December 2, 2014 – The Metrognome

A Kandivali-based mall has started a musical initiative where new artistes will get to perform for free for live audiences.

by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

Mumbai’s big malls are certainly laying the red carpet down for its patrons. After Phoenix Mall hosted an art walk in September, the city’s suburbs will now get a taste of live music every Friday.

Shoppers headed to Growel’s 101 Mall in Kandivali will now be treated to musical performances by singers and musicians every Friday, as part of the Mall’s ‘Fun Friday’ initiative. The initiative aims to provide a platform to budding artistes from Mumbai to showcase their talent. The first performances took place last week on November 28, when Sonu Kakkar and Siddharth Basrur.

The Mall’s ozone area is to be used for the purpose. Said Rajiv Bhatia, COO, Retail and Real Estate, Grauer & Weil (India), “We want to develop the Mall as the newest venue for fresh talent, especially from the neighbourhood. In a space-starved city like Mumbai, such an initiative is bound to get a hands-down support from people.” He added, “New artistes who are extremely talented still find it difficult to acquire venues since most of them charge exorbitant amounts. We wish to provide a stage to such artistes free of cost so that they can showcase their talent. The mall has robust footfalls, especially on weekends beginning Friday, which is what led to the genesis of the Fun Friday concept.

“Good footfalls will ensure that the artistes have a great audience. That will definitely be encouraging for them.” The management hopes that the initiative will be a double treat for shoppers, too, as they can listen to some of the best new music as they shop, eat or simply hang out at the mall.

(Pictures courtesy Growel’s 101 Mall)

Celkon and ZTE launch two new phones

Celkon’s first Windows phone, a low range device, comes to India; while ZTE’s mid range phone is named the Grand SII.

by Manik Kakra | @Manik_K on Twitter

As announced by the company a few days back, Celkon has launched its first Windows Phone device in India two days ago. The phone is named WIN400, and caters to the low-end smartphone segment.

The WIN400 (in image above) features a 4-inch (800 x 480) screen and runs on Windows Phone 8.1. Under the hood, there is a Snapdragon 200 chipset (1.2 GHz quad-core processor, Adreno 203 GPU) along with 512 MB of RAM. On the back, there is a 5 MP (AF) camera (with an LED flash), while the front has a 1.3 MP camera. The phone comes loaded 1,500 mAh battery unit and with 4 GB of internal storage, which can be expanded up to 32 GB using a microSD card. Connectivity-wise, there’s 3G, Bluetooth 4.0, WiFi, GPS, and microUSB 2.0. The phone comes in black, and is available for Rs 4,979.

ZTE also launched its new mid-range smartphone, the Grand SII (in pic on left). The device runs on Android 4.2 with Mi Flavor UI on top. It’s powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 800 chipset coupled with 2 GB of RAM. The Grand SII features a 5.5-inch (1920×1080) screen and is equipped with a 2,500 mAh battery unit. There’s 16 GB of internal storage, which is expandable. The rear sports a 13 MP camera, and the front has a 5 MP camera.

It also boasts 3G and 4G LTE connectivity options along with Bluetooth, WiFi, GPS, microUSB 2.0, and FM Radio. The phone comes in only silver-black colour, and is available exclusively from Amazon at Rs 13,999.