Gadget Roundup: Xolo restructured; Apple dominates holiday sales, Samsung works on smart ring

Slump in Xolo sales triggers restructuring, exits: Launched amid much fanfare in 2012, Lava International's sub-brand Xolo seems to have been going through some tough times recently. According to CyberMedia Research, Xolo's shipments in the third quarter were around 45 per cent of the average shipment in the previous two quarters. A restructuring is now under way at the company. The sales and marketing teams of Lava and Xolo are being merged to reduce duplication in roles and bring in efficiencies. According to The Economic Times, Xolo's headcount has now shrunk to 25-30, all of them marketing executives, from about 150 last year. Moreover, the company has shifted retail sales of Lava-branded devices exclusively to offline channels and Xolo to online platforms. (economictimes.indiatimes.com)

And, Apple is the clear winner...: Apple was the undisputed winner this holiday season worldwide. According to a survey by Yahoo's analytics firm Flurry, in the December 19-25 period, Apple's iPhones and iPads took the lion's share of device activations. Overall, Apple accounted for 49.1 per cent of smartphones and tablets activated over the Christmas week, compared to 19.8 per cent for South Korean rival Samsung. Overall, phablets have continued their rise for devices activated during the holidays, with the category's share doubling to 27 per cent — up from 13 per cent last year. (www.ibtimes.com)

Samsung working on smart ring: After smartwatches and Gear VR headsets, it's time for a smart ring from Samsung. It has filed for a patent at USPTO (U.S. Patent & Trademark Office) where it describes how the ring will work and what functions it might carry. The ring can be used to control smartphones, tablets and smart TVs, by simply rotating it left or right. The technology behind the smart ring is said to be based on the rotating bezel on the Samsung Gear S2 smartwatch. (ndtv.com)

"Breakthrough" Microsoft Surface phone: Ending all speculations, Microsoft chief marketing officer Chris Capossela said the company is working on a Surface Phone to complete its Windows 10 ecosystem of devices. The long-rumoured Windows 10 phone is supposed to be an Intel-powered "breakthrough" device and the "spiritual successor" of the Surface lineup. However, Capossela said that the company needs some more time to build it. (firstpost.com)

OnePlus X Champagne Edition goes on sale in India: The OnePlus X Champagne variant is now available for purchase in India. Users with a regular Onyx variant OnePlus X invite can buy the smartphone via Amazon India at Rs16,999. The OnePlus X features a 5-inch full-HD display and is powered by 2.3GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 quad-core SoC. The dual-SIM phone comes with 3GB RAM, 16GB in-built storage which is expandable up to 128GB, a 13-megapixel rear camera, an 8-megapixel front facing snapper, and a 2525mAh non-removable battery. (ndtv.com)