5 best Apps that you should add to your iPhone immediately

Our phones are nothing without interesting applications. Those everyday stupid and boring apps lead to nothing but a boring routine life. After a long, hard week, we know there’s nothing more you want than to kick back, relax, catch up with friends and find out what apps took over the App Store this week. We’ve got you. So, we present the 5 best apps you should add to your phone immediately. There’s one to get your iPhoneography game on the next level, one to turn your life into a Harry Potter book and another to help you plan a healthy dinner with what you’ve already got. So there you go!

1. Microsoft Pix

Use Artificial Intelligence to make sure that your pictures are as good as they possibly can be. The app will automatically detect faces and adjust accordingly. It will also make shooting in those tricky lighting situations a breeze. Download it now — your Instagram will thank you.

Download on the AppStore

2. Potterize

For those who have always envisioned themselves as a Rita Skeeter-type, writing columns for The Daily Prophet: Dreams do come true. This new app allows users to create their own front pages in the style of the Potter world newspaper, using *magic* (or what we like to call GIFs). Are your eyes swimming with the ghosts of your past yet?

Download on the AppStore

3. Carrot

Come dinner time every night, it’s easy to get overwhelmed and just settle on frozen chicken nuggets (speaking from experience). Carrot makes meal-planning easy by knowing exactly what’s inside of your fridge and recommending healthy recipes based on what you already have. The recipes are simple, creative and will have you coming back for (healthy!) seconds.

Download on the AppStore

4. Channels

Pretty soon we’ll all be living in a world without remote controls. Until that world exists, jump the trend by downloading Channels on your phone. The app controls your TV directly from your phone, allowing you to rewind, pause and fast-forward live shows. You can also see what’s happening on other channels directly on your phone screen without ever touching to remote for your TV set.

Download on the AppStore

5. Fitso

Turn fitness into a game with Fitso. Once downloaded, you select a goal and the app pairs you with a coach to help you off the couch. Your coach and the Fitso community will send you challenges to win rewards and badges. Plus, the app includes videos and custom workout routines to help you learn some new moves.

Download on the AppStore



Written by Manisha Choraria
A Graduate, Full of enthusiasm. Bollywood freak and full of life. Love writing and aspire to evolve as a good writer.

Enter the Dragon: Xiaomi Redmi Note 3

The ‘Made in China ‘ logo has slowly but surely become the most prevalent thing in the Indian market over the last decade, as the Chinese products continue to occupy a major niche in the market. And with the advent of the Chinese smartphones, the other brands-whether local manufacturers like Micromax or more established International Brands like Samsung, Apple, etc.-have suffered a major setback. The market is now dominated by the Chinese smartphones,the most notable among which is Xiaomi.

This year alone India has witnessed abnormal sales of the 2 smartphones-Le1S Eco and XiaomiRedmi note 3-where the devices flew off the rack(or to be apt, from the online flash sales) within a matter of mere seconds. The specs of these phones are all that you would expect in a flagship these days, but they are being offered in the budget-range; making them an irresistible and in many cases, a smart purchase.

The stats are clear - China's sleek but relatively cheap smartphones are winning in a market where product penetration is only 30 percent, meaning Chinese brands could be headed for big wins in the future. Other reasons that can attribute to the fact that these brands are gradually conquering the market share might be their ability to keep up with the trends, the aggressive marketing strategies used and the ease of purchase(online, although the lack of availability is still an issue).

Without further ado, I would move to laying out the specs of the latest XiaomiRedmi Note 3 which took the Indian smartphone market by storm since its flash sales started in March and have been going on all through the month with intervals of almost 1 week between 2 subsequent sales.

Display 5.50-inch
Processor 1.4GHz
Front Camera 5-megapixel
Resolution 1080x1920 pixels
RAM 2GB
OS Android 5.1
Storage 16GB
Rear Camera 16-megapixel
Battery capacity 4050mAh

The phone is priced at Rs. 10,000 and with its 32GB | 3GB RAM variant priced at Rs.12,000 this phone truly is one of the best phones in the below Rs.15,000 segment.

The Redmi Note 3 is a thoughtfully targeted device with a premium metal build, flagship-grade specs, and an iconic MIUI launcher. The third device of the series upgrades the design of the Redmi Note 2 just three months after its premiere, while keeping the same specs, but improving the security with a fingerprint scanner.

Indeed, the upgrades are not that many - a metal shell, a bigger battery, new dual-LED flash, and bio-metric security.

But on closer look, the upgrades are worth the extra bucks. The metal shell boosts the aesthetics and handling, the fingerprint reader unlocks the screen faster than a PIN number, while the dual-LED dual-tone flash may help for a better white balance when taking flash photos. And there is the bigger battery to keep the phone running for longer.

The 5.5" 1080p screen seems as great as before, the snappy Helio X10 chip is promising a flagship-grade performance, while the 13MP camera seems adequately equipped.

Although the phone did face some fire regarding the qualities of the images captured by its camera; but it more than compensated for the minor flaws by providing a sleek design, a longer battery life, a better performance, fast and accurate locking system (fingerprint scanner) and many more features all rolled into one affordable package-making this phone an undisputable winner in the budget phone category.

That was all the good points, now for the bad side. Although these phones might be hugely popular, but the problem with limited pieces being shipped, the frequent ‘Out-of- Stock’ message and the lack of availability, in general, continues to plague Indian customers. Many users have even resorted to spamming and complaining about the same in online forums and portals –but Xiaomi India has paid little heed to it. However, with the opening of a Xiaomi production unit in India in the news, they might just be able to do away with these problems and continue to grow heaps and bounds in the Indian market.

Article by Rishibha Tuteja

Last minute Blogger, fangirl by profession. A Bibliophile by heart,Tech–Enthusiast by choice.

She breathes dreams like air and can be reached at https://twitter.com/BibliophileRish

Freedom 251: Cheapest smartphone in the world is here

Feb 17, 2016, witnessed the release of the cheapest smartphone till date and the commencement of probably the most ambitious project ever taken under the Digital India campaign.

Freedom 251 by Ringing Bells Company is cheaper than the 4G smartphone they released earlier Smart 101 at Rs. 2,999 earlier. It complies with government's Make in India program and is priced at just Rs. 251 (approximately $4), making it arguably the cheapest smartphone in the world.

Image credit: fonearena.com

The key specs of the phone:

• 4-inch (960 x 540 pixels) qHD IPS display
• 1.3GHz quad-core processor
• 1GB RAM, 8GB internal memory, expandable memory up to 32GB with microSD
• Android 5.1 (Lollipop)
• Dual SIM
• 3.2MP rear camera with LED flash
• 0.3MP front-facing camera
• 3G,WiFi 802.11 b/g/n and Bluetooth, GPS
• 1450mAh battery

Defence Minister Manohar Parrikkar launched the smartphone ‘Freedom 251’ on February 17. The launch event was attended by government officials like the Member of Parliament, Murali Manohar Joshi.The event and launch held - stand as a true testimony of success of the latest initiatives taken by the Government of India.

According to the phone’s official website, the company aims to “Empower citizens, even in the remotest rural and semi-urban centres of India, with the latest in digital technology at incredible affordable prices and cascade knowledge, news and current issues so that all experience the confidence of inclusive growth and equal opportunity.”

The Noida-based company said that ‘Freedom 251’ launch is in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision for “empowering India to the last person, transforming India’s growth story”. The phone comes pre-loaded with several apps for Women Safety, Swachh Bharat, Framers, Fishermen and more. Ringing Bells says the Freedom 251 smartphone has been developed 'with immense support' from the government .The company also asserts that its smartphone is built to meet the goals of Make In India, the government's project to entice multinational as well as domestic players to manufacturer their products in India.

Last year, DataWind had announced that it is teaming up with Anil Ambani-owned Reliance Communications (RCOM) to launch the world’s most affordable smartphone, priced at Rs 999. The phone is yet to hit the market though.

Freedom 251’s design looks like it's been borrowed from the iPhone 6s, with similar rounded edges, a round button and the silver ring around it.  What's more, the UI of the Freedom 251 has been customised to look a lot like an iPhone. In fact, many of the icons look identical to apps that ship with Apple's phone.



The freedom251 site has categorised the features under the following tags(thus justifying the name of the phone):

• Freedom to Flaunt
• Freedom to Capture
• Freedom to Connect
• Freedom to Explore
• Freedom to Talk

India, one of the fastest growing smartphone markets globally, is poised to overtake the US as the second-largest market in next few years. In the last few months, global smartphone makers, including the likes of Xiaomi, Motorola and Gionee have commenced assembling their handsets in India, where the government is pushing local manufacturing through its Make in India initiative.

The smartphone comes with 1-year warranty and the company says that it has over 650 service centres across India. It will be available for order through freedom251.com. Bookings for the Freedom 251 will start from Thursday 18 February from 6.00 am in the morning and will close on 21 February at 8.00 pm. 

A smartphone priced at Rs. 251 will go a long way in connecting every Indian, and like the previous government tried to take computing to the masses with the Aakash tablet, the Freedom 251 has the potential to realise the 'Digital India' vision.

Article by Rishibha Tuteja

Last minute Blogger, fangirl by profession. A Bibliophile by heart, Tech–Enthusiast by choice.

She breathes dreams like air and can be reached at https://twitter.com/BibliophileRish

Blackberry Priv: Will Android be enough to keep the brand afloat?

Just when you wrote it off for good, seems like Blackberry is back from the grave and putting up its final struggle with what little breath it has left.

It's a cliché to regard any new Blackberry launch these days as the "last throw of the dice".

Image credit: droid-life.com

After almost four years of banging the BlackBerry 10 drum, it seems the Canadian firm has finally admitted defeat, launching its first Android smartphone -riding on the success of a rival platform when the company’s own popularity has faded.

It's not entirely a surprise - the Priv was rumoured for months under the codename Venice, and a move to the Android platform makes sense. BlackBerry 10 suffered from a severe lack of top flight applications and an interface which wasn't quite as intuitive for the general public as the now familiar Android and iOS.

First shown off at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, the BlackBerry Priv — Priv standing for Privacy and Privilege — is a new BlackBerry device, featuring a slide-out portrait keyboard and running Google's Android OS (in this case 5.1.1 Lollipop) — the first device from BlackBerry to do so.

Prior to introducing the hybrid device, CEO John Chen labelled it as the deciding factor for either a full-house or a no-show for BlackBerry: If the BlackBerry Priv sales figures achieve the 5 million unit sales benchmark - BlackBerry stays in the smartphone market and if it doesn’t, then the company ceases to make more phones.

The BlackBerry story:
If one looks at the history of BlackBerry, the company once enjoyed the status of being the handset of choice across enterprises; but as the competition stiffened with rivals like Samsung and Apple(with vast app stores and big screens), BlackBerry started to gradually lose its share in the phone market and kept on posting repeated losses. Its story isn’t all that foreign. Isn’t it quite similar to what happened to Nokia, one of the biggest tech  giants which took a drastic fall due to its reluctance to incorporate any innovation in their products (when Android was slowly gaining pace) and having a blind faith solely on their brand name?

BlackBerry went through the same thing, with only a slight change. Although, Nokia was somewhat able to redeem itself (all thanks to Microsoft); Blackberry was never able to rise from the ashes. Although it did come up with a new product now and then, and manage to turn a few heads, per se, none of the products ever garnered enough interest to bring it back to its former glory.The firm, once known as Research in Motion, has had one glimmer of hope in recent times: Blackberry Messenger was unexpectedly popular with teenagers, but even BBM eventually lost out to WhatsApp and Snapchat. Blackberry sales now account for less than 1% of the global smartphone market.
Now with the new Blackberry Priv released just a few days back; the fate of Blackberry is yet to be seen.

Here is a quick look at the phone’s features:-
5.4-inch WQHD (2560×1440) display with AMOLED resolution, and is powered by a 1.8 GHz hexacore Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 processor, 3GB RAM and 32GB of internal memory (expandable by up to 2TB). The single SIM 4G phone runs on Android Lollipop OS and sports 18MP rear and 2MP front camera with 3,410 mAh battery.

BlackBerry has deeply integrated its own services and made a few tweaks to the interface. It has also integrated several security features to make the Priv presumably one of the more secure Android devices available today. Also, it will not let users install third party launchers or apps from unverified sources.

The Verdict is out:-
A new BlackBerry might be able to stir nostalgia among the earlier loyalists of the BlackBerry brand, some of whom have already made the switch to the more popular platforms, but it is hard to predict a switch back to BlackBerry through Priv.

Priv has the potential to plug a big gap in the Android juggernaut, that of devices with good keypad support for those who don’t love typing on a touchscreen.Since a physical input mechanism is the phone's raison d'etre, the keyboard stands up to the expectations.

In the last few years, the new smartphone players, mostly based in China, have quickly carved a niche for themselves in a market with their affordable handsets.In such a situation, a device like the Priv – a BlackBerry product with the Google software - is like 'just another Android phone' with a price tag of Rs 62,990 (which is a deal breaker).

The fact that BlackBerry is trying to win back share with a mass-market device that costs significantly more than its established rivals strikes me as risky, and perhaps overly optimistic.
Has Blackberry finally brought a game-changer to the market or is it is too little & too late?


Article by Rishibha Tuteja
Last minute Blogger, fangirl by profession. A Bibliophile by heart, Tech–Enthusiast by choice.
She breathes dreams like air and can be reached at https://twitter.com/BibliophileRish

Jaw dropping features makes the arrival of XIAOMI REDMI 5 even more welcoming

Finally with the official announcement of the release of the Xiaomi Redmi 5 it has gathered a lot of attention from the people, who were previously rooting for its product.What’s more thrilling is the release of the specifications which have obviously made a deep impact on its audiences.We are all very excited for it to hit the market since we were already taken aback by its features.

Image credit: xiamoitoday.com

Listing a few of the features such 16 MP camera,android lollipop ,processor Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 and above all a 5.3 inch display and a 3030 mAH battery.There are even more surprises that will unleash after its launch but what is more unfathomable is the price ie.Rs.19,990 which brings just a bundle of joy for all of us.All this and a price that surely left all the technological giants nerve wracking because of the hype it has garnered with everyone anxiously awaiting it’s arrival sooner in the market.

With the record breaking sales just an year ago with the heart warming response had encouraged its founders to keep producing amazing products and has always been given a value for money.The main idea was to make something that is not only attracts but also keeps in mind that it is affordable so that even people doesn’t have to think twice before purchasing it.

Since people are now appreciating an effort to build something that can beat the big names in mobile phones but yet not too big on your pocket ,the love of technology is there for everyone but what matters is the price we have to pay for it and when it comes to money being honest we are very frugal so we collect money for years to buy something we wanted some years ago but with how fast technology is advancing so waiting for years to buy what you wanted so now this is something that is going to change everything.

Eagerly waiting for its arrival I hope it still surprises its customers and serves all that has been anticipated from it.


Article by Prerna Sharma
A Computer Science Graduate by brain and a writer by heart. 
Prerna gels up technology and creativity to blog about what she loves.
She can be reached at twitter.com/prernas83606199

What to expect from the much anticipated Apple iPhone 7?

Apple iPhone 7 plus is eagerly anticipated to be released in first or the second week of September 2016, all of us know that iPhone is a widely used brand that has garnered record breaking sales with all the products it has so far released; With iPhone 7 expected to hit the market soon, it will not be a huge surprise it turns out to be a massive success, but the level of popularity can only be gauged only when its out for sale.

Apple has always been under the pressure of bringing new each time and living to the expectations of the users is also a big challenge. What has been one of the major parameters for Apple since its inception is its reliability and quality for value. The economists are of the view that until a product meets the customer expectations it will not meet the requisite quality standards, going by the definition Apple has always lived up to its customer’s expectations. One of the most popular feature of Apple is Siri, everyone is in awe of this feature which equally take your queries and fetches the desired results, it is a kind of interaction which is hassle free, but there is a long journey ahead because some people are still complaining that sometimes the Siri wrongly interprets may due to the difference in accents, and hopefully it will get sorted out very soon.

With loads of amazing features such as the one that allows users to lock their phones with their thumb impression so any intruder will not be able to stealthily use your phone without your permission. With the buzz everywhere Apple is going to launch iPhone 7 and 7s globally on two different dates. As rumored that it’s going to run on A10 processor that will have 6 cores whereas it is presently working on dual core. Also its going to go with the 2GB ram just as in last year. As was expected the more durable sapphire glass didn’t appear in case of iPhone 6 so it is anticipated that it will be present in iphone 7,also Apple is also rumored to have been contemplating to remove the home button only to make the screen size bigger but removing it altogether will require the thumb impression to be made either on the side or directly on the screen. But it is all speculative and there are no evidences to prove it till now.

iPhone 7 is expected to be more water durable than the previous models. Gesture pass-codes are very popular in Android so it is assumed it is going to be present in IOS platform as well. It goes beyond saying that the iPhone 7 will be powered by IOS 10 and it will therefore have all the necessary features and updates ,it was also expected that iPhone 6 will be introduced with the wireless charging unit but that didn’t happen so it is expected to be there in iPhone 7.

While no official news of the features by Apple, since Apple always keeps a suspense about the features, to keep us in awe with all the new integrated features. So let us see what happens when Apple is going to introduce its iPhone 7 and 7s.


Article by Prerna Sharma
A Computer Science Graduate by brain and a writer by heart. 
Prerna gels up technology and creativity to blog about what she loves.
She can be reached at twitter.com/prernas83606199

The wait is over as Google Nexus 6P arrives in India

This phone is worth a grab when you don’t mind being a spendthrift then this is surely a visual treat.With a 12.3 Megapixel camera it has outdone many of its earlier product, since google has always collaborated with big names in the technological industry such as the Lenovo, Asus, Motorola and many others.this time it geared up with Huawei to bring in something new.

Image credit: Nexus-Google

The 1.55 mm pixels give the best in quality shots with vivid clarity and excellent lightning which nothing but the best.Nexus 6P also provides the latest android version Android 6.0 marshmallow ,which is the newest addition to the nexus to give the latest up to date software.Latest version of Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ 810 v2.1, 2.0 GHz octa-core 64-bit Adreno 430 GPU which is the presumably the best operating system that provides excellent processing speed.With google quality can never be compromised.Google nexus has definitely raised the bars with the unmatched standards ,but still there is a long journey ahead to be a global leader in terms of its products.

With these striking features this one is surely a grab and definitely irresistible.Going by the response it has turned down many other gadgets in its competition and motivating even apple to launch iPhone 7 that has certainly made an impact ,and only time will tell whether it can withstand pressure from the growing competition or not.

Article by Prerna Sharma

A Computer Science Graduate by brain and a writer by heart. 

Prerna gels up technology and creativity to blog about what she loves.

She can be reached at twitter.com/prernas83606199

Google and Lenovo promises for smarter phones with Project Tango

Google and Lenovo in collaboration announced their first consumer-targeted product with Project Tango technology at the ongoing CES 2016 conference. This Smartphone would be launched under the price tag of $500.

Image credits: g.co/ProjectTango and Lenovo.com

One of the coolest and most innovative feature of this phone is the indoor area mapping which is possible with the 3D machine vision technology. Three vertically stacked lenses in the Smartphone camera will deliver color and depth information and a fisheye lens is supposed to give a wide-angle peripheral vision around the device. All the data gathered by the camera are then compiled by the Lenovo Smartphone's processor and then build a 3D map of the area. The technology will enable near real-time mapping along with the measurements showing precision down to the centimeter.

The Lenovo-made Project Tango-based handset will run on Android OS having a display size of lesser than 6.5-inches. Developers get a reason to rejoice as they can submit their Project Tango application ideas to Google until February 15 and selected developers will get funding for their idea and their apps will be preloaded on the Lenovo Smartphone. Google will be shipping the Smartphone to the selected developers based on their app ideas.

It would  help consumers find their way in a large hotel or mall or take precise measurements of a room before shopping for furnishings.Demonstration of the product included measuring of ceiling height, square footage and then testing how certain furniture would look in the room.

Project Tango is an imaging technology solution that uses a combination of various sensors to view the environment around you and generate spatial awareness for your phone. Using a number of different sensors on your phone or tablet, it creates a sophisticated picture of the world around it.

An infrared emitter and infrared camera act as a range-finder to measure the distance between a phone and various objects allowing them to be mapped in three dimensions. A wide angle camera adds details about the location, and other phone sensors including accelerometers, gyroscopes, and barometers combine to help Tango calculate not just objects in vicinity of your phone or tablet, but also the angle at which you are looking at an object, how far away it is, and what it looks like.

Now this is something amazing however no official dates have been given as to when it will be released in the market. But this collaboration is surely has something new to offer being a Lenovo mobile user i often had faced various shortcomings myself ,and to be frank i still feel a kind of reluctance but since Google is a notable brand it will surely take care of the technicalities.


Article by Prerna Sharma
A Computer Science Graduate by brain and a writer by heart. 
Prerna gels up technology and creativity to blog about what she loves.
She can be reached at twitter.com/prernas83606199