Motorola Keylink Can Find Your Smartphone or Keys From 100 Feet Away

Motorola on Wednesday announced a new keychain accessory called Motorola Keylink, which can pair with your smartphone and can find it within a radius of 100 feet. It works both ways, and can help find your keys also.
The Motorola Keylink phone and key finder is priced at $24.99 (approximately Rs. 1,500) and can be purchased from Motorola.com and T-Mobile starting Wednesday, says the company.
The Keylink is a small Bluetooth-powered accessory that can get attached to any keychain and paired with any Android (version 4.3 or higher) and iOS (version 7.1 or higher) smartphone using the Motorola Connect app, which is available for download from Google Play
and the App Store.
The company claims that the battery inside the Motorola Keylink lasts upwards of a year and is replaceable with a normal coin cell battery.
"If your phone decides to play hide and seek with you, you can press a button on Keylink to make it ring up to 100 feet away. Or if your keys get a similar idea, you can use the Motorola Connect App to make Keylink ring," notes company on its official blog.
Motorola also said that the Moto X (Gen 2), Droid Turbo or devices with Android 5.0 Lollipop can now use 'Trusted device' settings to enable the added ability to keep the smartphone unlocked when the Motorola Keylink is nearby.
On Tuesday, Google reportedly had also rolled out the 'Trusted places' option in the Smart Lock menu for all Android 5.0 Lollipop devices alongside new Google Play services 6.5. With the new option, users are able to choose a trusted place, and their device will remain unlocked in that area. Users will also be able to set trusted places with toggles for Home and Work location in the Trusted places menu using Google Maps.

iPad Air 2 and iPad mini 3 Set to Launch in India on Friday

Apple appears set to launch the iPad Air 2 and iPad mini 3 in India, and reports are coming in the Cupertino giant will make the two new tablets available in the country starting Friday.

Apart from the launch day matching the Apple tradition of launching products ahead of a weekend to maximise opening day sales, the company's India page is currently showing the iPad Air 2 on its homepage, rather than the iPhone 6 as it had been displaying in the recent past.

Notably, a usually reliable retailer tweeted the same on Thursday, with other reports also indicating Friday availability of the iPad Air 2 and iPad mini 3. We already know the pricing of the two tablets in India, which were revealed shortly after the global launch of the two tablets in October.

iPad Air 2 with Wi-Fi models will be available at Rs. 35,900 for the 16GB model, Rs. 42,900 for the 64GB model and Rs. 49,900 for the 128GB model. iPad Air 2 with Wi-Fi + Cellular models will be available at Rs. 45,900 for the 16GB model, Rs. 52,900 for the 64GB model and Rs. 59,900 for the 128GB model.

iPad mini 3 with Wi-Fi models will be available at Rs. 28,900 for the 16GB model, Rs. 35,900 for the 64GB model and Rs. 42,900 for the 128GB model. iPad mini 3 with Wi-Fi + Cellular models will be available at Rs. 38,900 for the 16GB model, Rs. 45,900 for the 64GB model and Rs. 52,900 for the 128GB model.

Celkon Millennia Epic Q550 With 5.5-inch Display Launched at Rs. 10,499

 

Celkon on Wednesday launched the Millennia Epic Q550 smartphone with a price tag of Rs. 10,499. The handset is available to buy from major smartphone retailers and e-commerce websites.
The Celkon Millennia Epic Q550 is a dual-SIM smartphone which runs Android 4.4 KitKat out-of-the-box. The domestic handset maker has recently been pushing out Android KitKat-based smartphones such as the Campus Whizz Q42 and Celkon Colt A401.
The Millennia Epic Q550 features a 5.5-inch (720x1280 pixels) HD OGS display and is powered by a 1.3GHz quad-core Cortex-A7 processor (unspecified chipset) coupled with 1GB of RAM.
It comes with 16GB of inbuilt storage, which is further expandable via microSD card (up to 64GB).
It sports an 8-megapixel autofocus rear camera with LED flash, while there is a 2-megapixel front-facing camera also onboard. The Celkon Millennia Epic Q550 features 3G, GPRS/ EDGE, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Micro-USB, and Bluetooth connectivity options.
The smartphone packs a 3500mAh battery which the firm says can last up to three days on standby mode. Celkon also touts its Millennia Epic Q550 to feature an 8mm thick unibody build. It is available in Black colour variant.
"The new Millennia Epic Q550 is truly a model with epic proportions. With several innovative features combined and packed into a single set, Epic will give its users an experience that is more exhilarating than most premium phones available in the market especially at a steal deal price of just Rs. 10,499. We will continue to deliver many such feature-rich, best quality models in the coming months as well," said Murali Retineni, Executive Director-Celkon Mobiles in a statement.

Audi A4 Limited Edition Launched Ahead of New Mercedes C-Class

In a bid to counter thenew-generation Mercedes-Benz C-Class, scheduled to launch on 25th November, Audi India has now silently introduced a new variant of the A4. Called the A4 'Premium Sport' edition, the new variant is slotted between the A4 Technology Pack and A4 Premium trims and costs Rs. 38 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi). It will, obviously, be sold in limited numbers.
To make it look different from the regular A4 variants, the company has added a revised front bumper and new 17-inch, 20-spoke alloy wheels. Furthermore, the limited edition variant also gets a
carbon-black styling package that comprises of black wing mirrors, door moulding and window sills. The cabin also looks quite sporty with an all-black finish. Audi will offer the limited edition model in only two colour options - red and white.
Since it's just a special edition and not even a facelift, it gets the same 2.0-litre, 4-cylinder TDI engine that also powers other variants. This engine is capable of churning out a maximum power output of 177bhp and 380Nm of peak torque.

All-New MINI 3-Door and 5-Door Launched in India; Priced at Rs. 31.85 and 35.20 Lakh respectively

BMW India has finally launched the new generation of the MINI 3-door and 5-door. The cars were first expected to come only at the end of the year, so December, but they will go on sale from today. The MINI 3-door is priced at Rs. 31.85 Lakh while the 5-Door costs Rs. 35.20 Lakh. (all India ex-showroom prices)

The new MINI is based on the front-wheel-drive UKL architecture and gets many mechanical changes including tweaks to the chassis. The new MINI 3-door has gotten bigger and is not as 'mini'. The engineers have increased the length by 98mm, width by 44mm and height by 7mm, while the wheelbase is also extended by 28mm.
Also Read: New-Gen 5-Door MINI Cooper Review

The 5-door model on the other hand is based on the 3-door and gets an extended wheelbase by 72mm to accommodate the additional two doors. The 5-Door is 162mm longer, 11mm taller than the standard 3-door version. It measures in at 4,005mm in length, 1,727mm in width, 1,425mm in height and a wheelbase of 2,567mm.
Exterior styling sees both the cars get chrome surround headlamps, a hexagonal radiator grille, black body bordering and tail lamps which are also embellished in chrome. So, yes, there's chrome and lot of it.
Read New-Gen MINI Cooper 3-Door
There are driver assistant systems in place too like Head-Up-Display, park-assist and a rear- view camera. There's also pedestrian warning with initial brake function, high beam assistant and road sign detection.
The MINIs come with front and side airbags, side curtain airbags, three-point automatic belts, belt tensioners and belt force limiters on the front seats.
Under the hood, the MINI D 5-Door will come with the new twin-turbo diesel, 1.5-litre three-cylinder engine that is capable of 114bhp of power and produces 270Nm of torque while the MINI Cooper S 3-Door gets the mighty foour cylinder TwinPower Turbo Petrol engine churning out 189bhp of power developing 280Nm of torque. However, the Cooper S will only come to the market in the first quarter of 2015
These engines come mated to a six-speed manual or a six-speed Steptronic and a Steptronic sports transmission. However, for the Indian market, only the automatic gearbox will be offered.

Nokia Z Launcher for Android 4.1 and Higher Released on Google Play

Nokia on Tuesday, along with the announcement of the "first Nokia-branded Android tablet" dubbed the Nokia N1, has also released the "predictive Nokia Z Launcher" as a beta app on Google Play. Previously, the company had released the limited pre-beta version of the Z Launcher app via the Z Launcher website in June.
The Nokia Z Launcher also ships with Nokia N1 Android tablet as custom UI on top of Android 5.0 Lollipop. For other devices running Android versions ranging from Android 4.1 Jelly Bean to Android 4.4 KitKat can download the Nokia Z Launcher Beta app from Google Play (notably, the app is not available on Google Play India yet).


The company says that, "Throughout the day, Nokia Z Launcher is learning how you use your phone and promoting your favourite apps so you can get to them faster." It adds that over time, the "Z Launcher learns what applications are in use, and predicts and highlights the applications consumers are expected to want based on time of day and location."
Just like the pre-beta version of the app, users can 'Scribble' the first letter of the search on home screen and it finds the related app, contact or task. Nokia says that with the Adapt feature, the launcher over time "learns to promote the right stuff at the right time."
On Monday, the Finnish telecommunications giant Nokia unveiled the N1 tablet with Android 5.0 Lollipop. It features a 7.9-inch (2048x1536 pixel) IPS LED-backlit display protected by Gorilla Glass 3, and is powered by a 64-bit 2.3GHz Intel Atom Z3580 processor (4 cores, 4 threads) coupled with a PowerVR G6430 GPU and 2GB of LPDDR3 (800MHz) RAM. It sports 32GB of inbuilt storage (non-expandable).
Nokia's N1 tablet features an 8-megapixel rear autofocus camera with 1080p video recording, and a 5-megapixel fixed focus camera. Connectivity options include Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/n/ac with MIMO, Bluetooth 4.0, Micro-USB with reversible Type-C connector, and a 3.5mm audio jack.
The N1 tablet from Nokia weighs in at 318 grams, and measures 200.7x138.6x6.9mm. Also onboard are 0.5W stereo speakers, and a 5300mAh battery. For sensors, it sports a 6-axis gyroscope and an accelerometer.

Next iPhone Said to Bring 'Biggest Camera Jump Ever' With DSLR Quality

If a new report is to be believed, Apple is working on the "biggest camera jump ever" for the next iPhone model that's due to launch next year.
The news comes from Daring Fireball's John Gruber, who in a recent episode of The Talk Show claimed that he heard "from a birdie of a birdie" that the Cupertino-based company is working on significant camera improvements for the next iPhone.
The Tech Block quotes Gruber to say, "The specific thing I heard is that next year camera might be the biggest camera jump ever. I don't even know what sense this makes, but I've heard that it's some kind of weird two-lens system where the back camera uses two lenses and it somehow takes it up into DSLR quality imagery."
Gruber's speculation becomes interesting considering that Sony, which has been a supplier of camera sensors for iPhones, recently unveiled a 21-megapixel
Exmor RS IMX230 sensor, and is claimed to deliver real-time HDR in both still images and 4K video recording, apart from a compact size.
Sony claimed that the new Exmor RS IMX230 is industry's first CMOS image sensor for smartphones that will boasts of an onboard image plane phase detection autofocus with 192 autofocus points for high-speed autofocus, similar to what is found in current-generation mirrorless interchangeable lens cameras and DSLRs.
Further, Gruber's "two-lens system" also tips that the company might use a dual camera setup, something that was seen in HTC's last flagship, the HTC One (M8).
HTC's developer site details the HTC dual lens system as, "Duo Camera utilizes a dual lens and sensor configuration coupled to a 'next-gen' ISP and CPU. Two independent lenses allow it to detect and calculate the relative distance of subjects in the image. The imaging system then assigns properties to each individual pixel, which allows them to be re-purposed and reprocessed to maximize image quality."
MacRumors speculates that the two lens setup that Apple might use can be from Corephotonics. The company develops state of the art solutions based on algorithms and novel compact camera designs and components. Notably, Corephotonics showcased its dual camera set up at the MWC 2014 and here's a video from CNET showing the technology.