Moto G6 Plus India launch today: Know specs, features and expected price

Lenovo-backed smartphone manufacturer Motorola is launching the Moto G6 Plus in India on September 10. This smartphone had been announced earlier this year, along with the Moto G6 and Moto G6 Play, which were launched in the country in June. Like the other two siblings, the Moto G6 Plus runs on Google Android Oreo 8.0 and sports an 18:9 screen. Compared to the Moto G6 and Moto G6 Play, the Moto G6 Plus is a premium smartphone with a faster processor, more RAM and a bigger screen estate.

In terms of features and specifications, the Moto G6 Plus has a 5.93-inch IPS screen of fullHD+ resolution. It is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 630 system-on-chip (SoC), paired with 4 GB or 6 GB of RAM and 64 GB or 128 GB of storage, respectively. In terms of imaging, the phone has a 12-megapixel and a 5MP dual camera on the back. The rear camera module boasts Dual-Pixel autofocus and is capable of recording ultra-high-definition 4K videos. On the front, the phone sports an 8MP selfie camera with face filters and LED selfie flash. The phone is powered by a 3,200 mAh battery and comes with a 15W TurboPower charger.

Currently available in Brazil, the Moto G6 Plus costs 299 euros, which is about Rs 24,500. However, the Indian pricing is expected to be lower. The phone comes in Indigo and Gold colour options.

Google ties up with Sony, Lenovo for voice command-based smart speakers

Alphabet Inc's Google said on Monday its voice-controlled virtual assistant will show up this year in new tablet-like devices designed by LG Electronics Inc and Sony Corp as the technology company seeks to challenge Amazon.com Inc's dominance in a fledgling market.

Dubbed smart displays by Google, the new devices introduce tablet-like screens to speakers that can obey oral commands to perform tasks like playing music, dimming lights, locking doors and setting alarms. JBL and Lenovo Group Ltd also are developing smart displays, Google said.

Amazon kick-started the market for smart speakers in 2014 with its Echo device, which included the Alexa virtual assistant. The company added a screen for the first time in June, calling the device the Echo Show.

Neither Apple Inc's assistant Siri nor Microsoft Corp's Cortana are currently available on a speaker with a tablet-like display.
The new Google Assistant gadgets unveiled Monday at the CES trade show in Las Vegas mark the first challenge to Amazon's Echo Show and the smaller Echo Spot, which also has a display.

The Show went on sale in June for $230 and the Spot in December for $130. Users of the smart displays being unveiled by Google cannot browse the Web or install apps as they would on a tablet, but the new gadgets are optimized for sound quality and listening to voice commands. Information related to the commands is brought up on the touchscreen.

Lenovo's version of the smart display will come with an 8-inch screen for $200 or a 10.1-inch screen for $250. The device will go on sale "early this summer" and includes a camera that shoots in 720p high definition, Lenovo said. JBL, part of Samsung Electronics' Harman Kardon subsidiary, LG and Sony did not announce pricing and release dates.

Flipkart ranking: These top smartphones got buyers drooling in 2017

The year 2017 was a great one for the smartphone industry, despite the overall consumer market being somewhat slow in India. While some of the revolutionary features like the 18:9 aspect ratio screens and dual-camera set-ups excited the tech geeks as well as common buyers alike, futuristic technologies like augmented reality, virtual reality and artificial intelligence became mainstream in smartphones.

Simultaneously, there was seen a major shift in users’ preference, too – while buyers earlier were more after devices carrying powerful innards, the year 2017 saw them drifting more towards exciting features – along with top-tier specifications adding value to capable smartphones.

Home-grown e-commerce major on Friday released its pick of best smartphones in various segments, based on the shopping trends seen across online shoppers on its platform. The company claimed to have arrived at its selection “after analysing the shopping carts of over 150 bn shoppers”.

“With the e-commerce landscape drastically growing in India, the smartphone category continues to be a frontrunner among online shoppers. Flipkart flagship sales events, exclusive partnerships and innovative schemes like ‘no-cost EMI’, ‘product exchange offers’ and ‘buy now, pay later’ has exponentially impacted the sales on the online smartphone category, specifically the budget and mid- range segment,” Flipkart said in a statement.

Here is a snapshot of Flipkart’s top picks in various segments:

Motorola G5S priced at Rs 13,999, G5S Plus at Rs 15,999 launched in India

Lenovo-owned Motorola on Tuesday launched Moto G5S Plus and Moto G5S in India. G5S would start retailing at Rs 13,999 while G5S Plus would cost Rs 15,999.

Both smartphones will be exclusively available on e-commerce site Amazon.in starting from Tuesday at 11.59 pm.

The G5S lineup come with an all-metal unibody design and run Android 7.1.1 Nougat OS out-of-box.

Of the two smartphones, G5S Plus has a bigger 5.5-inch screen while G5S comes with a 5.2-inch screen.

Moto's G5S Plus sports two 13MP sensors at the rear. One is a monochrome lens and the other one is RGB sensor. Specifications of G5S Plus include a Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 processor with 4GB RAM and 64GB internal storage option.

The storage is further expandable up to 128GB via a microSD card slot. Moto G5S Plus is powered by a 3,000mAh battery with TurboPower feature.
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Motorola launches Moto E4 Plus, Moto E4; know all their key features, specs

Smartphone maker Motorola, now backed by Chinese mahor Lenovo, on Wednesday launched the Moto E4 and E4 Plus in India at Rs 8,999 and Rs 9,999, respectively. Both the smartphones run Android Nougat v7.1.1 out of the box and come with Voice over Long-Term Evolution (VoLTE)-enabled dual-SIM slots. While the Moto E4 is now available across retail stores, the Moto E4 Plus will go on sale on July 13 at 12 am, exclusively on Flipkart.

In terms of specifications, the Moto E4 sports a 5-inch HD display of 1280 x 720 resolution. The smartphone features a metallic build and houses fingerprint sensor at the front. The dual-SIM smartphone has a 2,800 mAh battery and features a 8-megapixel autofocus camera at the rear, and a 5 MP camera with a selfie flash at the front. The device is powered by MediaTek MT6737 quad-core processor, coupled with 16 GB internal storage and 2 GB RAM. There is a microSD card slot to expand the memory up to 128 GB.

The Moto E4 Plus will go on sale at Flipkart with several launch offers and here are the details:

• Idea 4G Data Offer - Get 84GB for 84 days at just Rs.443
• Free 2 months subscription of Hotstar premium
• Motorola Pulse2 Headset worth Rs 1,599 for just Rs 749
• Special Exchange Offer - Get up to Rs.9000 off on exchanging your old phone
• Flipkart Smartbuy - Get Extra 20% off on Flipkart SmartBuy products
• Flipkart Buy Back Guarantee - Enjoy buyback guarantee up to Rs 4,000 on your Moto E4 plus

CLICK HERE FOR SPECIFICATION OF MOTO E4 PLUS

Good news for Apple fans! You may soon get an iPhone 5S for Rs 15,000

Global technology major Apple Inc could be planning to lower the online price of its iPhone 5S handset in India, mainly to expand its loyalty base in the country, according to media reports. The sharp reduction in the iPhone 5S price – from Rs 18,000 at present – is said to be part of an exclusive online market strategy of Apple, which aims to dominate India’s mid-range smartphone market segment.

To wrest a larger share of the market in this segment from rival Android players like Samsung, Motorola, Lenovo, Oppo and Asus, the Apple iPhone 5S will have the latest version of iOS and many other flagship features like a good camera and robust battery backup – all for Rs 15,000. According to three senior industry executives quoted by the Economic Times in a report, the company's distributors have already informed retail stores of this price cut and that the iPhone 5S would be sold shortly on the online platform at an aggressive price point. Simultaneously, the iPhone SE will start selling in India through the offline channel at a price of Rs 20,000. “The company will have a 10-12% pricing advantage for the iPhone SE once the company starts assembling it in India by next month,” an executive was quoted as saying in the ET report.

“Apple wanted to have one iPhone model with an aggressive pricing in India and was banking on company-certified refurbished models. But now that the proposal has been struck down by the government, it is betting on the iPhone 5s,” said one of the executives.

A price-cut and accessibility both online and offline, in addition to higher traction for the newer iPhone models, are expected to boost Apple's India sales. At present, the online channel accounts for 50-55 per cent of iPhone sales in India, compared with about 30% for the larger industry.
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Chinese brands takes 50% of India's smartphone market

Latest Business News - Chinese brands took their largest ever slice of the $10-billion Indian smartphone market in late 2016, accounting for more than one in every two phones sold - a growing market share that ate into sales from top-selling Samsung Electronics.

Samsung, the single most popular smartphone brand in India, commanded a roughly 30% market share just over a year ago. That slipped to 21% in November, according to tech research firm Counterpoint, the last month for which data is available.

Meanwhile - thanks to low cost, improved technology and an advertising blitz - Chinese brands like Oppo, Lenovo, OnePlus, Gionee and Xiaomi took a combined share of over 50%, compared to just 19% a year ago.

"Chinese brands are offering quality that is at par with Samsung, at a better price," said Manish Khatri, who owns two multi-brand smartphone outlets in Mumbai. "Of every 10 phones I sell, almost six to seven are now Chinese brands."(Read More)