Xiaomi Redmi 1S will be back on sale in India on Dec 8 without registration

Xiaomi Redmi Note went on sale earlier this week on December 2nd, and it sold out in 6 seconds in the first flash sale. Xiaomi usually stops selling the earlier models temporarily to concentrate more on the new model. Now the company has decided to bring back the Redmi 1S, at least for a day. Xiaomi has announced that the Redmi 1S will be back on sale on December 8th, Monday.

Registrations are not required, so it will not be a flash sale, but the sale will end once the stocks are out. The company has not announced how many smartphones would be available or at what time the sale will begin.

This is not the first time Xiaomi has brought back a smartphone after flash sales. As a part of festive offer approximately 25,000 Mi 3 smartphones were added automatically to Flipkart carts of people those who tried to buy Mi 3 and failed at least five times or more .

The Redmi 1S is still one of the popular budget smartphones in India. Check out our Redmi 1S review here. Registrations for the next Redmi Note has started for sale next Tuesday, December 9th.

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Intex Aqua i5 Octa with 5-inch qHD display, 13MP camera launched for Rs. 7499

Intex Technologies has launched Aqua i5 Octa, the latest smartphone in the Aqua series few days after launching the Aqua Power with an Octa-Core processor. It has a 5-inch (960 x 540 pixels) qHD IPS display, is powered by a 1.4 GHz Octa-Core processor and runs on Android 4.4 (KitKat). It has a 13-megapixel rear camera with LED flash and a 5-megapixel front-facing camera. It comes pre-loaded with pera, OLX, Paytm, Intex care, Newshunt and more apps.

Commenting on the launch, Sanjay Kumar Kalirona, Mobile Business Head, Intex Technologies said,

I think I say this with utmost certainty that in today’s smartphone world, one cannot stress enough on the significance of performance in a handheld device. Therefore, with the Aqua i5 Octa, we hope to make performance look as alluring as possible. What ideally turns the tide in our favor is the market boost that we intend on getting with a launch such as this. By unveiling this handset, we would like to believe that our quest to be seen as a brand that is financially accessible and technologically progressive is on the verge of nearing its completion.

Intex Aqua i5 Octa specifications

• 5-inch (960 x 540 pixels) qHD IPS display
• 1.4 GHz Octa-Core MediaTek MT6592M processor
• 1GB RAM, 8GB internal memory, expandable memory up to 32GB with MicroSD
• Android 4.4 (KitKat)
• Dual SIM
• 13MP rear camera with LED Flash
• 5MP front-facing camera
• 3.5mm audio jack, FM Radio
• 3G HSPA+, WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS, USB OTG
• 2000 mAh battery

The Intex Aqua i5 Octa comes in Black, White and Blue colors and is priced at Rs. 7,499. It is available exclusively on Amazon.

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Micromax Canvas Xpress with 4.5-inch display, Android 4.4 launched for Rs. 6999

Micromax has launched Canvas Xpress, the company’s latest budget smartphone in the Canvas series exclusively on Flipkart. It has a 4.5-inch FWVGA screen, is powered by a 1.3GHz quad core processor and runs on Android 4.4 (KitKat). It has a 5-megapixel autofocus rear camera with LED flash and a 0.3-megapixel VGA front-facing camera. It has Dual SIM support similar to other Micromax smartphones and also has 3G connectivity.

It has HotKnot and Smart Wake features. It comes pre-loaded with Book my show, clean master, hike, MAD, Yata and more apps.

Commenting on the launch,Vineet Taneja, Chief Executive Officer, Micromax said:

At Micromax, we have always believed in opting for smart partnerships building on our innovative products and belief to make technology accessible to all. Our partnership with Flipkart to launch the Canvas Xpress exclusively reinforces our commitment to simplify the process for millions of users who prefer to shop online and get the device with just a few clicks. We look forward to a great consumer response through this platform.

Commenting on this exclusive partnership, Michael Adnani VP – Retail & Head – Brand Alliances, Flipkart said:

Micromax is one of the most popular homegrown phone brands in India and we are happy to partner with them for the exclusive launch of the Micromax Canvas Xpress on our platform. A number of global brands have seen phenomenal success on Flipkart this year and we are confident of continuing this trend.

Micromax Canvas Xpress specifications

• 4.5-inch (854 x 480 pixels) capacitive touchscreen IPS display
• 1.3 GHz quad-core processor
• 1GB RAM, expandable memory up to 32GB with microSD
• Android 4.4 (KitKat)
• Dual SIM with dual standby
• 5MP rear camera with LED Flash
• 0.3MP front-facing camera
• 3.5mm audio jack, FM Radio
• 3G HSPA+, WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS
• 1950 mAh battery

The Micromax Canvas Xpress comes in Electric Blue and Classy Silver colors and is priced at Rs. 6,999. It would be available exclusively on Flipkart starting from December 8th. It comes with free Flipkart eBooks worth Rs. 1000 and 500 MB of free data per month for the first 6 months for Aircel users.

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Xolo Omega 5.0 with 5-inch HD display launched

Xolo has launched Omega 5.0, the company’s latest smartphone with its new HIVE UI . It has a 5-inch (1280 x 720 pixels) HD IPS display, is powered by a 1.4 GHz Octa-Core MediaTek MT6592M processor with Mali 450 GPU and runs on Android 4.4 (KitKat)-based HIVE UI. Xolo has promised Android 5.0 (Lollipop) update for all HIVE UI devices.

It has a 8-megapixel rear camera with LED flash, Sony EXMOR R sensor, 1080p video recording and a 2-megapixel front-facing camera. It has 1GB RAM and 8GB of internal storage with expansion slot. Xolo launched the smartphone on Twitter to engage with fans across India.

Xolo Omega 5.0 specifications

• 5-inch (1280 x 720 pixels) HD IPS display
• 1.4 GHz octa-core MediaTek MT6592M processor with Mali 450 GPU
• 1GB RAM, 8GB internal memory, expandable memory with microSD
• Android 4.4 (KitKat) with HIVE UI
• Dual SIM
• Yamaha amplifier + DTS support
• 8MP rear camera with LED Flash, EXMOR R Sensor, 1080p video recording
• 2MP front-facing camera
• 3.5mm audio jack, FM Radio
• Dimensions: 144 x 72 x 10.5mm
• 3G HSPA+, WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS
• 2100mAh battery

The Xolo Omega 5.0 comes in black color and is priced at Rs. 8,999. It will be available across 10 major cities in India starting from December 10th and will eventually be available in the next 100 cities, by next month. It comes with 500 MB of free data for Vodafone customers and Unlimited music content on Vodafone Music for 2 months.

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Truecaller crosses 100 million users, updates app with new features

Truecaller has announced that it has surpassed 100 million mark globally.  The popular phone directory app revealed that it receives 1.5 billion search requests in a month.

Truecaller has doubled its daily new users in less than three months, said the company in a statement. As of November, India accounted for over 45 million users and 600,000 new users are being added every week from the country. In addition to the increased user base, Truecaller also announced new features for the app. The updated app now focuses on predictive style features, suggesting who to contact based on call history, time of day, and place.

The version 5.0 of the app pulls in information from contacts’ social media profiles to keep their entries up-to-date, and allows users to search their own address books and Truecaller’s 1.5 billion-contact directory. Once a user profile is pulled, you just need to swipe left to text or swipe right to place a call. The update is currently only rolled out for Android devices and will soon land on iOS and Windows Phone.

In October of this year, Truecaller received USD 60 million in funding from VC firms Sequoia Capital, Atomico, and Kleiner Perkins Caufield Byers.

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