Reliance Communication will be launching the first CDMA Android phone in India, the Samsung Galaxy i899. It´s dimensions are 116.5 X 56.4 X 12.8. The talk-time of the phone is Up to 6.7 hours,with a 1440 mAh Li-ion battery. The phone operates at frequencies of CDMA 800 MHZ.Samsung Galaxy i899 has a stunning 3.2-inch capacitive AMOLED touch screen,with a display size of 320 X 480 px , HVGA 16M Colours. This model comes with Camera of , 3.2 Mega Pixels CMOS Camera with Autofocus with , Digital zoom Samsung Galaxy i899 weighs approximately 126 grams. It also supports Bluetooth and WiFi, and expandable memory up to 32GB (internal memory is 230MB).
Other great features of the phone include the 3.2MP autofocus camera with LED flash, its ability to play DivX/Xvid, and the Reliance NetConnect feature. The phone will also apparently feature a 'Mobile Safari' browser.
Currently, no pricing or availability details have been released by Samsung, neither which build will be powering the device, though we suspect it will be Android 1.6.
Motorola released another QWERTY phone, the Charm. It comes with a rotating hardware keyboard and capacitive touchscreen. It will come with Android 2.1 aka Eclair with the MOTOBLUR UI 1.5 on top of it. Above the keyboard there are touch sensitive keys and the touchscreen.
Nothing else is really known about this phone. It will roll out in the US in the near future and will potentially be seen in Europe as well.
The iPhone 4 will officially hit Indian stores this September. The two main carriers will be Vodafone and Airtel. The 16 GB is expected to cost Rs. 35,000 and the 32 GB is expected to cost Rs. 41,500. This makes India part of the 88 countries originally scheduled to have the phone.
LG has just added two more Cookie devices to their ever growing range of budget touchscreen devices, trying to keep up with close competitors, Samsung, and their Corby. The two new devices are called the Cookie Fresh (LG GS290) & Cookie Plus(LG GS500v).
These Cookie devices, like the others are directed at the youth segment of users who are looking for devices that are fun to use, employ the latest trends like touchscreen functionality and of course are loaded with Social Networking options. LG’s new Cookie devices are designed to offer them all of that with their SNS app for social networking so users can stay connected to Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, Flickr and other popular sites anytime and anywhere and LiveSquare for visually dynamic experience for being interactive with your closer contacts. The handsets are also equipped with LG’s Editable Screenshot MMS- which provides a creative communication solution by allowing editing of web images; an animated UI and colourful theme option.
a 3-inch touchscreen with a 240 x 400 pixel resolution and handwriting recognition
EDGE/GPRS support
Bluetooth v2.1 with A2DP and USB 2.0
2MP camera
FM radio with recorder
microSD card support
3.5mm handsfree socket
It also comes with one touch Social networking, the Cookie Speed Dial to enjoy easy access to your close friends with an updated version of the Cookie phone’s popular speed dialing home screen. Also preloaded are video and images editors as well as sound effect options.
Sony Ericsson, like Nokia doesn’t really do much at the actual Communic Asia event, but they do have a tendency to host a separate event at other locations where they unveil new devices. This year was the same. At another location in beautiful Singapore, SE announced a slew of new handsets that contribute to their Walkman, GreenHeart and Xperia ranges.
The first handset is the Cedar which is part of Sony’s eco-friendly GreenHeart range of devices. It’s a candy bar handset incorporating the company’s Human Curvature Design form. It’s designed to offer users a full range of features -
2.2-inch display with a 240 x 320 pixel resolution
3G (HSDPA), Edge/GPRS,
Bluetooth 2.1 with A2DP, USB 2.0
2 megapixel camera
3.5mm handsfree socket
microSD card support
The Cedar, like the other handsets in the range, features various green credentials such as recycled plastics, a low power consumption charger, an e-manual, waterborne paint and compact packaging. With their Widget Manager 2.0 users can access social networking (Facebook, Twitter and MySpace) via the stand-by screen. Other useful features include a hassle-free phone book transfer and web backup and Push Email as well modem connectivity.
The Sony Ericsson Cedar will be available in selected markets from Q3 in the colors Black/Silver and Black/Red.
The second handset that was announced at their exclusive event was the X8 that had surfaced only yesterday. The X8 is part of the Xperia range and simply looks like a smaller version of the X10, though it’s somewhere in between the X10 and the X10 Mini/Mini Pro. This device will not feature the company’s Mediascape UI however, but it will come with Timescape (with the infinite button). So rather than being a smaller version of the X10, it’s actually a larger version of the X10 Mini as it also runs on the Android platform and the UI the same. The for corners of the screen can be set as shortcuts to your favorite applications.
The X8 features -
a 3.0-inch touchscreen display sporting a 320 x 480 pixel resolution
3G connectivity with EDGE/GPRS and Wi-Fi
GPS with A-GPS support
Bluetooth 2.1 with A2DP and USB 2.0
3 megapixel camera
Fm radio
MicroSD card support
3.5mm handsfree socket
The XPERIA X8 will also be available in selected markets from Q3 in the colors White, Dark Blue/ White, Aqua Blue/ White, Pink/ White, Silver/ White.
The last handset is the Yendo which the latest addition to their Walkman range of multimedia phones. In form, it’s similar to the X8 just a little smaller. The UI running atop the Android platform is the same as well feature the four corner touch set up.
Features include -
a 2.6-inch touchscreen with a 240 x 320 pixel resolution
connectivity with EDGE/GPRS
Bluetooth 2.1 with A2DP and USB 2.0
2 megapixel camera
Fm radio
MicroSD card support
3.5mm handsfree socket
Like all Walkman devices the Yendo will feature Shake Control and come loaded with SE’s SensMe function and Sony’s MediaGo software for quickly transferring files from your PC to the device. The Sony Ericsson Yendo with Walkman will be available in selected markets from Q3 in the colors: Black, Blue, Green, Orange, Pink, Purple, Red, Silver, White and Yellow.
While prices of the devices don’t seem to have been mentioned just yet, there’s every possibility that we’ll see these devices in India quite soon considering Sony Ericsson’s aggressive new business strategy in the country. They may not have a bonafied iPhone Killer just yet, but you never know.
Not everyone can afford a smartphone that’s capable of providing users with the optimal connectivity options and that integrates full PDA functionality into it. Sure there are plenty of alternatives that come close although there’s no definitive line of distinction between a standard mobile handset and a Smartphone. The handset’s operating system has a lot to do with this classification while price really has nothing to do with it. For instance Android devices and Windows Mobile handsets are automatically classified as Smartphones. Nevertheless a category of devices does fall under the Smartphone genre and they’re getting cheaper all the time. With that in mind here are a few of handsets that fall under the Smartphone selection if you’re looking for one and you’re budget is limited to Rs. 10,000 and under. Samsung Monte - Rs. 8,600 – Best Choice The Monte is a stylish looking device that has a comfortable grip. Using Samsung’s proprietary TouchWiz UI you’ll have the option of multiple desktops with plenty of handy widgets to drag and drop on to. Samsung’s DNSe audio enhancement feature has also been thrown in for a better multimedia experience. The 3 MP camera comes with a Smile Shot setting as well as geotagging and the Monte is also equipped with Social Networking features. It’s one of the cheapest smartphones in this category that can handle 3G connectivity that also sports Wi-Fi and GPS, making it the best choice for a budget smartphone.
Samsung’s Monte is also equipped with -
* 3.0-inch display with a 240 x 400 pixel resolution * 3G, EDGE/GPRS, Wi-Fi * GPS with A-GPS support * Bluetooth 2.1 with A2DP, USB 2.0 (mini) * 3 megapixel camera * 3.5mm handsfree socket * FM radio (recording) * microSD card support Nokia 5233 – Rs. 6,300 – Runner Up The Nokia 5233 is, like I’ve been saying, a lower end version of their once popular 5800 XpressMusic handset. It’s simple and lightweight handset that’s designed to be comfortable to use and it is. It’s loaded with features running on a Symbian OS with a Series 60 touchscreen UI. Nokia’s also included their media bar touch-sensitive key just above the display which makes it really easy to access your on-board media files. S60 handsets also make it easy to download and install apps via Nokia’s Ovi Store (preloaded) application. The handset also comes bundled with Ovi Maps even though it doesn’t have a GPS module.
Other features include -
* 3.2-inch display with a 360 x 240 pixel resolution * EDGE/GPRS * Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP, USB 2.0 (micro) * 2 megapixel camera * 3.5mm handsfree socket * FM radio * microSD card support
HTC Smart - Rs. 9,990 The Smart is one of HTC’s low end smartphones and they’ve opted to use Qualcomm’s new Brew Mobile platform as the OS for the device. The OS is simple and quite like using an Android device so it’s easy to get around. Thanks to the versatility of HTC’s Sense UI, the navigating through the menus and accessing functions are very convenient. The Handset is also equipped to handle social networking for Twitter and Facebook users with HTC’s FriendStream application that has its own full page widget.
The Smart also features -
* 2.8-inch display with a 240 x 320 pixel resolution * 3G, EDGE/GPRS * Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP, USB 2.0 (mini) * 3 megapixel camera * 3.5mm handsfree socket * FM radio * microSD card support
If you have any other handsets you think are contenders, dear readers, feel free to discuss them in our comments section below.
