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.