Smartphones and tabs: What's coming out of these giants' bag in 2014?

Shruti Puri, who keeps her ears tuned to the Internet chatter and the buzzing grapevine it hosts, offers a sneak peak into what all smartphones and tablets are coming your way in the New Year.

While all major smartphone-makers had memorable launches in 2013, grapevine suggests that 2014 will be equally big, if not bigger for the likes of Samsung, Apple, LG, Sony, Nokia, BlackBerry, Google, HTC and Micromax, the Indian flagbearer in this sea of global behemoths.

Of these major players, Samsung and Micromax achieved a lot of success in 2013 and having a peek into their trend, we can pretty well assume that 2014 too will see a lot of fireworks from these two manufacturers.

Shruti Puri, who keeps her ears tuned to the Internet chatter and the buzzing grapevine it plays host to, offers a sneak peak into what all smartphones and tablets are coming your way in the New Year.

Samsung

Samsung has been the most successful mobile brand in the country for the year 2013. It has introduced many new models with prices ranging from budget phones like Samsung Star 2 to the high-range smartphones like Samsung Galaxy S4 and Note 3.

According to speculative reports, Samsung is said to be ready to roll out five new phones in the first quarter (January-March) of 2014 with Samsung Galaxy S5 being one of the most highly awaited smartphone among the rest. The early launch of this smartphone might be attributed to the disappointing sales of Samsung Galaxy S4.

Galaxy S5 is likely to be powered by a 64-bit Exynos 5430 chip and will sport a 16MP camera. The phone is also speculated to have a fingerprint scanner, which will make it a direct competitor to Apple iPhone 5S, which has the same technology.

Apple

The year 2013 has been a great success for Apple as the three '5' series iPhones received a great response. Apple had recently launched iPhone 5S, which received great deal of attention from iPhone lovers because of its all-new Fingerprint Scanner, a totally new technology from Apple.

In 2014, it is rumoured that Apple will launch two new flagship models to keep up with competition, one among them being the iPhone Air or iPhone 6. It is likely to be launched with an all-new large display sporting glass curves downward at the edges.

iPhone 6 might also incorporate a 64-bit processor with dedicated M7 chip, 4GB RAM and 128GB of internal memory.

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HTC

In 2014, HTC shall give to the Indian market a new version of HTC One also known as HTC M8 or HTC One 2. This smartphone is expected to be launched at the end of the Q1 (March) 2014.

Recent speculations say that HTC M8 might be the first phone in the HTC range to have the new 6.0 updated version of HTC's Sense Touch interface. Other new features that this smartphone might incorporate are the next gen processor, all new display and boom sound speakers. Nothing much has been revealed yet but surely, HTC lovers are going to get something new this time.

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Sony

Sony's Xperia series has been a great success in 2013 proving to be a tough competition to Samsung phones launched in 2013. If you were to believe the rumour mill, Sony might bring two new phones to the Indian market early in Q2 of the upcoming year (April-May 2014). This will include the updated version of Xperia Z1, named Xperia Z1S, and the all-new Xperia Z2.

Xperia Z1S is speculated to have a 4.3-inch display and Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 chip while Z2 might have a 5.2-inch 1080p full HD display, 20.7MP camera and the same Qualcomm Snapdragon processor.

The phone is also rumoured to have 3GB of RAM and Android 4.4 KitKat OS.

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LG

Along with Samsung, Apple and Sony, LG also maintained its position in the market but has not been able to attract much audience. LG had already launched its G Flex model that bends a little bit to avoid any damage to the phone when kept in the pocket, for it completely shapes itself around the body to make it more comfortable.

LG is likely to give another flexible phone in the Indian market capable of bending through 90 degrees, named LG G Flex 2.

To enhance this feature, it is also said to have the OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode) display screen, which is flexible enough to bend with other parts of the phone. It is going to have the updated Android 4.4 KitKat OS rather than Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean OS.

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Nokia

Nokia, in the year 2014, is going to bring two new phones in the Indian market -- Nokia Lumia 1820 and 2020.

There is nothing much revealed about the phones yet, except for its James Bond movies' like names, Goldfinger and Moneypenny, which have lit the fire in the world of rumours.

Nokia Lumia 1820 will replace Lumia 1020 flagship model. Both the phones are said to be powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processors. The phones are also said to have the Lytro-style camera with shifting focus that allows you to change the focus even after the image has been clicked.

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Micromax

Micromax did not get much success at present with its Android based phones, for the market is already flooded with Android phones from Samsung, Sony, LG, etc. Therefore, the company plans to launch Windows phone in the country in 2014.

Micromax also said that it will assemble phones in India rather than in China, which will reduce the cost of the phones and make them more affordable to the Indian buyers.

The company also said that it plans to unveil 20 new models in the first half of 2014, though it has not revealed the names of any of its models.

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BlackBerry

BlackBerry is rumoured to bring two new phones in the year 2014. BlackBerry has recently launched Z30 and now, goes to bring its successor, Z50, with a screen size of 5.2-inch and a quad-core processor. \

The other one is Blackberry Q30 QWERTY device, which is said to have a 2.3GHz processor, 3GB of RAM with a touchscreen size of 4 inches. We hope that these devices will do some magic for the company that has witnessed a terrible time in 2013.

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Google Nexus

Google Nexus 10's upgraded version was expected to be launched in November but since then the company has said nothing, this new tablet might get launched in Q1 of 2014.

Nothing has been revealed about it yet, except for the few images that leaked out in the market, seeing which, we can say that there will be a single speaker placed above the display that will be a full HD 1080p screen.

As all upcoming phones and tablets are going to be powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 800, it can be said that this Google Tab too will sport the same processor.

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