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Tech

Update: The Mobile World Congress

The MWC 2014 concluded very recently. Here’s a lowdown on the major happenings in this year’s event held in Barcelona, Spain.
by Manik Kakra

The world’s largest mobile phone show – the Mobile World Congress 2014 – concluded recently in Barcelona, Spain. It is estimated that over 75,000 people attended the do. Here’s a look at the new devices unveiled during the event.

Nokia-X-DualNokia: Nokia’s Android devices were expected to be unveiled at MWC, and that’s exactly what the company did. Nokia’s X series consists of three Android 4.1.2 smartphones – Nokia X, X+, and XL. All these smartphones have Nokia’s own WP-like UI on top, and Nokia likes to call the whole UX as Fastlane. The company says users will be able to run about 75 per cent of Android apps, which can be downloaded from the Nokia Store. The Nokia X runs on 1.5 GHz dual-core chipset (with Adreno 203 GPU), and 512 MB of RAM. Boasting a 4-inch 800×480 screen, 3 MP fixed focus camera, and is powered by 1,500 mAh battery. The Nokia X+ comes with a higher optimics 5 MP camera; 2 MP front-facing camera, the same 4-inch screen, but 768 MB RAM. The Nokia XL has got a bigger 5-inch screen 480×800 screen, 5 MP camera, powered by 2,000 mAh battery. The Nokia X is expected to go on sale in India in a week for under Rs. 9,000.

Samsung: Samsung unveiled their much-awaited Galaxy S5. The S5, as expected, comes loaded with lots of features and latest hardware in place. Under the hood, there is Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 801 SoC (2.4 GHz quad-core processor, Adreno 330 GPU), along with 2 GB of RAM. Samsung has equipped the phone with 2,800 mAh removable battery. On the back, there is a 16 MP (AF) camera that can shoot 4K videos. Running on Android 4.4.2 with Samsung’s TouchWiz UI on top, the S5 also comes with something called Heart Rate Monitor to measure your pulse rate, which could be done (sort of) with an app, too. Other features include Bluetooth 4.0, NFC, microUSB 3.0 and LTE. The phone is said to be launching in as many as 150 countries by mid-April 2014.

Samsung also announced their new Galaxy Gear 2 and Fit. The former being Samsung’s second take at smartwatches within a year, and the later two being more of a fitness band that can be connected with your smartphone or tablet. As of now, both are expected to only work with Galaxy devices, and there’s no launch date or pricing known.

Sony: Sony wasn’t going to be the one to stay behind in the MWC show, and unveiled its new Xperia Z2 smartphone. This phone boasts a 5.2-inch full HD screen, and, like its Xperia Z2predecessor, is IP58 certified water-proof and dust-resistant. The Z2 is equipped with a 20.7 MP camera that can also shoot 4K videos. Powered by the Snapdragon 801 SoC and 3 GB of RAM, Sony has fitted 3,200 mAh battery. The phone will come in black, white, and purple colour options.

Sony also showcased its new mid-range handset – M2. The M2 has a smaller 4.8-inch 960×540 screen, and has got a 8 MP rear camera. Underneath it packs a 1.2 Hz dual-core processor, along with 1 GB of RAM, and packs in 2,300 mAh battery.

At last, Sony also came out with the successor to its Xperia Z tablet – Xperia Z2 tablet (in pic on right). Having the same IP58 certified rating and chipset as the Xperia Z2, the Z2 tablet is a 10-inch full HD tablet with an 8 MP rear camera. Being as thin as 6.44 mm, the tablet doesn’t fall short of needed features – WiFi, Bluetooth, 3.5mm headset jack. This one packs 6,000 mAh battery, and there’re no official dates or pricing.

HTC: HTC’s corner at MWC wasn’t very exciting except its last year’s release, One, won the Mobile Of The Year Award, and it showcased two Android smartphones – Desire 816 and desire 610 (in main image above). The desire 816 is a high mid-range Android 4.4.2 device that comes with a 13 MP snapper; and 5 MP front one. It has a 5.5-inch 720pscreen, and is powered by a 1.6 GHz quad-core Snapdragon 400 SoC. You get the similar BoomSound front-facing speakers, as well as the new Sense 6.0 UI. On the other hand, the Desire 610, running on Android 4.3, has a humbler 4.7-inch 960 x 540 display, and 8 MP rear camera and 1.3 MP front-facing camera.

LG: LG was awarded the Most Innovative Company Of The Last Year Award, and they announced two new phones based on their existing smartphones. The new G2 Pro has got the same back-placed volume and camera buttons. The phone has a 5.9-inch full HD display, and a 13 MP camera that can shoot 4K videos and has also got OIS in place. Powered by the Snapdragon 800 chipset, the G2 Pro has 3 GB of RAM under the hood. It comes in black and white colours. The G2 Mini is a tinier version of the G2, but with also specifications do not feel really great. The phone sports a 4.7-inch 960×540 screen, and is powered by either Snapdragon 400 or tegra 4i chipset – two variants. This Android 4.4 phone packs in decent 2,440 mAh battery.

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Places

Singapore is India’s most-visited destination

However, Indians are increasingly gravitating towards Europe destinations; more Indians depend on online sources of information to make holiday decisions.

It seems that India’s love affair with Singapore continues. However, the liking for Singapore, while still high, is increasingly being tempered with an interest in other places outside Asia.

According to a March 25 release from AC Nielsen (India), “Singapore continues to be the first most-visited destination (for Indians), but has dipped in preference for leisure and business travelers from India. Only 16 per cent leisure travellers, and 11 per cent business travellers have visited Singapore in the last year, as against the 23 per cent for leisure and 15 per cent for business in 2010.” These are findings from the India Outbound Travel Monitor 2012, by Nielsen, a leading  provider of information and insights into what consumers watch and buy.

The Nielsen India Outbound Travel Monitor is a biennial study carried out across leisure and business travelers in 10 cities in India, with over 2,500 respondents across Tier I and Tier II cities. Nepal (11 per cent), the United States of America (6 per cent), Bangladesh (6 per cent) and United Kingdom (5 per cent) are the gainers as compared to 2010, basis those countries visited in the last year. Malaysia (8 per cent), Thailand (7 per cent) and UAE (3 per cent) have dropped as visited destinations, while Switzerland comes in as a new entrant in this category.

Countries that show a rise in Business Travel are the US (8 per cent), Malaysia (8 per cent), Australia (5 per cent) and UK (5 per cent). 

“Indians are looking to travel and explore beyond their comfort zones, increasingly guided by a healthy sense of adventure and discovery, combined with a healthy spending power. This is attributed to the freely available and accessible information on different destinations, and details on cuisine, tourist spots”, said Dinesh Kapoor, ED, Nielsen India. “This is also balanced with the fact that the Indian traveller is still value conscious, and careful when it comes to food habits – and these particular attributes are incorporated in customising experiences for them”.

Additionally, the Indian leisure traveler is open to exploring new destinations in Europe, shifting from destinations in South East Asia. 15 per cent of the respondents aspire to travel to Singapore, and 14 per cent to Switzerland. United Kingdom (10 per cent), Spain (3 per cent) and New Zealand (3 per cent) are new entrants as aspirational destinations. Over one in five respondents (22 per cent) from Tier II cities in India were found to be keen to explore Nepal, respondents from Tier I cities cite Singapore (15 per cent) and Switzerland (15 per cent)  as  top destinations they are looking to travel to.

“While cities in South East Asia will continue to be popular owing to relatively shorter, economical travel, and currency conversion, increasingly Europe is gaining popularity  as well. This may be attributed to increased exposures via media channels, cross marketing via films and television shows, and tailoring packages that appeal to a cross section of travellers from different parts of the country” said Kapoor.  

64 per cent leisure travellers and 56 per cent business travellers cited search engines and travel websites as the preferred source of information for their travel plans.  Seven in 10 leisure travellers (70 per cent), actively researched and planned trips via Internet search engines, up from 57 per cent from 2010. Online travel portals (33 per cent) and travel websites (20 per cent) are also critical sources of information. Travel agencies have reduced in influence from 60 per cent to 35 per cent; while that of tour operators remained the same at 31 per cent. 

“Easily accessible information via the Internet makes it a preferred source of information for travellers today. Consumers can explore a destination across budgets with regards to  places to stay, what to see and do, with user-generated reviews, travelogues and tourism websites. This knowledge also helps them negotiate on the best deal for their holiday from ticketing to hotel itinerary, ” Kapoor said. “Tour operators are still important in planning group holidays, where the actual planning and organising of the trip is taken care of.” 

(Picture courtesy thempreport.wordpress.com)

Categories
Big story

Want Spain to invest? Learn Spanish

State government will introduce Spanish learning classes in the state’s universities to create a business-friendly environment between Spain and Maharashtra.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

It’s not just enough to have a forward-thinking approach to global trends and a knack for getting foreign investment – one must also know the language of the country one is seeking to develop business ties with. Or so the Maharashtra government thinks.

Two days ago, a delegation of ministers from Spain arrived on a two-day visit to Maharashtra, and met with the State Governor K Shankarnarayan and also the Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan. During the meeting, Chavan is said to have told the delegation that in order to have a fruitful business association with Spain, the government would suggest the starting of Spanish language classes across all universities in Maharashtra.

“This will help remove any obstacles that Spanish companies might face in setting up business in Maharashtra,” Chavan said.

Why business with Spain?

Chavan said that with Mumbai as the state’s financial centre, and Maharashtra accounting for at least 35 per cent of foreign investment in the country, it was imperative that Spain look at Maharashtra as an investment destination, considering that the technical know-how, manpower and resources for a successful partnership were already available.

“We have always given due importance to the development of infrastructure for transport, housing, power and ports, primarily. Spain should invest in Maharashtra,” he said. To this, Spain’s external affairs minister Jose Manuel Garcia Margalo said that his country would assist in Maharashtra’s upcoming telecom, transport and power projects, apart from promising to study the feasibility of undertaking a high-speed railway corridor for Maharashtra.

 

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