LG launched the V30+ smartphone in India today, priced at Rs. 44,990; the handset will go on sale via Amazon India on December 18, while pre-bookings start on Thursday. The LG V30+ has a 5.7-inch QHD FullVision display, 128GB internal storage, and dual cameras at the back, apart from a 32-bit Hi-Fi Quad DAC powered by Bang & Olufsen. Other key specifications of the handset include Android 7.1.2 Nougat operating system, Snapdragon 835 SoC, 4GB of RAM, 5-megapixel front camera, up to 2TB microSD card support, and a 3300mAh battery.
Other features of the LG V30+ include military-grade rating for shock-resistance, facial recognition for unlocking, fingerprint sensor, and a Floating Bar interface. As for launch offers, LG is offering bundled B&O Play earphones, one-time free screen replacement worth Rs. 12,000, free wireless charger worth Rs. 3,000, and in-app purchases worth Rs. 6,400 on Beat Fever app.
Paytm Mall 2017 Grand Finale sale starts
The Paytm Mall 2017 Grand Finale sale kicked off today, and will continue till Friday. The sale offers discounts and cashbacks across gadgets, including the ever-popular smartphones. You can get the iPhone X 64GB at Rs. 4,000 cashback in the sale (effective price Rs. 85,000), as well as iPhone 8 at effective price of Rs. 51,149, iPhone 7 32GB at Rs. 38,290 effective price. Courtesy cashbacks and flat discounts in the sale, Android smartphone such as Moto G5S, Samsung Galaxy S7, and LG G6+ have also seen their effective prices drop in the sale. Apart from these, you can get deals on iPads and Amazon Kindles too on Paytm Mall.
Airtel 4G Hotspot price slashed to Rs. 999
Airtel has cut the price of its 4G Hotspot portable Wi-Fi device to Rs. 999; it was available at around Rs. 1,500 before this. The portable hotspot can connect with up to ten devices at a time, and has battery of up to six hours. Airtel will soon start selling the device on Amazon India as well. Its primary rival is the JioFi M2S pocket router, which has similar features and costs Rs. 999 too.
Also today, the company rolled out its 4G VoLTE calling service in Chennai, delivering HD quality voice calls and faster call setup time in the region.
Vodafone upgrades Rs. 348 plan to offer 2GB data per day
Vodafone subscribers will now get 2GB data per day with the Rs. 348 prepaid plan, up from 1.5GB; incidentally, the plan started with 1GB daily data allocation. Apart from these, the pack comes with bundled calls (250 minutes a day, 1,000 minutes a week), free outgoing calls on roaming, and 100 SMSes per day. Validity of the Vodafone Rs. 348 recharge pack is 28 days, the same as before. This comes only a few days after Airtel started offering 2GB data a day at this price point in order to compete better with Reliance Jio.
Idea launches Nirvana postpaid plans, data rollover facility
Idea launched Nirvana postpaid plans as well as data rollover facility today. The new Idea Nirvana plans are priced between Rs. 389 and Rs. 2,999, and come with bundled data, unlimited calls across India, free SMSes, 12-month access to Idea’s gaming, and movie and music streaming apps. Plans worth Rs. 1,299 and above even come with bundled ISD calls. Apart from these, the Idea Data Carry Forward option allows users to leftover data in a month to the next billing cycle, up to a maximum of 500GB.
For select prepaid users, Idea has the Rs. 398 plan that provides 1GB data per day and 70-day validity, up from 35 days. Apart from these, buyers will get calling and texting benefits, as well as cashback of Rs. 357 in form of vouchers that can be redeemed while buying the next recharge.
Honor 6X, Honor 8 Pro get price cuts in India
The Honor 6X and Honor 8 Pro are available at discounted prices on Amazon India till December 19. Honor 8 Pro with 5.7-inch QHD screen, octa-core HiSilicon Kirin 655 processor, 6GB of RAM, 128GB storage, dual rear cameras, and 4000mAh battery is now available at Rs. 25,999. This represents a Rs. 4,000 price cut on its launch price. Similarly, there’s a Rs. 2,000 price cut on the 3GB + 32GB and 4GB + 64GB variants of Honor 6X, bringing down their prices to Rs. 9,999 and Rs. 11,999, respectively. It has a 5.5-inch full-HD screen, HiSilicon Kirin 655 chip, dual cameras on the back, and 3340mAh battery.
Nokia 9, Nokia 6 (2018) spotted online with model numbers
The upcoming Nokia 9 and Nokia 6 (2018) have been spotted once again, this time on China’s 3C certification website. While this does not reveal much about the two smartphones, we do get the model numbers of the handsets. Nokia 6 (2018) is listed with model number TA-1054, while Nokia 9 is mentioned as TA-1042. It is rumoured that Nokia 9 will come in two other variants, with model numbers TA-1005 and TA-1009. Apart from these, two other Nokia handsets were spotted online, with model numbers TA-1062 and TA-1077. A previous report pegged the launch of Nokia 9, as well as Nokia 8 (2018) on January 19, so Nokia 6 (2018) may join in then too.
Misfit Vapour touchscreen smartwatch released in India
Fossil-owned brand Misfit has launched its Vapour touchscreen smartwatch in India at Rs. 14,495. Available exclusively on Flipkart, the Android Wear 2.0 watch has a 1.39-inch full round AMOLED screen with 326ppi pixel density, metallic edges, 4GB storage, Snapdragon 2100 chip, fitness tracking features, and a mic. Misfit Vapour is compatible with devices running Android 4.3 and above as well as iOS 9 and above, and is water-resistant up to 50 metres.
Samsung Galaxy A8 (2018), Galaxy A8+ (2018) design leaked
A user manual on the official Samsung website has leaked the design of the upcoming Samsung Galaxy A8 (2018) and Galaxy A8+ (2018) smartphones. It shows that the former two smartphones will have bezel-less Infinity Display design as well as dual rear cameras, as shown in previous leaks. Other key features highlighted in the leak include a fingerprint scanner, primary camera sensor along with LED flash, NFC support, two SIM card slots (Nano), and microSD card slot. Also, the official document reveals that the Galaxy A8 (2018) and Galaxy A8+ (2018) will have Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS/ A-GPS, and NFC support in terms of connectivity.
OnePlus 5 now getting OxygenOS 4.5.15 update
OnePlus 5 is receiving the OxygenOS 4.5.15 update, with bug fixes as well as the October security update. This update is based on Android 7.1.1 Nougat and is just 74MB in size. Key upgrades it will bring to the OnePlus 5 include GPS improvements as well as fixes to issues like setting customised alarm ringtone, sharing emoji from Bitmoji and a few other minor bug fixes. While the OnePlus 3 and OnePlus 3T have received the Android Oreo public updates, the OnePlus 5 and OnePlus 5T have not; however, fans can download the beta Oreo builds, till the stable build is rolled out in January.
Disclosure: Paytm’s parent company One97 is an investor in Gadgets 360.