Apple today introduced a new, entry-level 21.5″ iMac that’s $200 cheaper than the previous model, but is also very limited when it comes to specs. The new iMac model sports a 1.4GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 processor (with Turbo Boost Speeds up to 2.7GHz) and a 500GB hard drive, while retaining all the same specs as the next 21.5″ iMac model.
The new model is priced at $1099 in the US and the India Pricing has been set at INR 79,900.
Motorola Moto E available on Flipkart
Motorola’s newest phone targeted at the lower, sub-10k segment for markets like India — the Moto E was launched yesterday and is now available for sale, exclusively on Flipkart for ₹6999. Similar to the previous launches of the Moto G and Moto X, Flipkart has a few offers for buyers of the Moto E.
For ₹7000, the Moto E makes for a damn good choice if you’re looking for a decent, entry-level Android phone running the latest OS version.
Apple India’s “Store Expansion Programme”
This morning, I noticed this listing on Apple’s Jobs website. The listing is for Training Delivery – India for Apple India in Bangalore, but I found the job summary very interesting (emphasis mine):
Due to a store expansion programme, we are seeking a trainer to work alongside the current training team.
According to an ET report in late March, the company plans to triple its exclusive stores in the country to 200 by 2015 and has been in talks with the government of India to relax the ‘local-sourcing’ clause in its policy on FDI in single-brand retail.
Apple has also recently hired Angela Ahrendts as its senior vice president of retail and online stores and I’m definitely looking forward to her work in the coming months.
Apple today has refreshed their MacBook Air lineup with the latest generation Intel’s Haswell processors. With this refresh, all the MacBook Air models have receive just a minor, 0.1GHz speed bump while other specifications remain the same. The price of the MacBook Air has also been reduced by $100 and the base model now begins at $899 only.
The MacBook Air, available in 11-inch and 13-inch models with 128GB and 256GB options, previously shipped with a 1.3GHz Core i5 processor (with Turbo Boost up to 2.6GHz). With today’s update, they have now been updated with a 1.4GHz Core i5 processor (with Turbo Boost up to 2.7GHz). Surprisingly, the built to order option also stays unchanged with a 1.7GHz Core i7 (with Turbo Boost up to 3.3GHz).
Apple has updated the pricing for MacBook Air in India, with each model receiving only a ₹2000 price cut. The following table shows the pricing for each MacBook Air model in India.
| MacBook Air Model | Old Price | New Price |
|---|---|---|
| 11-inch: 128GB | ₹67,900 | ₹65,900 |
| 11-inch: 256GB | ₹81,900 | ₹79,900 |
| 13-inch: 128GB | ₹74,900 | ₹72,900 |
| 13-inch: 256GB | ₹88,900 | ₹86,900 |
Rdio buys Dhingana to Enter India
NT Balanarayan, Vikas SN & Nikhil Pahwa reporting exclusively for MediaNama:
US-based music streaming website Rdio has acquired Indian music streaming website Dhingana, Dhingana has confirmed to MediaNama. MediaNama had heard about the development from multiple industry sources.
Sources also told MediaNama that the amount being offered to Dhingana is lower than the amount of funding they had raised.
This is great news. I’ve been waiting for either Spotify or Rdio to enter this market for a long time now, so this was welcome news to wake up to. I do hope Rdio launches with their complete (English) catalogue and not just a country-specific (Hindi) one.
Rajat Agrawal reporting for BGR India:
Sources tell BGR India that Flipkart was in talks with Intel, MediaTek and Qualcomm for almost two years. It was the successful launch of the Moto G exclusively on Flipkart sort of convinced the online retailer, sources say. While the plans are still in the works, BGR India learns that Flipkart has zeroed down at launching two smartphones based on solutions from one of the three chipset vendors mentioned above.
This is going to be very interesting. The people that I speak to daily, my friends & peers, know Flipkart as a major online retailer and are slowly getting comfortable ordering large or expensive products “online” without being skeptical. Surprisingly, most of them weren’t aware of Amazon India’s entry into the same space. I can’t say about the quality of these smartphones that Flipkart is supposedly launching, but it’s an interesting move nonetheless.
‘Why You Should Not Buy the Nokia X’
Prasad Naik reasons why the Nokia X is a terrible choice:
You’re not buying an Android phone. You are buying a horribly deformed child of Android and Windows Phone that will never be as good as either of them. It’s like Nokia combined the worst of both of those platforms into one device.
Javed Anwer, writing for The Times of India, in a post titled:
Oh! So they cut the prices of MacBook Pro everywhere but India? That’s not very nice of Apple now.
However, Apple is not the one to blame here for the India-specific high price. The higher than expected price of new MacBook Pro laptops in India is due to the dollar-rupee exchange rate, which is higher compared to the rate in February this year when Apple revised the price of 13-inch MacBook Pro.
Uhh…