Hyundai Grand i10

Launching on 3rd September

Hyundai seems to be working on a version of its top selling i10 hatchback that's got more appeal and even more firepower and will perhaps come very close to giving the market leader cause for concern; coming your way in September

It’s no secret that Hyundai needed to have an upgrade or at best an all new evolution of its best selling i10, which now has had a life span in its present form of close to seven years. Well, what you see before you is on its way to fulfill that very objective and Hyundai is calling it the Grand i10.

As can be seen, the Grand i10 with the help of Hyundai’s European Design Center in Germany has once again done wonders with its fluidic design theme, which even today looks fresh, a step ahead but in a lower segment. The i10 Grand would offer buyers a large cabin done up in a plush two tone beige-black combination that lends a Premier feel to the interiors. Read : Hyundai i10 Grand complete feature

When it comes to traction effort, the Grand i10 is offered with a choice of two engines. The first being the tried and tested 1.2 litre KAPPA petrol unit and the second is the brand new state-of-the-art 1.1 U2 CRDI diesel that is making its Indian debut.

Hyundai has also packed this car with a number of goodies that include a smart key, a/c vent for rear passengers (which is an industry first feature in this category of car, and an India exclusive feature on the BA, IA Grand i10), push button start/stop, 2DIN mp3 audio with 1 GB internal memory, steering mounted audio controls, rear parking sensors, Bluetooth, Aux-in and USB connectivity, glove box cooling, and electric ORVMs with integrated indicators.

As one of the most awaited small car launches of the year, the Hyundai Grand i10 appears to be a rather practical product for our shores, and the company has made it quite clear that India is an important market as any other, and will get products that are at par or superior to the rest of the world! Watch this space for more complete specifications and variant-wise price and feature listing at the time of launch.

LG PD233 Pocket Photo Printer

Available now in India for Rs 14,990

The LG PD233 Pocket Photo Printer is a mobile printingsolution that has set foot in India and can be purchased in exchange of an amount of under Rs 15,000. The LG device’s compact form factor makes it easy for customers to carry it around and make hard copies as and when they like.

Packed in a silver-colored exterior, the device in question has dimensions of 72.4 x 120.9 x 24 millimeters and tips the scales at merely 212 grams. The wireless gadget can work in conjunction with any smartphone or tablet based on Google’s Android mobile platform and is even compatible with the iOS-based iPhone and iPad.

Featuring a resolution of 313dpi, the LG PD233 Pocket Photo Printer can deliver as many as 1000 printed papers. And if the manufacturer of the device is to be believed, it can render a paper in less than a minute, 40 seconds to be precise. One of the main advantages of the accessory is its built-in NFC and Bluetooth for wireless communication with compliant devices.

A 5000mAh lithium-polymer battery of 7.4V hides under the hood and powers up the pocket peripheral. The company says that it takes around 1 hour and 30 minutes to charge completely and once done, it can print as many as 25 pages at a stretch. This machine uses ZINK photo paper 2.0 and even has an application installed for editing pictures and adding special effects and frames to them. And if that’s not enough, it even allows customers to add a QR code to every photo.

As we already mentioned, the PD233 Pocket Photo Printer carries a price tag of Rs 14,990.

India's first indigenous nuclear submarine

India's first indigenously constructed nuclear powered submarine achieved a key milestone when its atomic reactor was switched on in Visakhapatnam last night. Top naval sources confirmed that the Arihant's reactor had "gone critical". With this, a key milestone in the submarine's 'harbour acceptance trials' have been completed. "We have waited a very long time for this," a senior naval official said.

A nuclear submarine armed with nuclear-tipped ballistic missiles is the third leg of the 'triad' of land, air and sea launched nuclear weapons envisaged by India's nuclear doctrine of 1998. The navy wants the submarine ready for deterrent patrol, or when it can sail out with nuclear weapons, by 2014.

The next key milestone will be when the 6000-tonne Arihant begins its sea trials and when its commanding officer Captain Sanjay Mahendru signals "underway on nuclear power", to mean that the submarine is sailing out self-powered. This is likely to be as early as next month when the monsoons subside.

Nuclear submarines use miniaturised atomic reactors to generate tremendous heat that boils water into saturated steam. This steam runs its submarine's propulsion and generates electricity. It is near-identical to a steam-powered turbine plant, except it uses nuclear energy.

Since its launch in Vizag on 26 July 2009, the Arihant has spent over four years in harbour acceptance trials. Steam from the dockyard was generated and pumped into the submarine to test its major machinery and control systems. With the 80 Megawatt nuclear reactor now switched on, the submarine can generate its own power to test its systems.

The Arihant was launched in Vizag on 26 July 2009. Since then, the ballistic missile submarine (SSBN) has spent over four years in harbor trials that are meant to test whether all its machinery and control systems are functional.

During sea trials, the submarine will test all its parameters: maximum diving depth, speeds and sensors. "It's difficult to put a timeline to these trials because they are event-based and not time-based," says veteran submarine Vice Admiral Arun Kumar Singh (retired). "The crew of the Arihant will have to check off literally hundreds of parameters."

The sea trials will include the submerged test-firing of the 'B-05' ballistic missile. The Arihant can carry 12 of these nuclear-tipped missiles, each of which has a range of 700 km. Sections of a second submarine, to be named Aridaman are already at an advanced stage of outfitting at the Ship Building Centre (SBC) in Vizag. Sources indicate the submarine could be launched by next year. Sections of a third submarine are also under construction at the Larsen & Toubro's Hazira facility. The three SSBNs have been under construction under a secret navy-DRDO-Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) project called the 'Advanced Technology Vessel' (ATV) project. India's strategic plans call for a fleet of five nuclear powered attack submarines (SSN) and five ballistic missile submarines (SSBN), a goal that is unlikely to be achieved before 2025.

India to launch own aircraft carrier

INS Vikrant

India will on Monday launch its first indigenously built aircraft carrier INS Vikrant, two years behind schedule and at an estimated cost of up to $5 billion.

The event, to be attended by senior defence officials and diplomats, will mark India's entry into an elite club of nations including Britain, France, Russia and the United States that design and build their own aircraft carriers.

"It took us seven to eight years to design it," the navy's chief designer AK Saxena said, referring to the project launched in 2009 as "complex and challenging".

The launch is due to take place just days after India announced on Saturday its first indigenously-built nuclear submarine was ready for sea trials - the last step before it becomes fully operational - and called it a "giant stride" for the nation.

India's government is spending tens of billions of dollars upgrading its mainly Soviet-era military hardware as it bolsters its defences in a hostile neighbourhood.

India unveiled the 6,000-tonne INS Arihant - Destroyer of Enemies - in 2009 as part of a project to built five such vessels which would be armed with nuclear-tipped missiles and torpedoes.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said on Saturday he was "delighted to learn that the nuclear propulsion reactor on board INS Arihant, India's first indigenous nuclear powered submarine, has now achieved criticality".

Criticality refers to the point at which a nuclear reaction is self-sustaining.

The new 40,000-tonne aircraft carrier to be launched in the southern port city of Cochin on Monday sets a new global standard in terms of size and complexity, the defence ministry says.

After final fitting of equipment and extensive trials, the carrier is due to join the navy by 2018.

It will ply the seas alongside the former Russian carrier Admiral Gorshkov, now the INS Vikramaditya, due to be delivered by year-end after a delay of more than four years.

Russia, in 2011 handed over the 8,140-tonne nuclear-powered attack submarine Nerpa to India following more than two years of delays.

India currently has one aircraft carrier - a 60-year-old British vessel acquired by India in 1987 and renamed INS Viraat.

According to KPMG consultancy, India will spend $112 billion on capital defence acquisitions between 2010 and 2016.

LG Optimus G Pro

LG may have been lagging behind in the India smartphone market, but it now seems that the Korean giant has rolled its sleeves up to gain back its position and lost market share. Having impressed us with its latest smartphones - the Optimus G and Nexus 4 - the company recently brought the successor to the Optimus G, the Optimus G Pro, to get some share in the phablet space. We have already reviewed the the LG Optimus G and the Nexus 4, now on to the 5.5-inch Optimus G Pro.

At first glance, the front of the Optimus G Pro brings to mind Samsung's Galaxy series of smartphones. The rounded edges and the shape of the physial home button make the phone look similar to the smartphones available under Samsung's Galaxy series.

While the Optimus G Pro's front has looks similar to offerings from his rival, its back panel has a design exclusive to the phones designed by LG. Made of plastic, it has a shiny back panel, which features a chequered glittering pattern. The pattern on the back cover is similar to the one on the Nexus 4. But because of its plastic build, the glass weave design on the back does not look as appealing as that in the Nexus 4 and fails to create the desired effect. The build quality of the phone is good, but looks are average. Erogonomically designed, the phone is comfortable to grip. Unlike the Optimus G and the Nexus 4, the Optimus G Pro has a removable back.

One thing that gives the phone a premium look is the brushed metallic band that runs around the edges of the phone and separates the front and back. The metallic band fully covers the top and bottom, but it becomes a thin line at the sides. While the phone easily slips into the pocket of men's jeans, but women may not sit comfortably with the phone in their pocket. That's the feedback we got when we passed the phone around in the office.

Besides the power and volume buttons, the phone also houses a 'QuickButton' located on the left side. This button lets you select an app you wish to get immediate acccess to.

The physical home button is ill-fitting - it's something which you won't even give attention to once you start using the phone and its thinness sometimes makes it a litte difficult to press. I think LG should have done away with the physical home button.

Instead of a notification LED light somehwere on the top left or top right, it has a home button LED to alert you when you have an incoming call or any missed event.

There is a mammoth glass on the front. The Optimus G Pro has a 5.5-inch full HD (1920x1080) IPS display protected with a layer of Gorilla Glass. Despite being a bulky device, this phablet does not feel heavy. The colour reproduction is good and viewing angles are great. Touchscreen is pretty responsive and swiping and scrolling is smooth. Colours look vibrant and text crisp. Also, there wasn't any problem in viewing content under direct sunlight. I have always been a fan of LG's Zerogap Touch technology, which results in increased touch responsiveness. Like the LG Optimus G, the Optimus G Pro also has one of the best touchscreens in terms of smoothness and speed.

The phone comes with a 13 megapixel rear camera with an LED flash, which captures quality pictures in both daylight and low-light conditions. Though quality of images captured with the Optimus G Pro is impressive, they don't come out as sharp as the images captured with the Samsung Galaxy S4.

Its 2.1 megapixel front camera is apt for video calling, but images captured with the front camera are average. The camera app comes with a host of options to customise images. Its Time Catch Shot feature works quite well. It saves the scenes you missed before taking shots. But it is a feature that is becoming common to smartphones across operating systems.

Besides the panorama feature, the Optimus G Pro has a feature called VR panorama that is quite similar to the Photo Sphere on Android 4.2. The VR panorama feature lets you capture 360 degree panoramas, which you can zoom and pan. It lets you snap photos in every direction and then it creates 360 degree views by automatically stitching together individual images. While some of the features in the camera app are of use, others seemed more like gimmicks - like the dual camera feature.

The Optimus G Pro supports 1080p video recording and playback and also captures quality videos. The phone does not run the latest version of Android, it instead runs Android 4.1 Jelly Bean. Being a top-of-the-line product, the phone should have come with Android 4.2.

The user interface (UI) is similar to the one on the Optimus G. The UI is intuitive, but it lacks freshness. LG should work on the look and feel of user interafce as there is a considerable scope of improvement. I like its QSlide function that I have already discussed in the Optimus G review.

The Optimus G Pro offers an internal storage space of 16GB (around 10GB is user accessible). Its memory can be expanded up to 32GB via a microSD card.

The Optimus G Pro packs the Qualcomm Snpdragon 1.7 GHz quad-core 600 Processor. It is the same processor that powers the HTC One. I did not experience any lag and the phone did not fall behind during any task. With 2GB RAM, the phone allowed me to multitask and I could easily perform tasks smoothly on the phone. I easily managed to run a spate of apps at the same time. Also, I did not experience the overheating issue anytime during the review period.

In the Antutu benchmarking test, the LG Optimus G Pro scored 19835 and ranked number 3 - with the Samsung Galaxy S4 on the top and the HTC One on the second position and outranked the Sony Xperia Z and the Google Nexus 4 (See screenshots below).

I did not face any call drops. Audio quality is good and speakers are fairly loud. The 5.5-inch gargantuan device has a decent battery life. The battery can last for a day on normal usage, but the juice drains before the day ends - if used heavily.

At Rs 42,500, I found the phone overpriced. The phone is powerful, but design-wise, it is bland. I am sure that given its price, users will seek for other options available in the same price band. But it does make it to our recommendations list, but buyers are suggested to take a look at its rivals too.

Pros

Excellent full HD display

Great performance

Impressive camera

Cons

Overpriced

Boring design

Dull UI

Ratings: 3.75/5

Mahindra Verito EV

Might be coming next year

We have been reporting in detail about the newly launched Mahindra Verito Vibe that was launched yesterday. Over the days, the Verito Vibe will be launched in every part of the country and might be seen eating into sales of high selling Maruti Suzuki Swift and Hyundai i20. During the launch event yesterday, Mr. Pawan Goenka, President, Automotive and Farm Equipment sector, Mahindra, announced that his company intends to launch one more variant of the Verito sometime next year.

The good folks at Indian Autos Blog say that it is the Verito EV that Mahindra plans to launch sometime next year. We won’t be too surprised if this actually happens as it has been quite some time since the Verito EV made its public debut. The Mahindra Verito EV, which was presented as the Logan EV at the 2012 Delhi Auto Expo, is basically a Verito sedan with an electric powertrain instead of an IC engine.

The Mahindra Verito EV sports a 72V Lithium-ion battery pack which takes 6 hours for a full charge. The battery pack provides juice to a 29KW AC motor that transmits power through a single-speed transmission. The Verito EV can achieve a top whack of 86 kmph and has a claimed range of 100kms. The transmission offers four driving modes: reverse, forwards, neutral and boost.

The EV tech for Verito comes from none other than Maini, which has now been included into the Mahindra Group. Mahindra is also readying a series of other EVs which, again, will borrow technology from Maini. Speak of this, Mr. Pawan Goenka has previously said, “We will be using the electric vehicle technology to some of our existing products. We are almost ready with the electric Gio and Maxximo, while we have also developed a prototype for the electric Verito,”

“The prototype is ready. Verito is a heavier car than the e2o. There has to be adjustment and optimisation of the technology, and we will be ready to launch it in a year’s time.” He further added.

Lenovo K900

with 2GHz processor, Android 4.2, 13 MP camera launched for Rs 33K

The Chinese smartphone/ PC company, Lenovo, has launched K900 with 2GHz processor, Android 4.2, 13 MP camera in India for Rs 33K

Lenovo, the Chinese smartphone and computer manufacturer has arrived in India in the smartphone market after almost taking over India’s laptop market. Though not many people are aware about its image as one of the best and biggest smartphone manufacturer back home, analysts know that the company comes with long and well deserved history and is going to win millions of fan followings in the market.

I am amazed at the delayed launch or arrival of the company in the smartphone market. I am more amazed because of the fact that despite having infrastructural presence in almost every part of the country, the Chinese tech giant delayed its launch till now. But I think that company was not very enthusiastic about its entry in the smartphone market as the market was still in its infancy and it might have thought it waste of resources to invest hundreds of millions of dollars. But as the smartphone market is saturating in China and the fact that Indian smartphone market is growing at fast pace right now, this was the most opportune time to come here and get a market traction by offering great handsets at comparably lower price.

The company has come out with 6 handsets and to be true the least pricey of them comes for around Rs 8000 while the costliest comes at Rs 33000. So the company is looking forward to have something to offer to every group of people looking for different types of handset. So it has an entry level rather good handset, several mid range smart phones and then handset that comes with top specifications and features. Nonetheless, despite coming with so many products and at prices that look affordable compared to Samsung and HTC handsets, the Chinese company will have to work really hard to attract people to its handsets. There are many smartphone vendors here and so many handsets in all the categories that it is going to be a tough task for a new company to make an impact.

Lenovo K900 is as good if not better than Korean tech giant Samsung’s Galaxy S4 and comes at least Rs 8000 cheaper than S4. The best handset that the company is launching in India is K900 that is priced at Rs 33000. And without doubt it comes with best specifications. The 5.5-inch 440+ ppi screen hides a 2.0GHz dual-core Intel processor and 2GB of RAM, with a 13MP camera (including a Sony Exmor lens) around the back. It’s all tied together with Android 4.2 inside a nice metal chassis. So it is very impressive without doubt. The highlight of P780 is high-capacity 4000 mAh battery while the A706 has the Dolby Digital Plus technology for better audio experience.

Other handsets that are equally enticing for different segments and are priced very reasonably include P780. This handset is aimed at professionals and executives. P780 comes with 1.4 GHz quad core processor along with a 4000 mAh battery. Another equally good handset is S920 that comes with a massive 5.3-inch IPS display, 8 mega pixel camera and a 1.2GHz quad core processor. Other handsets too are great and may attract significant number of buyers.