Nokia E66 and E71 Launched

After we covered the news of E71 being available in the city, there's official word from Nokia about it. Nokia has also announced the availability of the E66. Both the phones will have support for the Nokia Intellisync Wireless Email solution as well as third party email solutions like System Seven and Visto Mobile. Both devices come with the new switch mode that allows people to switch easily between personal and work home screens.

The E71 will feature a 3.2MP, auto-focus camera, GPS with A-GPS support, Bluetooth with A2DP, Wi-Fi, 3G with HSDPA speeds, USB v2,0 support and a full QWERTY keypad

The E66 is a voice-centric slider that will enable its users with more than just Wi-fi and Bluetooth. Besides a 3.2MP auto focus camera, 2.5mm jack and IrDA, it will also offer plenty of office tools like QuickOffice, Zip Manager, PDF reader and Notes. It will also have in-built GPS.

While the E71 is available for Rs. 22,949 the price of the E66 is Rs. 23,689.

Samsung Launches U900, Slew of New Phones

Samsung Telecommunications India (STI) has announced the launch of its Flagship model - SGH-U900 - in the country along with eight new mobiles and lifestyle mobile accessories.

The U900 features Magic Touch by DaCP, that changes the navigation indicators on the keypad according to the user's needs, making navigation of the menus simple, intuitive and direct. The navigation panel's icons change according to function. For example, when in music mode, music related icons will light up on the navigation indicators. When in camera mode, camera related icons such as zoom and brightness icons will appear.

At 12.9mm thin, it is equipped with a 5 megapixel camera with features such as face detection, image stabilizer and Wide Dynamic Range (WDR). Users can enjoy Internet access through the 7.2 Mbps High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) browser and share images or video taken with the phone.

The U900 is priced at Rs. 20,585.

Sunil Dutt , Country Head, Samsung Telecommunications India , "We believe that is the answer for today's style-conscious consumers, looking for a perfect blend of outstanding quality , design and performance. We are confident that the will enhance the Samsung consumer experience in the premium phone category."

Nokia Brings The 8800 Sapphire Arte to India

Nokia, has launched its premium handset the 8800 Sapphire Arte.

The Nokia 8800 Sapphire Arte is inspired from nature and makes a unique statement with its single Sapphire (world's most durable material) as the center-key. The handset features 3G capabilities along with 3.2 megapixel auto focus camera and boasts an OLED display.

Devinder Kishore, Director Marketing, Nokia India said,"As part of its premium range, Nokia brings yet another iconic mobile phone. Nokia 8800 Sapphire Arte sets the benchmark for quality and craftsmanship. The high-end materials and seamless surfaces celebrate the art of individuality - inspired by natural light with minimalistic design

The handset has a high-end metal and glass composition. It has a smooth slide mechanism – comprised of state-of-the art ball bearings and a unique spring mechanism. It also sports a polished steel case with a genuine sapphire gem stone and an accent of soft brown napa leather. It comes with 'tap-for-time' and 'turn-to-mute' features while living wallpapers move throughout the day to give on-screen decoration. By double-tapping the steel surface below the display, an analogue clock appears – indicating time, while incoming calls can be silenced by simply turning over the phone, screen-side down.

The Nokia 8800 Sapphire Arte comes at a premium price of Rs. 62, 829

Nokia Unveils Black N82

Nokia has unveiled the Nokia N82 in stylish black.

ThN82 enables people to "geotag" the images they capture - allowing them to not only be saved by date, but by location as well. This adds to a line-up of photography features, including a 5 megapixel camera, Carl Zeiss optics and a Xenon flash and advanced connectivity features that makes it easy for consumers to share their discoveries, journeys and locations.

The Nokia N82 in black is expected to start shipping within weeks, with an estimated retail price of approximately 400 euros, before taxes and subsidies.

"The Nokia N82 is made for storytelling," says Juha Kokkonen, Director for Nokia Nseries devices. "As one of Nokia's leading-edge connected camera, the Nokia N82 in black captures people's journeys and discoveries. With built-in A-GPS it even helps people to find new places by pairing 'contextual' information with a wide array of connectivity features such as Wi-Fi and HSDPA. We make it easy for consumers to quickly share those moments as they happen."

Taking advantage of its integrated A-GPS functionality and high resolution camera, the Nokia N82 automatically tags images with capture location metadata, making it possible to view the capture location on a map either on the Internet or on the device itself. Users can upload their pictures or videos directly from their Nokia N82 to services like Share on Ovi, Flickr or YouTube. By installing Nokia's exclusive and free Sports Tracker application, consumers can share their whereabouts and travel route with others on the Sports Tracker website - including the capture locations of images.

The Nokia Sports Tracker is a GPS based activity tracker that runs on Nokia smartphones. Information such as speed, distance and time are automatically stored in the application, and can be shared with others.

To showcase this application, several explorers took off across the globe, each with a GPS-enabled Nokia N82 as their travel companion. On www.nseries.com/urbanistadiaries, people around the world could follow these intrepid travelers, and share the experience in near real-time through images captured on each explorers' device. The Sports Tracker widget tracked the explorers' location and marked the spot where each image was taken on a constantly updated map. The widget has now been embedded in many blogs and social networking sites.

The Sports Tracker mobile widget will soon be made available with many new and existing S60-based converged mobile devices.

LG Shine Now in Titanium

Following the success of the LG Shine handset within the Black Label Series, LG has unveiled a new addition - the LG Shine Titanium color variant in bar and Slider form factors. LG Shine Titanium boasts of being the only phone in the market sporting a Titanium finish metal body. It incorporates the same features as the original LG Shine handset.

Anil Arora, Business Group Head, GSM said, “The new colours of Shine Slider will extend our success of the Shine series and will appeal to consumers who want their phone to say something about their personality. LG Shine color variants will magnify the modern style and chic image of the consumers, while the forthcoming premium handsets with unique design variations promise to be even more desirable, adding technology enhancements to unbeatable design.”

The LG Shine with new color variants has a 2 mega-pixel auto focus camera certified by Schneider Kreuznach and an expandable memory up to 1 GB with microSD cards. Access to Shine’s menu system is by an easy-to-use multi-function scroll key. It has a wide 2.2-inch mirror LCD screen and supports GPRS and EDGE network compatibility, Bluetooth with A2DP and USB connectivity. It also has applications like Yogasanas for health conscious people, E2E dictionary, E-mail and Document Viewer.

LG Shine Titanium Shine Bar will be available for Rs. 8,290 and the slider variant will be available for Rs. 12,490. Also the shine silver bar variant is now available for Rs. 7,990 and silver slider for Rs. 11,990.

SE Launches W910i in India

Sony Ericsson has launched its latest slim slider phone, the W910i, in India. With dimensions of 99.5 x 50 x 12.5 mm and a weight of just 86 grams, this Walkman phone has incorporated much of Sony Ericsson’s new mobile technology.

To start with, there's the new Shake Control system that allows users to change music tracks simply by waving the phone in the air. Secondly, the W910i has an auto-rotating display for the media section.

The W910i uses SE's new SenseMe playlist creation system. You can choose songs and create playlists based on your moods, than by artist or album. Tracks are presented in a unique visual that shows each song as dots in a matrix and places them according to tempo and style.

The phone has a 2 megapixel camera, and a secondary camera in front for video calling. It has some interesting gaming functions that allow you to control certain games by balancing the phone on your palm and moving it around. It also incorporates Sony’s Walkman v3.0.

The Sony Ericsson W910i Walkman phone is available in two colors – Hearty Red and Noble Black – and will retail for around Rs 19,000. Since we were lucky enough to get a prototype to test, you may want to check out our first impressions of the W910i here.

Watch 'Sholay' on Your Mobile Phone

Cinema buffs can now watch the classic movie Sholay on the go, thanks to the telecom revolution, as the blockbuster will now be available preloaded on some mobile phones.

Nokia today unveiled two new mobile handsets – N81 and N95 8GB – that have the cult movie preloaded. The Nseries is a multimedia sub-brand of Nokia.

"It is one of the biggest blockbusters that the Hindi film industry has churned out. There could have been no better option than this flick, which is liked by every age group equally," said Vineet Taneja, business director of multimedia, Nokia India.

"The facility will be available in every N81 and N95 8GB handset across the country. However, there will be no option of sub-titles," he added.

Bollywood actress Isha Sherwani launched the handsets after a high voltage dance performance.

Other than high storage capacity, the N81 also comes preloaded with English music videos, best-selling Bollywood and Hollywood songs and all-time hit comedy scenes from Hindi movies across genres.

The N95 offers a display of 2.8 inches and improved battery power. Its 8 GB flash memory is meant for enjoying videos, playing games, or locating favorite destinations with full navigation with assisted global positioning system (A-GPS).

The launch was followed by a panel discussion on the future of the burgeoning mobile entertainment market, which currently accounts for 37 percent of the $28,000 million non-SMS data revenue.

Nokia Launches N81

Nokia's recently launched N81 and N81 8GB multimedia phones are now available globally. Designed specifically for music and gaming, these devices come with dedicated music and game keys and are loaded with memory so you can store more and play more.

The 3D Multimedia Menu introduced in these devices is the first step to bringing a new user interface to the Nokia Nseries range.

"Accessing your portable music and games collection is not enough anymore," said Jonas Geust, vice president, Multimedia, Nokia. "Today people want to be more in control of how and where they consume their digital entertainment. They want to discover new favorites and share them without being confined to one location – and it's devices like the Nokia N81 that facilitate this."

The Nokia N81 and Nokia N81 8GB also offer access to songs through the Nokia Music Store. And with their integrated Nokia Music Players, creating playlists and managing music collections on the move is simple. For enhanced sound quality, compatible high-quality headphones or speakers can be used with the standard 3.5mm headphone connector.

A preview of the N-Gage games service is also available in the devices, including playable demos of EA Sports FIFA 07, Asphalt 3: Street Rules, and Space Impact Light. After the launch of the N-Gage later this year, the full N-Gage application will be available for download. Players can then sample all N-Gage games for free and buy the ones they want.

The estimated retail price of the Nokia N81 is 360 Euro before subsidies or taxes. The 8GB version is expected to retail for 430 Euro before subsidies or taxes.

Samsung Launches High Quality Music Phone

Samsung and Danish Audio equipment manufacturer, Bang & Olufsen have joined forces to bring us the Serenata music mobile phone. They seem to have managed to put together a unique and stylish mobile with music quality that we can just hope lives up to their brand names. This phone is going to be all about the music.

"Since we started our first co-operation with Bang & Olufsen, we have only been confirmed in our belief that both companies share a passion for innovation and consumer-focused technology. Serenata is another example of new ways to think of the mobile phone. I'm proud to say that our customers can see a true innovation of music player and mobile phone as we have opened a new era of mobile phones with Serene two years ago", says Geesung Choi, President of the Telecommunications Network Business in Samsung Electronics.

"We have high expectations to Serenata, as it is a result of our joint vision to constantly push the boundaries, and bring unique and exciting products to our customers", states Torben Ballegaard Sorensen, CEO of Bang & Olufsen.

Samsung Launches Two 5MP Camera Phones

Samsung seems to have made it a habit to surprise us by launching a succession of new phones, each more eye-catching than the previous.

After its latest music phone (the Serenata, with audio manufacturer Bang and Olufsen) and a fashion statement phone (with well known Designer Armani), Samsung has decided to go solo on its latest masterpieces: the F700 and G800 mobiles.

What makes these phones so special? They’re both equipped with 5 megapixel auto-focus cameras, that's what!

Specs for the F700 indicate that it’s a tri-band phone with a 2.8 inch TFT display and a slide-out QWERTY keyboard. It’s also likely that the F700 is 3G-enabled with HSDPA.

The G800, it would seem, is equipped with a Xenon flash and apparently has 3x optical zoom. Other specs include Bluetooth, but there's no mention of A2DP compatibility. Of course, the pictures do tell us that it’s a slider.

Samsung G800
Prices and availability have not been confirmed yet. I guess we’ll have to wait a bit longer for the official deal with the specs as well, so stay tuned.

Via GSM Arena.

Samsung Launches New Music Phones

Samsung today announced its new music phone lineup: the SGH-i450, SGH-F330 and SGH-F210.

With the launch of music-dedicated phones such as the SGH-F300, Samsung has developed an innovative Physical User Interface (PUI), a mechanism ideal for music lovers.

With an optimal PUI, Samsung offers its users the opportunity to enjoy its music player as if it were an MP3 player, even when the mobile phone is turned off.


Samsung SGH-i450
Dual Slider with Touch Wheel Music Navigation

The Samsung i450 enables users to enjoy a unique mobile experience, as the two-way slide form factor enhances the usability to control music and mobile phone functions.

When you push the slide up, the phone supports powerful smartphone features with Symbian S60 OS. Running the Symbian S60 3rd Edition operating system, the i450 provides download application and multitasking features with fast speeds through HSDPA connectivity at 3.6 Mbps.

With the slide down, the phone activates as a music player with touch-wheel navigation, which enables users to control the multimedia menus easily. Moreover, metallic speakers supporting ICEpower amplifier developed by Bang & Olufsen offer superb sound quality to music phone users.

For its advanced music features, the i450 supports a unique music UI and multi-codec music files. It also offers 35MB internal memory and microSD slot up to 4GB to store more music.

The i450 will be available in Italy from the end of October and in other European countries shortly thereafter. The price is around 360 Euro without subsidy.

Samsung Launches Another Music Phone

Samsung and Symbian seem a great combo. The two companies have decided it’s time they worked with each other, and have announced the tie-up in the latest Samsung SGH i450 mobile phone.

This is a music phone that runs on Symbian OS, v9.2 and S60 3rd Edition, Feature Pack 1. The i450 is a dual slider phone that’s well equipped for audio playback as well as high speed Internet browsing (3.6 Mbps) though HSDPA.

The keypad slides out from the bottom of the i450 and a set of metallic speakers slide out from the top. The i450 is equipped with a touch-sensitive arch-like half-wheel that can be utilized for navigation when the phone is in landscape mode.

Once again, Bang & Olufsen have contributed their bit to Samsung’s music phone range with their ICEpower amplifier. The i450 may have just 35MB of internal memory, but this can be extended using microSD cards(up to 4GB).

The i450 is equipped with a 2 megapixel camera at the rear and a secondary VGA camera in front above the 2.4 inch LCD display (240 x 320 pixel resolution) for video calling.

The i450 was on display at the Symbian Smartphone Show in London on October 16 and 17. Price and availability are yet to be revealed.

Via Akihabara News.

Apple to Allow Outside Applications on iPhone

Apple Inc Chief Executive Steve Jobs said on Wednesday that outside developers will be allowed to create programs for the iPhone, changing a policy that had angered many.

Blocking outsiders from making programs that would run easily on the iPhone has been one of a series of restrictions that have annoyed users, even leading to some lawsuits.

Jobs, in comments on Apple's Web site, said a kit for developers still will not be available until February, as the company works out how to open up the phone without exposing it to malicious programs.

"We think a few months of patience now will be rewarded by many years of great third party applications running on safe and reliable iPhones," Jobs said on the Web site at http://www.apple.com/hotnews/.

Developers have tried to open up the iPhone for use in the United States on networks beyond Apple's U.S. partner, AT&T Inc, though Apple has blocked many such moves. Spokeswoman Natalie Kerris said Apple has not changed its policy on locking the phone to other networks.

But until now, Apple also had stopped software engineers from creating whatever they wanted to run on the iPhone, without delivering them through the iPhone's Web browser.

Some 200 applications have been created for use on those terms, but consumers and software makers have seen that as an extra layer of rules and technology that was unnecessary and throttled innovation.

Under the new policy, applications will be allowed to run in so-called native mode.

Jobs said he expects malicious developers to focus on the iPhone. "Since the iPhone is the most advanced phone ever, it will be a highly visible target," he said.

Apple could require a digital signature for programs to authenticate their developer, he added, referring to a system that he said mobile phone maker Nokia is implementing.

While this makes such a phone less than "totally open, we believe it is a step in the right direction," Jobs said.

Sprint to Introduce Touch-Screen Phone

It's official: touch screens are the big new thing in cell phones this holiday season.

Sprint Nextel Corp. announced Wednesday it is jumping on the bandwagon with the Touch by HTC. Like Apple Inc.'s iPhone, this smart phone has only a few buttons and is designed to be controlled by touching the screen.

The Touch will go on sale Nov. 4 for $250 with a two-year contract.

The announcement makes Sprint the third of the three largest U.S. wireless carriers to introduce a cell phone with a large touch screen designed to be controlled with fingers rather than a stylus. The iPhone, which launched this summer, is exclusive to AT&T Inc. Verizon Wireless said two weeks ago that it would introduce the LG Voyager in time for Thanksgiving.

The Voyager has a large touch screen, but differs from the iPhone in that it folds out to reveal a hardware keyboard. The HTC Touch lacks a keyboard, but it still has a stylus. A version has been on sale in Europe since this summer.

The Touch runs Microsoft Corp.'s Windows Mobile 6 software, which exists in two versions: one that's controlled by a stylus, and another that's controlled by a keypad on a non-touch screen phone. HTC Corp., a Taiwanese company, has modified the stylus-oriented version of the software to make it more usable with fingers alone.

Beyond the touch-screen interface, the Touch's similarities with the iPhone are not overwhelming. It doesn't have a large amount of built-in flash memory for music and movies, relying instead on expansion cards. It's smaller and lighter, with a screen measuring 2.8 inches diagonally compared with the iPhone's 3.5 inches.

The Touch uses Sprint's relatively fast data network, rather than the iPhone's combination of a relatively slow AT&T network supplemented by Wi-Fi. The European Touch's Wi-Fi capability did not make it into Sprint's version.

The name could cause some confusion among shoppers: Apple just introduced the iPod Touch, which is basically an iPhone without cell phone capabilities.

HTC isn't well known in the U.S. but has actually been making smart phones and personal digital assistants for U.S. companies under their brands for many years. It only started putting its own name on its products this year.

Sony Sells 250,000 New PSPs in Four Days

Sony Corp sold about 250,000 units of the new version of the PlayStation Portable in Japan in the four days since its launch, a game magazine publisher said on Wednesday, roughly matching total Japanese sales of the original PSP in the two months through August.

Sony launched the new PSP, which is cheaper and slimmer than the initial model, on Sept. 20 in Japan in a bid to compete better with Nintendo Co Ltd's hot-selling DS Lite.

Both Sony and Nintendo released their handheld consoles, the PSP and DS, respectively, late in 2004.

But sales of the PSP, which can play movies, music and games, have recently been outshone by the DS Lite, the lighter version of the DS.

Sony sold 250,702 new PSPs in the four days through Sept. 23, compared with 275,223 units of the original PSP it sold in July and August in Japan, according to data from videogame magazine publisher Enterbrain.

The new PSP sells for 19,800 yen, which is 5 percent less than the original model and compares with 16,800 yen for the DS Lite.

Bharti Airtel Signs Network Deal With Huawei

Bharti Airtel Lanka Private Limited, a subsidiary of Bharti Airtel Limited, today announced that it has signed a managed networks deal for its Sri Lanka operations with Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd.

The three-year deal is valued at approximately $150 million and includes telecom applications and software. With the network deal in place, customers in Sri Lanka can look forward to a host of products and services at an affordable price.

The technology from Huawei is expected to reduce Bharti Airtel’s total cost of ownership (TCO), as well as enhance its competitive edge. Specifically, Huawei's Distributed Node B will enable Bharti to deploy the network faster and more cost-effectively.

Bharti Airtel was recently awarded a license to provide 2G and 3G mobile services in Sri Lanka. Under the agreement, Huawei will deploy and manage Airtel’s core network, Node-Bs and BTSs and comprehensive end-to-end 2G/3G network solutions.

"Bharti Airtel is committed to creating a state-of-the-art mobile network and offering world-class and affordable 2G and 3G services to customers in Sri Lanka. Huawei has established credentials as a global company producing high quality products and solutions. We are delighted to be partnering Huawei in this endeavour," said Sanjay Nandrajog, executive director, international operations and managed services, Bharti Airtel.

Max Yang, CEO, Huawei India said, "We're extremely proud and happy to partner with Bharti Airtel. We look forward to continuing this strategic partnership by providing innovative and customer-oriented solutions and services including wireless solutions."

Hutch is Now Vodafone

Come September 21, 2007, Hutch will be renamed Vodafone. Vodafone had acquired 67 per cent in Hutchison Essar from Hong Kong-based Hutchison Whampoa a few months ago, in a bid to enter the fast-growing Indian market.

Global player Vodafone completed the acquisition of Hutchison Essar in May 2007 and the company was formally renamed Vodafone Essar in July 2007.

Asim Ghosh, MD, Vodafone Essar, says, "We’ve had a good innings as Hutch in India and today marks a new beginning for us, not as a departure from the fundamentals that created Hutch, but an acceleration into the future with Vodafone’s global expertise."

This transition is estimated to touch over 35 million customers across 400,000 shops and thousands of Hutch’s own employees, as well as employees of its business associates. This makes it the largest ever transformation for Hutch, considering the fact that in India, the brand itself has undergone several changes in the past.

Nokia Prism Available in Indian Gray Marke

This should gladded the hearts of all fashion-conscious Nokia fans. Nokia’s latest fashion statement mobile phone – the 7500 Prism – is already available in the Indian gray market.

The Nokia 7500 Prism is all set to take the fashion world by storm. It's already influenced our very own fashion designer Rocky S. to create a whole line of clothes dedicated to it.

The Prism, according to some, is rather like the Nokia 6300 but in a different shell. If it works just as good, and has a better battery life, it could make some serious waves.


Equipped with a 2 megapixel camera, EDGE, Bluetooth with A2DP and an integrated FM radio, the Nokia 7500 Prism promises to be a loaded fashion phone. The gray market price is Rs. 9350.

Mobile Phones Provide Jobs in Rural Areas

The mobile phone is enabling people at the bottom of the pyramid to widen their markets.

For instance, it provides vendors timely information about crowd gatherings, a potential market. It comes in handy for the watermelon vendor during the nine months of off-season when he can find work as a repairman.

Indeed, thousands of artisans are finding that the mobile connects them to their markets and even opens new markets for them.

These and other benefits of mobile phone in rural areas were the focus in the discussion at the Telecom CEO Conclave organised by Bharat Exhibitions on Friday in Delhi.

Video would be the most popular and relevant application in the rural telecom scenario, and mobile service providers must go for multiple uses of the mobile based on a combination of voice and video, and not so much data, asserted leading telecom executives at the conclave.

"In the rural context, it would be voice messaging, not SMS, that would be popular," said K Sridhara, member of Technology, DOT, Ministry of Communications & IT. He rejected the contention that rural users are too poor to pay for mobile services, quoting his own observations in remote areas.

Sridhara observed that the Indian telecom network was already better than that in many other countries. He urged service providers to offer VoIP. "Indian innovators should develop software like Skype to compete with it and enable an Indian answer to provide low-cost long distance voice services," he said.

Presenting three rural scenarios where people at the bottom of the pyramid were benefiting from use of the mobile phone, Bharti Airtel’s Vice President Technology T. V. Sriram mentioned Kerala fishermen, watermelon sellers, and itinerant balloon sellers as case studies.

The use of the mobile phone enabled them to widen their market, locate customers, and raise their revenue so that it more than paid for the cost of using the service, he explained.

BPL Mobile Pioneers XHTML Technology

Telecom service provider BPL Mobile and digital entertainment company Buongiorno have taken the lead to pioneer XHTML technology. They will offer subscribers an icon-based Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) site - wap.mizone.bplmobile.com.

The WAP site has a menu-based grid, which makes both navigation and content discovery easy. The technology, which is being provided by Buongiorno, recognizes handset compatibility and provides customized experience to every user.

The WAP site has application adaptation, by which if the handset supports a video streaming player, the WAP site will show Mobile TV. It has content adaptation and renders content to different users based on the ability of their handsets.

Display adaptation allows each handset to display the site as per available screen size. The platform's capability will allow content to be rendered in the best-fit mode according to the display screen size and other supported features. Along with WAP site selection, WML (text-based WAP site) or XHTML WAPsite (icon-based WAP site) is automatically selected based on the type of handset.

Sunzay Passari, vice president (VAS and Devices) of BPL said: "Currently, WAP sites in India aren't very user friendly. With the XHTML BPL WAP site, users will have an improved interface for navigation and download, and will be able to discover content easily."

Milind Pathak, co-CEO and country manager of Buongiorno (Hong Kong) India, added: "The objective of all players in the VAS ecosystem is to provide rich quality experience to mobile subscribers, and the use of XHTML service is another step in this direction."

XHTML is a technology that's designed to accelerate the pace at which services can be created, and improves the usability of wireless services for consumers. Globally, it's received tremendous industry-wide support and it has been announced to be the foundation of next-generation WAP.