Subway Surfers slides on to Windows Phone 8

Yet another cool app from iOS and Android app stores has made its way to Windows Phone. Subway Surfers, the hit game has come to Windows Phone 8 devices and is available for free already.

For those of you who haven’t been keeping up with the apps fad, Subway Surfers is an endless runner game that has been available on Android and iOS for a long time now. Quite like you do in Temple Run, you need to keep running and dodging obstacles for as long as it’s possible. Here, the setting is an endless railway track with coaches parked as obstacles or gunning for you. Seeing as how you are the miscreant here, there's a dogged policeman chasing you, along with his dog. 

Windows Phone's India handle made the announcment via a tweet:

The app has been developed by Kiloo, a company based in Denmark and features characters Jake, Fresh and Tricky. The player essentially portrays the character of a hooligan (or guerrilla artist, depending on which side of the aisle you sit on) caught in the midst of a spray painting job in a train yard.

Special objects such as a jetpack, jumping shoes and a hoverboard are peppered through the track and the object is to run as long as possible, while completing mini challenges along the way. You can also challenge and help your friends from within the game. In keeping with the festive spirit, a Santa Claus character has been introduced for Subway Surfers for Windows Phone, but he doesn’t come bearing gifts. In fact, the Santa is none other than the grumpy inspector chasing you. Running away from Santa? This could end up confusing kids.

The game download size is about 27MB and even while it's free, there are some in-app purchases. You can get Subway Surfers on the Windows Phone Store.

5-inch Lenovo Vibe X with full-HD display, quad-core CPU launched for Rs 25,999

Lenovo has launched its new flagship, the Vibe X smartphone in India for Rs. 25,999. Slated to hit stores later this week, the Vibe X will take on the likes of the Samsung Galaxy S4 and the LG G2 but at a much lower price point than those. It will also be competing against the Micromax Canvas Turbo and the Gionee Elife E6. 

The Vibe X sports a 5-inch full-HD display that has a resolution of 1080x1920 pixels and a pixel density of 440ppi. That’s a combination that we’ve become used to seeing in the past few months. The display has Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection. 

Just like the Canvas Turbo, this one has a MediaTek (MTK 6589T) chipset with a 1.5GHz quad-core CPU. There’s a healthy 2GB of RAM, and 16GB of internal storage. It runs Android 4.2 Jelly Bean out of the box, but do expect some Lenovo customisations.

In keeping with the competition, the Vibe X features a 13-megapixel autofocus rear BSI camera and an LED flash. The phone also features a 5-megapixel front-facing camera that comes with a wide-angle 84 degree lens. Connectivity options include Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, A-GPS and cellular 3G. 

The Vibe X packs a 2,000mAh battery, which could turn out to be its biggest downfall. As we have seen such demanding specs require a bigger battery pack for all-day usage. 

Here’s another look at the Vibe X’s key specs:

• 5-inch 1080p IPS LCD
• 3G, Wi-Fi
• Bluetooth 3.0, GPS with A-GPS
• 13-megapixel main camera with 5-megapixel front camera
• 16GB internal storage; no microSD card slot; USB on-the-go

Built out of polycarbonate, the Vibe X features a machine-crafted mould and a laser-engraved 3D tactile finish. One of the highlights of the device is its super thin frame, with it measuring 6.9mm at the thinnest point. It’s also quite light, weighing in at 121 g.

iBall launches dual SIM Slide 3G Q1035 tablet for Rs 17,999

iBall has introduced a new addition to its Slide range of tablets with the launch of 3G Q1035. The tablet is listed on its website for a price of 17,999 and Snapdeal is selling it "slightly" cheaper at Rs 17,499. 

The USP of the tablet appears to be its support for voice-calling and dual SIM (GSM + GSM) mode. The Q1035 sports a 10.1-inch IPS HD display with 1280 x 800 pixels of resolution. Under the hood, one will find it powered by a by 1.2GHz quad-core Cortex A7 processor coupled with 1GB of RAM, and Android 4.2. The chipset maker has not been specified.

On the storage front, it gets 8GB onboard storage, expandable up to 32GB. It also features 8-megapixel rear snapper with LED flash and a 2-megapixel front-facing camera. The connectivity options include 3G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Micro-USB and 3G.

Take a quick look at the specifications:

• 10.1-inch IPS HD display with 1280 x 800 pixels of resolution
• 3G, Wi-Fi
• Bluetooth
• 8-megapixel rear camera with LED flash, 2-megapixel front-facing camera
• 8GB onboard storage, expandable up to 32GB

All of this is fuelled by a 6000mAh battery, which sounds like it will deliver great battery life.

iBall had launched the 3G Q1035 in its Edu Slide range earlier in September priced at a hefty sum of Rs 36,999. The company has now dropped the educational content from the tablet and packaged it as a sub-Rs 18,000 device.

Micromax, MTS launch Canvas Blaze smartphone with free data for 6 months

Micromax has joined hands with MTS to launch the Canvas Blaze smartphone. The Canvas Blaze is an EVDO+GSM dual SIM smartphone powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon processor. Priced at Rs 10,999, the smartphone bundles free MTS data and minutes for six months from the date of purchase.

Micromax claims to have designed the Blaze exclusively for young, tech-savvy internet generation. The smartphone sports a 5-inch display and comes powered by a 1GHz dual-core CPU with integrated EVDO and GSM modem. It runs on the older Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean OS. On the camera front, it gets an 8-megapixel rear snapper with flash and a VGA front-facing camera. The connectivity options include 3G, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth v2.0.

Here’s a quick look at its specifications:

• 5-inch capacitive touchscreen display
• Dual SIM, 3G, Wi-Fi
• Bluetooth v2.0
• 8-megapixel rear camera, VGA front-facing camera
• Expandable storage up to 32GB

The Canvas Blaze houses an 1850mAh battery. The smartphone comes bundled with 2GB data, 1000 minutes of free MTS to MTS local calls and 120 minutes of other local and STD calls. The Canvas Blaze is now available across all leading retail outlets in India.

5-inch iBall Andi Uddaan with dedicated SOS button launched for Rs 8,999

Indian company iBall has added to its smartphone line-up but this one has been designed keeping in mind the safety concerns for women in India. Dubbed Andi Uddaan, the company calls the phone a “perfect blend of security and style”.

It has a dedicated and exclusive SOS button on the back, which when activated blares out a loud siren that alerts the people nearby of the danger, and also calls and sends messages to five pre-defined contacts. The smartphone sends a message alerting of an emergency situation to the pre-defined contacts along with the location of the person based on your coordinates. The phone also sends out a Facebook update to alert your friends. The Uddaan comes pre-installed with an application called ‘ICE - In case of Emergency' that allows the user to add vital details like blood group, medical history, details of persons to be contacted during an emergency situation.

The Andi Uddaan also enables GPS tracking by up to 10 people. One can view the location of the person or can get the updates at pre-defined intervals. It also facilitates the addition of two geo-fences for receiving custom alerts. User can define the geo-fence on map location and the user can programme the phone to send alerts by mail or SMS when they enter or exit the fence area.

iBall Andi Uddaan features a curved glass touch panel and its back cover is made with in-mould textured lamination. Just to drive home the fact that this phone is designed for women, iBall has fitted a Swarovski Zirconia crystal on the home button. The wallpaper in the press images was a stereotypical pink and the SOS button on the back is heart shaped. 

The smartphone sports a 5-inch qHD IPS display and runs on Android 4.2 Jelly Bean. Under the hood, one will find a dual-core 1.3GHz Cortex-A7 processor and 512 MB RAM. It gets 4GB onboard storage and the microSD card slot takes in cards up to 32GB in size. It also includes a 2000mAh battery. On the camera front, it gets an 8-megapixel rear camera and 5-megapixel front-facing camera. 

iBall Andi Uddaan will be available across the nation in the next two weeks. It is available at an introductory price of Rs 8,999, and marked with an MRP. of Rs 10,990. iBall also claims to bundle accessories worth Rs 1,199 such as a flip cover, an extra back cover, a pink carrying purse and a scratch guard.

Nokia Asha 502 with 5MP camera now available for Rs 5,739

Alittle later than expected, but Nokia has launched the Asha 502 in India. Unlike the Lumia 1520, which got a big launch event yesterday, this one slipped under the radar and was spotted on Nokia’s e-store. The Asha 502 has a price tag of Rs 5,739, after a 17 percent discount over the original price of Rs 6,889. For its specs, the 502’s price may seem a little jarring, considering how many low-cost Android smartphones are available at the same price. 

Let’s have a look at the 502’s specs. Running Nokia Asha Platform 1.1, which brings features like over-the-air (OTA) support for future updates, the 502 has a 3-inch LCD display with a resolution of 240x320 (QVGA) pixels. Obviously, this puts it at a disadvantage over some of its Android rivals, which have larger displays with higher resolutions. With the reworked Asha interface, the 502 comes with one-swipe access to the camera app and one-touch sharing feature for WhatsApp, which is a new addition to the platform.

The Asha 502 comes only in dual-SIM (GSM+GSM) configuration with Nokia's Easy Swap technology and also supports dual standby. This one takes in micro SIM cards instead of the regular-sized SIMs. One of the major improvements from the Asha 501 is the 5-megapixel camera on the back, which also has an accompanying LED flash. 

It comes with 1010mAh battery which can deliver up to 480 hours of standby time and up to 14 hours of talktime. It measures 99.6x 59.5x11.1mm and weighs 100 grams. It comes with expandable storage support up to 32GB with the help of microSD card. All in all, the 502 is a major improvement over the Asha 501 in terms of specs. The lack of 3G might be a dealbreaker for many and the display certainly needs a bump up in resolution.