Hewlett Packard with Mobile computing

Hewlett Packard, the world’s largest technology company, now has a portfolio encompassing hardware, software and services for enterprises, SMBs and consumers. Mobile computing will be one of the company’s key focus area for the future.

It believes that mobiles will soon be the main device to access information. All services, for example mobile payments and SMS for reality shows, though will need a robust back-end comprising storage and servers.

The Cooltown Innovation Centre in Singapore is a window to what the largest technology company in the world is busy doing. A digital home — a house as good as a digital media and entertainment hub — equipped with a virtual personal assistant to book flight tickets, arrange contacts and also receive and transmit instructions.

Apple made large concessions to China Unicom : 5 million iPhones to China

China Unicom has been selected as the sole distributor of iPhones in China, according to a report in the International Business Times today. While the deal has yet to be finalized, the company has purchased 5 million WCDMA iPhones without Wi-Fi from Apple at a price of 10 billion yuan (US$1.46 billion).

As for the iPhone, it is expected to sell for $350 and $700 for the 8GB and the 16GB versions respectively in China. The phone will obviously face stiff competition from well endowed similar looking clones (remember the Meizu MB, anyone?) that makes the iPhone look like an expensive brick. Then there are the new Android oPhone based phones, including the Dell one that is expected to land there soon.

The International Business Times report notes that Apple made large concessions to China Unicom in order to enter the massive Chinese market. To give some scale to the size of this sale, Apple reported during the 3Q 2009 conference call with Wall Street analysts that they had sold a total of 5.2 million iPhones in the last quarter.

Samsung ST550 and ST500 Camera Series: 2 LCD screens

Samsung launch of a new series of digital cameras with two LCD screens – an extra one at the front. This way, photographers can snap the perfect picture with themselves in it. The hidden 1.5-inch LCD in the front will also help photographers by displaying a countdown timer when the camera is in autotimer mode.

What's special about them is that they help you take self-pictures - thanks to its dual LCD (one each at the front and back). The ST550 and ST500 are the two camera models that will feature this technology.Both cameras feature a 12.3 megapixel sensor and a 27mm wide angle Schneider Kreuznach lens with 4.6x optical zoom.

The 1.5-inch TFT LCD located on the front of the camera is common to both camera models. This display can be used for shooting self, with self-timer, for shutter info, function info as well as children modes. In fact, while taking self shots, there is no need to even press the shutter button - just a big smile will trigger the cameras to take the picture, says Samsung.

The camera also has decent HD video recording capabilities with 1280 x 720 resolution at 30 fps. The digital cameras will be marketed as model numbers ST550 and ST500 in the UK, while they’ll hit market shelves as the TL225 and TL220 respectively in US stores. The former model includes an HDMI socket, and comes in black, gold, orange, and purple. The latter model comes in silver, red, or blue.

BlackBerry Curve 8520 Price List : Codenamed BlackBerry Gemini

BlackBerry Curve 8520, one of RIM’s unannounced smartphones, has just appeared in several live photos. And, surprisingly, it doesn’t have a traditional trackball.There’s a new berry on the block, and this one’s supposed to be “designed for India.”

No, that thankfully doesn’t mean it has a torch which can double up as the headlamp of a truck. It’s cheaper, is available on prepaid connections for the first time and is a bit more rugged. It was officially supposed to be in stores from last Friday, which means you should, by now be able to pick it up from Airtel outlets in most metros.

Codenamed BlackBerry Gemini (yes, this is the Gemini, not the 8325), the new handset lacks 3G connectivity – like all the other GSM Curves currently available.But this may be compensated by the very nice overall design, the rubberized sides and dedicated multimedia keys.

If you already use a Blackberry Curve 8900 (Javelin) or a Bold 9000, then there’s not much point “downgrading” to the new Curve 8520 “Gemini”. If you’re looking to switch from a Curve 8300 series phone or are interested in buying your first Blackberry, then the 8520 is a very interesting proposition.

Virgin Mobile data card for Internet in India

In sync with its commitment to offer innovative products and services catering to the lifestyle of the Indian youth, Virgin Mobile today made its entry into the data devices segment with the launch of vLink.The sleek white colored device priced at Rs 2100/- only will be the first in the data devices segment to offer style and dual purpose of CDMA USB Modem and 1 GB data storage.

So now it doesn’t matter if you’re in Nainital or Chinchpokli you’ll be able to access the Internet anytime, anywhere!

And what’s more is that unlike any of the other USB devices in the market, this one allows you the convenience of prepaid. So recharge how much ever you need, whenever you need!

The new data card would be available at a price tag of Rs 2,100. It has two tariff plans — Rs 801 per month (for unlimited data usage) and Rs 349 per month.

This is the first unutilized balance roll over facility for data usage in the Indian market. This plan comes at a competitive 25p/min peak hour rate and a 13p/min off peak hour rate**.”

India has a total internet user base of 49.40 million, skewed towards the ‘younger’ India. The proportion of net users ‘under 25’ years of age is the largest chunk accounting for 52% of the total internet user base in India.

Samsung Marine cell phone for Rs. 7030

Samsung today announced the introduction of Samsung Marine (B2100), its first “Outdoor Phone” in the Indian market. According to a press release, the phone is encased in anti-shock urethane material, and is built to withstand the bumps, bangs, scrapes and even withstand dust and water.


Sunil Dutt, Samsung India Country Head said in a statement “Samsung Marine is the perfect companion for consumers who enjoy active outdoor activities.”

According to a Samsung press release, this cell phone model targeted towards those who live their life outdoors meaning those who are adventurous and require a robust handset.

Featuring the IP57 certification, the phone provides dust protection and water protection (under up to 1 meter of water for 30 minutes). Samsung Marine is adaptable for tough environments, including rain, fog, humidity, sand and extremely hot and cold temperatures, etc. – and is tested under specifications defined by the US Department of Defence with Military Standard 810F (MIL-STD-810F).

Samsung has announced its ‘Samsung Marine’ cell phone handset at a price tag of Rs. 7030 in the Indian market.

Nokia N97 With Personal Internet | Prize

The Nokia N97, the most advanced mobile computer to date, will begin selling in June in the Jordanian market. It will be the first Nseries device to feature a dedicated homescreen shortcut for the easy-to-use Ovi Store, which has now become globally available featuring thousands of applications, games, videos, podcasts, productivity tools, web and location-based services.

The Nokia N97 is the latest "mobile computer" in the Nseries of smartphones by Nokia.
Announced on 2 December 2008,[1] [2][3] the N97 is Nokia's second touchscreen phone (after the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic)that is based on the Nokia S60 platform.

The Nokia N97 will transform the way people connect to the Internet and to each other. Designed for the needs of Internet-savvy consumers, the Nokia N97 combines a large 3.5" touch display with a full QWERTY keyboard, providing an 'always open' window to favorite social networking sites and Internet destinations.

Nokia N97 Features:

* 3.5″ touchscreen
* Can’t escape the World connections – GPS, HSDPA, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, FM Transmitter and tuner
* 5MP camera
* 32GB onboard memory with MicroSD expandable to 48GB
* 3.5mm headphone jack (ie. ‘proper’ size)
* An app with a new buzz word attached – So-Lo - Social location.

The Nokia N97 is also perfectly suited for browsing the web, streaming Flash videos or playing games. Both the physical QWERTY and virtual touch input to ensure
efficiency in blogging, chatting, posting, sending texts or emailing.

Telcos peek into Aladdin's cave

The impending commercial activation of Seacom and updates from several other undersea cables have the telcos making moves to take advantage of what is coming.
Over the last few weeks, some of the more well-known telcos, including Vox Telecom and Internet Solutions, have released a spate of products positioned to use high-speed broadband expected to hit local shores over the next few years.

Huge Group executive chairman Anton Potgieter says the incoming capacity, while not cutting the price of services, will bring new services that were previously unavailable on the limited capacity in SA.

Huge has an overview of the market since the company provides managed solutions using the available telecoms operators and their infrastructure. According to Potgieter, for the telcos, the next big step will be in the video conferencing space. He points to Vox's new product released yesterday, Eyeris.

Eyeris is a high-definition (HD) video conferencing solution, which will use the back-end hosted infrastructure of Vox Orion and Vox DataPro. Industry watchers have questioned the capability to run high-definition video conferencing across local networks; however, the company will combine it with Fishbone, its line binding technology, to increase capacity for the solution.

Even with the expected bandwidth, SA still has a long way to go before it sees services that have become commonplace in cutting-edge markets. “We are still some time away from things like HD streaming video, which we have seen in several established countries.”

Internet Solutions (IS) has been quickly racking up the number of new available products, including a business product for roaming, which allows customers to connect to several WiFi hotspots across the globe.

Despite the mass of exciting products on the horizon, the general consensus is that it will take some time before telecoms prices will actually drop.