iPhone 7 predictions by analyst Ming-Chi Kuo: 2.4GHz A10 chip, 3GB RAM, dual 12MP cameras and more....

In a matter of four days, Apple will unveil the iPhone 7. However, the rumours just don’t stop. Now, KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who is known for accurate Apple predictions, has released a detailed research report revealing specifications for the upcoming iPhone 7.

According to a report by MacRumours, the iPhone 7 could include a new A10 chip, topped out at 2.4-2.45 GHz, along with 2GB of RAM and 3GB of RAM for the iPhone 7 Plus respectively. Apple will offer three storage options: 32GB, 128GB, and 256GB. The low-end 16GB variant might finally go away.

Additionally, Kuo said that the new iPhones will offer five color options: Silver, Gold, Rose Gold, along with a "dark black" color variant which will mostly replace the Space Grey color variant. A new color by Kuo is described as glossy ‘piano black’.

The company’s newest iPhone could finally be water resistant. The report points out that the device would come equipped with an improved IPX7, which would make the device, “suitable for splashes, showering, and even brief dips in water up to one meter deep.”

Apple might ditch the 3.5 mm headphone jack, and instead provide Lightning EarPods with the iPhone. The iPhone 7 Plus will most likely sport 12MP dual cameras. Kuo explains that one will be a wide-angle camera with larger pixel sizes, a 6P lens, and optical image stabilization, while the second will be a telephoto lens with smaller pixel sizes and a 5P lens. In other features, we can expect an upgraded rear camera flash along with a possible upgraded proximity sensor.

Lastly, Kuo believes iPhone 7 shipments will be below that of the iPhone 6s through the end of the year, coming in at 60-65 million compared to 82 million last year.

Stay tuned to dnaindia.com/scitech for full coverage of the iPhone 7 event, scheduled for Wednesday, 7 September.

OMKAR NARESH PATIL

There are many ways through which we can makemoney online and each way has its own requirements like Marketing Skill, Content Writing Skill, Web Development Skill etc.  Most of us don’t have such skill set so we search for Data Entry type of work online.

Online data entry jobs without investment: MegaTypers.com

Recently I came through a site called MegaTypers.comwhich pays for Data Entry work.  So I started to search about this website and I came to know that this one is not a scam from Registered Members comments.

I registered myself and these are the reviews about MegaTypers.com:

• #MegaTypers.com seems to be genuine but the amount they pay is very less.  It starts from $0.6 to $1.05 for every 1000 images and the rate varies every hour (So it’s always better to work on hours wherein the pay is high)
• Each image consist of a CAPTCHA Image which may consist of one or two words and both the words have to be entered correctly that too within 15 second else you will be kicked out (Multiple kicks can lead to account getting banned)
• Affiliate program is available wherein you make 10% of your affiliates earning (So more the no. of referrals more is the chance of making more money)
• Payment will be done on every Monday and the minimum amount required is $3
• Making multiple ID’s or cheating can lead to account getting banned and payment won’t be made on any of those accounts

How to Register in MegaTypers.com?

Step 1: Go to megatypers.com/register and create an Account

Step 2: Fill in your details

Step 3: Invitation Code is must for registering so you can use 5R3R or 5R3S… That’s all!!!

People will say that you can easily make around $100 every month on such sites but it’s very difficult without a proper plan.  Let me show you a small calculation which can be achieved but will take some amount of time:

Imagine you complete 500 images every day (working for an hour) at the rate of $1 every 1000 images

Your monthly earning = $0.5 * 30 = $15

Now imagine that you have 50 referrals under you and they do the same amount of work as you do

Earnings from referral = (50 * $15) * 10% = $75

Total monthly earning = $90

So if you work as per this plan then you can end up making around $90 working for 1 hour every day.  Gaining referral is easy in this case as registration requires referral code.

We can’t depend on such work for our living, instead we can do such work whenever we are bored just for some relaxation, fun and meanwhile can make some money too.

Samsung Galaxy Grand Duos I9082 vs Micromax A116 Canvas HD

e’ve sliced and diced two of the hottest handsets of February and now that ....

We’ve sliced and diced two of the hottest handsets of February and now that we’ve finally reviewed them both, it’s time to declare a winner once and for all. The battle in question is between the Micromax Canvas HD A116 and the Samsung Galaxy Grand Duos. After taking a poll, hearing what you have to say and even pitting both the handsets in an "on-paper" grudge match, the Micromax Canvas HD has always managed to come out as the crowd favourite. We all love rooting for the underdog and this time, it seems like the underdog has brought its A-game to the table—something that Samsung (or anyone for that matter)did not anticipate. Let’s walk through all the important aspects of a smartphone and see which handset ends up as the definitive winner.

Design and build
This is a completely subjective area and all things considered, we would give Samsung the upper hand. Both handsets make heavy use of plastic for the chassis, but we found the fit and finish of the Grand to be a bit better than the Canvas HD. We also liked the fact that it’s a bit thinner than the Canvas HD. Both handsets have a 5-inch display, but the Galaxy Grand is wider whereas the Canvas HD is longer, so it sits comfortably in most hands. Even though the Grand may score a point in this segment, we would just like to add that the Canvas HD is a huge improvement over the A110 and does not feel like a typical budget handset, so props to Micromax on that.

Has an edge in the design and build department

The Canvas HD does however score a big point for the display. At 5-inches, having a 720p display is the bare minimum and we feel this is one area that’s going to hit the Grand duos really hard. If Micromax can pack in a 1280 x 720 IPS display on a phone that costs almost Rs. 6,000 less, what’s Samsung’s excuse? We didn’t expect an AMOLED HD display at this price, but at least don’t skimp on the resolution. Miraculously, the Grand Duos does not have a terrible display despite the skimpy WVGA resolution. However, it’s nowhere near as crisp and sharp as the Canvas HD. 

Interface (UI)
Both the handsets have an extremely smooth UI thanks to Project Butter from Jelly Bean. The Canvas HD sticks closely to the stock look and feel of Android, whereas Samsung applies their own touch (wiz). In terms of functionality, we have to give it up to Samsung once again as childish as it may seem, TouchWiz does offer added feature and options like deeper social media integration and sharing options for many of the stock apps. This makes it much easier to share content without having to open individual apps directly. Plus, you get added features like split-screen view, various gestures support and much more.

In terms of raw horsepower, there’s simply no comparison as the Canvas HD simply blows everything in its price range, and slightly above, out the water. The four cores and powerful GPU easily pull through any heavy duty tasks with ease. That’s not to say the Galaxy Grand is a slouch. With 1GB of RAM on both handsets, it’s smooth sailing for most routine tasks. The Canvas HD does give some added assurance of extra power as and when you need it, which is always nice. 

No amount of TouchWiz can make up for lack of resolution

Media
Media capability is quite similar as well, as both handsets support popular codecs like FLAC and MKV and will decode 1080p video with ease. Audio quality is good out-of-the-box for the Galaxy Grand, whereas the Canvas HD will need some tweaking before it sounds good. With a decent pair of IEMs though, you’d be hard pressed to tell the difference with players like Poweramp. The Galaxy Grand Duos offers double the onboard storage (8GB) as compared to the Canvas and also has support for up to 64GB microSD card instead of 32GB on the Canvas HD.

Connectivity
The Galaxy Grand Duos trumps the Canvas HD by offering quad-band GSM support and tri-band 3G support. Dual-band Wi-Fi and GLONASS are the other two features lacking in the Canvas HD. Both handsets lack NFC, which still has to be put to better use, so it’s not something you’ll miss dearly.  Both handsets have dual-SIM support along with dual-standby.

Camera
Both handsets have an 8MP snapper and have similar options for tweaking your photos as well. As far as image quality goes, both are once again very similar as we did not find many huge differences when it comes to level of detail. The Galaxy Grand is faster when it comes to focusing on an image and is able to capture candid shots better as it’s quicker in that respect. The Canvas HD makes up for that by offering burst mode. Harnessing the power of the SoC, this function works surprisingly well. Dare we say, better than Samsung’s implementation on the S III! The burst photos are mostly blur free and with good focus and colour. Both also feature 1080p video recording.

Raising the bar for budget smartphones

Battery life
With similar capacity batteries in both handsets, the Canvas HD is only slightly behind the Galaxy Grand, despite having a quad-core SoC versus a dual-core. This could be due to the smaller 28nm fabrication that makes the MediaTek SoC more efficient. Both handsets will easily get you through an entire day without having to run for a charger.

Verdict
Like all buying decisions, price is always the deciding factor and here, Micromax is ahead by a mile. With a price difference of nearly Rs.6,000, which is a lot, the Canvas HD A116 makes a much better purchase overall. It has a denser and better looking display, scores well in terms of build and finish, has the latest Android flavour, very good multimedia capabilities, good front and rear camera, powerful processor and, to top it all off, has very decent battery life. The only major things going against the Canvas HD are the lack of timely updates (if any) and the fact that you can’t use it anywhere in the world if you travel a lot. Samsung takes care of these shortcomings in the Grand Duos, but we feel the premium is not worth paying since the rest of the feature simply don’t match and are rather inferior to the Canvas HD. Also, once we start getting custom ROMs from the good folks at XDA, it’s not going to be so much of a problem.

If you are still scratching your head about which one to pick, we recommend the Canvas HD over the Galaxy Grand.

Buy that smartphone before April 2013 or be ready to pay more

The Union Budget 2013 has left a sour aftertaste for mobile buyers with the rise in prices. Mobile penetration in the country has been phenomenal and mobile phones have been enjoying an excise duty of one percent. The government has decided to impose a six percent hike in the excise duty, owing to which the prices of phones are set to rise. This additional amount will be imposed only on phones priced over Rs. 2,000, as revealed by Finance Minister P. Chidambaram. Trying to add some relief, he said that 70 percent of imported mobile phones and 60 percent of home-brewed handsets are priced less than Rs. 2,000.

As the excise duty increases from 1 percent to 6 percent, a phone priced at Rs. 10,000 is likely to sell for an additional Rs. 600. Look at the table below for the expected new prices.

Possible prices after implemeting the new excise duty hike

This also means mobile phone companies are busy crafting new price tags for phones and the increase could be around 5 to 6 percent. As the Union Budget is usually implemented for next financial year, these new prices should be effective from April 1, 2013. This leaves you with just one month to buy your desirable smartphone before the prices are hiked. So, in case you plan to upgrade to a new smartphone, then we suggest you do it soon.

We tried getting in touch with our grey market sources to know about the price hike in the other side of the gadget market. According to our sources, the devices will continue to sell for the same price and market vendors haven’t been intimated about the possible new prices. If you plan to buy the current crème de la crème of the smartphone market, then the 16GB iPhone 5 is now available for Rs. 43,800, the Samsung Galaxy Note II at Rs. 35,750 and the Galaxy S III at Rs. 29,000. From HTC, you will get the HTC Butterfly for Rs. 47,000 and the HTC One X+ for Rs. 38,500. Nokia's Senior VP had recently announced a possible price slash of its Lumia range. However, post the Budget 2013, lets see if they implememt the price slash. Smartphones with exhorbitant prices will suffer the most from the hike in excise duty. The latest move will also put paid to all those who hoped for a reduction in smartphone prices post budget. There's only one month  to lay your hands on the nifty feature-loaded smartphone, before you are forced to shell out at least a thousand more.

Govt may earn more than Rs 1,800 cr from mobile tax hike next fiscal

The government’s decision to hike the excise duty on phones priced above Rs 2,000 is going to fetch it a lot of money in the coming financial year. According to Business Standard, the government could earn somewhere between Rs 1,800 crore and Rs 2,700 crore in 2013-14 from mobile tax, depending upon the average cost of phones in the country.

Expensive phones will earn the government a lot of money

The mobile phone industry was enjoying an excise duty of only one percent before the 2013 budget was announced. Although the 5 percent hike seems reasonable, the Indian Cellular Association, which represents major handset manufacturers in the country, reveals that 200 million new mobile phones are sold in a year. Out of these, 70 percent (about 140 million devices) cost more than Rs 2,000. Note that there are some discrepancies regarding the average price of a mobile phone in the country, as the Indian Cellular Association says it is Rs 4,000, while Ernst & Young analysts think it is Rs 6,000.

However, Finance Minister P Chidambaram said 70 percent of imported mobile phones and about 60 percent of home-grown phones cost Rs 2,000 or less. A spokesperson from Ernst & Young said the hike would result in a three to four percent rise in retail prices and phone manufacturers may consider consuming the burden at the lower end, as the competition is very high. However, this burden is likely to be passed on to consumers at the higher end.

The new hike is likely to be implemented from the start of the new financial year. High-end phones, which currently cost around Rs 35,000 and Rs 45,000, will grow even more expensive. So if Rs 45,000 is exorbitant, how would you classify Rs 48,000 or more? That’s how much phones in this range are expected to cost once the hike comes into play.

Could there be a cheaper $300 iPhone 5 for India and China in the works?

A cheaper version of the iPhone 5 may be launched soon in India and China. According to Japanese website Macotakara, the device would cost $300 (approximately Rs 18,000) and will enter the mid-end segment in the two countries. This is less than half the price of the iPhone 5, which currently demands roughly Rs 45,000 for the 16GB model.

There have been rumours about a cheaper iPhone 5 in the past, but this is the first one that has included the price of the cheaper iPhone 5. 

Cheaper iPhone 5 on the way?

Reportedly, sales of the iPhone 5 in Mainland China are tapering due to the pricing, and a budget version may just help increase sales.

Apple has also been trying to sustain its hold in the Indian mobile market. It has indeed been advertising the iPhone 5 India quite heavily, which makes us wonder if this could be due to falling sales, as we haven’t seen the Cupertino-based company market any of its other products at such a large scale.

Earlier reports suggesting a cheaper iPhone model claim Apple plans to cut the cost of the iPhone with a “different and less expensive body”. It is rumoured the company is toying with the idea of building the device with polycarbonate instead of aluminum, which will help it reduce the price significantly. Furthermore, other parts on the cheaper iPhone could be recycled from previous iPhone models.

Apart from a cheaper iPhone, rumours about a new iteration of the iPad and the iPhone 5S are also up and about. Reports suggest that the iPad 5 and iPad mini are expected to be launched in March or April. The new iPad 5 is said to be much slimmer than the current version and will run on an A6X processor. And the second generation of the iPad mini is expected to have the same size and form, but come with better hardware. There is currently no concrete news about a possible Retina display for the iPad mini, but rumours indicate it will be seeing this upgrade as well.

An analyst at investment firm Jeffries has speculated that the iPhone 5S is in preps. According to him, the iPhone 5S will be launched in six to eight different colour options as the company’s competitors like Samsung and Nokia have been releasing smartphones in varied colour options. He has even gone ahead and speculated that the iPhone 5S will be made available in June this year.