ZTE Nubia Z7 Max with 5.5-Inch FHD Display, Snapdragon 801, 3GB RAM Coming Soon to India

Android fans in India who are still waiting for the right smartphone to arrive in their country, despite the fact that they are bombarded with new products on a daily basis, will be pleased to know that Chinese company ZTE plans to bring its flagship smartphone in the country.

The ZTE Nubia Z7 Max, the best version of the smartphone currently available only in China, has been confirmed to arrive in India soon. Although the ZTE Nubia Z7 is available in three variants, the most expensive has been picked by the Chinese handset maker to be introduced in India. The information has been recently confirmed by ZTE via GizChina. According to a ZTE official, the Nubia Z7 Max model will be coming soon in India. Sadly, no details on the exact release date of the smartphone have been shared, though we expect more info to emerge in the next couple of days. The good news is that ZTE Nubia Z7 Max checks all the requirements for the Indian smartphone market, so those looking for a high-end device that would not require them to rob a bank may want to take this smartphone into consideration.

Moving on to specs, the ZTE Nubia Z7 Max is part of a larger series of phones that also contain the ZTE Nubia Z7 and ZTE Nubia Z7 Mini. All three ZTE smartphones are exclusively available in China, so India might be the first country to get one of these handsets. The smartphone has been confirmed to ship with Android 4.4.2 KitKat operating system out of the box, along with Nubia UI 2.0 on top. It will also offer dual-SIM capability with dual standby support. The phone’s main selling points are the exceptional 5.5-inch capacitive touchscreen display that supports full HD (1080p) resolution, as well as the powerful 2.5GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 processor.

Moreover, the top tier smartphone packs 2GB of RAM inside, which goes along with no less than 32GB of storage. If that’s not enough for you, ZTE also included a microSD card slot for memory expansion (up to 64GB), so you further expand internal memory. Another strong point of the ZTE Nubia Z7 Max is the impressive 13-megapixel main camera on the back, which features autofocus, LED flash and 4K video recording. There’s also a no-less-impressive 5-megapixel camera in the front, which is perfect for selfies. Even though there is no mention of pricing options, the Nubia Z7 Max might go on sale in India for around Rs 25,000 ($410 / €310) outright.

ZTE Nubia Z7 Max
Image credits to ZTE

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Ubuntu and Xubuntu Power First Mercedes-Benz S 500 Autonomous Car

Mercedes-Benz is one of the first companies to experiment with autonomous driving and it succeeded. It also looks like the engineers are using Ubuntu and Xubuntu to do the job.

The Mercedes-Benz engineers managed to build an S 500 Intelligent Drive prototype that is able to drive itself without any kind of input from the driver. Autonomous cars are no longer something extraordinary, but you have to keep in mind that this is a regular car made to work without a driver and it's not something built specifically for this job, like the one from Google. The Linux community is always on the lookout for interesting implementations of the open source OS, and someone has spotted two different operating systems in the video provided by Mercedes-Benz and sent us an email about it. In one of the shots you can see an Ubuntu system and in another, while riding in the car, viewers can identify a Xubuntu-powered laptop.

Ubuntu systems have been spotted in the most interesting places, ranging from a NASA flights over the Antarctic, on the International Space Station, and even at BestBuy powering some demo booths. If you happen to notice Ubuntu in an interesting place, don't be shy and leave a comment below.

Mercedes-Benz S 500 Intelligent Drive
Image credits to Mercedes-Benz S 500

Mercedez Benz Intelligent Drive Autopilot S Class Klasse IAA 2013 Frankfurt
Video credits to Movie HP

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Lava Iris X5 Leaks in India Ahead of Official Release

It looks like Indian OEM Lava Mobile is readying yet another Android smartphone that might surprise customers in the country. After the success of the Iris X1, Lava is determined to maintain the customers’ interest for its products at high rates.

The next handset in the Iris lineup of smartphones is dubbed Iris X5, and it has yet to be officially confirmed by the Indian company. However, the device has been recently spotted at Zauba, the organization regulating imports in India. According to Gogi.in, Lava Iris X5 will sport a 5-inch capacitive touchscreen display, but the resolution supported is still unknown. The smartphone has also been confirmed to pack 8GB of internal memory, which suggests Lava may also have included a microSD card slot for storage expansion.

We also suspect that the smartphone will ship with Android 4.4.2 KitKat operating system out of the box, otherwise it might not appeal to the masses. The import documents also mention the Lava Iris X5 will offer dual-SIM capability. No other details regarding the Lava Iris X5 have been leaked, but we can safely assume the Indian OEM will make it official in the next couple of weeks, so stay tuned for more updates on the matter.

Lava Iris X1
Image credits to Lava Mobiles

Zauba import documents
Image credits to gogi.in

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