Micromax has reduced the price of its 3.8 inch display bearing Superfone A85, which features a dual-core 1 GHz mobile processor, by Rs 3,700. Notably, the Android 2.2 Froyo based smartphone was launched only last month in India.

“We’ve made the A85 Superfone even more affordable. It is now priced for Rs 15,290,” a Micromax spokesperson said to The Mobile Indian.

Micromax has used a motion sensor to power an interesting user interface and is expected to get Android 2.3 Gingerbread pretty soon. The Superfone A85 flaunts a 3.8 inch capacitive touchscreen display with WVGA (480×800) pixel resolution.

A85 has a 5 Megapixel primary camera at the back that is capable of capturing good quality images and has also a built-in image editor. Surprisingly there is no LED flash, a classic bummer that existed even with Samsung Galaxy S GT-I9000. The secondary camera, with 0.3 megapixel, is present for video calling.

The phone supports up to 7.2 Mbps download speed over 3G and also features WiFi, Bluetooth and A-GPS. Micromax has packed a 1500 mAh battery in it.

This seems to be a good move by Micromax because at its earlier price point of Rs 18,990 it was facing tough competition from couple of smartphones which were available in the same price bracket offering Android 2.3 Gingerbread pre-loaded. For instance, the Sony Ericsson Xperia Neo V is available for Rs 17,500 while Xperia Ray is priced at Rs 19,500. Similarly, Motorola Defy Plus for Rs 17,990, LG Optimus Black for Rs 18,990 are available in same price range.

Samsung will make available the latest Google Android operating system, dubbed as Ice Cream Sandwich, for its smartphones under Galaxy series. According to the handset maker, the ICS upgrade will be available for its Galaxy smartphones by March next year.

“Samsung will be offering Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich upgrade for Galaxy devices starting 1Q 2012,” revealed Samsung Electronics on their official Twitter account.

Earlier in November this year, Samsung had announced the inclusion of Android Ice Cream Sandwich only for Galaxy S2. However, this time Samsung has marked all the smartphones under it Galaxy series for the ICS upgrade, provided they have the requisite hardware. Thus Galaxy Note, Galaxy R and the Galaxy S Plus are expected to get the Android 4.0.

It is also expected that Samsung will also include the latest baseband version of the Google Android Ice cream Sandwich for the update which was released just yesterday.

Although the timeline for the rollout has been officiated there is still time and more information required to understand as to how many devices and in what order the updates will be rolled out to them. We are seeking more information on this from Samsung and will be updating you as an when the information arrives.

Mobile phones and accessories contain a variety of toxic materials including lead, nickel, mercury, manganese, lithium, zinc, arsenic, antimony, beryllium and copper. Most of these metals are highly toxic to humans and the environment.

Here we detail the ill effects of each of these metals and chemicals that are present in cell phones – a reason why you should give your old phone for recycling, and not throw it in the dustbin.

The effects of lead poisoning are well known. If absorbed into the bloodstream in sufficient quantities lead, which is used in the circuit boards of mobile phones, causes serious liver and kidney damage in adults, and neurological damage in children.

Nickel, a substantial quantity of which is present in handset batteries, causes cancer. Similarly, mercury (not mentioned in the table) is another dangerous substance found in batteries, especially in older devices. Even a small amount of mercury can harm humans adversely. Though the use of mercury has been reduced in cell phones to a great extent, it is present in fairly large quantities in older phones.

Magnesium induces neurochemical changes and has been identified as a contributing factor to developing Alzheimer’s. Manganese, as the table shows, is used in making circuit boards and case of mobile phones.

Although Li-Ion batteries are free of heavy metals (lithium has a low atomic number), lithium’s high instability can create environmental problems. When exposed to water, which is present in most landfills, the metal can burn, causing underground fires that are difficult to extinguish.

Zinc is good for health in small quantities and is often used in medicines. However, zinc products contain another metal called cadmium. This is because zinc and cadmium are chemically similar and often occur together in nature. Exposure to high levels of cadmium over a long time can lead to kidney failure.

Arsenic compound Gallium Arsenide is used in LEDs. Arsenic is a well known poison. When the concentration of Arsenic in water increases beyond 10 parts per million it becomes dangerous. In fact, Arsenic poisoning is common in our part of the world.

Antimony, used mainly as a fire retardant, is known to be very poisonous, and the effects of antimony poisoning are similar to those of arsenic poisoning.

Beryllium, used for cooling (heat sink), is corrosive to tissue and can cause a chronic life-threatening allergic disease called berylliosis in some people.

Copper fortunately is non toxic and is in-fact necessary for a healthy life. Apart from copper, cell phones also contain small amounts of precious metals like iridium, silver and gold, which make it attractive for recycling companies to be in this business.

How to discard cellphones

Today, most major handset manufacturers such as Samsung, Nokia, Apple and LG run mobile recycling programmes. You can simply walk into the store of any of these companies and give your old phone, and you can be sure the phone will be recycled properly. You can also exchange your old phone and get a discount on a new device.

Google+, the social network of Google, has received a much deserved update that enables starting a video chat from the phone itself. The video chat feature, dubbed as Hangout On Air, of Google+ was earlier available only for desktops. So users can now invite friends and their contacts and start a ‘Hangout’ session with them.

A Hangout session can be started from any post and that too right from your Android smartphone. Users without a web camera will be able to dial-in a code and can join the session.

Along with starting the Hangout, Google+ will also allow broadcasting of that hangout by its “On Air” feature that will set the Hangout session as live in participating users’ timelines. With YouTube integration, the session videos will be uploaded to user’s account on YouTube.

The Google+ Messenger will have a Video button on the top of the screen to start the Hangout and same button needs to be tapped for typing out a message. Soon both Android and iOS versions of the Google+ App will get this new Hangout feature that will let users start the group chat with their friends whenever they wish.

Google promises to enable group video chat feature for Android mobile phones and we believe it would be available mostly to the Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich running devices only.

Sony Ericsson back in the month of November surprised its users by announcing free 50 GB of cloud based storage from Box.net but later backtracked. However, now it has finally made the free 50 GB free Box.net Cloud Storage space available to all its Xperia smartphone users.

So under this festive offer, all Xperia users can simply download the Box.net application on their smartphones to enjoy 50 GB of cloud based storage which is otherwise available for a premium price only. Existing Box.net users can also download the application and the free 50 GB storage space will be added to their existing accounts.

Xperia user can store, retrieve and edit files on Box cloud storage through their smartphone or any device they choose. So basically this service is not just meant for the users to be used on the smartphones only but can be used across a wide range of devices including personal computers as well.

Sony Ericsson has LED down its Xperia users once and this time they are taking extra precautions to make sure that the service is working flawlessly throughout the globe.

To make use of this survive, users just have to simply download the Box application from the Android Market. Log in to your Box account (or create one) from any Xperia Android handset before December 31st 2012, and you will get the free storage worth 50 GB.

Qualcomm is working on its new Snapdragon S2 and S3 family mobile processors that sport a dual-core location feature or smartphones. Apparently, Qualcomm flaunts the dual-core location feature in the Qualcomm S2 and S3 mobile chips that connect with usual network of 27 GPS satellites and also GLONASS network of 24 satellites. Upcoming Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 processors will also offer the GPS and GLONASS Network connectivity.

Usually the Global Positioning System Chip in the mobile phones make the best of the usual network of 27 GPS satellites and needs unobstructed view of at least four satellites. But with the new Qualcomm Snapdragon S2 or S3 mobile processors, the GPS chips can connect to the usual 27 network of GPS satellites and the second network of Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS) which has 24 satellites operated by the Russian government.

Only select Snapdragon chips bearing smartphones can access both GPS network of satellites at the same time. At this moment, T-Mobile branded Samsung Galaxy SII offers this dual- network connectivity. But the world’s first smartphone to feature it was ZTE 945.

With access to two different networks of GPS satellites, users get better accuracy and it would take less time to fix on location. Rob Chandok, president for Qualcomm Internet Services, jokingly refers this feature as the “dual-core” location system.

In coming year, we shall get to see more Qualcomm Snapdragon S2, S3 and S4 based smartphones that will promise better GPS performance with software like Google Maps, Nokia Maps.