Blow a kiss for the Canvas 4 from Micromax

Micromax, the second largest smartphone seller in India, on Monday launched Canvas 4, which can be unlocked just by the blow of a kiss. The five-inch high-definition touchscreen device, which runs on a 1.2GHz quad-crore processor and operates on Android 4.2.1 Jelly Bean operating system, brings in the unique feature for unlocking the screen, saying good bye to swiping and sliding.

The 16GB Canvas 4, which sports full aluminum mid-housing, would be available by this weekend for Rs 17,999. The device has already received orders for 11,500 units before the launch, the company claimed. It is a dual-SIM device with 2,000-mAh battery and a 1GB random access memory, a 13-megapixel (MP) rear camera with image sensor and a 5MP front camera.

The first impression of the camera, however, was not impressive. Pictures taken by the rear camera were grainy, both in normal mode and on zoom. But it worked properly in low light.

“We have a 24.3 per cent market share in the smartphone category as on April 2013. We want to be on top,” Micromax Co-founder Rahul Sharma said after launching the latest device. Micromax expects massive demand for its best selling smartphone series — Canvas.

Sharma said that the company has sold over a million devices of Canvas series in the last three months. The Canvas series has 10 devices in the range of Rs 6,000 to Rs 18,000. Overall, the company sales stood at 2.2 million a month.

“Our consumers have yet again reposed their faith in Micromax with the overwhelming response to the unprecedented pre-booking for Canvas 4 without revealing price or specifications,” he added.

Micromax, which claimed to have clocked a turnover of Rs 3,100 crore last fiscal, is looking to grow 2.5 times by the end of this financial year.

Meanwhile, its home-grown rival, Karbonn has launched 5.5 inch screen handset Titanium S9 for Rs 19,990 before Micromax unveiled Canvas 4.  Karbonn’s latest offering also comes with a 13-megapixel rear camera with a LED flash at the back and the front camera unit will have a resolution of 5-megapixel.