so it has an unwieldy and cumbersome name that we wish Google would change,  and we’ve already given you a pretty deep dive into Google’s music service, but here are several good reasons it deserves consideration in your short list. Currently, there’s a 20,000 track limit on the number of songs you can upload, but this should be enough for a modest music collection.

iTunes Radio

iTunes Radio is obviously, by its very nature of being tied to the largest digital music store, a big player in this list. Offering access from a range of [mostly Apple] devices, iTunes Radio can be used on your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Mac, PC, or Apple TV and allows seamless syncing of playlists between them. Like Amazon and Google’s music services, Apple also offers users the option of storing all your locally stored music in iCloud via the iTunes Match service, so you can play it back from any compatible device. To use this feature, you’ll need a premium subscription to iTunes Match costing $24.99 per year.

Deezer

The French company Deezer has been offering music streaming since way back in 2006, although back then it was called Blogmusik. It became a fully fledged business in August 2007.
With many years under its belt already, Deezer is now a mature service with a catalogue of 30 million tracks available for playback. Like the others, at its most basic it offers playlists, music discovery, favorites and integrated social features but it also offers a wide range of different mobile clients including iOS, Android, Windows Phone 7 and BlackBerry. It’s also available on Mac/PCs too, as well as via a dedicated Windows 8 app.

Users that sign up for a free trial of Deezer Premium+ via Facebook are given 15 days to test out the service, before needing to enter card details to carry on using it. Happily, it’ll work in a lot of different countries too, a full list can be found here.

Xbox Music

Xbox Music is Microsoft’s music streaming service that ties together its desktop, gaming, mobile and tablet devices for true multi-platform access, and a replacement for Zune.
It only launched last summer, but it’s already had a makeover for Windows 8.1 and launched on iOS, Android and via a Web player. Naturally, it’s available on Xbox consoles too.

SoundCloud

If you’re looking for a huge repository of music, but one that also lets you upload your own mixes and tracks too, then you’re probably looking for SoundCloud. Primarily intended platform for people to share their own musical creations and mixes, as it has grown in popularity and size, big artists and labels have also signed up, allowing for some of their music to be available through the platform.
SoundCloud offers three pricing tiers:

• Free – Offers two upload hours, 100 downloads, unlimited playlists and access to some stats, like number of plays, downloads, comments and favorites of tracks.
• Pro (€3 per month/€29 per year) – Allows four hours of uploads, access to posting tracks in ‘Quiet Mode’ (allowing you to control comments) and Spotlight (allowing you to pin up to five tracks to the top of your profile to receive more attention). It also includes more detailed stats, with reports on who is playing your tracks and where they’re located.
• Pro Unlimited (€9 per month/€99 per year) – Allows you to upload unlimited single sound file sizes up to 2GB each and within an upload time limit of 30 hours per week.

Grooveshark

Grooveshark is an online music streaming service for playing back individual tracks, artists or albums since back in 2007. The free tier allows ad-supported listening of tracks across a wide range of genres, but it’s really the hassle-free listening and good selection of electronic dance music that scored it a place on this list.

Slacker Radio

Slacker is another radio-style streaming service that’s available across a range of platforms, but unlike, say, Pandora, listeners aren’t restricted to only being able to listen to radio stations.

Sony Music Unlimited

Sony’s music streaming service, like many others, touts a catalog of more than 25 million tracks (“from indies to superstars”) available to play on demand, however, it’s a little different to some of the options here, in that there’s no free streaming plan available. Instead, to entice you to dip a toe into the water, there is a free 30 day trial so you can take it for a test run before deciding to carry on with monthly payments, or not. If you do decide to go ahead and pay for it, the service has two tiers: an Access Plan and a Premium Plan. It’s probably also worth mentioning that at the time of writing, there’s also a 3-month offer for $3/£3.

The Access Plan is the cheaper of the two — $4.99/£4.99/€4.99 — and allows users to access premium Channels, chart listings and editorial playlists curated by the team. Naturally, it also includes unfettered streaming access to the entire catalogue of tracks, or there’s the option to download playlists to your library for offline access – but only up to a limit of 1,000 tracks.

Mixcloud

Mixcloud touts itself as the place for long form audio. In real terms, this means that it’s a great repository for DJ mixes, radio shows, podcasts and any other longer audio formats. The company says that the average length of an upload on its platform is in excess of 40 minutes, and that the average listener stays tuned in for more than 20 minutes, and its long form format means it’s great at just running unattended in the background for hours at a time.

Rdio

Rdio is an ad-free music subscription service that allows users to listen to music on-demand, as well as to stream pre-made stations and playlists of tracks created by other users. Like many of the others, Rdio claims to have that magic 20 million song catalog and offers mobile access for iOS, Android, Windows Phone and BlackBerry devices (via a Web app). Although you’ll need to pay a monthly subscription fee for access from a mobile.

For $4.99/£4.99 per month, you can get access to unlimited streaming on the Web, shown above. Increasing this to $9.99/£9.99 broadens access to include mobile devices (Windows Phone shown below) and streaming via devices like a Roku media player. There’s also a family plan which includes two (by default, although more can be added) unlimited subscriptions starting from $17.99/£17.99 per month.

TuneIn Radio

TuneIn Radio is a little different to the other radio streaming services in this list as it focuses on acting as a hub and player for commercially available radio shows. In total, there are more than 100,000 live stations available, and more than 2 million podcasts. There is actually a chargeable app for iOS (currently $0.99, but usually $6.99) and Android ($6.99) that allow users to record live radio, but still won’t get you out of listening to those adverts. There are also free apps for Android and iOS too. It’s also available for Windows Phone, BlackBerry, some Roku players, through some Internet TVs – and even directly in some cars.

Myspace (Music)

MySpace might seem like an odd one in this list, but since it relaunched, it has re-angled itself as a music and video platform, rather than as a social network.

Beats Music

Beats Music is easily the newest service on this list, so new in fact that it hasn’t even quite started up yet anywhere, but it will on January 21. However, only for users in the US – although further expansion is to be expected, judging from the signup page for people outside the States.

Amazon

Amazon is clearly the elephant in the room when it comes to this, as it doesn’t offer a music streaming service. Yet. However, we’d be surprised if it didn’t offer one in the future.

Round up

As you can see, there are plenty of online streaming options available, with some being more suited to radio listening and others focusing purely on providing individual tracks and albums on-demand.
Most of those included in this list offer an algorithm or human curation aspect to discovery of new music, but you’ll likely need to spend some time using any of them before it accurately learns what you like.

Huawei has launched the MediaPad Honor T1, the company’s latest tablet in the Honor series. It was announced recently as Honor Tablet and packs a 8-inch HD IPS display with 72% screen-to-body ratio, powered by a 1.2GHz quad-core Snapdragon 200 processor and runs on Android 4.3 (Jelly Bean) with Emotion UI 1.6 on top. It has a 5-megapixel rear camera, 0.3-megapixel front-facing camera, 3G support via SIM card slot and has voice calling capabilities.


Huawei MediaPad Honor T1 Specifications :

• 8-inch (1280 × 800 pixels) IPS display with 160-degree viewing angle
• 1.2 GHz quad-core Snapdragon 200 Processor (MSM8212) with Adreno 302 GPU
• Android 4.3 (Jelly Bean) with Emotion UI 1.6
• 5 MP rear Camera
• 0.3MP (VGA) front-facing Camera
• 7.9 mm thick and weighs 360 grams
• 1GB RAM, 8GB Internal memory, Expandable memory up to 32GB with micro SD
• 3G HSPA+ (with voice calling), Wi-Fi b/g/n, Bluetooth, GPS / aGPS
• 4800 mAh battery

The Huawei MediaPad Honor T1 comes in silver color and is priced at Rs. 9,999 in India.  It would be exclusively available on Flipkart.



Huawei has launched the Honor 6, the company’s latest smartphone in the Honor series. It was announced in China back in June and has a 5-inch 1080p display, powered by a Octa-Core HiSilicon Kirin 920 SoC and runs on Android 4.4 (KitKat) with Emotion UI 2.3 on top. It has a 13-megapixel rear camera with Sony sensor, LED flash and a 5-megapixel front-facing camera.




Huawei Honor 6 Specifications :

• 5-inch (1920 x 1080 pixels) 10-point multitouch LTPS display
• Octa-Core Huawei Kirin 920 processor (4xA15 1.7GHz + 4xA7 1.3GHz)  with Mali T628 GPU
• Android 4.4 (KitKat) with Emotion UI 2.3
• Dual SIM
• 13MP camera with Sony BSI sensor, F2.0 aperture and Dual LED flash
• 5MP front-facing camera
• 3GB RAM, 16GB internal memory, expandable memory with microSD
• 3.5mm audio jack, IR LED
• 3G HSPA+, WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n (2.4GHz/5GHz), Bluetooth 4.0 LE, GPS and NFC
• 3100 mAh battery

HTC hasn't made a tablet since 2011 or a Nexus device since 2010, but pretty soon both lacunas will be brought to an end by the launch of a new device: the Nexus 9. Rumored over the summer and confirmed by The Wall Street Journal's sources today, the Nexus 9 tablet will mark a revival of the Google-HTC partnership that produced the original Nexus One device. The Journal says that HTC engineers have been flying back and forth between Mountain View and their Taiwanese base as the two companies collaborate on the development of the new 9-inch device.

Earlier this month, a patent lawsuit filed by Nvidia against Qualcomm and Samsung mentioned that "the HTC Nexus 9, expected in the third quarter of 2014, is also expected to use the Tegra K1." Once that note was spotted, however, the document was swiftly revised to expunge the Nexus 9's name, with the current complaint on Nvidia's website carrying a later stamp of September 11th. Even without the WSJ's corroboration today, therefore, there's sufficient evidence of the Nexus 9's existence and upcoming release. Knowing that it'll be powered by the K1 processor also suggests that it'll be closer in nature to the high-end Nexus 10 built by Samsung than the more budget-conscious Nexus 7 line from Asus.

The imminent release of the Nexus 9 has also been confirmed by sources speaking to The Verge. No further specs or details are known for sure just yet, but it's reasonable to expect Google will unveil its new tablet alongside the full public release of the big Android L update. Announced at Google I/O in June and scheduled to be available in the fall, Android L marks a major visual redesign for Google's mobile OS, and the Nexus 9 — designed by HTC and underpinned by a very capable processor — sounds like a fitting device to show off the new software in all its glory.

City-based start up Metis Learning has partnered with chip maker Intel to launch an educational tablet 'Eddy', aimed at children aged from 2-10 years.

The tablet, priced at Rs 9,999 will be available exclusively on eCommerce firm Amazon's India website for about a month, after which it will be available across leading electronics and toy stores.
"We had earlier launched a beta version and it got a tremendous response. We have made improvements and partnered Intel to power the device. We are confident of doing well across cities as parents are looking for solutions to help their kids learn in a fun way," Metis Learning Solution co-founder Bharat Gulia told PTI.

The device is priced at Rs 9,999 and will come with discounts and offers worth Rs 4,500 for a limited time as an inaugural offer. We conducted studies and found children in India are now increasingly spending a lot of time playing games on parent’s smartphones, who are often concerned about the content. Eddy provides a responsible and safe technology alternative for introducing kids to the digital age. Parents can easily control the content and the time the child has access to the device. Besides, Eddy’s screen ensures UV ray protection and lower eyestrain compared to other screens. It also comes with high quality drop-safe bumper made of food grade silicone bumper to prevent damage from falls," Gulia said.

Powered by Intel's Atom processor, the tablet comes pre-loaded with over 160 learning apps selected by Metis' educators and content experts to accelerate a child's social, emotional and cognitive development, he added.  The tablet features a seven-inch screen, 16GB memory (expandable upto 32GB), 1GB RAM, 2MP front and rear cameras, 2800 mAH battery and 3G connectivity via dongles.


Gulia said the company has received queries from other countries like Portugal for the product, but it is yet to take a decision on exporting the tablet. "Educational tablets may be a niche category but it is definitely growing. In markets like the US, the numbers are bigger but in India too, it is estimated to be about 10 per cent of the tablets

iBall has launched the Slide WQ32, the company’s first Windows 8 tablet. It has a 8-inch (1280×800 pixels) IPS screen and is powered by an quad-core Intel Atom Z3735D processor. It has a 5-megapixel rear camera with LED flash and a 2-megapixel front-facing camera. It comes with free Microsoft Office license for one year, 1TB OneDrive cloud storage and Windows Defender Antivirus and Firewall.

iBall Slide WQ32 Specifications

• 8-inch (800 x 1280 pixels) multi-touch IPS display with Zero Air Gap touch, 178-degree viewing angle
• 1.33GHz quad-core Intel Atom Z3735D processor (burst up to 1.86GHz)
• 2 GB LPDDR3 RAM, 16GB of internal storage, expandable up to 32GB with micro-SD slot
• Windows 8.1 OS
• 5-megapixel auto focus rear camera with LED flash
• 2-megapixel front-facing camera
• 3G (via SIM card slot), WiFi 802.11b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0, micro HDMI, and microUSB
• 14 Wh battery

The iBall Slide WQ32 is priced at Rs. 16,999. The company plans to launch a 10.1-inch 2-in-1 hybrid by the end of this month.

Commenting on the launch,  Sandeep Parasrampuria, Director iBall said,

iBall is excited to present the Intel based Windows Tablet PC. The latest association with the IT stalwarts Intel and Microsoft further reinforces our position as one of the leading brands in Tablet PCs. We are proud to work with Intel and Microsoft who have been trend setters in technology.

Toshiba has announced the launch of 7 inch Encore Mini Windows 8.1 tablet. Priced at $119.99, the tablet has 1024×600 resolution and is powered by an Intel Atom Z3735G processor and 1 GB of RAM. The Encore Mini sports a slim 0.43-inch profile and weighs just 12.5 ounces. It has a 2 MP rear and 0.3 front facing camera, 16GB storage and a microSD card slot.  Other specs include micro USB 2.0 port and support for 802.11n Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.0.

Toshiba is also giving a one-year subscription to Office 365 Personal and 1TB of OneDrive storage to users. The Encore Mini is now available for $119.99 (U.S.) at major retailers including online and direct from Toshiba on toshiba.com/us. It available in Germany, France, and the UK later this year.

“With Encore Mini, we worked hand-in-hand with Microsoft to deliver a high-quality small-screen Windows 8.1 tablet at an entry-class price point. Our product portfolio of Windows tablets continues to grow, enabling us to deliver more screen size choice to consumers at a lower price point, while still maintaining a consistently high-level of quality and features for a greater value.” said Philip Osako, senior director of product marketing, Toshiba America Information Systems, Inc., Digital Products Division.

Asus announced a few more devices including MeMO Pad 7 ME572 Android tablet, Zenbook UX305 QHD+ ultrabook and Asus Eee PC.

First up is the MeMO Pad 7 ME572. The tablet runs Android 4.4 KitKat and is powered by a quad-core Intel processor along with 2GB of RAM. The MeMo Pad has a 7-inch 1920 x 1200 pixel display. It sports 5MP rear camera, and 2MP front-facing camera. The Asus  MeMO Pad 7 ME572 supports 3G, 802.11n WiFi and Bluetooth 4.0 for connectivity.

The Zenbook UX305 has a 13.3-inch display with 3200 x 1800 pixels resolutions. It is powered by an Intel Core M processor and features a 256GB solid-state drive. The ultrabook weighs in around 1.2kg. Other features are Other aspects USB 3.0 ports, SD card reader, micro-HDMI, and 802.11ac WiFi connectivity.

The new Asus EeeBook X205 runs full version of Windows 8.1. The 11.6-inch laptop is powered by a quad-core Intel Atom T3735 Bay Trail CPU along with 2GB of RAM. The  Asus EeeBook X205 is available in 32GB and 64GB storage versions. For connectivity, it supports Bluetooth 4.0, Wi-Fi.

According to a new IDC report, more users are turning to tablets with voice calling capabilities in Asia as compared to the large screen smartphones, also known as phablets. The reports shows that over 60% y-o-y growth in number of tablets shipped in this category, which are also 100% Android-based.

According to IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly Tablet Tracker report, there were 13.8 million units of tablets (7-inch) shipped in the Asia/Pacific excluding Japan (APeJ) region, in Q2 2014, of which nearly 25% (around 3.5 million units) had voice calling over cellular networks as an option built-in to the device.

There has been a huge surge in terms of both shipments and vendors since the beginning of this year, with shipments reaching close to 50% by share of overall markets in emerging countries like India and Indonesia.

"This shift highlights the sustained interest among consumers, at least in emerging markets, to have a single mobile device for all their needs — be it watching movies and soap operas, taking pictures, texting or making calls, even if the device has a huge 7” screen on it. It also helps that these devices are quite affordable, playing in the entry-to-mainstream price bands in most markets,” notes IDC analyst  Avinash K. Sundaram in a statement.

ASUS launched the highly anticipated Fonepad7 in India for Rs. 8,999. The latest generation of ASUS Fonepad7 is a portable 7-inch palm-sized Dual SIM Android tablet featuring 1GB RAM.

The Fonepad7 fully supports the Android 4.4 Kitkat upgrade, and its 3G function enables ubiquitous internet connection. The tablet is just 110mm wide, and is easy to hold in one hand while reading or watching videos. Dual cameras with the new ASUS ZenUI interface allow you to capture compelling images in every situation.

ASUS Fonepad7 features a Intel Atom Multi-Core Processor 1.2 GHz with Intel Hyper-Threading Technology that puts fast and responsive web browsing, as well as smooth HD video and gaming.
The tablet features 4GB storage and a MicroSD slot for an additional 64GB of storage. It offers 10 hours of 720P video playback or 30 hours of 3G talk time. The ASUS Fonepad7 is available in four vibrant colors options: White, Blue, Black or Red.

Intel continues to plod away in the PC segment and has now tied up with retailer Croma for two new Windows 8.1 running devices. Croma has launched a 10.1-inch 2-in-1 PC, that has a keyboard attachment, while the Windows tablet will feature an 8-inch display. The eight-inch Croma 1179 tablet is priced at Rs 13,990, while the 2-in-1 has a price tag of Rs 21,990.

Both devices will be powered by Intel Atom Z3735D 1.33 GHz processors, which is the Bay Trail T chipset. While the smaller one is a Wi-Fi-only affair, the 2-in-1 gets a SIM slot for 3G connectivity. Besides both devices can take in data dongles for connectivity on the go. Internally, you will find 32GB storage, and there’s a microSD card slot too for expansion.

The 8-inch tablet will come with 2MP cameras in the front and rear and sports a healthy 2GB of RAM, along with 32GB of flash storage, and a microSD card slot It will have a 5000 mAh, that sounds quite good given the other specs. The display has a resolution of 1280×800 pixels, which sounds like a good option given the screen size.

The 10.1-inch PC will be the lowest priced 2-in-1 to hit India and will have Microsoft Office 365 pre-loaded. Microsoft and Croma are positioning this one as a solution for those working on the move, since it does have a SIM slot. The devices will initially be available only in Croma brick-and-mortar stores as well as its online retail site.

Trend Micro has released a new mobile application for gaming enthusiasts in India. The app, however, focusses on making gaming experience safer by reducing risks from malware and malicious apps. Trend Micro has tied up with mobile game developers from India – CreatioSoft, Tuttifruitti Interactive and Gamania – and around Asia to set up what its calls a 'Safe Gaming Alliance'.

Called Dr Safety, the app comes with features such as Secure Certified Games Recommendation,  Anti-disturbance - blocks unwanted contact with whitelists and blacklists of phone numbers, Anti-phishing - blocks malicious websites including phishing and fake bank sites and Safeguard privacy - identifies which apps collect and steal your personal info using the Trend Micro Smart Protection Network.

Dr Safety is  available for download on the Google Play store. The app supports English, Bahasa Indonesia, Chinese (Traditional), Portuguese (Brazil), Russian, Thai, Turkish and Vietnamese. This is driving the rapid growth of the mobile app market in India, as more local and international developers expand into India. Mobile gaming will become a key focus area and cybercriminals are bound to capitalize on this growing sector. By working with local partners such as CreatioSoft, Tuttifruitti Interactive and Gamania, we can offer a trusted and secure platform for consumers in India, creating a safer mobile gaming environment for the entire ecosystem,” says Terrence Tang, Senior Director of Consumer Business, Asia Pacific, Trend Micro.

It’s been Chinese manufacturers that have been making the most noise in the Indian market in the past few weeks. More recently, it was Xiaomi which announced the uber-affordable Mi3 smartphone for the Indian market, something which resulted in a lot of hype and talk.

Earlier today, the Huawei Mediapad 7 Youth2 was found to be listed online on major e-commerce portals in India. The large phablet/small tablet (pick one) was launched earlier this year, and this is the first time that the device landed on Indian shores.
The device comes with a mild specs set and, thanks to a 7-inch screen, is suited for those who’re looking for a large screen device for activities such as web browsing, multimedia, etc.

Specifications

• 7-inch 1024 x 600p display
• 1.2GHz quad-core CPU
• 1GB RAM
• 4GB on-board ROM
• 3 mega-pixel rear camera
• VGA front facing camera
• 4100mAh battery
• Android v4.3
• Voice calling

The device has been priced at 10,999 INR, which means the Mediapad 7 Youth2 isn’t going to be the most affordable 7-incher. What’s interesting though, is that it comes with voice calling so you can not only use the device to surf the web while on the go, but can also make and receive calls.
Indian retailers in Amazon, Infibeam and Flipkart are currently offering the device.

Google Now is already one of the greatest things to happen to mobile devices in the past few years. And every time we think that Google can’t possibly make it any better, awesome new functionality pops up that proves otherwise. The latest example is an awesome new feature that currently appears to be rolling out slowly to some users. FROM EARLIER: We didn’t think it was possible, but Google Now just got even smarter As noted in a report from Android Police, some Android device owners have begun to receive a behind-the-scenes update that brings the ability to control media playback with your voice to Google Now. For example, a user will be able to speak the words “Ok Google, next song”

Gartner has predicted that the PC market that comprises of desktop, notebook and premium ultra mobile will decline by 2.9 percent year-on-year in 2014, as opposed to the 9.5 percent drop between 2012 and 2013. Giving insights about mobile phone sales, Gartner touted that  mobile phone will grow from more than 1.8 billion in 2014 to more than 1.9 billion next year. Smartphones will increasingly make up the bulk of mobile phone shipments, accounting for 88 percent of all mobile phone sales worldwide by 2018, up from 66 percent this year, the analysts said.

In the operating system (OS) market, Android and iOS are driving the growth with a 30 percent and 15 percent increase, respectively, in 2014. Atwal concluded saying that “The next wave of adoption will be driven by lower price points rather than superior functionality”

PC shipments have declined over last year where tablets are getting heavy demand due to features like portability, lightweight and affordable prices.

“2014 will be marked by a relative revival of the global PC market. Business upgrades from Windows XP and the general business replacement cycle will lessen the downward trend, especially in Western Europe. This year, we anticipate nearly 60 million professional PC replacements in mature markets”
said Ranjit Atwal, research director at Gartner.

Sony unveiled the Xperia Z2 tablet at the MWC earlier this year. Now the successor to last year’s Xperia Tablet Z1 is available in India on e-commerce site Infibeam ahead of an official launch, priced at Rs 49,990.

Hardware & Specifications
The Sony Xperia Z2 Tablet comes with one of the best internal hardware components in Android tablet devices. This tablet is powered by a 2.3GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 SoC. It contains a combination of 4 Krait 400 CPU cores and an ultra-powerful Adreno 330 GPU. It has 3GB of LP-DDR3 RAM for efficient multitasking and 16GB of internal storage for applications, games and multimedia content. It also has a microSD card slot for storage expansion. In terms of other hardware components, it comes with all the sensors such as accelerometer, gyroscope and ambient light sensor.

Screen & Design
This tablet is equipped with a 10.1 inch Triluminuous LCD display with a high screen resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels making it on par with other tablets. The 10-point multitouch capacitive screen is ultra-sensitive so it can be used with gloves as well, similar to the Nokia Lumia smartphones released recently. The design of the Xperia Z2 Tablet completely resembles to the Xperia Z1 with clean cuts, sharp edges and a sleek design. It is even water-resistant, dust-proof and comes with a shatter-resistant screen due to which it managed to certify for IP57/58 ruggedness standards.

Camera & Multimedia
The Android tablet comes with an 8MP autofocus camera at the back along with autofocus lens. The primary camera can record full HD 1080 videos at 30 frames per second. The secondary front-facing camera is of 2MP resolution which can record full HD videos as well. There are some great multimedia related applications such as the WALKMAN media player. TVSideView can act like a remote control for Sony devices. TrackID can recognise music tracks just by listening to audio playing near-by the device. Apart from this, the device can act as a media server as per DLNA certification and near-by devices can play multimedia content stored in the device wirelessly.

Software & Features
The Sony Xperia Z2 Tablet comes with Android v4.4 KitKat pre-installed along with Sony's custom UI and added features. Sony's customisation options are nicely done, thanks to Xperia themes which can It also comes with additional applications like WALKMAN media player, File Commander, Back Up & Restore Sony My Cloud, Office Suite Pro, McAfee Security Pro, Smart Connect, etc.

Connectivity & Battery
Similar to the Sony Xperia Z Tablet, even the Sony Xperia Z2 Tablet will be covered with all the latest connectivity options, be it wired or wireless. It comes with a SIM card slot and Wi-Fi Hotspot in markets where its necessary. Other than that, it is equipped with Wi-Fi ac/a/b/g/n, Bluetooth v4.0, DLNA, Wi-Fi Direct, IR Blaster, GLONASS A-GPS, NFC, MicroUSB v2.0 and 3.5mm headphone jack. Features like Miracast come in handy when users want to mirror the content on the Xperia Z2 Tablet's display to big screens such as televisions with desired compatibility. It comes with a 6000 mAh Li-Ion non-removable battery which will make this tablet last days without charging with normal usage.

Flipkart just launched the Digiflip Pro XT 712, the company’s first tablet under its Digiflip Pro brand. It has a 7-inch HD IPS display, powered by a 1.3 GHz quad-core processor with Mali 400 GPU and runs on Android 4.2 (Jelly Bean). It has a 5-megapixel auto focus rear camera with LED flash and a 2-megapixel front-facing camera. It has Dual SIM support, 3G connectivity and voice calling capabilities.

It comes with Flipkart shopping and Flipkart eBook apps. It also comes with. Rs. 9000 worth launch offers that includes, free shopping worth Rs. 5,300 on Flipkart through mobile app on the device, 1-month subscription of Flipkart First and Free eBooks worth Rs.2300, Flat 50% off on Book Case worth Rs.799 for the tablet and a free Plantronics ML2 Bluetooth Headset worth Rs. 1,199 . It also offers try and buy program that enables you to try the tablet and return it within 30 days.

Digiflip Pro XT 712 specifications

• 7-inch (1280 x 720 pixels) capacitive multi touch IPS display
• Android 4.2.2 (Jelly Bean) OS
• Dual SIM (2G + 3G) with dual standby
• 1.3 GHz quad-core processor with 500 MHz Mali 400-MP2GPU
• 5MP autofocus rear camera with LED flash
• 2MP front-facing camera
• 3.5mm audio jack
• Dimensions: 113.7 x 185.3 x 9.2 mm; Weight: 285 grams
• Accelerometer, Light Sensor, Proximity sensor
• 3G HSPA+ (via SIM card slots), WiFi 802.11 b/g/n , Bluetooth 4.0 LE, GPS / A-GPS, USB OTG
• 1GB RAM, 16GB internal memory, up to 32GB expandable memory with microSD
• 3000 mAh battery

The Digiflip Pro XT 712 tablet comes in Black and White colors and is priced at Rs. 9,999. The Black version is already available on Flipkart and the Black version would go on sale on Flipkart soon. 

Lenovo launched the Lenovo A7-50 tablet in India earlier this month. Today the Lenovo A7-30 tablet is available in India through the official Lenovo online store. It has a 7-inch (1024 x 600 pixels) capacitive multi-touch display, powered by a 1.3 GHz quad-core MediaTek MT8382M processor and runs on Android 4.2 (Jelly Bean). It has a 2-megapixel fixed-focus rear camera and a 0.3-megapixel (VGA) front-facing camera.
It has a SIM card slot that supports 2G (EDGE) connectivity and voice calling capabilities. It has powerful stereo speakers with Dolby Digital Plus, similar to the Lenovo A7-50 tablet.

Lenovo A7-30 specifications

• 7-inch (1024 x 600 pixels) capacitive Multi-touch  IPS display
• 1.3 GHz quad-core MediaTek MT8382M processor
• Android 4.2 (Jelly Bean) OS
• 10.7 mm thick and weighs 340 grams
• 2MP rear camera
• 0.3MP (VGA) front-facing camera
• 3.5mm audio jack, dual front-facing speakers, Dolby Digital Plus
• 1GB RAM, 8GB of internal storage, expandable up to 32 GB
• 2G (EDGE), 3G (via Dongle), WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS / A-GPS
• 3500 mAh battery

The Lenovo A7-30 tablet comes in white color and is priced at Rs. 9,979.

After launching a slew of mid-range handsets in the country, Lenovo is now focussing on the tablet segment. The Chinese PC giant has launched A7-50, an Android-based tablet, priced at Rs 15,499.
Lenovo A7-50 is a Tablet Powered by Android 4.2 Jelly Bean (upgrade to Android 4.4 KitKat) and 5 MP Fixed-focus Camera.

Lenovo A7-50 specifications