Motorola Moto X
Moto X combines the best of Motorola and Google in a slim, 4.7” display mobile that’s priced at Dh1,599.
The price point is important here because you are getting a 4G LTE phone with the Motorola X8 mobile computing system comprising eight processor cores that individually only run when there’s work to be done. It’s more a collection of technologies that is definitely interesting.
Speaking to XPRESS Marcus Frost, senior marketing director, EMEA and APAC, Motorola Mobility said: “We wanted to create a brand new architecture within the device comprising eight processors – a dual core Qualcomm CPU (1.7GHz); a Quad-Core Adreno 320 GPU for graphics, We’ve also got a natural language processor, so it can understand people’s voice and languages and then we have a contextual computer system in there as well,”
Contextual computing is the future of computing. The technology can be called situational awareness – systems that understand you and your interests, anticipate your behavior and emotions and interpret your intentions, Moto X brings this home to you.
The natural language processor is another great feature. “Your voice is the most natural way to interact with the phone There’s times we cannot use our hands like when driving, having dinner, when working etc, Just use the trigger phase ‘OK Google Now’ and the phone is ready to do pretty much anything – set the alarm, play a specific song, call a friend, ask a question get your team score, bring up the weather forecast etc. You can do anything in the Google Cloud. There are hundreds of things you can do with the power of your voice and it keeps getting better as it keeps learning different languages, accents etc. Because it knows your voice, Moto X can do things other phones can’t.
But will not the eight cores slam the battery?. Not at all says Marcus. “That’s why we needed an architecture to integrate the eight cores. The last two are low energy processors.
“Also its a 2,200 milliamp battery (curved to allow for phone slimness at edges).
Another interesting aspect is the active notification. In most phones you have a light blinking or a sound to indicate a notification, but there’s no way of knowing if it’s a message, an email or a missed call. You have to turn on the phone to find out and when you do that the full display lights up, the CPU kicks in and it all means a drain on battery.
“In Moto X, notifications pop up on screen is like a silent breathing – a whatsapp message, a missed call, an email. Its just the pixels needed that kick in without opening the CPU, which means more efficiency..
Another interesting feature is camera activation. “In today’s world there’s so much happening around you and many a time we may miss out on capturing images due to delay in opening the phone, finding the camera button, finding the snap button etc.
With Moto X just a couple of flicks of the wrist will do the trick and wait, you don’t have to bother finding the click button – click anywhere on the screen and the camera captures the image. Also you can take a astounding 200 images in one burst by holding down your finger.
Switching phones is also a breeze as you can easily transfer contents of your old phone1 onto Moto X. Just pair your phone to your Moto X through WiFi direct and your photos, texts, SIM contacts and even your call history and some settings will be transferred.
Price: Dh1,599
Nokia Lumia 630 and 930
Windows 8.1 comes to the Nokia Lumia 630 (Dual SIM and Single SIM variants) and Lumia 635 and Nokia Lumia 930. One of the major tweaks in Windows Phone 8.1 is swipe down notifications.
The 630 (wish all phones were dual Sim) features a quad core processor, colourful design with changeable shells and 4.5” ClearBlack screen and includes high-end Lumia features such as SensorCore with Bing Health and Fitness, Microsoft Office, Nokia Camera, free Nokia MixRadio streaming, and free Global maps and navigation from HERE.
Price: Dh599
Note: The speedy Lumia 635 4G/LTE is launching in June at Dh699
Nokia Lumia 930: The Lumia 930 with Windows 8.1 looks stunningly beautiful with metallic details and vibrant new colours,. Key features include crystal clear 5-inch Full HD OLED display with superb sunlight readability, a 2420 mAh battery, 4G LTE connectivity and built-in wireless charging. Imaging is at the heart of the 930 with a 20MP PureView camera with optical image stabilisation and high quality ZEISS optics making for crisp, blur free images and videos.
Living images helps you add life to static images.
There’s enough power with the 2..2 GHz Qualcomm 800 quad-core processor. Features such as swipe notifications, new MS Enterprise feature pack, MS Office, OneDrive, Nokia Camera, and HERE Map and Drive combine to make the Nokia Lumia 930 a worthy flagship device.
The phone is launching next month in the UAE
Price: Dh2,199 (expected price)
Yotaphone
Say hello to the world’s first dual-screen smatphone, YotaPhone, which comes with a LCD display on front and an electronic paper display (EPD) on the back.
The phone which retails with Jumbo at Dh2,199 received various accolades, including Innovation Lion at Cannes, Best of CES 2013 by CNET, PC Mag and Time magazine..
The back screen gives users the choice of information they need without having to wake up their phone, which helps preserve smartphone battery power. In fact, in reading mode, YotaPhone has 7-10 times the battery life of other smartphones.
YotaPhone combines a smartphone and e-reader into one device for those who enjoy reading. You can save images and information on the second screen, and it stays there, even if you lose battery power. You can save anything on the always-on display from a map to a boarding pass. Information, like a missed call or meeting reminder, stays on the always-on screen until it is no longer needed.”
Efforts are ongoing to continue to increase the usability of YotaPhone’s EPD second screen.
Price: Dh2,199
Asus Fonepad 7
ASUS Fonepad 7, with full 3G telephony functionality comes in a range of colors, and is powered by an Intel Atom Multi-Core Processor 1.2GHz with a brand new ZenUI interface (more than 200 software tweaks over previous ASUS interfaces) that has a new visual design with ‘flat’ icons and customizable vivid color themes.
The 7-inch Andriod (4.3 upgradable to Kit Kat) phablet is narrower than its predecessor, at 11cm width so it can be easily held in one hand.
The 1024 x 600 display provides vivid visuals; while high quality audio is provided by a front speaker with ASUS SonicMaster technology.
The cameras (rear 2-MP, front 0.3-MP|), however, leaves a lot to be desired. There’s a Selfie Mode that automatically starts a countdown and takes a shot once it detects a preset number of faces in the frame,
Weighing just 290g and 11cm wide, it is narrow and light to comfortably fit in a user’s palm. Its narrow bezel design increases available display area despite its smaller dimensions while a smudge-resistant coat repel fingerprint smudges. Fonepad 7 is available in four colors (black, red, white, and blue).
It boasts a 10-hour battery life.
Price: Dh599
Coming soon: Sony Xperia T3
Sony Xperia T3 is a beauty with brains combining stylish, ultra-slim stainless steel frame exterior with a powerful processor, long-lasting battery and 4G support
Light (148gms), the quad-core smartphone with 1.4 GHz processor ensures ultra-fast performance, while the 2500 mAh battery along with STAMINA Mode provides enough juice to you get through the day.
Xperia Transfer is a simple app to move stuff from your old Android or iPhone to T3
Built with Sony’s BRAVIA technologies, the Xperia T3 has an impressive screen with a high-resolution 5.3″ HD TRILUMINOS display for mobile with Mobile BRAVIA Engine 2. The 8-MP camera features Exmor RS, SteadyShot for distortion free pictures even in low light. And HDR helps you shoot great videos. Besides, apps such as Social Live, AR effect (add new sound effects and fun animations to your photos and videos), timeshift burst (31 images in two seconds) enhance the way you create and share images socially.
The Xperia T3 (three colours —white, black and purple) is launching globally from end July.
Price: Dh1,799.
