Nokia announces two dual SIM phones

Nokia has launched two dual SIM phones, Nokia X1-01 and Nokia C2-00. Both the phones remember the settings for up to five different SIM cards. C2-00 also offer hot swap for SIM card.

Nokia has launched two dual SIM phones, Nokia X1-01 and Nokia C2-00. Both the phones remember the settings for up to five different SIM cards.

The phones offer dual SIM and dual-standby, means you can always receive notification of calls and messages on each account -- rather than having to switch your SIM cards on and off.

Both devices are no-nonsense, inexpensive phones that offer long battery life of up to 43 days standby time and 13 hours talk time on the Nokia X1-01 or 36 hours if you choose to play music.

The Nokia C2-00, claims to offers 19.2 days standby time, with 5.75 hours talk time.

Nokia X1-01

The Nokia X1-01 is a music centric device with a big speaker on the back, which according to the company is the loudest and clearest speaker they have ever produced.

So is Nokia targeting the likes of Karbonn Boom-Box? It's anybody's guess.

The device offers support for up to 16GB of storage using the SD card. It offers an FM radio, an MP3 music player with dedicated music keys, 3.5mm jack (so you can connect any speaker), a Torch. In addition to remembering the settings for up to five separate SIM cards, the Nokia X1-01 also lets you give each SIM its own logo, music signature or ringtone.

Nokia C2-00

One of the most unique features of C2-00 is its SIM card placement, offering Easy Swap. One SIM card is stored internally, like a traditional phone. The second card is easily accessible through a slot in the side -- so you don't have to open or even switch the phone off to change SIMs.

This is especially useful for people who want to use more than two SIMs, such as if the phone was to be shared between different members of a family, a group of friends or various community members, for example.

While the Nokia X1-01 runs the Series 30 operating system, the Nokia C2-00 runs Series 40, which offers some key advantages in the form of internet access, a web browser and Nokia Messaging for email.

The Nokia C2-00 also sports a VGA camera and allows for MMS messaging. There's support for up to 32GB of storage using an SD card, allowing users to carry thousands of photos, videos and music files.

The two phones will be offered with Ovi Life Tools, which offers news, market prices, entertainment, health advice and education services to people who are likely to find it difficult to get these things in other ways.

The Nokia X1-01 and Nokia C2-00 will start shipping within this quarter (ending June), with approximate price of Rs 2,300 and Rs 3,000 respectively.

Samsung launches Galaxy S WiFi smart players

The Galaxy S WiFi smart player will come in two models - 4 inch and 5 inch screens respectively.

Samsung has launched two Galaxy S WiFi smart players , featuring 4 inch and 5 inch screen-sizes respectively. These media players (or mini tablets as you wish to look at it), are based on Android 2.2 with a 1GHz processor and supports WiFi. These are now set to directly compete with iPod touch.

What makes it a tablet and not a smartphone is the absence of support for mobile network. These two devices are similar to what iPod is in Apple's product portfolio, where they have iPhone based on iOS and iPod on same OS platform worth every other feature except calling.

This means that Galaxy S WiFi will be directly in competition with the iPod and if so it is expected to be priced similarly. The iPod Touch 32GB is currently sold in the Indian market at 32GB at Rs 15,500, and we expect Galaxy S WiFi 4.0 to sell at couple of thousand less and the 5.0 at the same price.

The Galaxy S WiFi 4.0 will be launched in Russia first while Switzerland will be the first country to get Galaxy S WiFi 5.0. Both the tablets are expected to be launched in other countries, including India, later.

"With the GALAXY S WiFi 4.0 and 5.0, we're delivering a rich, immersive experience for multimedia enthusiasts." said JK Shin, president and head of Samsung's mobile communications business.

He added, "A large, high-quality screen, a world of fun and useful applications and great communications services make this a powerhouse device at an affordable price."

Samsung Galaxy S wifi, however, support VoIP (video as well) calling apart from being an audio and video player (with multi-codec support). It has also the capability of playing games, downloading applications, web surfing and doing some content editing.

Samsung is truly hoping to challenge the dominance of iPod in the personal media player market with these two products. And it is being seen as a challenge from the Android camp. While Android has already gained the top slot in smartphone arena, it will be interesting to see how it performs in this space.

Apart from the features already mentioned above, the device will feature, GPS, 3.2 megapixel rear and front VGA camera, Google mobile services such as Gmail, Google Talk and YouTube.

Another very important benefit of Galaxy S Wifi over iPod is the fact that it will come with 8/16 GB memory, plus mircoSD slot.

Fujitsu to launch 7 inch Android tablet

After 10 inch Windows 7 based tablet, Fujitsu will be launching a 7 inch Google Android based tablet soon.

While the world is still rejoicing the launch of Lifebook TH40/D Windows 7 based tablet, its maker Fujitsu is all set to launch another tablet but only this time they have Google Android in their mind as its operating system.

As reported by Digitimes, the company is set to announce the launch of its Google Android based tablet but will be launching it sometime in the month of August this year.

The Android based tablet will feature a smaller 7 inch touchscreen as compared to the 10.1 inch screen of the Windows tablet. Although there was no official word from Fujitsu about its hardware configurations, this new tablet is expected to feature a 1.5 GHz processor sourced from Intel as the one featured on the Windows counterpart or can also be sourced from Qualcomm or Nvidia.

Considering the size reduction, the 7 inch tablet is expected to have mobile communications connectivity along with a frontal camera supporting video conferencing.

It may also feature the latest Android operating system for tablets, the Honeycomb 3.1, which is a recently launched upgrade to the Honeycomb 3.0.

The pricing, however, not confirmed by the company but is expected to be price within the price bracket of Rs 25,000 upwards.

Nokia Windows phones to feature new processor

The upcoming and highly anticipated Windows Phone devices from Nokia will feature processor sourced from ST Ericsson.

The new league of Windows Phone based smartphones from Nokia will be feature the all new Novathor U8500 processor from ST Ericsson, according to the chief executive officer of STMicroelectronics Carlo Bozotti, who shared this information with Forbes.

St Ericsson is a joint venture between Geneva based STMicroelectronics and Swedish mobile equipment manufacturer.

The new microprocessor Novathor U8500 will be used in all or some of the upcoming Windows Phone 8 based smartphones that Nokia is planning to launch in the times to come.

The Novathor microprocessor is a dual core processor that allows faster processing for commands and has a dedicated ARM Mali 400 graphics processor for meeting the present day graphics requirements of the application.

The processor has native support for Full HD video recording at 1080 resolution and is capable of delivering what smartphones are offering today. Along with that, the Nonathor U8500 also supports dual displays which can very well compliment the 3D phone for which Nokia was awarded patent sometime back.

Nokia is confident about the launch of its Windows Phone based smartphones and will be launching close to 11-12 smartphones by the end of 2012.

Nokia's next MeeGo device N9 revealed

A teaser video on Youtube revealed the nitty-gritty of Nokia's next MeeGo based device, to be named as N9, which will be the successor of Nokia's N900.

Nokia could soon come out with yet another MeeGo device and it may be named as N9.

A purported video of the device was uploaded on the Youtube. However, the video was removed immediately by Nokia claiming copyright issues.

Notably, the Finnish handset maker had, during the Nokia 2011 Developer Forum earlier this year, announced that it would come out with another MeeGo based device soon.

Built on the same hardware platform as the Nokia N97, the N9 will feature a slide out Qwerty keypad and an angular placed screen along with an extended keyboard.

It likely to have a display of 4 inch or more of 360 x 640 resolution with a capacitive touch. The processor is expected to be in the 1GHz category and may feature a totally revamped version of the MeeGo interface.

The teaser video, which was accidentally put on YouTube, reveals that the N9 will come armed with integrated Near Field Communication and Augmented Reality capabilities. Social media will also be an integral part of the new User Interface.

The teaser said that Nokia is ready with the device and it is just a matter of time before it officially announces the device.

iPhone4 coming to India courtesy Airtel, Aircel

Last month Airtel and Aircel announced that they will launch iPhone4 in India, and now they have started a registration process for the consumers.

Aircel and Airtel will be the first operators to bring the Apple iPhone4 to India, who have started the registration process through their respective websites to keep potential buyers informed about the arrival of the handset.

However, no launch date or special pack has been announced for this launch yet. iPhone 4 is the latest version of Apple iPhone and comes with features like Apple's stunning Retina display, the highest resolution display ever built into a phone and FaceTime for video calling. It was launched in the USA in June last year.

With a sleek, sharp and thinner design than its predecessor, the fourth-generation model of Apple iPhone comes with a 3.5 inch screen with 640 X 960 pixel resolution.

The phone's operating system has also been upgraded and is now called iOS 4, which offers features like multitasking, spell check, folders and iBooks.

The phone comes in two versions (of 16GB and 32GB memory capacity), a 5 megapixel camera, up from 3 megapixel in the earlier version. The camera has an LED flash. It has a second VGA camera for video calling.

The phone's connectivity options include WiFi, Bluetooth, HDMI and GPS. The device promises seven hours of 3G talk time, six hours of 3G browsing, 10 hours of WiFi browsing, 10 hours of video and 40 hours of music playback.

Sony Ericsson to strengthen Xperia, Cybershot, and Walkman series

The expected phones include W8 in the Walkman series, Xperia Mini and Mini Pro HD, and Cybershot with a 16 mega pixel camera.

To strengthen its product line, Sony Ericsson will be adding several phones to its Xperia, Cybershot and Walkman series of mobile phones in the next quarter, a company spokesperson told 'The Mobile Indian'.

Spokesperson said, "We will be strengthening our product line with more phones in Xperia and Walkman series, and with camera phones."

The expected phones include W8 in the Walkman series, Xperia Mini and Mini Pro HD and Cybershot with a 16 mega pixel camera.

Besides Android operating system, these will have traditional Sony Ericsson features. For instance, the Walkman series will have good music.

The Cybershot brand, which is known for its camera capabilities, is expected to make a comeback with full touch screen (it vanished after the launch of the Xperia series), and a 16 mega pixel camera with Xenon flash (these specifications are not confirmed, but are highly probable).

Walkman series, known for its music capabilities, will also make a comeback. This time, the phone will use Android operating system and will have a full touchscreen.

Sony Ericsson has already created a niche for itself in the Android Market with several PlayStation certified applications. It might be looking to add some more apps for the Walkman series.

Xperia series already has models such as X8, X10, X12, Vivaz, Mini, Mini Pro, Play and Arc. These are expected to be joined by Mini HD and Mini Pro HD.

It's great to hear about Cybershot and Walkman series returning. The success of these phones will depend on how well they are executed as there will be practically no similarity between the forthcoming models and the Cybershots of older days.

It will be a challenge to match people's expectations with a completely new platform (not new per se, but new for these types of phones). Pricing will be another important factor in their success.