Cameraduel: Nokia challenges Sony

It seems Nokia, which is confident about the camera prowess of its Lumia 1020 smartphone wants to challenge Sony to a camera-duel.

Nokia differentiates its high-end smartphones with top of the line optics. Upbeat about the camera prowess of its high-end smartphone, the company has challenged Japanese giant Sony to a camera duel. Nokia has called for a contest between its nearly year-old Lumia 1020 and Sony's latest Xperia Z2.

In response to a tweet posted by Sony's UK account talking about the camera technology deployed in the Sony Xperia Z2, Nokia UK responded with a tweet challenging Sony to a camera-duel.

Sony's Xperia UK account tweeted, "Picture-perfect moments deserve award-winning camera technology, see how with #XperiaZ2." Nokia responded, "This town ain't big enough for the both of us, @sonyxperiagb! #CameraDuel," along with a picture featuring the Lumia 1020.

Sony did not reply to the tweet.

Sony's Xperia Z2 smartphone boasts of noise-canceling technology and ultra-high-definition video recording. The Z2's built-in camera can capture video in so-called 4K resolution that offers four times the details as current high-definition video. Z2 sports a 1/2.3" 20.7MP Exmor RS camera with Sony's G Lens. The Z2 is waterproof, so it can shoot even under-water, which the Lumia 1020 is not capable of.

On the other hand, Nokia's contender sports a 41MP camera with PureView technology. The 41MP Zeiss camera has six lenses and features Nokia's PureView imaging technology, along with two types flash - one LED and the other Xenon. The Lumia 1020 also features a technology called Dual Capture, which takes two shots at the same time, one at 38MP resolution and the other at 5MP. The former is meant for photo editing, while the latter is ideal for social media uploads. It also comes with Optical Image Stabilization, which the Xperia Z2 lacks.

Nokia has been known to take potshots at its rivals on Twitter and other social networks. Recently, it fired a salvo at Apple when it announced the 8GB version of the iPhone 5C. It tweeted, "Hey Apple: "Today we announce a colourful, fast and affordable 8GB smartphone" - Nokia, Feb 2013."

Motorola launches Moto X in India at Rs 23,999

Motorola has launched its flagship smartphone, Moto X, in the Indian market at starting price of Rs 23,999.


Motorola has launched its flagship smartphone, Moto X, in the Indian market. Just like Moto G, the new smartphone will be available in India only via e-commerce website Flipkart.

The company is offering the Moto X variant with plastic back panel at Rs 23,999; Motorola is offering back panels in five colours, namely black, white, turquoise, blue and red. The models with wood finish (walnut and teak) have been priced at Rs 25,999.

As per the listings on Flipkart, only the Moto X variants in white and black colours are available for purchase at present. The other versions can only be pre-ordered at present and will be delivered to buyers in the second week of April. Flipkart is providing launch-day offers for Moto X, such as cashback of Rs 1,000 for those who buy the device on EMIs, 70% off on body cases and 100% cashback to select buyers.

Moto X is the only flagship smartphone by a major company that aims to lure customers with the promise of optimized user experience instead of beefed up hardware. The device has a 4.7-inch HD screen, 1.7GHz dual-core processor, 10MP camera and 2GB RAM. It is among the few smartphones in the country that run on Android 4.4 operating system and has a water-resistant coating. Buyers get free 50GB of Google Drive storage with Moto X.

Motorola has not rolled out the Moto Maker online tool, which allows buyers to customized their Moto X smartphone at the time of ordering, in India.

The smartphone comes with a unique always-on voice assistant that listens to the commands even if the user is not operating the handset. It also comes with a Quick Capture feature, which allows users to jerk their wrist twice to open the camera app. The camera of Moto X also features ClearPixel technology that allows 75% more light to enter, thus producing better low light pictures.

Much like Nokia's Glance Screen, Moto X comes with Active Display; this feature shows the time, unread messages and emails, missed calls and other notifications even when the screen is turned off. The device is preloaded with the Migrate app, which allows users to transfer data like contacts, photos, videos and even call log and SMSs from any Android 4.2-powered phone.

Other smartphones available at this price point in India are Google Nexus 4, Samsung Galaxy Grand 2, Sony Xperia T2 Ultra, Gionee Elife E7 and Nokia Lumia 1320.