Top News this week: Moto G buyback, Windows Phone 8.1, Lumia 930,Lumia 630 and more!

It has been an exciting week with some ‘big’ announcements from Microsoft. We also saw Nokia’s flagship as well as budget Lumia devices. Here’s a quick recap of all the cool announcements in the tech world that you have missed:   **Nokia’s budget Lumia 630, 635 running Windows Phone 8.1 coming to India in May** Microsoft has unveiled Lumia 630 and Lumia 635 at the BUILD conference 2014. Priced at $169 (Which translates to approsimately Rs 10,000), the Lumia 630 will hit store shelves in May, starting with Asia including China and India in addition to Russia and Europe.   **Microsoft Windows Phone 8.1 comes with Siri like voice-assistant, Cortana** Microsoft announced some big changes to its mobile platform with the Windows Phone 8.1 update at BUILD 2014. Besides cosmetic changes, it brings some much-needed functionality to the OS. It will be rolled out to consumers “in the next few months,” and new Windows Phone 8.1 devices will on sale this month or early May. [caption id=“attachment_221039” align=“aligncenter” width=“640”]  Understands natural language commands[/caption]   **Nokia unveils Lumia 930: Has 20 mp camera, quad-core CPU and runs Windows Phone 8.1** At the Microsoft BUILD conference in San Francisco, Nokia announced a new flagship device, the Lumia 930. After Lumia 1520, this is the second device from Nokia which comes with a quad-core processor. The new device also runs Windows Phone 8.1.   **Apple’s $2 billion lawsuit: These are 5 patents allegedly infringed by Samsung** In its most recent courtroom battle against Samsung, Apple has said that the Korean smartphone leader has violated over 50 patents held by the Cupertino company. However, Apple also said that they can’t possibly try 50 patents in court, so they have narrowed down the list of alleged infringements to five patents.   **Flipkart announces buyback offer for Motorola Moto G, makes it more affordable** Leading Indian e-commerce site is now offering Motorola Moto G at a discounted price through its exchange offer on its site. The latest budget smartphone from Motorola can be bought at reduced price by exchanging one’s old smartphone. The phone has generated a lot of buzz and gained a lot of praise. For price conscious Indian buyer this could well be a huge blessing in disguise. [caption id=“attachment_221168” align=“aligncenter” width=“640”]  Now even more affordable[/caption]  **Sony becomes the second biggest smartphone brand in India** Defying some of the heaviest odds, Japanese smartphone makers Sony have emerged has surprisingly emerged as the second biggest smartphone brand in India. This is a huge achievement considering that other major mobile manufacturers like HTC, Apple have been aggressively trying to woo the Indian buyers and are yet to gain strong foothold in India.   **Leaked images hint at camera-centric Samsung Galaxy S5 Zoom; may be named K Zoom** Fresh leaked images surfaced online show benchmark test results of what is being said to be Samsung Galaxy S5 Zoom. The images show probable hardware details of the smartphone.   **Apple hikes price of iOS apps in India, blames unfavourable foreign exchange rates** Don’t be surprised if you suddenly see apps on the iOS App Store selling for higher prices than a couple of days ago. Apple has sent an email notifying users that it plans to increase the retail rates for certain countries with the next 24 hours, including in India. The list of countries to face the price hike also includes Australia, Indonesia, Turkey and South Africa.   **From David Hasselhoff photobombs to Magic Hand: Here are Google’s 2014 April Fool pranks** Google is known to pull a series of pranks on April Fool’s Day, and this year was no different. The Search giant began its shenanigans on April Fool’s eve with its Pokemon game, it was soon followed by the Gmail Shelfie, Magic Hand, and more. [caption id=“attachment_220850” align=“aligncenter” width=“640”]  Google shows some love to the ‘Hoff[/caption]   **iPhone 6 leaks: Images reportedly from Foxconn show Apple’s next-gen smartphone** A fresh set of images showing the alleged iPhone 6 have been circulating the web. Three images of the iPhone 6 prototype being tested at the production facility have been leaked through Weibo. These images are allegedly sourced from within Foxconn, reports G4Games.   **Gionee Elife S5.5 launched for Rs 22,999: World’s thinnest phone brings octa-core power** Gionee finally launched the Elife S5.5 in India for a price of Rs 22,999, at an event held in Goa. The USP of this newest Gionee device is its sleek form factor with 5.5mm thickness. India is the second country after China to get the phone. The S5.5 should be available starting this month although exact dates are not yet known   **6-inch Xolo Q2500 PocketPad phablet packs quad-core CPU, 3000 mAh battery for Rs 14,999** Xolo has pulled the wraps off its latest mid-range Android dubbed Q2500 PocketPad. Following the phablet trend, the newest Xolo handset aims at offering a large screen experience with its massive 6-inch display. Dipped in black and priced at Rs 14,999, the Q2500 Pocketpad will be available across the nation through retailers and online stores.   **Mozilla CEO Brendan Eich resigns after furore over his opposition to gay marriage** Mozilla Chief Executive Brendan Eich has stepped down, the company said on Thursday, after an online dating service urged a boycott of the company’s web browser because of a donation Eich made to opponents of gay marriage. [caption id=“attachment_221080” align=“aligncenter” width=“640”]  Outgoing Mozilla chief executive Brendan Eich in a photo courtesy of the company.[/caption]   **Gmail reportedly testing new features: Pinned emails, Snooze button and more!** Google has started testing some new interesting features for its  ten-year-old wonder child, Gmail. Screenshots leaked by Geek.com show a new version of Gmail that feature new tabs, a snooze button and the ability to pin messages.   **Gmail turns 10: Here’s to the Google April Fool prank that wasn’t one** This week, Gmail turned 10. Love it or hate it but one thing is for sure, you can no longer ignore it. Yes, the mail service from search engine giant Google has come a long way from its humble beginnings. Gmail blew away the competition right from the word go. In a way it won’t be wrong to say that this service marked the start of altogether a new era of email.   **Amazon Fire TV set-top box launched for $99** Amazon.com Inc made a play for the increasingly crowded home entertainment arena by unveiling the $99 “Fire TV” video and game streaming device on Wednesday, with hopes of boosting its main online retail business over the longer term.   **Twitter adds support for emojis on web to make your tweets a bit more colourful** Emojis have become a fad, thanks to a wide range of icons on messaging apps like WhatsApp, Line and others. So far, Twitter has been supporting emojis on mobile devices – on its apps on Android and iOS – but now the company extends the support to desktop too. Those who use Twitter on web, will now be able to view the emjois, which would earlier appear as empty white boxes. [caption id=“attachment_221066” align=“aligncenter” width=“640”]  Another tweet showing the emojis[/caption]     **Micromax to launch Windows Phone 8.1 devices soon, Microsoft announces** At the BUILD 2014 keynote, we were expecting fireworks from Microsoft. But the company began with the loudest firecracker in its kitty, at least as far as India is concerned. It has teamed up with Micromax to build Windows Phone 8.1 devices.   **Rumoured Samsung Galaxy S5 mini specs surface: Yet another watered-down ‘mini’ flagship** Continuing the trend of launching watered down versions of its popular flagship devices, news has it that Samsung is already preparing for a mini variant of its newest Galaxy S5. Sammobile has been tipped about the specs of the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S5 mini.   **Moto G Forte listed on Motorola site, but it’s not the waterproof version you wanted** Motorola has officially listed the Moto G Forte on its Mexico website, but there’s a bit of a surprise awaiting you if you wanted a Moto G dressed in waterproof, rugged attire, as was speculated.