Budget Windows Phone devices from Karbonn, Lava will start at Rs 6,000; to launch this June

Domestic handset players Lava and Karbonn will launch Windows-based smartphones in the coming few months. Karbonn’s Windows Phone devices will be in the price range of Rs 6,000 to Rs 12,000, while Lava’s range will start at Rs 6,500.

“We will come out with four devices with Windows-based operating systems by the end of May or starting June in the price range of 6,000-12,000,” Karbonn Managing Director Pradeep Jain told PTI.

Lava International CEO and MD Hari Om Rai said: “A series of Windows-based phones will be launched under the Lava brand by July. These will be priced in the range of Rs 6,500-8,500.” He said the phones would be have Qualcomm Snapdragon 200 processors and feature the Windows Phone 8 platform.

“We expect the Windows-based phones to represent 8-10 percent of the volume of Lava smartphones starting July-August” Rai added.

For Xolo brand of phones, the expected timeline of launch is the coming quarter. “We at Xolo believe that Windows OS has certain goodness to offer for a certain market segment and it will help us reach a desired 15 percent share of the smartphone market by end 2014,” a Xolo spokesperson said.


Last month, at the Mobile World Congress Microsoft had announced that it would be working with nine new Windows phone partners, including Foxconn, Gionee, JSR, Karbonn, Lava (Xolo), Lenovo, LG, Longcheer and ZTE. HTC, Huawei, Nokia and Samsung are already making Windows-based devices.

As per the IDC figures of the last quarter of 2013, Android had a 78.1 percent share of global smartphone shipments while the Microsoft Windows Phone platform share stood at 3 percent.

Read More »

Lava Launches Iris 504q Smartphone With Gesture Control

 Mobile handset company LAVA International announced its entry into the high-end smartphone category with its new flagship smartphone, Lava Iris504q. The phone boasts of technologically advanced gesture motion control that reinvents the mobile experience and set a new standard for smartphones in its category.  Lava Iris504q is designed to address a large and important segment of the smartphone market where customers are looking to upgrade to an affordable, easy-to-use, full-featured and technologically competitive smartphone. 

(See: Lava To Launch Sub Rs 3K FireFox OS Phone)

The Lava Iris 504q is an Android smartphone with 8.4mm thickness that makes it the slimmest in its category. It brings HD experience to a 5 inch IPS screen with OGS display technology and a resolution of 1280x720 pixels. The new gesture motion feature allows the users to interact with the phone with just a swipe of the hand in the air. The gesture control feature can be used for clicking photos, changing tracks on the music player and video player, tuning FM channels and browsing entertainment gallery on the smartphone.


Powered by a Quad Core 1.2GHz processor and running on Android 4.2 (Jelly Bean), the Iris 504q comes with an intelligent flip cover, offering comfort and convenience to the consumer. This device sports an 8MP camera (rear auto-focus with in-built flash and BSI sensor) that provides multiple camera options to capture stunning photographs and a 2 MP front camera for 3G video calling.

Lava Iris 504q also packs in 1GB RAM and an internal memory of 4 GB, which is expandable up to 32 GB giving users enough space to store their multimedia content. A large 2,000-mAh battery provides ample back up for multimedia, stand by and talk time.

Lava has also partnered with Hungama to provide seamless entertainment experience and various VAS initiatives latest being integration of Hungama’s Music Application and  ‘LavaZone’ the storefront (Powered by Hungama.com) on Iris 504Q. With this user gets access to over 2 million pieces of content across genres and languages, in the form of music tracks, music videos, trailers & dialogues; mobile content such as ringtones & wallpapers. Iris504q comes with some preloaded apps such as Opera web browser, Hungama Music App and Moden Combat HD from gameloft, making it a smart choice for the smartphone buyers.


Hari Om Rai, Co-Founder & Director, Lava International, said, “Lava believes in enhancing consumer experience while assisting efficiency and helping consumers to enjoy products that meet their needs. Our innovative products are a result of careful planning, intense R&D and listening to the needs of our consumers. We are proud to announce the launch of our flagship and the much awaited, Lava Iris 504q - a technologically competitive product, with superior features and high quality, available to our discerning customers at a smart price.”


Lava Iris 504q is a super slim, fast and easy-to-use smartphone that delivers effortless multitasking, making life easier and hassle-free. Priced at Rs. 13,499 Lava Iris 504q will be available across national retail chain stores, multi-brand outlets across India and online stores beginning 4th week of June.

Read More »

Lava Xolo B700 has 1 GHz dual-core, 4.3-inch, 5MP camera, ICS, price Rs 8999

The latest handset is great and will be loved by people in the country. Lava Xolo B700 comes with 1 GHz dual-core, 4.3-inch, 5MP camera, Ice Cream Sandwich and price tag of Rs 8999

Another very good handset from Lava has been introduced in the market. Xolo B700 comes with very enticing 4.3 inch display and will run on a rather older Android 4 Ice Cream Sandwich. The smart phone market as far as very affordable handsets are concerned is expanding rather very fast with Lava, Micromax, Karbonn and other introducing one handset after the other with really no waiting time. The speed of the launch is so fast that it seems that they are in a hurry to introduce the next handset as literally there is not even difference of days in launches of many of these handsets.


Meanwhile Micromax seems to have disappointed its fans as it has failed to launch its much anticipated Canvas HD despite starting taking pre orders as early as mid-February and thousands and thousands of people pre-ordering the device expecting it to be shipped within days. But more than a month after the promised market launched it is still nowhere in sight.


The latest offering from Lava is sure to entice many smart-phone fans who want a good entry level handset as their first smart-phone. The new handset B700 comes with a very powerful battery and runs on Android 4.0.4 Ice cream Sandwich operating system.


The handset comes with a rather very enticing 4.3 inch qHD display and is powered by 1 GHz dual core processor.  As far as rear camera is concerned, it has 5 megapixel rear camera besides of course 0.3 megapixel front facing camera.  Xolo B 700 has 512 MB of RAM and 4GB of internal storage that can be expanded to 32 GB with micro SD card.  So the handset has everything to make it a huge success in the market.

Read More »