7 Free SMS Apps For Android

Not too long ago, most of us who use messaging services to stay connected with family, friends and other contacts would buy an sms pack which allowed us to end lots of messages for a very nominal price.

As more and more people are moving on to messaging apps like WhatsApp, WeChat, Hike, etc, we do not use the sms services as frequently as we used to earlier. Let us not forget that there are still   lots of people around us who are either happy with their featured phones or can’t afford to buy the expensive devices available in the market.

Now to connect with any such contacts, you must be able to send sms messages without worrying about the extra bill.

If you need to sms regularly, you need not worry about getting an sms pack anymore. Android, once again, is here to help. You can easily send and receive text messages anywhere within India without any extra cost and without enabling Mobile data on your phone, if you have an android based phone.

While your phone is connected to wif-fi, install any of these 5 free text messaging apps for android and send any number of messages without worrying about the costs incurred on the same.

Here is how you can save money and send free SMS with these Android apps that you can download on your phone.

Way2SMS

Way2SMS is one of the oldest services of its kind in India, and also one of the best which is why it is mentioned at the top of my list.

Way2SMS is now available in the form of an android app, and can be easily installed from the Google play store

Just create your account and add contacts (phone number and name). Once you’re done with these two initial steps, you will be able to send free SMS/text to any mobile number in India for free.

After installing the way2SMS app, you simply need to create a new account or login with existing one, if you are an old user. Its simple user interface is another attraction which makes it better than any other messaging app in the list.

Download Wa2SMS App

JustSMS

Another app which has a simple user interface and allows users to send unlimited text/SMS to any mobile phone number in India for free is JustSMS. Users just need to register for a new account and then start adding contacts easily.

An additional feature of this app is that it comes with lots of SMS templates which you can use when you are in a hurry or, maybe, just too lazy to type.

Download JustSMS

Textra SMS

Developed by a genuine and known developer (Delicious Inc), you can find Textra SMS app under Communication category of Google play store.

TextraSMS has one of the most elegant user interfaces which is also simple to use but when I used it to send out test messages, I did not like this app too much because messages failed to get delivered on time. While the previous two apps delivered my sms instantly, there was a considerable time lag when I used this service.  I am not sure if others face the same problem while using this app.

Download Textra SMS

SMS Text Messaging Texting SMS

Now, that does not look like a very professional name for an app but if you use this service, you will love it for its functionality and the ability to send out an unlimited number of text messages anywhere across the country.

The unique feature of this app is that it can be used on Android tablet and even on PC. You just need to login with your single account everywhere and your account become accessible from any end. Thus you can send text SMS easily either from Android phone or tablet or even from PC.

Download Texty

GO SMS Pro

Go SMS Pro is featured at the bottom of this list of 5 free sms apps for android because its existing users are not too satisfied with this service. There have been problems with its functionality of sending out text SMS which weren’t delivered on time, requiring users need to resend. I still listed it here as it was working in my case and I was able to send any number of messages from my Nexus 7. Its clutter free user interface was another benefit.

Download Go SMS Pro

Free SMS to India

Free SMS to India is an Android app that allows users to send free and unlimited text messages to any mobile in India directly from an Android phone. This app gives you the advantage to use multiple gateways like Way2SMS, FullonSMS, Site2SMS, 160by2 and YouMint. The developer is also open to being contacted to add more gateways.

The interface is simple and Free SMS also allows you to choose from the huge library of sample texts for different occasions that you may be sending messages for. What seems like icing on the cake is the developer’s claim that this app saves battery life and RAM as it transfers the processing and operations to external servers.

Download Free SMS to India Now

JaxtrSMS

Launched in November 2011, JaxtrSMS allows users to send unlimited and free text messages to any phone anywhere in the world. The SMS recipients are not required to install the app before using it. This makes it the world’s first mobile based SMS app which is completely open, claims Sabeer Bhatia who is the CEO and Co-Founder of Jaxtr, TOI reported. Amongst a host of free SMS services, this ‘open’ feature of JaxtrSMS gives it an edge over other SMS apps. According to Bhatia, this ad supported multi-platform app will make traditional texting redundant.

Download Jaxtr SMS Now

Hope you like our list of 5 free sms apps for android users in India. If you are using any other apps than those mentioned here, do share their names and your experiences with those apps with our readers by writing to us.

Flipkart Vs Amazon Vs Snapdeal: Revenues & Losses Comparison

We all know online shopping in India is growing at a very fast clip. At the same time, there is an intense competition in ecommerce space, especially among the top 3 players. Another aspect that everyone is probably aware about is, all this aggressive pricing and discounts are being paid by Venture Capitalists’ pockets.

Flipkart, Amazon and Snapdeal, all of them have raised investments or have commitments of $1 Billion or more. This money is being burned to acquire new customers, offer discounts and pump up products on offer.

While we are all aware that these sites are losing money, you will be amazed to know the quantum of loss these ecommerce players have incurred.

Check out these 2 graphs below and be stunned.

[Data Source: Techcircle] Note: All figures are in INR Crore

Please note that the revenue figures above are not the price of products sold (GMV), as these are all marketplaces, and their revenues come from commissions they get from sellers or listing fees that they charge to list the products on their site.

GMV or Gross Merchandize Value represents the price of products sold and net revenues is just a fraction of that!

Flipkart leads the race with net revenue of 179 crore followed by Amazon at 168.9 crore and Snapdeal at 154.11 crore.

However, when it comes to losses, Flipkart leads by a much bigger margin and their loss for 2013-14 stands at Rs. 400 Crore. Comparatively, Amazon losses are pegged at Rs. 321.3 crore and Snapdeal had least losses of 3 with 264.6 crore

See  the graph below to understand how much loss each player incurs for every rupee in net revenues.

Flipkart leads the race here to losing 2.23 rupees for every 1 rupee of revenue. Amazon loses 1.90 and Snapdeal has least amount of losses at Rs. 1.72.

The question is, how long can this sustain – In my view not very long.

What do you think?

Yahoo India Launches Shopping Powered By Flipkart

Yahoo India Homepage today shows up a new section called “Shopping” and if you click on it, you will be led to Flipkart’s site, albeit with a purple-blue header which says – Flipkart.com in association with Yahoo India.

The site has a separate sub-domain on Flipkart – http://yahoo.store.flipkart.com

We are not really sure whether it was Flipkart who approached Yahoo or the other way around. But from what we can say it seems that, Flipkart wanted to tap on millions of Indian users who visit Yahoo site on regular basis.

Yahoo India Homepage is one of the most popular pages visited by Indians – Over 115 million visitors come to Yahoo India homepage every month (as per Similarweb) and most of them are direct visitors. From Flipkart’s perspective this becomes a great doorway for them to attract new visitors on their site.

On the other hand, in our view, Yahoo too stands to benefit quite a lot from this association. While we are not aware of the terms between Flipkart and Yahoo, every visitor that Yahoo sends to this co-branded marketplace, they will make revenue either through commission on sales or via number of impressions.

Interestingly, shoppers can use their existing Flipkart credentials to login to their site.

Whatever the deal between the two, both stand to benefit from this association. Flipkart adds new users and increases sales, while Yahoo makes additional revenue!

Gurmit Singh, managing director, Yahoo India, said “With easy access to Flipkart directly from the Yahoo homepage, we believe that the millions of users who visit the Yahoo network daily will now enjoy not only premium content, but also an exciting shopping experience.”

Mausam Bhatt, senior director, online marketing at Flipkart said, “We are always looking for innovative ways of engaging with the customer. Flipkart and Yahoo are both market leaders in their own space – and in a market where people are increasingly consuming content on digital platforms, a partnership like this helps bridge content and commerce to enhance the product discovery and purchase cycle for online shoppers,”

If you remember, Yebhi has exactly a similar sort of setup with IRCTC, however, that did not seemed to have worked too well, as IRCTC broke-off less than a year into the partnership.  IRCTC is right now looking for a new partner and has floated a new tenderfor the same purpose.

Facebook Soon launching “Facebook At Work” Targeted At Enterprise Usage

In 2012, a research conducted in USA had estimated that Facebook.com, world’s most popular social network has resulted in loss of 80 billion hours of productive work in a year, which turns out to be $1.4 trillion or 1.5% of overall GDP of USA. More than 400 million images are shared on Facebook every 24 hours; 48 hours of videos are uploaded every minute which receives 3 billion views on Facebook, every 24 hours.

Of course, productivity is hampered and this is the reason Facebook is not allowed in most of the offices now. But considering that everyone has a smartphone and/or tablet these days, blocking a site is hardly the solution.

Considering these factors, and taking into account that enterprise usage is on the rise, Facebook has decided to launch an entirely new platform: Facebook at Work, exclusive for enterprise usage.

Hence, this platform will enable colleagues to interact with each other, share office documents and files without mixing them with personal photos and posts. Although Facebook group works on the same premise, but the needs for enterprise users are ever expanding.

TechCrunch had reported in 2012 that Facebook is now working on something which will cater only to professionals. An unnamed source inside Facebook had said, “We are making work more fun and efficient by building an at-work version of Facebook. We will touch code throughout the stack and on all platforms (web, iOS, Android, etc). Reportedly, the team which is working on this new platform is based in London.

Fresh reports suggest that the development phase is now almost over, and the platform can be launched within few months.

By venturing into the enterprise social network niche, Facebook would be directly competing against LinkedIn, which is right now the most preferred destination for professionals. It is being rumored that Facebook@Work will work on a similar model, providing a space for office colleagues and team members to collaborate, share messages, documents and files. Facebook@Work may even have a messaging option for chat.

The personal and professional aspects – friends, posts, images, videos etc would be segregated, things won’t mix up for the user while using this new platform.

Another report suggests that Facebook may have asked their 8000+ employees to use & test this secret project and testing is most probably on the way. Considering that this new Facebook platform would be for professionals and enterprise usage, it is highly possible that they have been using the same as well.

Existing Platforms for Office Collaboration & Networking

Right now, there are a host of tools and social networking platforms which have exclusively developed for professionals. Besides LinkedIn, Google, Microsoft, Box, SalesForce has similar platforms for official usage.

SalesForce.com’s tool Chatter is gaining in popularity, so is Microsoft’s Yammer. A new messaging tool: Slack is also gaining momentum, and Facebook@Work will need to compete against these if they want to have a stronghold.

But the none the less, Facebook is definitely upto something which they should have done earlier. Usage of Facebook at work place, if done productively, can reap in huge profits for the company. And the process has started.

We will keep you updated as more news come in.

[Comments from Arun Prabhudesai: While this is good news, what I would really like to see with this enterprise Facebook platform is more than just being a collaborative tool. It should be more of an all-in-one intranet for enterprises – It should be more focused on the organization requirements, rather than enterprise user requirements. While similar platforms are available, I think that is the space where Facebook can make a real difference, by bringing in a free platform that is easy to use and secure)

Google and LG begin Android 5.0 Lollipop rollout for Nexus 4 in India

Google’s latest Android Lollipop update has begun rolling out for the Nexus 4 in India. To download the OTA update, users need to go to “Settings > About device > System updates > Check now”.

Google prompts users to ensure their handset has more than 50 percent battery life and 500MB space space before they download the 394.4MB Android 5.0 Lollipop update.

While OTA updates are the safest way to upgrade your devices, Google had also released factory images for the Nexus 4 last week. In fact, Google has released factory images for most of the Nexus devices including Nexus 5 and Nexus 7. The new devices – Nexus 6 and Nexus 9 – will run Android Lollipop out of the box.

Motorola has also commenced its soak test for the Android 5.0 Lollipop in India. Motorola has posted the release notes for both the Moto X and Moto G devices on its website and some lucky owners have already got the update. However, the public rollout is expected to begin anytime soon.

We are yet to see if the Nexus 4 also faces bugs like the Nexus 5 upon the download. So far, it has been working pretty smooth. Earlier, some Nexus 5 users have been complaining about battery and Wi-Fi issues after using Lollipop.

Watch out the space for our Android 5.0 Lollipop first look.

Android 5.0 Lollipop, 

#Android Lollipop, #Android Lollipop India, #Android Lollipop update, #Nexus 4, #Nexus 5

100 million users in under 30 months, Peel sets eyes on India

Before 2013, US-based Peel was known more for its pear-shaped $99 device that allowed smartphones to operate as remote controls for television, until Samsung approached Peel (still a small startup) to develop an interactive and integrated app for its devices.

The app would enhance viewer television experience with an in-built IR blaster, effortlessly merging Peel software and hardware into Samsung devices. The app specialises in “program discovery, TV program interaction, and intelligent home room control.” In just under 30 months, Peel’s new smart universal remote app — as it is known — reached 100 million total users across 87 countries (the app itself works in 200+ countries). The same feat took Facebook four-and-a-half years to accomplish.

This year, by October, Peel reached an average of five billion monthly commands.

To Thiru Arunachalam, CEO and Co-founder of Peel, the success of this app came as an initial surprise. When Samsung first approach his team, Arunachalam saw the proposition as more of a side project. But, the demand for Peel in the US -even India- has been staggering. Already, Peel has more than one million users in India. Quite naturally, Peel is an indelible forerunner in this area; it works with nearly 3,500 brands of television and 600 set-top boxes, including Airtel, Tata Sky, Dish TV, Hathway, DEN and Siti Cable (besides working with air conditioners, too). It features TV listings from WhatsOnIndia for Indian users. With numerous big name investors already in its nifty pocket, Peel recently drew in $50 million worth of strategic investment from Alibaba, the Chinese e-commerce giant devouring every news headline for over a month.

One of the most interesting aspects of Peel is its user engagement. In the 2012 season of American Idol, the app data of the top 12 performances recorded viewers’ cheers and boos to predict which singers would most likely be eliminated from the competition. The same year, it made a disturbingly accurate electoral prevision based on user response to the presidential candidate debate between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney.

Recently, Peel launched its Peel.in platform. It allows TV networks to share unique tune-in URLs on social networking sites to promote TV shows. Users who click on these links can tune-in directly through their Peel apps, or set reminders on their phones.

Today, Peel comes preloaded on various Android smartphones and tablets, many of which are already sold in India, like the Samsung Galaxy S4 and S5 & Xolo Q2100. Soon, Peel will be available on Spice and Celkon phones. The swiftness with which India went from landlines to mobile phones is an indication of how fast Indian consumers are capable of adopting new technologies, allowing apps like Peel to hold ground in India.

The smart universal remote and TV guide/recommendation app is a stepping stone for Indian audiences to slowly move towards streaming, and enjoy ad-free entertainment of their choice at their own convenience.

Now in India, Peel is geared to seriously market its product for Indian viewers.

The East is not a region that can be ignored any more. With world centres fluctuating, the region has become an important decider of what global success really means.

Regarding its entrance into the Indian market, James Ryan, Head of Marketing, says, “We started with Samsung Galaxy 4 and then 5, which are very popular in the US with 30% market share. We’re also on HTC One, but we’re working with Indian distributors, too. We’ve announced a couple of deals like Xolo and Spice. We’ve got three or four other Indian phone manufacturers that we’ve not announced yet, but within the next few months, you’ll be hearing some additional news.”

“Once the app is preloaded on the phone, it’s really a utility that’s very well integrated into the phone functionality.” 

Arunachalam equivocally says, “Even though, I grew up in India, I didn’t really focus on India as a market. For us, the consumer market is huge. However, my initial introduction and attention to India came from Micromax and Lava, because in our business we closely tie with brands; our app is preloaded on devices like HTC, LG. When we were in China, we found out the Indian brands.

“Me and my co-founder were brought up in India. I spent a million hours of watching TV while growing. I love the fact that it helps us relax. I appreciate India, but at the same time, it is a complicated market from different aspects, so I’m still learning,” says Arunachalam.

He has an Apple background, so he comes from a discipline that believes any product should be built in a way that even a child can use it. This philosophy is also what he hopes will help overcome India’s unique challenge: cultural (programming) and linguistic diversity.

“Even though it has text,” says Arunachalam, “the images are what we really bet on. When you see it, you know what it is.”

Because, the remote control and navigation visuals are largely universal, all it takes is visual perception to understand what the app is showing you, then what to do next. This isn’t to say there is no language used, but it significantly reduces the burden of overcoming language barriers. This is precisely why it’s used across 87 countries.

Even Ryan believes there’s no going anywhere without tackling these two issues.

“There’s a huge challenge to provide TV content for all the different regions and languages in India,” says Ryan, “and I think we can’t have success in India unless we do that. I know it’s not perfect yet, but we’re well on the road to having content that meets the needs of everyone in India.”

To be fair, Peel relies on smartphones, and India’s smartphone penetration is only 10% – one of the lowest in the top 30 smartphone markets. However, in 2013, smartphone subscription rate was pegged at ~55%, the fastest in the same market. The International Data Corporation (IDC) expects the 2011-2016 growth rate to average around 57.5% thanks to smartphone prices dropping from a cool $200 to a $50 a pop.

The biggest challenges, though, would be data services themselves. Peel relies on Wi-Fi, and India still has poor infrastructure in this area, besides high-speed connections still being an expensive affair. Providing early-adopted cutting edge technology is hard enough without the hassle of unreliable infrastructure.

“You have to have Wi-Fi or some sort of radio connection like 2G,” says Arunachalam. “But, the remote control will even work without Internet. It downloads everything it needs from the app. As far as content goes – what’s playing on your TV – you can download it for the week, but that’s a challenge. For instance, in China, they don’t allow us to move servers in the US. There are a lot of issues there.”

But, Arunachalam feels India will hopefully move fast in the right direction. It’s only a matter of time before streaming becomes the norm, and Peel wants to be there at the starting line when that happens.

“We’re looking at local streaming players, too. We’re having some very interesting conversations with these guys beyond partnerships – with carriers.”

Lastly, Arunachalam says, “We could actually look at the entire house one day. There’s a lot of excitement around connected homes; we’re starting to explore that in addition to streaming. I don’t know if we’re ready for that or not, but I’ve heard of apartments with these features here. Without knowing the market, I don’t want to speak, though.”

Arunachalam may not be the first to have this idea. The thought of controlling your surroundings and programming with the click of a “button” is an idea that naturally comes to you.

Until then, you can register with Peel.

Download Microsoft Office in iPad, iPhone and Android for FREE

I just downloaded the Microsoft’s Office suite on my iPhone 5s for free, before you needed an subscription of Office 365 to edit docs and store them on cloud.

With this move Microsoft has made the prior strategic partnership with Dropbox justified as now you can use space from Dropbox and save Office docs like Word, Excel andPowerpoint on your hand-held devices.

This free app is available on iOS and Android Devices.

But, people that have a business subscription of Office 365 will not get this app for free. They will be continued to pay for their business productivity suite and cloud platform as OneDrive.

It actually makes sense as you have tons of options which are free that allows you to edit and create WORD files on mobile devices. So, its a more logical to make it free, otherwise the user base could have been damaged even more after free applications are running over software giants.

Anyways a great way to start November 2014 with free Office on your mobiles. Cheers ..!!

And yes for people looking to download, here the direct links.

Download Microsoft Office App for  iOS | Android

Kill Dil is a disaster!

Before I rant, which I absolutely must, let me quickly congratulate Kill/Dil for unlocking a whole series of achievements.

Let’s see, wastes Govinda, makes Gunday look like one of the most sorted out movies of the year, and, baap of all blasphemies, squanders Gulzar’s recitation talent around poorly-timed, insipid song picturisations.

Shaad Ali returns to direct a new movie for Yash Raj Films after seven years with a script so abysmal; I can almost hear the folder crying out Move to trash.

While on the subject, a gangster (Govinda) takes pity on two orphans lying next to a trashcan and raises them to be mastermind henchmen (Ranveer Singh, Ali Zafar). Trouble arises when one of them falls for a girl (Parineeti Chopra) and decides to mend ways by doing stuff that will make him hero in her eyes, offender in the villain’s and a certified moron in ours.

Hold on, this isn’t really Gunday. This is, this is… Desi Kattey. Seriously, even the on-going season ofBigg Boss has more meat than this half-cooked turkey of a script.

What it does have is a knockout title track from composer trio Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, where Sonu Nigam’s rendition alone packs more punch than two hours of the deflated bromance between Ali and Ranveer. I’d happily sit through 120-something minutes of K-k-k-k-kill the Dil playing in a loop over this pretence of a caper that’s a no go in both style and substance.

It’s as though Shaad discovered some boob’s cell phone, read all 20 SMS jokes (the kind that led to the invention of technology like mute and block) and decided to make a no-holds barred dumb movie out of it. Intersperse it with random songs, birdbrained logic and a romance that’s about as exciting as toothpaste.

When we first meet Parineeti Chopra, she’s seductively gyrating her amply bare waist in a nightclub booth and then comes down on a gawking rake in a manner so bawdy, you’d mistake her for a bar dancer. Turns out Ms Moneybags is an MBBS dropout turned social worker helping reformed criminals find jobs when she’s not partying or dating. (Read NEVER.)

Chopra is terribly miscast and wears clothes that should’ve never left the wardrobe. Meanwhile, the dapper albeit deadpan Ali Zafar strolls through the chaos with a zombie’s enthusiasm. Their co-star Ranveer Singh is a charming lad and quite a hoot when he can regulate his hyper energy.

But his character in Kill/Dil is too haphazard to make sense. As admirably as he tries, occasionally scooping out a laugh out loud, his change of heart is ridiculously unnatural.

And, finally, there’s Govinda doing/dancing his best to appear threatening in an underwhelming, underwritten part mouthing lines like, “Kutta jab pagal ho jaaye toh usse goli maar deni chahiye” in that mock badass vein he reserved for a David Dhawan comedy. Too bad there’s no Kader Khan to put a lid on it.

Are You A Social Addict?

How To Track Time Spent On Social Networks On Android

Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat… Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat. How many times have you found yourself lost in this loop? I sometimes unlock my phone to do something productive, only to be be distracted by a notification and.. I’ve lost 30 minutes of my life. Not to mention I forgot the reason I originally picked up my phone.

If that sounds like you, Social Addict might help you out.

But much like expense tracking, you can’t really take action before getting access to some hard soul-crushing data. Social Addict is the app for that.

How Social Addict Works

Here are the social media/network apps that Social Addict supports:

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Instagram
• Ask.fm
• BBM
• Tumblr
• Google+
• WhatsApp

Download the app and turn on the Toggle service option. Go to the Settings to check/uncheck the services you’d like Social Addict to monitor.

 

The way Social Addict works is it’ll stay awake in the background (eating battery, but not a considerable amount) and will keep an eye on the apps you open. When you open an app that Social Addict monitors, it will start a timer that will pause when you exit the app. Start, stop, start, stop. You get the idea.

 

Don’t worry, the app won’t ridicule you or shame you for the time you spend on your social media app every time (although that does sound like an excellent app idea). So it’s not going to counteract your anxiety meds.

It works in much more subtle ways than that.

How To Use Social Addict To Stop Being A Social Addict

After using the app for a day or two, the stats will start to feel meaningful. When you open the app, it will show you a total counter of just how many minutes you spent on social media apps. Below that is an app by app breakdown of this.

This is where you’ll determine which app you use the most. Maybe it can serve as an eye opener.

Did You Know? Shining attention on your bad habits can help to keep them under control, just by making yourself more aware of them.

What’s interesting is that Social Addict supports chat apps like WhatsApp (and even services like Ask.fm for some reason) but not Facebook Messenger, Line, or Snapchat. It would be great to have that functionality added in future releases.

Are You A Social Addict?

Do you wake up to the Facebook app and check Twitter before going to bed? If you are a self proclaimed social addict, do you think this app is going to be of any help? Let us know in the comments below.

Kapil Dev launches ‘SloPho’ Social Gamified Collaboration Platform

Former Indian cricket team captain, Kapil Dev launched a new social gamified collaboration platform today, called SloPho.

SloPho aims to allow users to connect with brands and win prizes by participating in games, quizzes, or contests. Users earn points and are listed on a national leaderboard. These points can also be eventually redeemed or transferred, for prizes, or bartered for advertising space. There’s a cumulative average daily prize to be won which is valued at Rs 25,000 and might increase significantly during special promotions or festivals. SlowPho will allow businesses to host campaigns by region or language, and have two-way communication with users, through gamified promotions which will engage their brand to build long term communities.

SloPho.com is a gamified platform that strives to add value to all its users by having amazing contests around videos and photos; you can participate in these contests and win amazing prizes and goodies!!
SloPho.com allows you to monetize your connections, something that no other platform does, while having complete control over who to invite and which circle you want to put that person in.
For corporates, it provides an engaging platform for their customers and helps them build amazing brand loyalty and connection.
Hop On and get clicking!!

Kapil Dev is the co-owner of the company and stated:

“With SloPho, we want to give users, corporates and professionals, a social platform that not only fulfils their need to connect and collaborate, but also earn rewards for it in a way that matters most to them. This social platform is truly for everyone and is our contribution to the Prime Minister’s Make in India initiative. Our aim is to take it to every smartphone user, corporate and professional in the country and then internationally by providing ease of use, accessibility on smartphone OS platform as well as availability in different languages”

SloPho is available on Android for free, but will be coming to iOS soon. The app is available in English for now, but will also come in Hindi, Tamil, and Gujarati in the next three months. The desktop version has been available for over a year now. [Google Play Store Link] 

Lenovo Vibe X2 (Dual-SIM) in India at Rs 19,999 ,Lenovo Vibe X2 Unboxing

The Vibe X2 was announced back at IFA 2014 in September, and features a gorgeous tri-layer design, a 5 inch 1080p display, MediaTek’s octa-core MT6595 SoC with four high-performance Cortex A17 cores and four energy efficient Cortex A7 cores, 2GB of RAM, 32GB of internal memory, a 13 megapixel rear camera with a single LED flash and BSI sensor, 5 megapixel wide-angle front facing camera, Wifi, Bluetooth LE, and LTE. The Indian Vibe X2 also happens to be Dual-SIM (nanoSIM + microSIM) with support for Indian LTE bands (in SIM slot 1 only).

What’s really unique about the Vibe X2, apart from that design, is that there are magnetic connectors at the back that can be used to click accessories onto the phone. Lenovo’s calling them “Vibe Xtensions” and so far they include an extended battery (which can extend the battery life by 75 percent) and a speaker by JBL which doubles up as a stand.

Available in India exclusively on Flipkart.com, from November 10th onwards. Only the gold color version will be available at first, but the red, white and dark grey colors will also be coming along eventually. The VIBE X2 Battery click-on will also be available, at Rs 2,000.

I gotta admit, at Rs 19,999 this phone is an absolute steal. Anyone thinking of picking one up?

Microsoft Lumia 535 Announced: Selfies on a Budget

The Microsoft Lumia 535 was announced today, an affordable windows phone with the same front facing camera as the Lumia 730.

The Lumia 535 is the first smartphone to drop the ‘Nokia’ brand in favour of Microsoft’s branding. From here on now, expect to see the Microsoft logo at the front of all Lumia phones, with the windows phone logo start key, and both the windows logo and Microsoft logo at the back of the phone. Excessive branding, in my opinion, but we all knew it was coming along.

The Microsoft Lumia 535 features a 5 inch 960×540 pixels IPS display with Gorilla Glass 3, a 1.2Ghz quad-core Snapdragon 200 processor, 1GB RAM, 8GB internal memory with a microSD card slot, 5 megapixel rear camera (f/2.4 aperture, 28mm lens, LED flash), wide angle 5 megapixel front facing camera (24mm lens, f/2.4 aperture), Dual-SIM (and single SIM too), 3G, Wifi, Bluetooth 4.0 LE, GPS, an FM Radio, and a 1905 mAh battery, all powering Windows Phone 8.1 with Lumia Denim.

The phone is designed to be an alternative to the Lumia 530 but has a front facing camera and drops the Snapdragon 400 processor for a Snapdragon 200 instead.

Going on sale for about €110 (approx $135) in Russia, India, China and other parts of Asia first, before coming to Europe later.

Available (interchangeable back panel) colors will include green, cyan, orange, black and white. Microsoft will also be selling flip covers in matching shades.