Samsung has finally launched the Galaxy J smartphone, a Galaxy S4 smartphone variant, in Taiwan. The Galaxy J will be available at 21,900 Taiwanese dollars, which roughly translates to Rs. 45,356 without contract. The Samsung Galaxy J will be available in Red and White colours in Taiwan, while the Blue variant will be exclusive to Japan. As per VR Zone China, the Samsung Galaxy J can be expected to be available in Taiwan in mid-December or early January.

Samsung has been rumoured to unveil the Galaxy J in more markets to reach its sales target for this year, as the flagship smartphone, Galaxy S4 sales have reportedly been disappointing. However, there is no official word on the possible availability and release of the Galaxy J in markets outside Japan and now Taiwan.

The Samsung Galaxy J was first announced in October this year under NTT DoCoMo's winter smartphone line-up. The smartphone has been seen as a Samsung Galaxy S4 smartphone variant for Japan; however the device comes with upgraded specifications and software similar to the Galaxy Note 3 phablet.

The Samsung Galaxy J runs Android 4.3 Jelly Bean out-of-the-box and is powered by a 2.3GHz quad-core Snapdragon 800 (MSM8974) processor, much like the Galaxy Note 3 phablet. It features a 5-inch full-HD Super AMOLED display. There is a 13.2-megapixel rear camera with BSI CMOS sensor and LED flash, while it also houses a 2.1-megapixel front-facing camera.

The Galaxy J comes with 3GB of RAM and includes 32GB inbuilt storage expandable up to additional 64GB with the help of microSD card. It packs a 2600mAh battery and comes with connectivity options like 3G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS/A-GPS, and NFC.

Samsung Galaxy J key specifications

The iBall Andi smartphone range has been expanded with the introduction of the Andi 5.5N2 Quadro. The new phablet is available at an e-commerce website for Rs. 13,215, and hasn't yet been officially launched or listed by iBall.

The iBall Andi 5.5N2 Quadro runs Android 4.2 Jelly Bean. It is a dual-SIM smartphone with support for GSM+GSM. The Andi 5.5N2 Quadro features a 5.5-inch HD (720x1280 pixels) IPS display. It is powered by a quad-core 1.2GHz processor (unspecified chipset) along with 1GB of RAM. It sports a 12-megapixel rear autofocus camera with LED flash and also houses a 2-megapixel front-facing camera.

There is 4GB of inbuilt storage on the Andi 5.5N2 Quadro, which can be further expanded up to 32GB via microSD card. The Andi 5.5N2 Quadro comes with a 2500mAh battery. Connectivity options on the phablet include Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPRS, EDGE, GPS, Micro-USB and 3G. The iBall Andi 5.5N2 Quadro is currently available at Snapdeal.

Earlier, iBall introduced two new affordable smartphones in India, the Andi 5-E7 and Andi 5-M8. Both the iBall Andi 5-E7 and Andi 5-M8 smartphones have been listed at company's site with Rs. 8,199 and Rs. 8,999 pricing respectively.

The iBall Andi 5-E7 runs Android 4.2 Jelly Bean. It is a dual-SIM smartphone with support for GSM+GSM. The Andi 5-E7 features a 5-inch FWVGA (480x854 pixels) display. It is powered by a 1.3GHz dual-core Cortex A7 processor (unspecified chipset) along with 512MB of RAM. It sports a 5-megapixel rear autofocus camera with LED flash and also houses a VGA front-facing camera.

On the other hand, the iBall Andi 5-M8 runs Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean. It is a dual-SIM (GSM+GSM) device with dual standby support, and unlike the Andi 5-E7, offers 3G connectivity. It also has a larger 8-megapixel rear camera than the Andi 5-E7, with LED flash, apart from its VGA front-facing camera. It features a 5-inch display with a resolution of 480x854 pixels. The smartphone is powered by 1.3GHz dual-core Cortex A7 processor (unspecified chipset) alongside 512MB of RAM.

iBall Andi 5.5N2 Quadro key specifications

Gionee has expanded its Pioneer smartphone range with the launch of the Pioneer P3 at Rs. 7,499 for the Indian market. The latest Gionee Pioneer P3 is the successor to the Pioneer P2.

The dual-SIM (GSM+GSM) based Gionee Pioneer P3 runs Android 4.2 Jelly Bean. It comes with a 4.3-inch display with a resolution of 480x800 pixels. The Gionee Pioneer P3 is powered by a 1.3GHz quad-core processor (unspecified chipset) alongside 512MB of RAM. The smartphone sports a 5-megapixel rear autofocus camera with LED flash and also includes a 0.3-megapixel front-facing camera. It includes 4GB of inbuilt storage, which is expandable up to 32GB via microSD card. Connectivity options include Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPRS, EDGE Micro-USB and 3G. It packs a 1700mAh battery.

The Gionee Pioneer P2 was launched in August this year. The Gionee Pioneer P2 runs on Android 4.2 Jelly Bean. It features a 4-inch WVGA display with a resolution of 480x800 pixels. The device is powered by a 1.3GHz dual-core Cortex A7 MediaTek 6572 processor paired with 512MB of RAM and Mali 400 GPU. It sports a 5-megapixel rear camera accompanied by an LED flash and a VGA front-facing camera.

In November, Gionee announced the GPad G3 phablet at Rs. 9,999. The Android 4.2.1-based GPad G3 phablet is a dual-SIM (GSM+GSM) smartphone with dual standby. It features a 5.5-inch display with 480x854 pixels resolution and is powered by a 1.2GHz quad-core MediaTek MT6589 processor, coupled with PowerVR SGX544 GPU and 512MB of RAM. The GPad G3 sports a 5-megapixel rear autofocus camera with LED flash and also includes a VGA front-facing camera.

The GPad G3 bears 4GB of inbuilt storage, which is expandable up to 32GB via microSD card. Connectivity options on the phablet include Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, EDGE, GPRS and 3G. The Gionee GPad G3 runs on a 2250mAh battery, and measures 157.3x79.3x9.6mm.

Gionee Pioneer P3 key specifications

HTC has expanded its Desire range with the introduction of new mid-range smartphones, the Desire 501 dual-SIM, Desire 601 dual-SIM, and Desire 700 dual-SIM in India.

The HTC Desire 501 dual-SIM has been launched at Rs. 16,890, the HTC Desire 601 dual-SIM has a pricing of Rs. 24,190 and the HTC Desire 700 dual-SIM comes at Rs. 33,050.

Earlier, HTC announced the three Desire smartphones (Desire 501 dual-SIM, Desire 601 dual-SIM, and Desire 700 dual-SIM) in Taiwan at a press briefing.

The HTC Desire 700 and Desire 601 dual-SIM smartphones run an unspecified version of Android Jelly Bean OS with HTC Sense UI on top, featuring BlinkFeed. The HTC Desire 501 runs Android 4.1 Jelly Bean with Sense UI, but does not feature BlinkFeed. It's not clear at this stage whether the OS version in all the Desire 700 and Desire 601 smartphones is Android 4.2 or Android 4.3.

The HTC Desire 501 dual-SIM as the name suggests is a dual-SIM (GSM+GSM) smartphone with dual active support. It comes with a 4.3-inch WVGA (480x800) display. It is powered by a 1.15GHz dual-core processor with 1GB of RAM. The smartphone sports an 8-megapixel rear camera with LED flash and BSI sensor. It also includes a 2.1-megapixel front-facing camera. There is 8GB of inbuilt storage, which can be expanded up to 32GB via microSD card. There is 2100mAh battery and includes Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, DLNA, Micro-USB and built-in NFC as connectivity options.

On the other hand, the HTC Desire 601 dual-SIM (dual standby) is a variant of the Desire 601 which was announced in September this year. The HTC Desire 601 comes with a 4.5-inch qHD display with a 540x960 pixels resolution. It is powered by a 1.2GHz quad-core processor (unspecified chipset) along with 1GB of RAM. It sports a 5-megapixel rear camera with LED flash and also includes some HTC One camera goodies like Sequence shot, Always Smile, Object Removal and HTC Zoe. It also sports a VGA front-facing camera.

The device comes with 4GB of inbuilt storage which can be expanded up to 64GB via microSD card. The HTC Desire 601 also features dual-front stereo speakers with built-in amplifiers. Connectivity options on the device include Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, GPS and 3G. The Desire 601 dual-SIM includes a 2100mAh battery that the company claims can deliver up to 12 hours of talktime and up to 582 hours of standby time.

The HTC Desire 700 dual-SIM as the name suggests is a dual-SIM smartphone with support for GSM+GSM and features dual active support. It's worth pointing out that the smartphone supports micro-SIM cards in both slots, instead of one with the regular SIM size. The HTC Desire 700 features a 5-inch qHD (540x960 pixels) display. It is powered by a 1.2GHz quad-core processor alongside 1GB of RAM, although the chipset has not been revealed, yet. It comes with 8GB of inbuilt storage, which is further expandable up to 64GB via microSD card.

The Desire 700 dual-SIM sports an 8-megapixel rear autofocus camera with LED flash and also houses a 2.1-megapixel front-facing camera with BSI sensor. Much like the flagship smartphone HTC One, the Desire 700 dual-SIM features HTC BoomSound dual-front stereo speakers with built-in amplifier. It includes Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, DLNA, GPS/AGPS and 3G connectivity options. The smartphone packs a 2100mAh battery which can deliver up to 11.6 hours of talktime and up to 582 hours of standby time.

HTC Desire 501 dual-SIM key specifications

HTC Desire 601 dual-SIM key specifications

HTC Desire 700 dual-SIM key specifications

The search engine giant confirmed the news via a post on its Nexus' Google+ page. As per the company, the Android 4.4.1 update brings camera improvements like faster focussing, particularly in low light situations; quicker white balancing for truer colours; ability to pinch-zoom the viewfinder in HDR+ mode and less shutter lag. Google has also shared some images showing the difference between HDR+ mode and normal mode after the update.

Further, the Google+ post also detailed about the advantages of the HDR+ mode. According to Google, the HDR+ lets users take shots in more tricky situations where there's a large contrast of bright and dark portions of the scene and also in low light situations.

Earlier we reported about the issues with Nexus 5's camera which features an 8-megapixel Optical Image Stabilisation (OIS) camera module. The issues majorly included complaints regarding slow auto-focus, shutter lag, blurry images and inconsistent colour reproduction in images.

In addition, Google's Director of Engineering for Android, Dave Burke in an interview with The Vergeconfirmed that the Nexus 5's camera took longer to focus, although post update the smartphone would have faster shutter speeds. Burke claimed that post the Android 4.4.1 update, the camera on Nexus 5 will launch a full second faster that it did earlier. Burke also said that the camera would get better with time, as he admitted that a lot has to be done to improve the camera performance.

Google globally announced the Nexus 5 which is also the platform lead device for Android 4.4 KitKat in November this year. It comes with a 4.95-inch full-HD IPS display with a resolution of 1080x1920 pixels and boasts a pixel density of 445ppi. The Nexus 5 also sports Corning Gorilla Glass 3. It is powered by a 2.26GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor alongside 2GB of RAM. The Nexus 5 sports an 8.0-megapixel rear camera with Optical Image Stabilization (OIS) and a 1.3-megapixel front camera. It comes in 16GB and 32GB storage options, with Black and White colours to choose from. Unfortunately, much like the Nexus 4, the Nexus 5 does not support expandable storage.

Samsung is now reportedly resuming the Android 4.3 Jelly Bean for its flagship smartphone of 2012, the Galaxy S III (GT-I9300) in UK.

Samsung recently suspended the Android 4.3 update for Galaxy S III following complaints from users who installed the update. Users complained about issues like an unresponsive handset, particularly the lock screen; erratic Wi-Fi connectivity; poor battery backup, and a system hanging problem that required the battery to be pulled out to restart the smartphone.

As per Sammobile the new update for the Galaxy S III fixes all the major issues of previous firmware. The site claims that the Android 4.3 update for Galaxy S III is currently is available only in UK, with other regions to follow soon. As per the report, the update is available both OTA (over the air) and via the company's Kies software. Unfortunately, there is no word when the new Android 4.3 Jelly Bean update for Galaxy S III will hit India.

The change log of the Android 4.3 Jelly Bean update for the Galaxy S III is similar to the previous update.

The changes include Galaxy Gear support; core UI elements updated, now similar to Samsung Galaxy S4; new Samsung keyboard; updated GPU drivers; new lock screen with multiple widgets and improved ripple effect; new Screen modes (like Galaxy S4); Daydream; Driving mode; new actionable notifications; new move to SD card feature; additions in notification centre; revamped settings UI and new Camera mode with Sound and Shoot.

The new Android 4.3 Jelly Bean update for Galaxy S III also reportedly introduces new Samsung apps like calculator, contacts, gallery and music apps; Samsung apps now can work in full screen mode and revamped S-Voice (similar to the Galaxy S4).

Notably, the Android 4.3 update for Galaxy S III brings Galaxy Gear support, Samsung's first wearable tech device, making the S III the fourth device to sport that functionality after Samsung Galaxy Note 3, Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 Edition and Samsung Galaxy S4, as previously reported.