Nokia Launches 5 New Phones(N95 and N81)

Nokia is launching 5 new phones at their GoPlay event in London. They aren’t all new models to be precise, but a few are simply re-hashed and upgraded versions of older designs. We don’t have the information yet as to when they’ll be hitting our stores, but I can only hope soon, considering India is Nokia’s second largest market for their devices.

Nokia N95 8GB Edition

First off is the new version of their ‘Super-Phone’ the N95. This new model is totally black to begin with and now comes with a whopping 8GB of internal memory. It’s also going to have a 1200 mAh battery (950 mAh - original). Another major redesign feature is that the screen size has been upped to 2.8 inches (2.6 inches – original).

Nokia N81

The next Symbian smartphone from Nokia is the N81 which will have a 2.4 inch TFT display with QVGA resolution. It will also be equipped with Wi-Fi capabilities, is EDGE/HSDPA-enabled and will also support Bluetooth with A2DP compatibility as well. The N81 will also have dedicated gaming keys and 8GB of internal memory. The main camera is 2 megapixels and there’s also a secondary CIF camera for video calls.

Nokia XpressMusic Series
5700

Nokia is also adding 2 more phones to their XpressMusic series and has given their new 5700 model a makeover. The latest 5700 will have a Black coat with a Blue or Red trim. But there’s no confirmation on if there will be any other significant differences.


This smartphone is going to run off the series 40 platform. It has a QVGA TFT display and has a 2 megapixel camera. Like it’s predecessor the 5300, this model will also support Bluetooth with A2DP compatibility and also support external memory with microSD cards.

5610
5310

The second XpressMusic phone to be released is the 5610 which has a slider design and will also run on the series 40 platform.

We don’t have too much information on all the specs these phones will have, but as soon as we know, you’ll know.

Saregama Launches Mobitunes Cards

Saregama India has launched Saregama Mobitunes Cards, which allows mobile phone users to download their favorite music as ringtones, caller tones and songs on their handsets. Mobitune Cards can be used across all service providers.

The card is a scratch card that users have to get a 16 digit code from. Users can choose the format they want their ringtones in (Monophonic Polyphonic or Truetone) and send a download message to 8558. The cards will hold six songs out of which users can download a maximum of three songs.

Initially the Mobitune cards will be launched in 20 themes with 6 songs unique to each theme at a price of Rs. 25.

Atul Churamani Vice President A &R, Publishing and New Media said, "We initiated this concept after a thorough research on the consumers’ usage pattern. We realized that ring tones is considered only a youth thing. Middle – aged people, housewives weren’t even aware of the availability of the variety of ring tones. Our Mobitune Cards has greater choice in content, provides complete choice on formats and have sharability. We are trying to emphasize on the fact that your ring tone talks about your personality and we are providing diverse set of users the vast availability in the industry."

The Saregama Mobitune Card is available at leading music stores and will be available as a free insertion in all Saregama audio CDs as well.

HP Deepens Push Into Cell Phone Market

Hewlett-Packard unveiled two new cell phones Wednesday, pushing deeper into the lucrative mobile phone market and broadening the array of equipment it can sell to large companies.

The two phones announced Wednesday signal a new direction for HP as it builds off its strength in the PDA market and its ubiquity in corporate IT server rooms and employee offices and tries also to become a full-fledged smart phone maker.

The iPAQ 600 Series Business Navigator looks and functions like a cell phone and includes a navigation feature with 3-D maps. It's HP's second cell phone, coming on the heels of the Voice Messenger announced in February.

The company also announced the iPAQ 900 Series Business Messenger, a smart phone with a full keyboard that follows another full-keyboard model introduced last year.

Both run on the latest in third-generation, or 3G, high-speed networks. No carriers have been announced yet, but HP said the phones are planned to work with most major carriers.

The new phones are a key part of HP's efforts to expand its iPAQ brand of handheld products beyond PDA devices, which still sell briskly, though their popularity is fading in favor of more phone-like gadgets.

Warner Bros. to Launch Networking Site

Warner Bros. plans to launch a Web site early next year that will allow users to interact with its cast of animated characters, create personal profiles and watch original online episodes.

The advertising-supported site will be called T-Works and will launch next spring, the company, a division of Time Warner Inc., said Thursday.

Besides serving as a destination for fans of such characters as Tweety Bird, Bugs Bunny and the Flintstones, the site also will allow users to personalize the characters and take them off site to decorate Web pages and profiles on social networking sites such as MySpace.

Users also will be able to create their own profiles and use such standard social networking tools as online chats.

The site will enable Warner Bros. to market toys, books and movies from its various divisions, including DC Comics, which serves as the home to Batman and Superman.

''T-Works will offer original entertainment content, social interaction and an intimacy with our beloved and iconic characters like never before in an environment that's safe and appropriate for all ages,'' said Lisa Judson, president of Warner Bros. Animation.

While the site will let users adopt a cartoon personality, or avatar, and interact with others on the site, it will also include filters, parental controls and other safeguards, the company said.

Video channels will include original shows made for the site as well as games. Users also can accumulate points that can be redeemed for items to decorate their T-Works profile.

Dell Says Notebooks Driving Gaming Sales

Dell Inc is seeing broad demand for notebooks spill over into the market for high-end gaming computers, saying that gives it an edge over rival Hewlett-Packard Co's stepped-up gaming efforts.

"There's a general trend in the industry that notebooks are becoming more prevalent and we're also seeing that in gaming," said Glen Robson, general manager of marketing for Dell's XPS gaming computer brand.

The single-minded emphasis gamers place on performance has traditionally meant they opt for desktop computers, which deliver more bang for the buck.

But the market is changing as processors from Intel Corp and Advanced Micro Devices Inc, and graphics chips from Nvidia Corp and AMD get smaller and faster, helping notebooks close much of the gap with desktops.

"If you ask any gamer now, they're going to say they want a notebook. A lot of these guys can build their own desktops, but it's very hard to find a good notebook," said Nelson Gonzales, chief of Alienware, a specialty gaming PC maker that Dell bought in 2006.

"We always knew instinctively that if we could come out with a notebook as powerful as a desktop, it would be greatly accepted and would probably overtake our desktops."

Dell does not disclose sales of gaming PCs, but Robson said that offering such products helps the company push the bounds of technology and attract trend-setting buyers who often help others buy computers.

The Round Rock, Texas-based company is confident its gaming business can withstand a fresh effort by rival Hewlett-Packard, which overtook Dell as the top PC seller by overall unit sales, to take the top spot in the gaming market as well.

HP unveiled a new gaming machine on Wednesday called the Blackbird that aims to fill the niche above its general consumer PC line and below the ultra high-end models offered under its Voodoo brand.

"We already have the two foremost brands in PC gaming. Our world is not one of trying to play catchup, it's about staying ahead through innovation," Dell's Robson said. "HP is going to spend considerable resources to catch up with us

Heavenly Sword(review)

If epic tales could be recited using the shimmering blade of a sword, Heavenly Sword would be the outcome. The game takes epic story telling to a whole new level, breaking the zenith of production values you’ve seen in almost any modern day game and executing every cutscene, every in-game action sequence with enough finesse to rival any top Hollywood martial-art flicks.

Make no mistake; at its core, Heavenly Sword is a hack-n-slash game. What transcends it from the lot is the fact that each and every element of the game is so minutely worked upon (even the ones that most action games overlook) that it blurs the line between cinematic and interactive entertainment. The voice acting for instance is the best I’ve heard in a while – it isn’t overacted, nor is it bland; the fact that they’ve hired actual actors to play the role of the various characters really gleams through. The voice acting coupled with the extremely well done facial animation stacks up to breathe a great amount of depth into the characters, setting them apart from those paper-thin ones you’re used to seeing in most other action games.

The storyline on the other hand is your standard ‘Sword meets Girl and kills millions’ kind. Ok, that might not be too standard, but you can certainly say that it lacks depth. The game manages to immerse you nevertheless, thanks to some inspiring narration and amazing story-telling mechanics that add to the grand feel of the game. The way this works out is that between missions Nariko comes on screen reflecting on her actions and exposing the way she feels in a very believable way that’ll draw you in; it’s a lot like what we’ve seen in The Darkness’ loading screens, only emotionally charged (she is a chick after all). All this happens with a picturesque backdrop that has jagged blades ripping out of the ground, each representing a different Chapter in the game. You can use these blades to select different segments of the game that you wish to replay, which is a great feature since there are quite a few parts that you’re sure to love and will want to play again. The duality of the transition screen is truly commendable, since it manages to please you aesthetically as well as maintain its functionality. It just goes to show the amount of work developer Ninja Theory has put into something as small as the mission transition screen. Kudos to Ninja Theory for that!



Another area where the game truly shines through are its visuals. Heavenly Sword is one of the most gorgeous looking games out there, and there’s no denying that - everything from the way Nariko’s flaming red hair is animated, to the detailed texturing on everything from the armor of the enemy soldiers to the broken pieces of equipment scattered throughout the game is done so brilliantly that they feel truly lifelike. The best part of this is that in a bid to mock reality, the game doesn't lose its visual style – from the dreamy backdrops that’ll leave you breathless to the not-so-subtle far-east Asian architectural influences, the game seems to have accommodated a plethora of different styles to form a soul of its own that’ll rouse a sort of wanderlust in anyone that plays it.

The great visuals extend even to the big battles, where Nariko takes on thousands (literally) of enemies by herself, on an outrageously large battleground. This has an impact on the performance however and the framerates begin to suffer quite noticeably. This wouldn’t make such a huge difference in any other game, but with the standards Heavenly Sword has set for itself (it meets most of them almost in all areas), these framerate dips makes the team behind it look quite shabby. I really wonder if the low framerates are caused by the limit of the PS3’s power or game’s unoptimized code. Regardless, Ninja Theory should’ve made it a point to fix the dips before they shipped out the game.

Another area where the game falls blaringly short of greatness is the combat system. If you’re a seasoned combo-ist, the combos will leave a lot to be desired. Combos are basically executed in the way you normally execute them in any other hack-n-slack game, only here (unlike God of War) the combos don’t reward you with great amounts of damage or in any other way whatsoever. In fact, a button masher can do as well as a seasoned player by just punching the two attack keys – Triangle and Square in a random order. If that wasn’t bad enough, even the attack-counter system seems very counter-intuitive; to counter a blow, you’ve got to keep an eye out for the color of the trail of the enemy attacking you. A blue trail means that you can counter the enemy while you’re in Speed stance, while an orange trail indicates that the attack can only be countered in the Heavy Stance. To change stances you hold either the R1 (Heavy Stance) and L1 (Ranged) buttons, and to counter a blow you just press the Triangle button at the right time. The counter system would be way better if you could block blows and then use the counter key, rather than doing both simultaneously which feels too unnatural in battle and requires special attention. Even though the outcome of counters is brutally impressive, most players (me included) will never get quite acquainted with it.



That said, the game’s combat is really good for people new to the genre, since it isn’t very hard to master in normal difficulty. Just get a hang of the different stances via the in-game tutorial in the first mission and you’re all set to kick some butt right till the end of the game. I doubt that Ninja Theory intended for the combat system to work this way though, but it makes the game seem like it’s targeted to the really non-hardcore audience. To enhance that feeling, the game has other segments that feel a little out of place. Every now and then you get missions to blow up rolling catapults or decimate armies using a cannon. To do this, the game allows you to move into first person to shoot a cannon ball, that you can control in-flight using the SIXAXIS controls. After tinkering with the settings a little you can use the analog sticks to control the projectile; however that isn’t the way Ninja Theory wants you to play those parts.

The game even puts you in the shoes of Kai (Nariko’s best buddy) from time to time. This chick is basically an archer, and all her gameplay bits involve sniping people in first person and controlling the arrows using SIXAXIS. While these bits may seem a little out of place from time to time, they work well to add a bit of diversity into the gameplay and give you an opportunity to take a break from the button mashing.

The diversity, which would be a good thing otherwise, seems pretty unnecessary here since the game ends faster than you’d want it to. A seasoned player will be able to finish the game in about 8-9 hours flat, which is a really short time for a game that’s been in production for roughly 5 years. For what it’s worth, those few hours will have in store for you an experience that any action fan shouldn’t miss, provided he doesn’t mind spending Rs. 2,799 on a game that has limited replay value and absolutely no online play.

3 Streaming Applications to Have Fun With in Office

Wouldn’t you want to have your own radio channel? Play DJ to a couple of friends, and garner a great deal of attention in your office or on your local LAN network in your building etc. Or simply broadcast your music online to anyone and everyone. Sounds like fun, doesn’t it? It’s fairly simple too. You just need the right software that works for you, and you need an interesting music database for others liking. We’ll list three applications that we think are worth a try.
VLC

Publisher: Opensource
Download Link: 1
Size: 9420.2 kb

You might be surprised to see VLC being included in this lineup. VLC better known as being the Swiss army knife of media players also comes with a very comprehensive streaming engine. Not only is it capable of simple audio/visual streaming, it offers some very comprehensive options for the power users to customize the streaming experience to their hearts content.

To stream using VLC, all one has to do is make a playlist using your favorite media player or a playlist maker. Then from VLC from under file open Wizard, click stream to network. From here select existing playlist and click on next. This will bring you to the screen you see above.

From here select HTTP. Leave the tab below blank. Click the next button and you will be on encapsulation tab. Here from the various options select, RAW and click next. Here you can set the TTL option or simply skip over it. That’s it. Your audio streaming is ready. For anyone who wishes to access your audio stream, all they have to do is use http://yourip:8080. This can be directly from any modern player like Winamp or WMP.
Potaro

Publisher: Potaro
Download Link: 1
Size: 17459 kb

Potaro, in simple terms, is an application for streaming audio and video content over your local network or over the internet. You just need to install, register and direct the application towards the folder that has all the media content (music and/or videos). It has a built in web server that allows you to play your content. It works on the ‘mms’ protocol, and anyone can stream in using either Windows Media Player or Winamp.

Once your library has been built, all you need is to log into the server and start playing. For others to be able to stream all they need is url. Your IP + the port (in this case, 22222) needs to be opened using the Open URL tab in the file menu of any player. For eg: mms://IPaddress:22222/ . So all you need is a JavaScript enabled web browser, Windows Media Player, and a broadband connection at your remote location.

The player also allows you to stream into the broadcast channel yourself. The library can be sorted as per Artists, Genres etc, and the application also recognizes m3u or pls playlist. It also allows you to either allow or block people accessing your stream. You can even broadcast your webcam footage online to your friends. And you can monitor the log through the log viewer.

Vibe Streamer

Publisher: Version Studio
Download Link: 1
Size: 661 kb

If you don’t want to manually keep feeding the songs into playlist, and simply want your friends to be able to access your music and play it, Vibe Streamer should do the trick. You just need to create accounts of people you want to allow access to your music. This is simple! After installing you need to click on ‘Users and Groups’ and add a user. You create a Username and password, and pass it on to the person.

This is a web browser enabled streaming system, wherein your friend can simply type the path in any browser and enter after verification. That user will now have access to the shared folder and can listen to anything he likes through the inbuilt player itself.

In this case, the port used to stream information is ‘8081’. And streaming takes place through the http:// protocol. For eg: http://IPaddress:8081.

Asus G1S (review)

One of the fastest growing segments in laptops today, are gaming machines. As their demand increases companies like Nvidia have started introducing graphical chipsets that promise to bridge the difference between very high-end dedicated gaming laptops and more mainstream efforts. The 8600 GT is one such chipset, that was recently introduced and has been getting positive reviews overall both in performance and in the form of adoption by manufacturers. One such manufacturer is Asus, who has adopted the 8600 GT in their gaming laptop the G1s. At the same time they have upgraded the CPU of the G1 to the newly introduced Santa Rosa platform.

How well does this laptop perform? Read on to find out...




The most striking thing about the G1 is the fact that for a 15.4 inch laptop, it’s rather large and designed more like a tough notebook than a consumer grade machine. However that’s where the similarity ends. Unlike the reinforcement that tough laptops enjoy, the G1 is made out of standard construction plastic that while being thicker than normal is nowhere near as durable. One good point to note here, is that Asus has reinforced the hinges of the G1s with nice thick iron bolts. This is a good departure from the standard plastic hinges that not only begin to squeak after a few months of use, but also may also break in some rare cases.


The color scheme of the G1s? Non-existent as Asus has used a standard black matte finish all over the laptop. This was a disappointment as a tastefully done two-tone color scheme, would have increased the brand-value and bragging value of the G1S. Keeping in mind that this is a gaming laptop, a little bit of flash would not have hurt anyone. The only concessions that have been given to it as a gaming laptop are the polymer film glass cover on the top lid of the laptop and around the keyboard area, the WSAD keys being clearly highlighted, an LED panel that scrolls your name or any text that you desire or the current time/date and green highlights around the integrated webcam.

The LCD panel on the G1s is a widescreen variant offering a native resolution of 1440x900. The quality as compared to previous laptops remains unchanged. The screen offers a generous work area, excellent color and contrast levels and surprisingly for a laptop panel very deep black levels. The provided software “Splendid Video Enhancement Technology” however is a bit of a disappointment. Its preset modes don’t really bring out the level and quality display this panel is capable of. To get the best possible display, it’s better to define your own settings using the software’s profile maker. Overall keeping in mind the gaming aspect of the laptop, the LCD panel is quite welcome.


The keyboard of the G1 is quite well designed. The keys are well spaced out, offer good feedback and the highlighted “WSAD” keys are a welcome touch. The only thing we found annoying here was the fact that sometimes the key presses didn’t register in games and caused problems. Initially we thought that this might be a problem in our test piece, but it was not. We worked on the machine for normal every-day work and found that the same keys worked fine. The touchpad of the G1 is a very standard fare. It offers good traction and control and is generally pleasant to use. It is however not very good to game with and for this Asus includes a stylish mouse.

If the mouse strikes a feeling of familiarity... it’s because it’s a rebadged Logitech MX518.

In terms of peripheral connectivity, the G1 is certainly not lacking. It offers 4 USB slots which unfortunately have been all grouped up at the back. This is a major annoyance as it means that for connecting any USB item; one has to turn the laptop around every time. The rest of the connectivity is quite standard with a Firewire slot, Rj11/ Rj45 jacks, Mic/headphones out, a card reader and a dual-layer DVD drive. Wireless connectivity is present in the form of Bluetooth 2.0 EDR and 802.11 a/b/g Wi-Fi support.


The G1s being a gaming laptop, comes with some decent specifications. It is powered by a Centrino Duo T7300 processor clocked at 2 GHz, comes with 2 GB of DDR2 667 RAM, and Nvidia’s 8600GT graphical chipset with 256 Mb of graphical turbocache RAM. The 8600 GT is the beefed up version of the 8400 graphics chipset that was present in the A8SC that we reviewed recently. Like the 8400, it is DX10 compliant and supports Nvidia's Purevideo 2 technology.

We divided our tests into 3 sections. First up and most importantly were the synthetic tests namely 3DMark06 and PCMark05. The G1s aced both tests achieving scores of 4608 and 5124. These are impressive scores, keeping in mind that we have the mid-level version of the G1s. In comparison, the top-end version comes with a faster processor (T7500) and the 8600GT has 512 Mb of graphical memory.

In our second test we tested the games like F.EA.R, WoW, Oblivion and Prey. Each of the tests was run at the laptop’s native resolution of 1440x900, which is a widescreen resolution and conforms to the 16:10 standard. While some of the games support widescreen modes natively, we had to utilize either 3rd party patches/hacks for a couple of the games get them running in widescreen mode. Each test was run with a very moderate 2x AA/AF setting.

In each of the games the laptop was more than up to the task. We had average playable frame rates of around 38-63 across the spectrum. While the variance in the frame rate may seem to be a lot, please remember this is average frame rate. Smooth gaming is indeed possible on this laptop.
Our final test was the battery life. Here the laptop was a solid performer. We set the laptop for maximum performance and got a battery life of around 2 ½ hrs. Surprisingly when we switched to the battery conservation mode, the battery life went up by a mere 15 minutes.

The G1s is priced at Rs. 93,000. Though it offers some reasonably strong features build and performance, we find at its price point it loses out to other manufactures on being VFM. Dell and others offer laptops with similar specifications at a good Rs. 10,000 less. If your budget permits the purchase of this machine, we suggest you have a good hard look elsewhere before settling on this machine.

Quick Heal and CERT-In Tie up for Security

Quick Heal Technologies, developers of antivirus Quick Heal, a Pune-based security solutions company will now work with Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) for cyber security.

Under the terms of the agreement QUick Heal and CERT-In will initiate co-operative activities in areas like malware analysis and incidents on Internet Security.

CERT-In provides information on computer security and provides asvice to users and network administrators about responding to computer security related incidents. CERT-Ins is in close association with other similar institutions world wide and works to resolve computer security issues and provide information to the Indian cyber community.

Meridian Mobile Offers FLY Series of Phones

Meridian mobile, a UK-based manufacturer has announced its latest range of GSM mobile phones - FLY - in India. This includes the E-300, SX-210 and the SX-240.

The E-300 sports a 3.2MP auto focus camera, and comes with a 2.2-inch QVGA 262K TFT display. It offers web cam and jog scroll and comes with a 512MB memory card. Other features include, TV OUT and FM with recorder.

The SX-210 has a 2MP camera, 262K TFT display and an inbuilt web camera that enables connectivity to the computer system. Other features include, touch screen, MP3 player, Bluetooth, TV OUT and FM radio.

The SX-240 Clamshell phone comes with a 3MP camera, TV output and Bluetooth.

While the SX-240 is priced at Rs. 11,500, the SX-210 and the E-300 are priced at Rs. 12,500 each.

Microsoft Cuts Zune Price by $50

Microsoft Corp cut the price of its Zune digital music player on Wednesday by $50 to $199 in an attempt to rev up sales of the device competing against Apple Inc's iPod.

Microsoft announced the price cut for the 30-gigabyte player on the Zune Insider blog run by one of its employees, just hours before Apple's news conference, where the company, as expected, updated its iPod lineup with new models.

Microsoft said it had been planning the price cut "for months" and expects the lower price to lure new customers.

The world's largest software maker faces a herculean task in taking on Apple in digital music players, a category defined by its iPod, which has sold over 100 million units since its introduction in October 2001.

Microsoft introduced the Zune last year, touting its capabilities to share music wirelessly. With only the 30-GB model, Microsoft met its target to sell more than 1 million units before the end of June.

Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft is expected to introduce different Zune models before the holiday season. A Microsoft executive said Tuesday the company had nothing to announce at this time, but said its plan over time is to offer new Zune models and roll out the devices in new markets.

HP Launches Blackbird 002 Gaming Desktop

HP has launched a new monster of a desktop, which it is simply calling the Blackbird 002. This powerful new desktop comes encased in a cast aluminum chassis, boasts of some customized cooling and thermal solutions such as separate thermal chambers for processors, GPU and PSU. The system also utilizes a liquid cooling solution and copper heat pipes to prevent overheating.


On top of the excellent cooling solution, the machine sports unlocked bios which allows a very high degree of control over overclocking.

Specifications wise the Blackberry can be equipped with a 3.0 GHz Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6850 processor, dual Nvidia 8800 GTX Ultra graphics cards, 10,000 RPM Raptor HDD, five hard drive bays (max 4 TB storage), 3 PCIe x16 slots, a 15-in 1 card reader, a Razer gaming mouse/keyboard set and Windows Vista Ultimate.

The Blackbird 002 will be available from 15th September at prices starting from $2500 upwards.

LG Upgrades Blu-ray HD DVD Combo Player

LG has confirmed that it will replace its groundbreaking combo Blu-ray HD DVD player with a new, more comprehensive model.

The BH200, due to land in the US this October and priced at 1,000 dollars, offers full support for HD DVD’s interactive features. Like Samsung’s upcoming dual-format player, it will conform to Profile 1.1 of the Blu-ray specification.

Apple Seeks to Calm Irate Early iPhone Buyers

Apple Inc Chief Executive Steve Jobs on Thursday offered a $100 store credit to early buyers of the iPhone, seeking to calm customers angry over an unexpected and steep price cut.

On Wednesday, Apple slashed the price of its $600 iPhone model to $400, saying it wanted to make the combination phone, music player and Web browser more affordable.

"Even though we are making the right decision to lower the price of iPhone, and even though the technology road is bumpy, we need to do a better job taking care of our early iPhone customers as we aggressively go after new ones with a lower price," Jobs said in a letter posted on Apple's Web site.

The offer applies to people who bought iPhones at Apple or AT&T Inc stores but did not qualify for rebates or other compensation, Jobs said. AT&T is the exclusive service provider for the iPhone in the United States.

Apple shares fell for a second day on concerns about iPhone profit margins because of the price cut and rebates.

Apple has not disclosed how many iPhones it has sold since its launch in late June, but has said it sold 270,000 iPhones in the first two days and expects to sell 1 million units by the end of September.

Although Apple faces potential costs of tens of millions of dollars if most qualifying customers take the company up on the offer, that will still be a drop in the bucket compared to the $818 million in net profit it made last quarter.

"From a Wall Street perspective it will be mostly ignored, people will say, 'Hey, Apple did a goodwill gesture, they are taking good care of their customers," said Shaw Wu, an analyst with American Technology Research.

Apple has a policy to refund the difference to customers who bought a product within 14 days of a price drop.

Web sites and forums were quickly inundated with messages from irate iPhone buyers, some of whom felt that they had been punished for their early support. Jobs said he had received hundreds of e-mails from upset customers.

"Our early customers trusted us, and we must live up to that trust with our actions in moments like these," Jobs said.

Darren Chervitz, a money manager with Jacob Internet Fund, said he was concerned about the underlying damage the rapid price cut may have caused to Apple's most loyal fan base.

"You cannot do that without doing damage to your brand and to future launches," Chervitz said. "The early adopters are a big part of Apple's fan base. They want to cultivate it and not think they bought too early."

His fund holds a small position in Apple after paring back over the past year.