Galaxy Grand Neo Plus launches quietly in India

We are often privy to the public launches of Samsung’s high-end devices, such as the Galaxy S, Galaxy Note smartphones and tablets, as well as the company’s Gear smartwatches and Fit fitness bands. While Samsung is known for these devices, the company has an onslaught of lower-end devices and a level of mid-end devices that appeal to those looking for the best experience at a more affordable price.

The Galaxy Grand Neo Plus has been available since the end of January 2015 in Spain, Italy, and a few other countries, but it has now arrived in India and is available for sale.

The Galaxy Grand Neo Plus doesn’t have the “plus”-sized specs you would expect for the handset, but it’s a “plus” in a different way: for those who want a more budget-friendly handset (in other words, the “plus” is found in the extra money you save as opposed to the price of the Galaxy Grand Neo). You’re looking at a slightly smaller display here (5 inches as opposed to 5.01, but not enough to notice), with the same 800 x 480p screen resolution and thin-film transistor (TFT) LCD screen. 1GB of random access memory (RAM) returns in the Grand Neo Plus, but you’ll only get 8GB of storage locally as opposed to the 16GB of storage on the Grand Neo (keep in mind the price is smaller, too). The 1.2Ghz processor returns, but it’s not uncommon for a budget-friendly device to see the same processor in two or more models.

The 5MP back camera returns to the Neo Plus, but you’re getting a better front camera (2MP vs. the 0.3MP of the Grand Neo) than the Neo offers. The 64GB microSD card slot will expand your storage capabilities, so you may not worry about storage at all. Keep in mind, too, that the OS will occupy some of the 8GB of local storage; this means that you won’t have all 8GB of storage available to you out of the box.

The battery will remain at 2,100mAh in the Neo Plus, but Samsung’s new Ultra Power Saving Mode (UPSM) is now part of the deal. While this budget handset doesn’t have the most impressive specs in the world, the UPSM feature is impressive and will serve you well. Users can utilize the UPSM feature at night around bedtime, while using their Neo Plus smartphone during the day. The feature has been designed to use it for cross-territory traveling, and long road trips, for example – but who says it can’t be used for disabling features at night to have battery for the next morning?

The Samsung India e-store has the device available for Rs. 9,990 (~$157USD) as opposed to the Rs. 10,389 (~$164USD) price tag for the Grand Neo, and comes in three colors: black, white, and gold. The savings aren’t much, perhaps, but the battery-saving mode is a huge “plus” in our opinion for a budget handset.

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After Sweden, struggling BlackBerry now announces job cuts across the world

BlackBerry said that it is cutting jobs worldwide. The news arrives nearly a month after the company announced that it is mulling closing its offices in Sweden in a move that put around 100 jobs at stake.

“The company is reallocating resources to capitalize on growth opportunities and achieve profitability across all its business segments,” a company spokesperson said. There was, however, no word on the number of employees that will be affected in the latest wave of job cuts.

The news comes just a day after there were reports that several companies including Microsoft, Xiaomi, Huawei, and Lenovo are interested in acquiring the Canadian company. BlackBerry had a total of 6,225 full-time employees as of February this year.

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Best Buy is offering $100 gift card to those who preorder LG G4

Best Buy began accepting pre-orders for LG’s latest flagship smartphone – the G4. To sweeten the deal, the retailer is offering a $100 gift card with all purchases of the device.

You can pre-order the handset, both with and sans contract on Verizon, AT&T, and Sprint. As for pricing, the Verizon and Sprint models of the G4 are priced at $200 on contract, and $610 and $650 respectively without one.

On the other hand, the AT&T model carries a full retail price of $670. The handset is also available on the company’s Next installment plan.

Aside from the pricing, the Best Buy listings also reveal that the smartphone will be available on Verizon on June 4, Sprint on June 5, and AT&T on June 12. It’s worth mentioning that the device is expected to land on T-Mobile on June 2.

For those who aren’t in the know, LG is giving away a second 3,000 mAh battery and a 32GB microSD card with every purchase of the G4.

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Xiaomi Mi 4i update aims to fixing overheating problems

The Xiaomi Mi 4i, which was made official last month, has received an update aimed at fixing overheating issues. Sized at 804MB, the update (V6.5.4.0 LXIMICD) optimizes thermal control algorithms to fix the problem, the company claims.

"We’ve heard from some Mi 4i users that their devices can get warm under strenuous conditions such as complex 3D gaming and benchmarking apps," said Jai Mani, product manager, Xiaomi. "To address these concerns, we’ve optimized our thermal control algorithms to better regulate the temperature. The new thermal controls adjust frequency, voltage and the number of cores in use depending on the chipset temperature."

Powered by a Qualcomm MSM8939 Snapdragon 615 SoC with a quad-core 1.7 GHz Cortex-A53 CPU and Adreno 405 GPU, the device is currently available for purchase in India, Hong Kong, Singapore, andMalaysia.

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