Nokia announces touchscreen 5800 XpressMusic

Nokia finally announced their long-awaited Nokia 5800 XpressMusic touchscreen phone. It isn't Nokia's first touchscreen device, but because of the gap between models then it is effectively Nokia's first current-generation touchscreen phone.

The 5800 introduces a lot of new features with the upgraded version of the Symbian S60 operating system, many of which will find their way into other Nokia handsets.

The 5800 XpressMusic is touted to be the counterpart of Apple iphone. The phone will reportedly be released in seven countries before Christmas and the contry list includes Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Russia, Spain, Taiwan and the United Arab Emirates.

The Nokia 5800 will feature a 3.2 Megapixel camera along with Carl Zeiss lens as well as 8GB internal memory, a virtual QWERTY keyboard a graphic equaliser, and built-in surround sound stereo speakers.

Nokia’s touchscreen phone will be launched in India in the third week of November and supposedly will cost around Rs 20,000. Nokia India managing director D Shivakumar said, “What iPhone did was to bring the touch element to a multi-media converged device. Since we are already the leader in converged devices in India, Nokia 5800 will be a revolutionary launch from our stable.”

The Nokia 5800 XpressMusic looks to be a very attractive device, and it's pretty good value too.

Bharti Airtel launches DTH Satellite TV service in India

Bharti Airtel has launched its direct-to-home (DTH) Satellite TV services in India from Thursday. The service is expected to be available to customers through 21,000 retail locations in various cities across India.

The service has MPEG4 standard video with DVB S2 technology and will cover 62 cities in first phase. Airtel also claims to have a 20 percent larger dish antenna for better performance during rains.

It also promises to offer exclusive content such as World space Radio, interactive applications such as iMatinee to book cinema tickets, iTravel to browse and book travel packages, iShop for shopping on TV, iCity to get city’s information and Widgets which update the latest stock news. It also features audio gain control to ensure uniform audio levels across all channels and an on-screen account meter and low battery indicator.

According to sources, it has a team of 800 professionally-trained service engineers and 24×7 customer care representatives. Mr. Manoj Kohli, CEO and Jt. MD, Bharti Airtel, remarked, “Today we are starting a new chapter in our journey, one that adds a new dimension to our existing product portfolio and is a major step towards transforming Airtel from just a telecom brand to a lifestyle enabler. The launch of Airtel digital TV is the culmination of our three screens strategy, which is to be present across mobile phone, computer and TV screens.”

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ISRO to launch a manned mission to moon

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is reportedly planning for a manned mission to the moon in 2014. The proposal is in its initial stage and has not been approved yet. The proposed budget for this manned mission is estimated to be around Rs 1,000 crore.

The proposal already got cleared by the Space Commission and subsequently it was submitted to the government. A high-powered committee is perusing the proposal and the ISRO is awaiting the verdict which is likely to be given in next two months. But, the process of selecting the team alreday started. MC Dathan, director, Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC), Sriharikota Range informed, “Our chairman is very keen on the project getting approval. He has asked us to come out with complete proposals internally.”

ISRO is planning to use Geo-Synchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) for the manned mission as Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) is not capable of launching a load of over 1,500 kg. The organisation is aiming to develop a full-fledged training facility for the crew in Bangalore even though the Indian Air Force is capable to do so. Besides, there are plans for building a launch pad with facilities for entry into the human lunar space capsule and an escape chute for the crew if anything goes awry. The other two existing launch pads are not deemed fit for this purpose.

Meanwhile, the unmanned mission, named Chandrayaan-I, is expected to be launched between 6.20 am and 6.35 am on October 22 from southern India. The 1.5-ton spacecraft which is devised to document the moon’s surface and chemical characteristics while creating a three-dimensional topographic map, will take approximately eight days to travel about 240,000 miles before reaching its final orbit 60 miles above the surface of the Moon.

Bharti Airtel brings Canada-India closer

In an attempt to bring 1.5 million non resident Indians (NRIs) and students in Canada closer to their friends and families in India, Bharti Airtel Ltd. launched its virtual calling card service “Airtel CallHome” in Canada. Airtel has previously launched this calling card service in the US in the last quarter of 2006 and in UK and Singapore in August and September 2008, respectively.

The calls to India will cost 5.9 cents per minute. With Airtel’s inaugural offer of 50% free talk time the cost per minute will come further down to 3.9 cents. The “Airtel CallHome” service is offered for prepaid charges which will be accepted through a credit card on the Airtel Web portal through a secure payment gateway.

It was revealed that according to industry estimates, the total outgoing traffic to India from Canada is around 18 crore minutes per month, of which 6 crore minutes are utilized through calling cards.

David Nishball, President, Enterprise Services, Bharti Airtel Ltd., said, “We are excited to launch the Airtel CallHome service in Canada after our successful foray in three international markets. With the large NRI population, Canada is a strategic market for us and we see great potential here. With our world-class service standards we hope to increase the share of virtual calling cards here and make Airtel the preferred choice for the Indian community to connect with friends and family back in India.”

Three scientists win 2008 physics nobel prize jointly

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences will award the Nobel Prize in Physics to an American and two Japanese scientists jointly for the year 2008. One-half of the prize will go to Yoichiro Nambu, of the Enrico Fermi Institute at the University of Chicago, for discovering “spontaneous broken symmetry” in subatomic physics.

Yoichiro Nambu, 87, of the University of Chicago, won half the $1.4 million prize for mathematical work he did nearly a half-century ago.

Makoto Kobayashi and Toshihide Maskawa of Japan shared the other half for a 1972 theory that forecast the later discovery of a new family of subatomic particles.

Nambu will receive US $650,000, while the other two Japanese physicists, Makoto Kobayashi from High Energy Accelerator Research Organization and Toshihide Maskawa from the Yukawa Institute for Theoretical Physics (YITP) at Kyoto University, will split that sum, taking about $325,000 each. Yoichiro Nambu, an 87-year-old scientist actually hails from Japan and has been living in the US since the early 50s.

The Japanese-born Nambu moved to the United States in 1952 and is a professor at the Enrico Fermi Institute at the University of Chicago, where he has worked for 40 years. He became a U.S. citizen in 1970.

Kobayashi, 64, works for the High Energy Accelerator Research Organization, or KEK, in Tsukuba, Japan. Maskawa, 68, is a physics professor at Kyoto Sangyo University in Japan's ancient capital of Kyoto. He also teaches at Nagoya University, Japan.

Apple iPods are hot in India

Apple's iPods have stamped its authority among the country's style-conscious music buffs, but many of its other products, including the iconic iPhone have not found too many takers in India, researchers tracking the industry said. According to research firm IDC, iPods dominate the portable music player category with a 62 per cent market share, many times ahead of its nearest competitor Transcend from Taiwan that commands 15 per cent share.

Experts attribute the success of Apple's iPods to affordable price points and widespread distribution. Apple's iPods are priced between Rs 2,300 to Rs 21,000 equipped with different features and user-interfaces.

Easy availability of the gadget that is also found in stationary shops have also boosted sales. "In 2006, only about 15,000 units of iPods were being sold every quarter but Apple cut down prices last September and that has given a boost to its sales in India," said Shiladitya Sarkar, senior analyst, peripherals research, IDC. The company's product, however, staggers behind its Indian and global peers in the personal computers sales.

The response to iPhone has been rather lukewarm, unlike the United States where buyers waited in long queues to get hold of the device, analysts said, although official sales numbers were not known. An Apple spokesperson in Singapore declined to comment on Apple's India specific pricing and distribution strategy.

"Barring iPods, Apple's products are extremely unaffordable," said Rajesh Kurup, research director, eTechnology Group at research firm IMRB. "This does make the brand iconic and aspirational but the high cost and skeletal sales encourage grey market operators to deal in Apple products." Sumanta Mukherjee, analyst, computing products research, IDC India said vendors such as Hewlett-Packard and Dell have a huge product portfolio, with different products at different price points whereas Apple is catering only to high-end users of personal computers.

"Indian buyers are not just price conscious but also demand value, else low cost computers would have grabbed market share," Mukherjee said. "The Apple Macs continue to be limited to a few niche segment - segments that requires high end graphic processing capability," Kurup said.

ZTE announces U990 - world’s first high end HSDPA TD-SCDMA phone

ZTE launched the first high-end HSDPA TD-SCDMA mobile handset which is named as U990. The handset is the third high-end TD-SCDMA mobile handset model to be marketed by the company, the former two being U980 and U981.

“We are proud to be the first company in the industry to offer HSPDA mobile handset with TD-SCDMA intelligence, truly another significant achievement for our handset business. Our technology know-how and excellent product offering reaffirm our leading position in the mobile handset area. We are introducing this home-grown technology to worldwide market to provide end users the best mobile experience,” said Mr. He Shiyou, Executive Vice President of ZTE Corporation.

Based on Windows Mobile 6.0 operating system, the smartphone has a high-speed transmission rate of up to 2.8 Mbps, and the fastest transmission speed among the TD-SCDMA terminals available in the industry. It supports dual mode TD-SCDMA/EDGE allowing seamless transitions between the two networks as claimed by ZTE. Besides, it is 3G and EDGE-enabled and equipped with both GPS/AGPS navigation technologies.

The official release date of the handset is yet to be announced. The pricing of the phone is also not revealed.

IPTV all set to transmit Doordarshan channels

The Information and Broadcasting Ministry has directed the IPTV service providers in India to transmit eight channels of National Broadcaster, Doordarshan. The list of channels include Lok Sabha Television, DD Rajya Sabha, DD-1, DD News, DD Sports, DD Urdu, Gyan Darshan and DD Bharti.

The directive supposedly has been issued in compliance with the section 8 of the Cable TV Network Regulation Act. The Cable TV act reportedly enunciates that cable TV operators are bound to broadcast minimum of two DD terrestrial channels, two Parliament channels and one regional channel.

While DTH and cable service providers have to broadcast only 5 channels on account of bandwidth limitations, the IPTV service providers are not subject to any such bandwidth limitation. Furthermore, it is anticipated that a decision to permit news in private FM radio stations may be taken by the government. It is being speculated that reading of news put out by Doordarshan, All India Radio (AIR) and accredited local and international newswire agencies will be allowed.

Samsung to produce 2 GB DDR3 on mass scale

World’s largest computer memory chipmaker, Samsung Electronics announced its plan to begin mass production of its latest and fastest chip model from next month. The company will start manufacturing the 2 GB DDR3 Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM) or chip for personal computers and other electronic devices such as mobile phones from next month.

The device is guaranteed to have 60% higher productivity than DDR2 devices as the 50nm class circuit technology has been used in making this. The 2GB DDR3 chips are claimed to be energy-efficient and supposedly reduces power consumption by at least 40% and therefore are very useful for next generation desktops and notebooks. Besides, the 2GB DDR3 chips reportedly enable use of up to 16GB RIMMs (Registered In-line Memory Modules).

The 2Gb device supports a data rate of up to 1.3Gbps at 1.5v or 1.35V, which is almost 1.6-times faster as compared to 800Mb/sec for a 1Gb dual-die package or DDR2 DRAM model. Samsung reportedly proclaimed that the 50nm-class process, which is used to manufacture the 2Gb DDR3 is expected to become the company’s primary DRAM process technology next year.

Sony Ericsson to launch eco-friendly biodegradable cell phone

Sony Ericsson is venturing in the field of manufacturing environmentally safe biodegradable cell phones. The company seemingly wants to prove that a biodegradable phone is a feasible idea.

This phone was conceived under the the “GreenHeart” concept which encompasses green technologies, using bio-plastic housings, recycled plastic keypads, zero charger with 3.5mW standby power, digital manuals, a game style educational application “Ecomate” and environmentally conscious packaging.

Mats Pellback-Scharp, Head of Corporate Sustainability for Sony Ericsson, was reported to have said, “The global take back scheme and the GreenHeart project bring us closer to our vision of being a leader in sustainability in the mobile phone industry.”

Sony Ericsson reportedly setup collection points for acquiring used cell phones. There are more than 500 collection points in contries like India, Taiwan, China, Thailand, Singapore, USA and Mexico presently. The company expects to expand this project in all the countries where it provides service by the year 2009.

Samsung Armani M7500- The Night Effect Phone

Samsung and world famous designer Giorgio Armani have launched Samsung Emporio Armani ‘Night Effect’ cellular phone M7500 in Europe. The Samsung Armani M7500 comes with a scintillating set of LED lights that are embedded into the sides of the handset along with AMOLED display.

This one is for all those whose empire comes to light when all the birds are tucked safely in their nest. A phone exclusively for the night birds, the Samsung Armani M7500 is one serious night effect phone. We mean literally with its shine thanks to the stunning blue, green and red LED lights that embrace the sides of the phone.

Incorporated with an Emporio Armani logo on the front and back, the sexy Samsung Armani M7500 has a fashionable brush metal facing. It boasts of some impeccable features that include a 3.2 megapixel camera, a 2.2” reinforced AMOLED display and a neat 16-button keypad. The quad band GSM phone additionally offers HSDPA connectivity along with a dedicated music player, FM radio, external speakers, 120 MB memory, microSD memory card slot, Bluetooth connectivity and USB 2.0.

Armani, the designer of this night effect phone supposedly derived his inspiration from Tokyo. He was reported to have said, “Paris may be known as the City of Lights, but Tokyo is The City of Neon Lights by night-time.” He further added, “For young, cool, and social crowd, the Night Effect mobile is the perfect accessory.”

Packed with some decent attributes we’d say the sleek Samsung Armani M7500 makes a nice fashion-branded phone. Sure to be a show stopper during the day and get some serious attention at night, the handset will be a treat to fashion loving consumers.

The candybar night effect phone comes with brushed-metal casing and is embossed with Emporio Armani logo on the front and back. The phone is expected to be available in Europe around November and will reach the Middle East and South-East Asia after that. Price of the phone is not yet disclosed.