Lenovo launches Ideapad Y710 in India

Lenovo has launched a high end Lap Top, the Ideapad Y710 in the Indian Market. It has many unique features such as a swappable twin hard drive and the RAID function.

Salient features of the Ideapad Y710 include a 17 inch screen with a resolution of 1440 X 900 pixels. It has WLAN connectivity, Dolby Surround Sound and an optional Blu-Ray DVD reader. The hard drive is of 320 GB and a webcam of 1.3 megapixel. VeriFace face recognition technology can be used for log-in.

High end gaming facilities have been included in certain models. Four customizable buttons can be used. Touch sensitive controls have also been incorporated.

The laptop will be available in India within a price range of Rs 45,000 to Rs 85,000.

Students to get Laptop for Rs 500

Here is a good news for the students. The Centre plans to provide specially designed laptops to them for as little as US $10. So, if the plan becomes a success, a student will get a laptop for lesser than Rs 500.

The minister of state for human resource development (HRD), Ms D Purandeswari, said this laptop once developed would be made available to students so that they make use of information technology and excel in studies.

The Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, and Indian Institute of Technology, Chennai, are already working on a research project for manufacturing the $10 laptop.

“The research in this direction is on,” said Ms Purandeshwari at the inaugural session of ‘e-India 2008,’ an international conference of information and communication technologies (ICT).

“The initiative has been taken by government to enable students to make the most out of information technology, which is emerging as a catalyst for the country’s socio-economic development”.

If launched successfully the product will provide a boost to learning in India. A laptop made by Nicholas Negroponte, an alumnus of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is being sold for $ 188.

New search engine- Cuil launched with Google rivalry

A new search engine has been launched and its titled Cuil. A group of engineers who have quit Google launched a rival search engine to take on the Internet giant Google. This search engine has been titled Cuil and is pronounced Cool. It has been launched by Anna Patterson, the architect of TeraGoogle.

Cuil claims to be searching the web at thrice the speed of Google. Cuil has raised $33 million for the venture. It plans to create a niche in the search industry. It proposes to trespass on Google’s turf.

Engineers at Cuil feel that they will stand up to the competition. The search engine delivers results in two/three columns and claims to scour the web much faster than the three big search engines. The site is seeing very high volumes of traffic since its launch.

Industry experts feel that without a strong advertising base no search engine is likely to succeed. Only a new technology and a platform is likely to challenge the Internet giant GOOGLE.

Cable TV services to go digital

The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has recommended a revamp in the Cable TV industry. In an overhaul of the Cable TV services it has recommended that all cable operators be given five years to change over from the present analogue system to a digital network.

Presently in most places there are three different service providers giving TV, Telecom and Internet services. The TRAI has recommended the Multi Operator System be done away with so that one operator can provide all the three services. This will also improve the quality of the service.

The TRAI has also recommended an entry fee of Rs 10,000 at the district level and Rs 1,00,000 at the state level. Amongst the reforms is has included a proviso for the Cable Operators to provide a detailed bill to their customers.

Another important recommendation is the RoW- Right of Way for the cable operators to lay cables underground as well as over ground. Ministry of I&B is likely to commence a dialogue with the state governments very soon. The government aims to achieve parity between various service providers through the reforms.

ASUS announces service centres in India

ASUS announces setting up of a service centre in Delhi. The company is going to invest Rs 20 crore over the next two years to provide service to its customers in India.

ASUS is also planning to set up an extensive service network. This year, ASUS plans to set up six more such exclusive centres - two each in Mumbai and Bangalore and one each in Kolkata and Chennai - to provide quality service to its customers.

The company has already established a network of 187 service providers in the country. The company is providing training sessions on its notebooks to the customers.

ASUS has received a positive response from the Indian market since it’s lauch in October 2005.

Samsung announces 8 megapixel camera phone INNOV8

Samsung has announced a new mobile phone with 8 mega pixel camera, called INNOV8. The phone is also known as Samsung i8510. This phone is a substantial upgrade to the 5 megapixel phone and takes the mobile handset photography and multimedia experience to a greater degree.

The INNOV8 offers sound cinematic video and latest games. It runs on the Symbian OS V9-3, S60 3rd Edition Feature Pack 2. The GPS is integrated for navigation. The display is 2.8 inches 16 M colors. It supports formats of DivX, WMV, Real Player and MPEG-4. It has an optical mouse, 4-way navigation keys Wi-Fi and HSDPA connectivity.

The most important feature of the INNOV8 phone is its 8 Megapixel camera. The phones sporting up to 5 Megapixel cameras are common these days, however a phone with 8-MP camera is still quite rare. The phone would surely be appreciated by photography enthusiasts as the camera also boasts features like smile shot, blink shot and face recognition.

To accommodate storage of large multimedia content, the phone incorporates 8GB or 16GB of flash memory and also includes external memory slot for additional storage.

Besides, the Samsung INNOV8 is equipped with latest connectivity options including Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and HSDPA high speed Internet, it also offers navigation and geo-tagging service. The phone comes loaded with two famous mobile games Asphalt and FIFA 08.

One of the most unique feature of the INNOV8 is that it can be used as a digital frame too. You can edit and personalize your photos and videos using the Movie Maker and Story Board. It has been chosen as the official phone for the World Cyber Games 2008.

It is expected that INNOV8 will enter the European market first, then after it will be available on other markets of the world. It is scheduled to be available worldwide from August 2008. Pricing of INNOV8 has not yet been disclosed.

ASUS Eee PC 904H and Eee PC 1000H comes to India

After doing quite well with the Eee PC in the notebook segment, ASUS has launched two more notebooks in Indian market. The models Eee PC 904H and Eee PC 1000H and are targeting the middle section of the laptop market. They are ideal for computing applications combined with surfing the internet and music applications.

The Eee PC 1000H sports 10-inch display, ASUS exclusive Super Hybrid Engine for longer battery which offers a lifespan of up to five hours and Dolby Sound Room. Unlike previous version of Eee, the 1000H features 95% size of generic notebooks facilitating easier typing. The ASUS Eee PC 1000H runs on the Intel’s Atom processor and features a 1.3M Pixel webcam. It’s also capable to get connected with LAN (10/100 Mbps), Wireless internet (802.11b/g/n) and Bluetooth.

The ASUS Eee PC 904H features a smaller 8.9-inch screen and offers 1024×600 resolution display and ASUS exclusive Super Hybrid Engine for longer battery lifespan up to 4.5 hours.
Eee PC 904H and Eee PC1000H are priced at Rs. 26,990/- and Rs. 29,990/- respectively.

VAIO FW- World’s First 16.4 Inch Wide Multimedia Notebook from Sony

Sony has recently introduced a notebook which can play Blu-Ray discs. VAIO FW notebook will be capable of displaying HD movies.

Powered by a new Intel Centrino2 technology, the notebook is more responsive and energy efficient. It uses the Windows Vista Ultimate operating system. The software bundled with the notebook includes VAIO Movie Story software, VAIO Music Box software and the Disc/Editor software for creating DVD/BD video. It permits you to use the lap top in a wireless mode throughout your house.

FW is the world's first 16.4-inch widescreen notebook, meant to deliver a 17-inch widescreen 16:9 experience in a 15-incher's footprint. It's optimised for HD and Blu-ray playback. The SR-series notebooks bring some higher-end features down to the consumer level at a decent, with an LED-backlit 13.3-inch widescreen and G-sensor HDD shock protection.

According to Sony, VAIO® FW notebook- a multimedia PC displays HD movies the way they were meant to be seen. Extra-wide LCD and Blu-Ray Disc Technology Make for a Powerful HD Experience.

The VAIO FW notebook comes in multiple configurations, including a premium and a standard model. The premium model plays Blu-ay Disc™ high-definition content like movies in full 1080 HD resolution when connected to a compatible HDTV. It can also record, store and play back personal content on high-capacity BD media.

Weighing a little over six pounds, the FW notebook features the world's first 16.4-inch display, which combines the benefits of a slightly larger17-inch widescreen with the smaller "footprint" of a 15.4-inch model. The display is ideal for Blu-Ray Disc movies. Since many HD films are shot with a 16:9 aspect ratio, the unit's extra-wide LCD is constructed with the same dimensions. This minimizes the black bars that typically appear, letting you view movies in their intended format.

The extended workspace also lets you view two full websites at once or compare two documents side-by-side without tabbing back and forth. The notebook uses Sony’s patented XBRITE-HiColor LCD technology which enables glare free viewing with absolute picture quality.

BSNL will give you a telephone for Rs 20 only

Few years back, having a telephone was considered to be a luxury in India. There were a number of towns and districts with less than 100 telephones. Today, the telecom revolution has fully bloomed in India. The government carrier, BSNL, and private operators are in a cut throat competition.

The BSNL has proposed a new scheme in rural areas of Uttar Pradesh. Under this scheme a landline telephone will be available by paying installments of Rs 20 per month. Another variation of the scheme is paying Rs 200 at one time instead of the monthly charge. BSNL is even offering 20 free calls per month to its subscribers under this scheme. Right now, this scheme is available only in rural areas of Uttar Pradesh.

India has witnessed the fastest growth in telephone density in recent time. BSNL is the largest telecom service provider in the country. And bollywood star Preity Zinta enjoys being the brand ambassador for BSNL. India now boasts a telephone density of 24.63 percent. The total number of mobile phone subscribers are assessed at 242.4 million.

Samsung launches 4 cameras in American Markets

Samsung has recently launched four high end cameras of the Point-and-shoot variety targeting the American markets. They are the TL34HD, TL9, SL310W and SL201. These are technology marvels and include facilities like video playback via an iPod.

The TL34HD is a 14.7 megapixel camera with a 3-inch touchscreen LCD. It has a 3.6X optical zoom and a Schneider lens with 28mm wide-angle focus length. It is capable of HD video capture and can port it to a HDTV set. The camera is priced at $329.95.

TL9 is a 10 megapixel camera. It has a 5x optical zoom and 2.7 inch LCD screen. It can be used as a portable music player. TL9 will ship in September for a price of $ 279.95.

SL310W has a powerful 13.6 megapixel lens with Dual Image Stabilization. Its lens is 3.6x zoom with 28 mm wide angle. The camera has a 2.7 inch LCD display with a MPEG recording facility. It is priced at $229.95.

The last is a low end camera, SL201. It features 10.2 megapixel lens with 11 scene mode function. Samsung has managed to put a rechargeable lithium-ion battery in such a conservatively priced camera. The SL201 has been priced at $169.95.

Logitech launches 4-Port USB Hubs for notebooks in India

Logitech has launched two accessories for notebooks in India. They consist of a regular and a premium version of 4-Port USB Hubs. The accessories mainly target the traveling executives.

“Executive travel compels us to have thin and light notebooks. This, usually ends up in scaling down some notebook features to enhance portability. One such feature that is sacrificed is the USB port. Many products today connect to the notebook through this port. The list of peripherals is growing day by day. In order to make the lives of notebook users easier, we have added these hi-speed USB Hubs to our already existing wide range of notebook peripherals”, says Subrotah Biswas, Country Manager for India and SAARC of Logitech.

The premium version offers high speed transfer. The products are priced at Rs 895 and Rs 1495 and come with one year warranty.

Samsung launches SGH-M150 mobile phone- simple and elegant

Among the various products that Samsung introduced in recent days, there were two models that apparently received little attention but worth mentioning.

One is the Samsung M150, which has a very simple but elegant design, but that has characteristics in all core areas. It has dual band GSM 900/1800 facility and sports advanced messaging capabilities like MMS and email. It has a 1.77 inch 65 colors display. Body thickness is 12.7 mm.

Other specifications of the phone are as follows:

1. Dimensions: 106.5 x 45.5 x 12.7 mm
2. GSM 900/1800 MHz
3. TFT 1.8 “with up to 65 thousand colors and resolution 128 x 160px
4. Web 0.3 Megapixel camera with video recording
5. Speaker
6. Internal memory of 20MB

This mobile was introduced in the CommunicAsia held in Singapore. The phone has a VGA camera and music and video players with MPEG 4 video recording. The FM radio has a recording option. The phone is available in various four colors which are light gray, charcoal gray, pure white, lavender pink and ice blue.

Although, the price of the phone hasn’t yet been disclosed, the model falls among the cheapest from the company It is likely to target the mid segment of the consumers. It is believed that the phone will be available first in Germany followed by other European countries and Asia and Africa.

LG launches three new music phones

LG has launched three new mobile handsets in the music phone category. The phones are Dare, Decoy and Chocolate and are available through Verizon Wireless.

The Dare is a very sleek handset with a touch screen. It is is pre loaded with multimedia functionality. It has 3G V CAST capability - VZ Navigator and V CAST Music. It has a 3.2 megapixel camera with a photo-editing tool. Users can customize pictures, which is added fun.

Decoy has a five-way directional joystick, V CAST Music and V CAST Video functionalities. It also features a VZ navigator. The navigator gives you visual and audio signals. The finish is glossy in front and satin back.

Chocolate 3 is a slider phone. It comes loaded with a music player, an FM transmitter that can broadcast FM and support for Verizon Wireless. A special feature is dual speakers and Bluetooth for wireless stereo sound. The I GB memory is expandable to 8 GB.


However, the pricing for these handsets haven’t been yet disclosed by LG.

BenQ Joybook S41 Laptop comes to India

Like other lap top manufacturers, BenQ too has jumped into the high end lap top segment in India. BenQ has announced the launch of S41 Joybook in India. The lap top comes in with whole lot of high end features.

The 14.1 inch widescreen is designed to give a unique experience. The look and feel has been designed to be different. BenQ has used its Laminated Color Metal (LCM) Technology to finish the product to perfection.

The Joybook features include a response time of 16ms, a built-in 1.3 megapixel webcam and dual 1.5W speakers which bring you SRS TruSurround XT technology surround sound. Bluetooth and 802.11a/b/g/n wireless LAN are available for connectivity. The nVIDIA GeForce 8600M GS graphic chipset with up to 1GB of TurboCache and nVIDIA PureVideo HD technology gives 3D visual effects on the notebook delivering unmatched visuals and system performance.

The notebook is Priced at Rs 47,000/- the lap top is likely to give other companies a run for their money.

7Seas Technologies releases 3D mobile games

7Seas Technologies, a Hyderabad based company called has made a major foray into 3D mobile games. The company has announced the release of seven 3D mobile games. These will be spread in the genres of puzzle, action, adventure and racing.

It is expected that 7Seas has made an investment of about $1 million to launch these games worldwide. L Maruti Sankar, Managing Director, 7Seas, said, “It took around 18 months for us to develop these games. With the penetration of high-end mobile handsets that support 3D mobile games, our focus would be on 3D Mobile Games.”

Ring tones and Wallpapers of the games will also be available. High end mobile users will be targeted via IMIMobile network. The games can be downloaded by just sending an SMS. The company expects a revenue of around $ 3 million in the first year. 7Seas Technologies has acquired a Germany-based gaming portal in January 2008.

The newly launched games include “3D Sudoku” and “Planets of Sudoku 3D” (puzzle genre), “Neetu The Alien Killer” and “Great Elude” (action), “Treasure Trove” (adventure), and “Derby3D” and “Kraze” (racing) titles. ‘Kraze’ and ‘Derby3D’ are available in both single- and multi- player, while three games Great Elude, Planets of Sudoku and Derby are multilingual and will be available in English, French, Dutch, Italian, Spanish and German.

Sony Ericsson launches 5 megapixel Cyber Shot C902

After LG and Nokia, it’s Sony Ericsson which has launched a phone with a 5 megapixel camera. Its latest offering is the Cyber Shot C902.

C902 sports of a 16 x zoom with auto focus and face detection. Eight keys facilitate selection of various modes of the camera. The photo flash can adjust for low light conditions. There are facilities to click nine photos one after the other in quick succession.

Mr Sudhin Mathur, General Manager Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications, India remarks, “There is a change in the trend of more and more people replacing the camera with the camera phones. The Cyber-shot C902 is a perfect combination of style with superb camera features. Its unique camera features lets you capture your beautiful moments with the perfect shot”.

C902 has a talk time of 9 hrs and a standby time GSM of up to 400 hours. It has a blue tooth headset and is GPS enabled. The carrying case is attractive too. For Rs 20,995 it is going to provide a stiff competition to its challengers.

Sony Ericsson’s Cyber-Shot range are arguably the best of the cameraphones.

Samsung Soul And L700 Mobile Phones From Samsung

Very close to Sony Ericsson, Samsung has also announced the release of two new handsets namely Samsung Soul and Samsung L700. Both the phones are stylish and imitate high end fashion accessories. The new models target the middle to high end of the customer base.

The Samsung Soul features a 1 GB memory, 3 Mega pixel Camera, and a 16M Color TFT display. All other features like Bluetooth, FM Radio, video playback etc are also included. The handset comes in five beautiful colors and is very attractive.

L700 is a bar type handset. It is designed keeping comfort and convenience of users as the focus. This hairline pattern phone features a two mega pixel camera with flash Light Emitting Diode (LED). It has a high speed browser, office document viewer and all other features of high end phones.

The pricing has not yet been released. The phone is likely to be available in the markets later this year. Samsung is also targeting the European Markets.

Microsoft to reduce Xbox 360 price

There seems to be a cut throat competition in the gaming industry and the price war is just about to spread like fire. According to reliable industry sources, “Microsoft will be reducing the price of the Xbox 360 from the existing $ 349 to $ 299.”

Microsoft announced the previous price cut about a year earlier during August 2007, when the prices were dropped from $ 399 to $ 349. This time around there were rumors that prices in the European Market will be cut down. However the same did not materialize.

In the instant case it is expected that the prices may be slashed down for the most popular 20 GB model. If the price cut works out it will give the Xbox 360 an edge over its arch rival, Wii by Nintendo. The industry experts say that the price cut is a strategy to propel the Xbox 360 in an advantageous position just before the slew of games likely to be released in the coming months.

Nokia launches E66 and E71

Nokia is trying to retain its lead in the mobile phone market. The strategy of launching new products at regular intervals has worked well for Nokia. In order to consolidate the Business phone segment, Nokia has launched two handsets in the E Series, E71 and E66.

The E66 is a slider phone and a follow up of Nokia E65. It sports advanced integrated features such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.0, GPS and 3G support. It runs on the Symbian operating system. It is priced at Rs 23,689. The Nokia E71 is the successor of E61 and E61i. It can handle MS Office applications with ease. It has advanced network connectivity in terms of HSDPA, wireless LAN and 3G. GPS along with Nokia Maps are included. It also sports a 3.2 megapixel autofocus camera, FM radio, music player along with 110 MB internal dynamic memory and 8 GB external memory. It is priced at Rs 23,689.

According to Devinder Kishore, Nokia’s Director (Marketing), “The launch of two stylish email-optimised devices from the E-series product range reiterates the potential of business mobility in India. The two handsets deliver an unmatched combination of advanced technologies, network connectivity options and stylish design”.

Nokia Announces Supernova Series

Nokia, the leading mobile phone handset manufacturer, has recently announced launching of four new powerful mobile phones under Supernova series. With the new induction, Nokia has emerged as super choice for the next generation mobile phone buyers. Uniqueness and quality of finish are the specialties that Nokia made available to each one of its models and the new models, 7210, 7310, 7510, and 7610, are of no exception. Speaking on the new release, Ja Harlow, vice-president of Nokia Live category said, “with the launch of the Supernova series, they are all set to provide people the ability to set themselves apart in the same way that they would with a traditional statement accessory”.

Bubble gum pink’ and ‘vivid blue’ colored Model 7210 is a glossy finished extra slim chic handset that will hit market in the third quarter of 2008. Costing around $189, the model supports 2 mega pixels camera, single click access for sharing photographs, tri-band GSM plus EDGE support, accessibility to Flickr, Nokia Music PC Client, SD memory expansion slot, and FM radio etc.

3D textured slim-sleek Model 7310 supports all features supported by the model 7210 and it comes with the price tag of $244. The candy-bar model incorporates amazing 4x digital zoom for its in built camera. Image sharing has made easy and user friendly in the model. FM RDS radio and MP3 music constitute other attractive features of the model. Different color options that are available with the 7310 model are ’steel blue’, ‘wasabi green’, ‘candy pink’, ‘plum jam’, ‘mushroom silver’, ‘yellow mellow’, ‘electric blue’, and ‘espresso brown’.

GPS enabled clamshell model 7510 allows accessibility to Nokia Maps 1.2 and Widsets in the ambience of its 2.2 inches QVGA display. Besides, it also supports NIPS enabled 2 mega pixel camera with LED flash and 4xdigital zoom, 512 MB microSD card, MP3 player, FM radio, Nokia Music PC Client, Nokia Search and Flickr, a link to YouTube etc. A side-key will permit you to open this iconic fold design model, whose back covers come in the shades of red, espresso brown, storm blue, and emerald green. You may purchase the model by only $283.5, but not before fourth quarter of the year.

Supernova model 7610, costing $354.3, is equipped with a 3.2 mega pixel camera powered by a dual-LED flash - a new technology in the mobile phone segment. State-of-the-art technology Theme Colorizer has made the model unique and most attractive to the fashion conscious customers. The new concept now will enable you to capture your most favorite color and then apply them for key illumination and also on the wall paper of the phone. The product will be available in the market in third quarter of 2008.

Digital SLR Camera D700 FX from Nikon

The rivalry for market share between the two giants Nikon and Canon is now spreading to the niche professional camera segment. The entry level Digital Cameras have already flooded markets the world over.

Nikon has endeavored to provide maximum facilities contained in its flagship product, D3, which is priced at around $ 5000, in the new Nikon D700 camera. What makes it more lucrative is a massive drop of almost $ 2000 in the costs. The D700 is priced at $ 2995.

The D700 is likely to compete 5D by Canon. When compared to D3 the D700 does not have an extra memory card slot and the battery life is comparatively lesser. If one is looking for a professional level Digital SLR camera then the D700 will be an ideal option. The camera will be shipped by the end of this month.

Salient features include a 3-inch LCD viewfinder with two Live View models. It sports the 51-point auto focus system with 3D Focus Tracking by Nikon. A scene recognition feature improves the auto focus performance. Its dimensions are 5.8×4.8×3.0 inches.

Ideacts Innovations launches advertising in Cyber Cafes

Ideacts Innovations, a Bangalore based company, has launched a advertising tool called “Clinck”. The tool is aimed at targeting advertising revenue from the large number of cyber cafes in India. This is an innovative plan and is a kind of first in the advertising world.

The plan involves launching advertisements on the desktops of enrolled Cyber Cafes in the country. It is estimated that 30 percent of the Internet traffic is generated from Cyber Cafes in the country. Clinck is an Active Desktop Application. It provides an interface to popular applications like Messengers, Web Browsers, Search Engines and so on to make browsing more interesting. In addition to all these facilities it displays advertisements on the desktop.

Ideacts is learned to have tied up with more than 600 cafes. The project is said to have received a funding of $ 5 million from a US based company called Sequoia Capital. The company plans to enroll as many as 3500 cyber cafes by the end of the year.
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5 Megapixel camera phone from Motorola with Kodak

The combination of the camera and the cell phone is getting more and more stronger. Motorola has collaborated with Kodak to launch a phone with a 5 megapixel camera. The LG Viewty is in the same league.

“Today’s creative consumers not only want to be the photographer, but also the retoucher, the exhibitor and the critic, the Motozine ZN5 lets them be all the things they want to be.” Jeremy Dale, corporate vice president, mobile devices marketing, Motorola, Inc is reported to have said.

Called Motozine ZN5 this camera phone has a 5-megapixel auto-focus camera with a Xenon flash that is optimised for low-light environments shooting. It features the ‘Kodak imaging’ and ‘Kodak perfect touch’ technologies for handling the images.

The Motozine ZN5 looks similar to Motorokr E8. It has quad-band and GSM/EDGE but is not 3G capable. Wi-Fi can be used for transferring images to the peripherals. This is going to be a phone to watch for.