Frequent Mobile Phone Users experience Phantom ringing and suffer from Ringxiety

Sometimes you think you hear your mobile phone ringing, but on checking it you release that you were just imagining it. Well, here is some assurance that you are NOT turning insane. A study conducted in the US has reported that this phenomenon is known as ‘ringxiety’.

This study was conducted by David Laramie from the California School of Professional Psychology at Alliant International University, Los Angeles.

The study that involved participants who were aged from 18-26 years found that two thirds of the people surveyed reported hearing their phone ring or feeling it vibrate when it had not actually rung.

The study also found that the more frequently a person used their phone, the more often they reported hearing a ‘phantom ring’ so to speak.

Also, it was found that 67% of the people suffering from the ‘ringxiety’ phenomenon had higher monthly charges, tended to use more minutes and sent more text messages. They were even found to show higher levels of impulsive behavior.

Dr Jitender Nagpal, senior psychiatrist at VIMHANS, was quoted in the Times of India as saying that he feels the time has come to seriously introspect on the utility of the mobile phone. Its overuse, he said, is leading to a loss of real time communication of users with their family and self.


“Frequent mobile users are always anxious. They are on tenterhooks, waiting for the phone to ring, trying to reduce the wait and response period. This also leads to frequent mood changes, irritability, and stress. Altered behaviour is common in such cases,” he said.

Interestingly, the study also found that some people rely on their mobile phone to regulate moods and maintain social connectedness. And, those people who prefer to use their phones for text messaging, rather than talking, display higher levels of loneliness and social anxiety.


Dr. Jitendra Nagpal also added that the use of mobile phones for long durations by all generations has become a serious health concern with respect to cardio-vascular and neurological complications.


SOURCE:techshout.com

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Blaupunkt Velocity2Go Portable Speaker System that’s also a Powered Car Subwoofer, unveiled

Blaupunkt has launched Velocity 2Go, which has the distinction of being the world’s first headphone-jack portable stereo speaker systems that have the ability of being converted into car audio subwoofers, just about in a jiffy.

The Velocity 2Go powered speakers produce room-filling full-range sound when connected to any device with headphone output jacks. And when used in a car, they deliver deep, clean bass to add weight to the sound of a basic four-speaker car stereo system.

Blaupunkt’s latest portable speaker systems come in two sizes, each with powerful high-efficiency amplifiers, two long-throw polypropylene woofers and two silk-dome tweeters in a robust, attractive ported aluminum enclosure with MDF internal walls for reduced cabinet resonance. The aluminum speaker ports also function as amplifier heat sinks with the cooling flow of air increasing in proportion to power levels. Power for the four bi-amp configured amplifiers and active crossovers is supplied by a car’s 12-volt electrical system, an AC adapter, or rechargeable AA batteries sustained by a built-in charger. A defeatable auto-turn-on function activates whenever an audio signal is detected.

The Velocity 2Go 5 includes dual 5-1/4-inch woofers along with a pair of 3 D4-inch tweeters in an 8 liter enclosure and has the ability of linear frequency response from 50 Hz to 25000 kHz. The larger Velocity 2Go 6 makes use of 6-1/2-inch woofers and 1-inch tweeters in a 15-liter enclosure, enabling it to deliver higher output, and linear response down to 40 Hz.

Apart from the 3.5mm headphone jack input, there are also rear-panel RCA inputs for use with variable line-level outputs from a home, preamplifier, TV set, or other audio device. The unit’s built-in amplifiers incorporate the ability to deliver a combined output up to 160 watts of power (80 watts RMS) when connected to either an AC or 12-volt DC source, and 60 Watts max (30 watts RMS) when powered by eight standard rechargeable AA batteries.

When the Velocity 2Go is transformed into a powered car subwoofer, its low pass active filter network comes into play, limiting reproduction to frequencies below 120 Hz and removing the tweeters as an audio source. A wide array of subwoofer controls, including gain, low-pass frequency, and signal phase adjustments guaranteeing seamless integration with existing car stereo gear, are packed in. A rear-panel multi-port input can be used with the included cable to instantly connect the Velocity 2Go to 12 V DC power, speaker-level or RCA audio inputs, making it remarkably fast and simple to hook up to nearly any car audio system. In addition, there’s an optional QuickOut Dock available that can offer instant connection and subwoofer mode activation.

The Blaupunkt Velocity 2Go 5 and Velocity 2Go 6 headphone-jack portable stereo speaker systems are available right away for $399.95 and $449.95 each, respectively. The optional QuickOut car dock is priced at $99.95.


SOURCE:techshout.com

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Stylish Nokia E51 Business Smartphone launched

Nokia has expanded its Eseries line of business devices with the introduction of the new Nokia E51 mobile phone. This all-round device would be perfect for businesses professionals, who require reliable and real-time access to business and people, and need to manage time effectively.

This because the Nokia E51 phone combines mobile telephony, mobile email and messaging, office phone functionality, cost savings, one phone number, one voice mailbox and one dial plan into a single device.

Here are the prominent business-related features of the Nokia E51 mobile phone:

*A home screen including user-selected icons to the most used applications
*One Touch keys with one-click access to key functionalities including email, contacts, calendar and the home screen
*Set-up wizards offering step-by-step guidance for setting up email accounts, configuring Internet calling and accessing wireless local area networks
*Integration witha wide range of business email solutions, including Nokia *Intellisync Wireless Email and Mail for Exchange to communicate with Microsoft *Exchange Server, and consumer email
*Streamlined email reading experience with easy access to attachments
*Dedicated Email key on the front cover, indicator light for new email, and a preview window to the latest email on the home screen to help keep up with email when on the move

But, if you’re a business professional and are also a fun-loving person, then the Nokia E51 will transform itself in an interestingly device as well.

The Nokia E51 phone features a 2 megapixel camera, an FM radio, music and multimedia player.

The Nokia browser serves as a gateway to a variety of Internet services such as interoperability with Windows Live. The Download! Application provides access to Yahoo Go! WidSets, and a number of travel, personal productivity and entertainment applications.

The Nokia E51 business phone will be available in Q4 2007 for a price of 350 EUR (around Rs.19,564).


SOURCE:techshout.com

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5MP K850i Mobile from Sony Ericsson

Sony Ericsson has finally launched its 5 megapixel, autofocus Cybershot camera – the K850i . This phone is equipped with 16x digital zoom and incorporates a feature called BestPic that allows clicking as many as nine images at once so you can select the best from those images.

Another feature incorporated into the K850i is the Photofix feature, which automatically adjusts the combination of light, contrast and brightness to provide the best images. The camera is also compatible with PictBridge.


The K850i is also designed to be a fully functional multimedia device for music, videos and podcasts. It’s equipped with a 2.2 inch crystal bright display that’s also scratch-resistant, with 262K colors and a resolution of 240 x 320 pixels.

The phone is well-equipped for various types of connectivity, so you get 3G capabilities, HSDPA, EDGE, Bluetooth with A2DP compatibility, and USB supports as well.


The camera is equipped with a Xenon flash and an auto lens cover with three LEDs for shooting in video mode. It has a secondary VGA camera for video calling. Among other features is an integrated FM radio with RDS and TrackId for music recognition. There’s also a motion sensor with an auto rotate feature that displays images in the correct aspect – portrait or landscape – irrespective of the orientation it was taken in.


Even though the phone has just been unveiled officially, it doesn't come with a price tag of any sort yet. But it is expected to start shipping in the fourth quarter of this year.


SOURCE:tech2.com

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Nokia Unveils Dual-Mode E51

A revamped interface joins GSM and Wi-Fi functions in Nokia's newest business model.
Jeremy Kirk, IDG News Service

Nokia Corp. released on Tuesday the newest addition to its E-series lineup of mobile phones for businesses, revamping the user interface for easier navigation, executives said during a London product launch.

The E51 is a dual-mode model, working with GSM networks and Wi-Fi hotspots for businesses eyeing or already using so-called "converged" services -- VOIP (voice over Internet Protocol) technology alongside traditional phone networks.

Nokia is hoping to spur businesses to adopt its E-series phones by convincing IT managers they'll save money over the long term by using the mobiles in combination with VOIP software. The unsubsidized price of the E51 will be ,350 (US$485) and should be available in the last three months of the year.

Cost savings through converged fixed line and mobile networks are a "door opener" for IT managers, said Mary McDowell, executive vice president and general manager of Nokia's Enterprise Solutions division.

Expensive data plans -- which increase the total bill for companies every time employees read e-mail -- remain a barrier, although Nokia has brought the issue up with operators, McDowell said.

Still, Nokia sees big opportunities, as 44 percent of businesses still lack plans for mobile usage by their employees, said Antti Vasara, senior vice president for the mobile devices unit of Enterprise Solutions.

Nokia simplified the E51's main navigation window and added setup wizards for functions such as e-mail to make it easier during the initial set-up, Vasara said.

Those improvements came to address user complaints that those functions were "more difficult" than on other models, Vasara said. Another improvement lets users access frequently used features, such as e-mail or their calendar, with the push of only one button, he said.

The E51, which runs the S60 series operating system, may be built for business, but it's shiny, slim and attractive, forgoing a fattening QWERTY keypad to keep its figure. It has a 2-megapixel camera and an FM radio.


The device will perhaps fill the void caused by Nokia's E70 mobile. Despite the full, fold-out keyboard that extended to the left and the right of the main screen, the E70 has not been very popular despite doing well in initial user trials, McDowell said.

The E51 is compatible with Nokia's Intellisync Call Connect software for businesses using equipment and software from Cisco Systems Inc. and Alcatel-Lucent SA. The Intellisync software enables desktop phone functions -- such as call forwarding, extension dialing, hold and conferences, among others -- for mobiles.

BT Group PLC will test a client version of its BT Corporate Fusion software next month on the E51, with expanded trials by the end of the year, said Rakesh Mahaja, global director of mobility for BT Global Services.

BT's Corporate Fusion software uses Wi-Fi to let mobile devices communicate with the fixed network, and runs applications and other calling management functions through an IP network.


SOURCE:pcworld.com

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SimpleTech 250GB SimpleDrive Portable Hard Drive

SimpleTech is a drive builder that's been around for a while, but its partnerships and buyout by Fabrik have lately led it into much higher-profile directions. Sporting a case styled by Pininfarina, the 250GB SimpleDrive Portable Hard Drive ($199 list) is one of a handful of pocket drives that boast the highest currently available capacity. It can store more than 50,000 MP3 files or high-resolution digital photos, or over 60 DVD-quality full-length movies. Considering that many notebooks still come with hard drives of 100GB or smaller, and mainstream and value desktops come with 160 to 200GB, the 250GB SimpleTech drive has enough room to help most users back up their PCs—and do so often.

The SimpleDrive's case is designed and branded by Pininfarina, the same design firm that's responsible for many of the carmaker Ferrari's most iconic models, including the 1980s Testarossas and the more recent Maserati GranTurismo. Considering their common design ancestry, this drive is a stylistic match for Acer's Ferrari-branded PCs. It's available in several colors, including blue (80GB), red (160GB), and the silver 250GB drive I review here. Like other portable notebook-class drives, the SimpleDrive will easily fit into a large coat pocket or laptop bag, so it's a good companion for the traveler or commuter. The top of the drive is slightly curved, so you know which way is "up," and the top panel includes power and drive activity lights. Fortunately, the Pininfarina designers didn't get too outré with the SimpleTech drives: The drives look unique and attractive without too much over-the-top bling, such as the fingerprint-attracting chrome accents I've seen on other drives.

The SimpleDrive has a mini USB port on the back, along with an auxiliary power port, although the drive comes with a Y-shaped USB cable. The USB cable's extra power 5-volt port (for a "wall wart" AC adapter) is handy if your notebook doesn't provide quite enough power out of one USB port. (It's a power-hungry 250GB drive, after all.) The second lead isn't quite as long as I'd like, though. (The Seagate portable drive's Y-shaped cable can reach around to both sides of a 15-inch notebook, just in case the two USB ports on the PC are on opposite ends of the keyboard—as they are on the Apple PowerBook G4 and the MacBook Pro.)

This brings me to the most annoying nit with the SimpleTech drive: The drive's StorageSync (Windows-only) backup software comes on a 3cm CD that's the same size and shape as a business card (regular CDs and DVDs are 5cm). Although that CD form is innovative and fits well in the drive's packaging, irregularly shaped small CDs will get caught in slot-loading optical drives (like the ones on many desktops and notebooks), and you won't be able to get them out. Users with old-school tray-loading drives shouldn't have any trouble, but the sort of users who want to buy an attractively designed external drive to go along with their stylish PC would do well to avoid installing the software from the CD. Instead, they should download and install the installer from SimpleTech's support Web site.

That said, the StorageSync software is fairly comprehensive. It's designed to back up your entire hard drive, including the operating system, applications, and settings. You can "go back" if you accidentally delete something. You have the option of saving your files in Windows format (you can search for and just drag-copy backed-up files back to your C: drive) or save the files compressed, so that you can theoretically back up more than the 250GB drive could hold in Windows format. StorageSync supports up to 256-bit AES encryption, which is a good feature for keeping secret documents safe (though the backup and restore process will take longer if you enable encryption).

The StorageSync interface isn't quite as simple or attractive as some of its competition (such as the Seagate FreeAgent drives or CMS's BounceBack Pro), but it is a good backup solution. StorageSync supports both scheduled and on-demand backup; in particular, you can set the system to back up automatically when you plug in the drive. SimpleTech doesn't include a Mac OS–compatible backup program, so Mac owners are on their own. It's also notable that the SimpleTech drive is formatted for NTFS out of the box, so Mac users will have to reformat it to FAT32 or HFS+ (use Mac OS X's Disk Utility for this task).

All SimpleTech drives now come with a myfabrik.com online storage account—in this case a 2GB online account—which is good forever. (Sweet!) That 2GB isn't a lot compared with the 250GB on the hard drive, but it's enough to keep all your important Microsoft Office documents safe and accessible over the Internet. Online adjuncts to external hard drives are a new extra feature on some drives, including the SimpleTech and Seagate FreeAgent drives, and online storage belongs in the "nice extra" category. That said, online storage isn't a total substitute for portable external drives, since you can't access your account when you're flying on a plane or are away from broadband Internet, for example.

The SimpleTech is a smidge faster than the 160GB drives I've reviewed recently: It took 49 seconds to copy our standard 1.2GB test folder using Windows drag-and-drop. The backup software took a little longer, at 58 seconds. But this is still speedier than other drives, which took over 53 seconds in Windows and a minute or more using pack-in backup software. The SimpleTech uses a 5,400-rpm mechanism with 8MB of disk cache, which is on a par with other 160GB external drives.

The 160GB Western Digital Passport and the Iomega eGo pocket drives are about the same physical size as the SimpleTech drives. All three would fit fine in most people's laptop carrying cases, and all three come with some backup software. CMS Products' ABSPlus drives let you create bootable backups, but the CMS software costs more, at $245 for the 160GB backup kit. Notebook-class 250GB drives are available from Western Digital and other manufacturers, but SimpleTech got me theirs first. Since larger drives are less expensive on a dollar-per-GB basis, it's no surprise that at 80 cents per GB (list), the 250GB SimpleTech is a better deal than the CMS 160GB drive.

The SimpleTech 250GB SimpleDrive Portable Hard Drive gives users a large repository for their digital files, along with an attractive case to go along with their stylish notebook. It doesn't quite beat the Editors' Choice, the Toshiba 200GB, though. The Toshiba's shell is more attractive, in my opinion, and that drive comes with Mac software, whereas the SimpleTech is Windows-only. Still, anyone looking to back up a lot of files (or keep incremental backups for months) should put the SimpleTech drive on their short list. You should be able to find a color (and capacity) you like, but so far, the 250GB is the big man on campus.


SOURCE:pcmag.com

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Motorola to Launch Three New Phones

Motorla’s new phones – MOTOROKR E8, PEBL U9 and MOTORIZR Z10 – are seemingly headed towards popularity even before their official launch.

The ROKR E8, part of Motorola’s ROKR music phone clan, is designed with a touch-sensitive keypad and has a navigation scroll wheel. It has a 2-inch TFT display with a resolution of 240 x 320 pixels and sports 256k colors. It supports external memory with microSD cards and comes with 2GB of internal memory.

Connectivity is handled by EDGE, USB v2.0 and Bluetooth with A2DP compatibility. The E8 also has an integrated Stereo FM radio, a 2 megapixel camera and, of course, a music player that supports MP3 and AAC playback. It has a 3.5mm earphone socket.


What really makes this phone unique is that in standby mode the keypad is virtually invisible, and when in music mode select keys that highlight music navigation are lit up. The keypad is quoted to support Haptic feedback, allowing users to actually feel every keypress. The expected release date is sometime in November and the price would be in the region of Rs. 15,700 (280 Euro).

The ROKR PEBL U9 is a clamshell phone with a reflective (fingerprint magnet!) surface. It has a 1.4 inch, 65K, OLED display with a resolution of 128 x 128 pixels on the outer surface and a 1.8 inch QVGA, TFT display with a resolution of 240 x 320 pixels and 256K colors. The keypad is touch-sensitive.

For connectivity it’s equipped with EDGE, Bluetooth with A2DP compatibility and USB v2.0. The U9 has a 2 megapixel camera, an MP3 player, and supports external memory using microSD cards. Pricing and availability have not yet been disclosed.


Motorola’s RIZR Z10 is a rather well-equipped mobile device with HSDPA, 3G and of course EDGE connectivity. It too supports Bluetooth with A2DP and USB v2.0 (mini). The 2.2 inch TFT display supports a resolution of 240 x 320 pixels with 256k colors and has a scratch-resistant surface. The 90MB of internal memory can be extended using microSD cards.

The RIZR Z10 is equipped with a TI 2420 multimedia processor, a 3.2 megapixel autofocus camera, and a secondary VGA camera in the front for video calling. There appears to be some confusion as to whether the Z10 will have a Xenon or LED flash. The specs aren't too clear.


This phone also has a 3.5 mm earphone socket and a music player that supports MP3 and AAC+ playback. Motorola has decided to go with a Symbian UIQ 3.1 OS in the Z10. It’s expected to be out in December for approximately Rs. 22,430 (400 Euro).


SOURCE:tech2.com

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iPhone Provides a Peek at the Mobile Future, Study Says

Mobile Internet Devices will surf, play music and video, take calls and pictures--and more.
Brad Reed, Network World

A study by ABI Research says that the iPhone may be only a precursor to what mobile Internet devices will be capable of in the near future.

The study, released this week, predicts an explosion of MIDs that can be used for browsing the Web, listening to music, text messaging, and shooting photo and video. In particular, the study expects that 90 million MIDs and 5 million ultramobile PCs (UMPC) will have been shipped to buyers by 2012. According to ABI vice president Stan Schatt, these devices generally will have larger screens than the iPhone and will have a wider variety of Web browsing options than Nokia's N800 phone.

"These are going to serve as substitutes for existing portable devices," Schatt says. "These devices could very well play the role of a Swiss Army knife. So, say somebody's going on a trip, and they may take one of these devices that would allow them to watch a movie and also allow them to play a game on the Internet."

Because many of these devices would be small and have limited battery power, Schatt says, many of them would save power by being based on Linux instead of Windows. The most well-known Linux-based platform is currently being developed by Intel, which debuted its plans to enter the nascent MID market in April.

"You're going to have devices that cater to certain market segments," says Schatt. "We see, for example, devices catering to Generation Y social networkers. These devices would be highly stylized, they would have Webcams, they would be optimized for texting and [instant messaging], and they would have some phone functionality. They would allow you to be connected all time, enable you to connect via video, text and voice."

The study notes that the potential for MIDs isn't only in entertainment and communications, but also in the medical field, where they could be used as devices that monitor crucial health indicators and send that information through a wireless signal to doctors and family members. Schatt says he also expects MIDs to be developed that specialize in performing very specific tasks for people who work in isolated conditions. "Say you have a petroleum field engineer out in middle of nowhere, and he has to be connected to the Internet, and there's a very specific application he needs to run," he says. "These devices would be ideal for that sort of work."


While Schatt sees a very bright future for MIDs, he thinks the future of UMPCs, such as the OQO Model 01+ and the FlipStart, is somewhat cloudier. The two big problems with UMPCs, he says, are that their processors still are taking up too much battery power, and that they haven't done enough to differentiate themselves from laptops.

"It's going to take two or three years before they have a low-power processor that has enough juice to run one of these machines all day," Schatt says.


SOURCE:pcworld.com

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European iPhone Plans Emerge

Apple is expected to sell iPhone through O2 in the UK, Orange in France, and Deutsche Telekom in much of Europe.
Jonny Evans, Macworld UK

Apple is expected to confirm that O2 will be the iPhone's official U.K. mobile network tomorrow, as more news emanates concerning Apple's iPhone launch plans in Europe.


It appears Deutsche Telekom's T-Mobile has secured the rights to sell the iPhone exclusively across five European countries. Orange has secured rights for France.


T-Mobile will sell the iPhone in Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, Hungary and Croatia, according to a report in the Financial Times. T-Mobile is rumored to be handing over 10 percent of iPhone revenues in order to clinch this deal.


In the U.K., The Guardian claims O2 finally secured a last minute exclusive on the iPhone by agreeing to give Apple 40 percent of iPhone-generated revenue plus a percentage of the sale price, prompting one analyst to characterize the deal as "madly money-losing."

Original plans had been for Orange and O2 to share the device, on account of the U.K.'s more fractured mobile phone market.



Carphone Warehouse has also been signed up as the sole independent distributor of the product, other than Apple and O2.



Apple's negotiating techniques have been called into question, this report claims: "Throughout discussions over marketing the iPhone in Europe, Apple has played off the UK's four main networks - O2, Orange, T-Mobile and Vodafone - against each other. All of them, at one stage, believed they had an exclusive deal for the British market."



Vodafone is described as having dropped out of the bidding war when it realized it would be unable to secure a pan-European deal.


The Guardian report claims a deal with T-Mobile will be confirmed on Wednesday, with a deal in France with Orange set to be confirmed on Thursday this week.


SOURCE:pcworld.com

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Sony Launches New Walkman MP3 Player

Sony India has launched its latest MP3 Walkman NWD-B100 series. This player features a USB direct connect, a three-line color LCD display, an FM tuner with radio recording capabilities, and a voice recorder function with a built-in microphone.

Weighing 30g, the NWD-B100 connects directly to the computer through a USB port without the problems of cables. The Sony MP3 player adopts the drag-and-drop interface for music and file transfer without any software installation.


The newly developed 'Auto Transfer' software built into the NWD-B100 makes it simpler to load the player with music. This software automatically searches for and transfers the most recently added tracks from your PC to your MP3 Walkman. It’s also compatible with Sony’s mini/micro hi-fi system speakers via USB. The NWD-B100 can charge its battery through the USB port while connected to a PC.

The NWD-B100 has a three-line color LCD display. Users can also search for their desired song by artist, album and song, or by folder and file name. It also has six different equalizer functions: heavy, rock, classic, pop, jazz and a customizable option.


The new player comes in two capacities: an 1GB model priced Rs. 3,990 and a 2GB model priced Rs. 4,990. The two colors available are black and white. The devices are available at select Sony showroom across the country.


SOURCE:tech2.com

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Apple iPod Touch, Classic and the Revamped Nano and Shuffle unveiled in India

The New iPods are here!

Stunned, excited and thrilled, aren’t you? Well, we certainly were when we received the launch invitation of the new Apple iPods in India.

Today, Apple introduced its new series of iPods at Mumbai, India. The iPod Touch, iPod Classic, refurbished iPod Nano and iPod Shuffle all came to life amidst the appropriately décored interiors of The Intercontinental Hotel at uptown Marine Drive. Flying down from Singapore especially for the India launch was Yeo Eng Yiong, who is Apple’s Senior Product Marketing Manager (Portables) Asia Pacific.

The new iPods India event kicked off at sharp 10am, unlike most other events that we have attended that most usually go behind schedule by at least an hour or two thanks to the CSTs (Celebrity Standard Time).

Apart from the AVs on each of the new products, Yiong gave an elaborate explanation on each of the new launches. Let’s begin with the iPod Touch.

Sadly, though the iPod Touch has yet not reached the Indian shores, Yiong spoke about it. The stunning looking black-colored 8 mm thin product is literally the iPhone sans the ability to make calls. Featuring Apple’s path-breaking multi-touch user interface, it includes a 3.5-inch widescreen display that truly lets its owners enjoy their music, video and photos on it. With Wi-Fi networking, which is the first of its kind on any iPod, along with Safari, Google Search/Yahoo! oneSearch and Apple’s YouTube application, users can wirelessly watch more than 10 million free videos from the internet’s most renowned video website. The new iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store allows users to wirelessly browse and preview songs and albums. The iPod Touch features up to 22 hours of audio playback and up to five hours of video playback. In addition, it has a built-in ambient light sensor that automatically adjusts the display’s brightness.

The iPod Touch surely makes you feel as though your fingers are perhaps the most worthy and lucky parts of your body as they get to truly enjoy the Touch. When asked as to whether we can ever expect a stylus with the iPod Touch, Yiong maintained that this perhaps would never be possible as their main intention is to make the users use their fingers.

The new 8GB iPod Touch is available for Rs. 17, 700 and 16GB model is priced at Rs. 23,600. But sadly they will not hit Indian store shelves before October. So you have to wait for pretty long to own this beauty!

The next product that was announced in the latest exciting iPod line-up is iPod Classic. Available in two models of humungous storage capacities – 80GB and 160Gb, you can perhaps load your home PC’s, office PC’s, neighbors PC’s and God knows where all’s music, photos , home videos, podcasts and games on to it. It can hold up to 40,000 songs and 200 hours of video. With an advanced user interface featuring Cover Flow and a new all-metal enclosure, the iPod Classic is ideal for playing iPod games and comes pre-loaded with iQuiz - the entertainment trivia game, Vortex - a fast-paced 360 degree brick-bashing games and Klondike - the well-know solitaire card game. Available right away in silver and black colors, the 80GB iPod Classic is priced at Rs. 14,500, whilst the 160GB model comes for Rs. 20,400.

The other two launches were revamps of the previous iPod models – the iPod Nano and iPod Shuffle.

The revamped iPod Nano now has video playing ability too. It is packed with an improved user interface featuring Cover Flow and an all-new attractive all-metal design made with anodized aluminum and polished stainless steel. It comes in four lovely colors – silver, black, blue and green. Two-inches bigger than the older iPod Nano, the new one has a display with 204 pixels per inch and 320×240 resolution, rendering a whole new experience of watching movies and photos. It includes three fun games and additional games that can be bought from the online iTunes Store. Delivering 24 hours of video playback and 5 hours of video playback, it bundles the same games as the iPod Classic. It comes in capacities of 4GB and 8GB, which are priced at Rs. 8,800 and Rs. 11,400 respectively. The new refurbished iPod Nanos can be bought right away.

And finally, the last in the lot of this magnificent array of iPods is the age-old iPod Shuffle. Well, don’t expect much out of this one for sure. The only thing different is that it is embellished in new colors – blue, green, purple and grey. With 1GB capacity that holds up to 240 songs, it can hold as much as 12 hours of music. Also available right away, the new colorful iPod Shuffles are priced at Rs. 4,500.

Well, with this the much-anticipated iPod launch was over. But also present at the venue were the latest 20- and 24-inches iMacs. They look so amazingly suave and chic.

With Apple having a bevy of product launches in India, there was one thing that we couldn’t miss out asking. When we got an opportunity to speak to Yiong, we couldn’t help asking him the million dollar question “When does India see the launch of the Apple iPhone?” Sadly, we got to hear what we already knew – “2008” was the answer to this question. Here’s hoping that it’s released here soon!


SOURCE:techshout.com

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Apple Unveils Next-Gen iPods in India

Apple today introduced the all-new next generation range of iPods – Nano, Classic and Touch – in India, bringing in video playback, an enhanced interface featuring Cover Flow, and a new design.

The new iPod Nano features a 204 pixel per inch display that's 65 per cent brighter than the previous generation, and delivers 320 x 240 resolution. The iPod Nano delivers up to 24 hours of audio playback or five hours of video playback on a single charge. The device is encased in an all-metal design made of anodized aluminum and polished stainless steel, and comes in four colors – silver, black, blue and green.

"We’ve taken the most popular music player in the world and added stunning video playback. The iPod Nano just keeps getting better and better with each new generation," said Apple’s CEO Steve Jobs. "The first iPod put 1,000 songs in your pocket; this new iPod Classic can put 40,000 songs in your pocket," he added.

Available from today, the 4 GB version of the Nano in silver costs Rs. 8,800 and the 8 GB version in silver, black, blue and green is available for Rs. 11,400. The models include earbud headphones, a USB to 30-pin cable and a Universal Dock Connector.

The 80 GB version of the iPod Classic delivers up to 30 hours of music playback and five hours of video playback on a single charge while the 160 GB version delivers up to 40 hours of music playback and seven hours of video playback. "Carrying the iPod classic is as good as carrying the hard disk of your personal computer," said Yeo Eng Yiong, senior product marketing manager (portables), Apple, Asia Pacific. Available from today, the 80 GB version costs Rs. 14,500 and the 160 GB version is available for Rs. 20,400.

Coming to the iPod Touch, the 8 GB version costs Rs. 17,700 while the 16 GB version costs Rs. 23,600. The iPod Touch is scheduled to be available in India in October. Though the iPod Touch was formally announced in India, the actual product has not yet hit the stores.

The iPods come with three preloaded games: Klondike (a Solitaire card game), Vortex (a fast-paced 360 degrees brick-bashing game) and iQuiz (entertainment trivia). Additional games can be purchased from the iTunes store.

The iPods require a Mac with a USB 2.0 port, Mac OS X v10.108 or later and iTunes 7.4; or a Windows PC with a USB 2.0 port and Windows Vista or Windows XP Home/Professional (Service Pack 2) or later and iTunes 7.4



SOURCE:tech2.com

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Apple Logic Studio with enhanced Features for Musicians launched

Apple has introduced new software called ‘Logic Studio’, a comprehensive suite of professional tools that provide musicians with just about everything they would need to create, produce and perform in the studio as well as on stage.

Apple’s Logic Studio features:
*Logic Pro 8
*MainStage
*Soundtrack Pro 2
*Studio Instruments
*Studio Effects
*a vast Studio Sound Library
*powerful set of production utilities.

According to Rob Schoeben, Apple’s vice president of Applications Product Marketing, “From the fun and intuitive GarageBand to the all new Logic Studio, there’s never been a better time to be a musician on the Mac.”

Logic Pro 8 offers an intuitive single-window interface for instant access to powerful music creation and production functions, including snap-to-transient selection and sample accurate editing directly in the Arrange window.

Mainstage turns the Mac into a powerful live performance rig that produces reliable, consistent sound-whether music is being made at home, in a rehearsal space, or in front of an audience.

Soundtrack Pro 2 is the musician’s bridge to sound for picture with professional editing tools and seamless film and video integration that simplifies every aspect of the audio post production process. Musicians can compose their score in Logic Pro 8 then use Soundtrack Pro 2 to edit dialog, design sound effects and complete the mix in cinematic sound.

Studio Instruments with 40 instrument plug-ins enable musicians to access and play almost any sound imaginable, including enhanced versions of Ultrabeat, Sculpture and ES2 synthesizers, and the EXS24 sampler.

Studio Effects include a new Delay Designer plug-in that offers in-depth control over individual delay taps, and Space Designer, now with True Surround enhancements for multichannel audio processing.

Logic Studio gives musicians a vast Studio Sound Library, featuring content from the five Jam Pack collections and Final Cut Studio 2, for a total of 18,000 Apple Loops, 1,300 EXS instruments and 5,000 sound effects that span a huge variety of genres and styles.

Logic Studio is immediately available for a price of $499 via the Apple Store. However, registered Logic Pro 7 users can upgrade to Logic Studio for just $199.


SOURCE:techshout.com

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Logitech Cordless Bluetooth Vantage Headset and MediaBoard Pro Keyboard for PlayStation 3 launched

Logitech has come out with headset and keyboard designed especially for the Sony PlayStation 3 console called the Logitech Cordless Vantage Headset and the Logitech Cordless MediaBoard Pro Bluetooth Keyboard respectively. PS3 gamers will surely appreciate this combination as it offers them the freedom and reliability of Bluetooth technology.

The Logitech Cordless Vantage Headset allows gamers to chat wirelessly both in-game or during voice chat sessions.

This headset features native PS3 support, large-diameter audio drivers and advanced noise-filtering circuitry, providing gamers with premium audio and excellent sound playback.

The design of the Cordless Vantage Headset is just perfect and lightweight too, as it features an ambidextrous behind-the-head design. Moreover, with just a simple rotation of the headband and microphone, the ear piece can be worn on either the right or the left ear.

Plus, the Logitech Cordless Vantage Bluetooth Headset features an adjustable noise canceling microphone that reduces unwanted background noise.

Lastly, this Bluetooth headset uses rechargeable batteries, offering PS3 gamers over 12 hours of wireless gameplay. But, the headset can also be recharged using the bundled power adaptor.

The Logitech Cordless MediaBoard Pro Bluetooth Keyboard allows gamers to do what they need to do when it comes to profile set-ups, entering Web addresses, managing accounts and even sending text messages on the PlayStation Network.

The Cordless MediaBoard Pro Bluetooth Keyboard features a dedicated MENU button that takes gamers directly to the PLAYSTATION Network Help Menu. Moreover, dedicated PS3 action buttons (Circle, Square, X and Triangle) make navigation of te PlayStation Network much easier.

The MediaBoard Keyboard from Logitech also features convenient media keys that make Web browsing easy. These keys also provide instant access to the media control panel and movie menus.

One of the good features of the Logitech Cordless MediaBoard Pro Bluetooth Keyboard is that it has a built-in touch pad that features vertical scrolling as well as LEFT and RIGHT-click buttons, totally eliminating the need for a mouse.

Logitech’s Cordless MediaBoard Pro Bluetooth Keyboard has a glossy, piano-black design that is lightweight and slim as well. You will be able to usethis keyboard up to 30 feet away form the PS3.

The MediaBoard keyboard uses two AA batteries that provide over 200 hours of battery life, while a two-stage battery-indicator light alerts people when power is running low.

The Logitech Cordless Vantage Headset will be available in the US in November 2007 and in Europe in early December for a price of $79.99. The Logitech Cordless MediaBoard Pro Bluetooth Keyboard will also be available in October in the US and Europe for a price of $79.99.


SOURCE:techshout.com

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Apple's 160GB iPod Classic

This digital music player's huge storage bump and minor hardware and interface tweaks make for an impressive package, but it's not an essential update if your player still has free space.
Eric Dahl, PC World

Is this the final stage of refinement for the hard-drive-based media player Apple now calls the iPod Classic? Judging by the tiny changes in this sixth generation, it very well could be. This latest update is all about capacity, with the $249 model jumping from 30GB to 80GB, while the $349 flagship model leaps from 80GB to a whopping 160GB.

What would you do with all that space? Well, that is the question, isn't it? After spending some quality time with a 160GB iPod Classic, I have a few ideas. A standard-def video library or a music collection stored entirely in Apple Lossless compression would work, but either approach has its flaws. More on that later.

I won't be trading in my 80GB video iPod anytime soon, but I've really grown to like some of the minor tweaks Apple has made to the Classic's interface.

Hardware Refinements
Apart from the capacity upgrade, the Classic introduces a couple of hardware changes to the iPod lineup. The player's plastic face has been replaced with anodized aluminum, slightly rounded on the sides. You get the same Click Wheel control, the same dock connector and top-mounted headphone jack, and the same lack of voice recording and FM radio. Apple managed to shave a few millimeters off the depth of both the high- and low-end models, but other than that the Classic looks much the same as the last-generation iPod.

Turn the Classic on, and you'll notice the other hardware change: a new LED-backlit screen. It sports the same 2.5-inch-diagonal size and 320-by-240-pixel resolution as the previous version, but the expanded color reproduction it offers was noticeable in my side-by-side tests with an 80GB video iPod.

Adjusted Interface
Like the new Nano Video, the iPod Classic lifts a few new interface touches from the iPhone. (You can check them out in our hands-on video.) The headliner is Cover Flow, a neat-looking way to flip through your music using the album art stored on the player.

Cover Flow's nice enough on a 4GB or 8GB player like the iPhone or the Nano Video, but in a music library big enough to warrant an iPod Classic it rapidly loses its utility. Scroll 30 albums or so in one direction, and the iPod can't keep up--instead you'll see gray placeholder graphics until you slow down enough for the player to catch up. I'll stick to browsing by artist first.

Other tiny tweaks help set the Classic apart from the previous iteration. Shuffle settings now appear if you press the center button three times while playing music. Subtle font changes have modernized the look of the Now Playing screen, and album art now appears with a slight 3D rotation and a mirrored effect underneath.

Hop out to the main menus, and you'll see more album art floating gracefully on the left side of the screen, which used to consist of simple white space. Browsing through either albums or artists reveals more album art to the far left of the screen alongside each album listed.



SOURCE:pcworld.com

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Sony's Rolly Finally Rolled Out

Rumors of Sony’s rolling speaker system (called the Rolly, what else?) had been floating around on the Internet for a long time but finally all is revealed. The Rolly is a portable wireless speaker system with audio capabilities as well. It uses Bluetooth technology to connect to your player or PC. The best part is that the device is small enough to fit in the palm of your hand and weighs just 300 grams.


Activate the egg-shaped device, and the ends (flaps) open up to reveal lights that actually work in sync with the music playing. It has two stereo speakers and 1GB of inbuilt flash memory for storing music. According to the Sony, the Rolly has a battery life of around five hours. It’s equipped with sensors to interpret directions, and volume can be controlled by turning the player clockwise or counterclockwise.


Specific motion programs designed for the Rolly can be sent to the device via Bluetooth from the PC. Various other programs for movement and choreography can also be downloaded. The device can also be used as an alarm clock. What's more, it's compatible with Sony’s ATRAC format and MP3s as well.


As of now the Rolly is available for purchase in Japan for approximately Rs 14,160 (40,000 Yen, or US$354). With any luck, since it’s already out in Asia, we can expect to see it in our stores soon.


SOURCE:tech2.com

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Vodafone unveils Christmas 2007 Handset Range

Vodafone has announced a wide range of consumer handsets that will be available just before the holiday season of Christmas 2007. Along with this, the company also announced its new and unlimited music download service for mobile phones called MusicStation.

Vodafone’s Christmas 2007 range of consumer mobile phones includes:

*Three premium 3G Broadband (HSDPA) handsets
*Nokia N95 8 GB
*Samsung SGH-F700V
*Sony Ericsson W910i
*Two sleek and slim BlackBerry handsets from RiM namely the BlackBerry Curve 8310 and the BlackBerry Pearl 8100

Other consumer handsets that are part of the Vodafone Christmas 2007 range include

*Six exclusive 3G handsets from leading suppliers, made especially for Vodafone customers who want value and quality
*13 3G broadband (HSDPA) consumer handsets that allow faster access to data services

Frank Rovekamp, global chief marketing officer for Vodafone Group, said: “Vodafone has one of the widest ranges of the very best internet ready handsets offering technical superiority, sleek design and optimised services at high 3G speeds for our customers this Christmas. Customers can simply and quickly get what they want on the internet, communicate with friends and family in whichever way they wish, as well as access their favourite music and entertainment services from a great range of mobile phones, with prices to suit everyone”.

Vodafone said the range of Internet ready mobile phones will meet a variety of customer preferences, from advanced mobile phones such as the premium touch screen Samsung SGH-F700V or the Samsung SGH-i640V to mid-tier priced handsets in classic ‘candy bar’ design such as the Nokia 6120c .

The Christmas line-up also includes new Vodafone branded 3G phones. The Vodafone 810 is a stylish slider in luxury metallic-silver finishing and packed with latest multimedia features. The Vodafone 720 comes in a modern clam shell design with a hidden display and super flat keypad.

For customers looking for some of the best music devices, the Vodafone exclusive Sony Ericsson V640i will be available in a fresh new candy bar design offering 3G broadband (HSDPA) to support faster downloads of music services.


SOURCE:techshout.com
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One Million iPhones Sold, announces Apple

Apple seems to be having a roller-coaster ride these days. It’s constantly in the news for something or the other.

Watch iPhone Video Review by PhoneArena

And guess what, it’s back in news once again!

We just got a press release in our inbox that stated that on Sunday, Apple sold its one millionth iPhone. The device has attained this amazing feat within just 74 days of its launch.

An excited Steve Jobs, stated, “One million iPhones in 74 days-it took almost two years to achieve this milestone with iPod.” Adding, “We can’t wait to get this revolutionary product into the hands of even more customers this holiday season.”


In the month of July, Jobs had said, “We’re thrilled to report the highest June quarter revenue and profit in Apple’s history, along with the highest quarterly Mac sales ever.” Adding, “iPhone is off to a great start—we hope to sell our one-millionth iPhone by the end of its first full quarter of sales—and our new product pipeline is very strong.”

Well, this target has been achieved. The next target is to sell 10 million iPhones by the end of 2008. Let’s see if the company can achieve this one too.


But all the same it’s important to note here that just recently Apple announced the highly shocking dip in the price of the iPhone, where the device which was originally priced at $599 went down to just $399, having a $200 slump (Not to mention the fiasco amongst the public thereafter). If Apple was already so close to its goal, then wonder what the main reason behind the drastic price drop was. “Holiday season” has been cited as the main reason, but is that the real reason. Perhaps it is, you never know!


SOURCE:techshout.com

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SanDisk Launches 16GB Video MP3 Player

Apple's new iPod Nano has competition: The SanDisk SansaView plays video, displays photos, and receives FM radio signals.
Rosemary Haworth, PC Advisor

Not this one

SanDisk is set to launch a slimline MP3 player with a flash memory capacity of 16GB. The SanDisk SansaView will play video, display photos and pick up FM radio stations. Its 16GB storage can be boosted to 24GB via an 8GB microSDHC (Secure Digital high capacity) removable memory card. Not uncoincidentally, SanDisk has just announced its 8GB microSDHC cards. The pencil-thin player is likely to compete directly with Apple's newly video-enabled nano.

While a 16GB or even 24GB MP3 player doesn't sound that huge, given that the likes of Archos, Apple and Creative have players capable of storing 10 times this amount of data, the crucial fact is that the SanDisk SansaView is a flash memory device.

SanDisk says the video playback on the SansaView will be at 30 frames per second and "marries the finest MP3 player attributes with full-motion video support typically found in larger portable media players."

Flash memory players should last longer between battery recharges than PMPs (portable media players), which store music, TV and video on hard disk, since they don't have moving parts to power. SanDisk is claiming a battery life of seven hours when playing video on the SansaView and 30 hours when listening to music.


SanDisk's provenance is as a flash memory maker but branched out into making its own MP3 players. Last year, it ran a viral marketing campaign on the London Underground and elsewhere with the express intention of enticing Apple iPod refuseniks to try another brand of portable music player.

In the US, SanDisk is the second-biggest player in the MP3 player market, although it doesn't come close to the Apple iPod's dominance, of course. The company claims the SansaView will be a "significant step up" from its Sansa e200 music player series and looks set to market it as a hybrid of PMP and MP3 player, pushing the low price that it has been able to attach to such a combination.

The SansaView will have a 2.4in wide-screen display on which users can view DivX video content converted using the Sansa Media Converter as well as the H.264, Mpeg4 and Windows Media Video content the player natively supports. The FM radio will have 20 station presets and SanDisk will also include a line-in recording feature.

Music download and subscription services with which the SanDisk SansaView works will include Napster and eMusic. Audible audio books will also be able to be enjoyed on the player.

Two versions of the SanDisk SansaView are set to arrive in the U.K.: an 8GB model and the aforementioned 16GB. Likely pricing is to be #150 (US$300) and just under #200, respectively. It will launch in the U.S. in October, "with other regions to follow shortly thereafter."


SOURCE:pcworld.com

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Sony Shows Off Rolly Audio Player

Sony's egg-shaped audio entertainment player gyrates in time to music, has 1GB of memory and Bluetooth capability.
Martyn Williams, IDG News Service


Now you don't have to dance to your favorite tunes -- your audio player can dance for you.

Rolly, a unique new "audio entertainment player" from Sony Corp., is capable of twisting and turning while playing music. The player, which Sony has been teasing for the last couple of weeks, is egg-shaped and can fit into a hand.

It has speakers on each end that are normally hidden by dish-like covers, but the covers move to reveal the speakers and reflect their sound when the Rolly is switched on.

There's just one button on the player -- an on/off switch -- with the other functions being controlled by a pair of rings that circle its body.

One ring is used to move from track to track or album to album while the other controls the volume. The same two rings are connected to motors that enable the Rolly to scoot around a table-top in time to the music being played. Alternatively it can be set to sit motionless. In that case it's possible to control the Rolly by moving it back and forth to switch tracks, or in a circular motion to increase or decrease the volume.

Rolly has 1G byte of flash memory built-in and can playback MP3, Atrac or AAC songs (AAC songs with copy protection from iTunes Music Store aren't supported). In addition to playing back music from its internal memory the Rolly can also receive music streamed via a Bluetooth connection.

Sony demonstrated the device running with its "Sonic Stage" software but Rolly will accept streams from other software and devices capable of Bluetooth streaming, the company said.

Rolly's movements need to be preprogrammed into the device for each track. There are six that are possible. The dish-like speaker covers can flap in and out, the ends of the device to which the speaker covers are attached can twist around and the wheels can turn. With just these six motions is possible to program a surprisingly complicated sequence of moves.

Sony will supply a software application called "Motion Editor" for move-by-move choreography or a rough set of moves can be automatically generated. The latter won't necessarily match in detail the music being played but it's a much quicker way of setting the Rolly in motion that programming by hand.

Sony also plans to launch an online community where the company and users can share movement files.

Users should get about five hours of audio playback from Rolly. This drops to four hours when the device is in motion and three and a half hours when Bluetooth streaming is also enabled.

The Rolly isn't an iPod-killer nor is it meant to be. At a relatively heavy 300 grams and measuring 104 millimeters long and 65 millimeters in circumference the player is not very practical for those wanting a portable audio player. But it is certainly unique and likely to be a talking point whenever people see it.

It will go on sale in Japan on Sept. 29 and cost about %40,000 (US$353). Sony has yet to decide plans for an international launch.


SOURCE:pcworld.com
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Nokia 7900 Prism and 7500 Prism Mobile Phones unveiled in India

Nokia has launched its Prism Collection of mobile phones in India. Nokia’s latest series includes the Nokia 7900 Prism and Nokia 7500 Prism, which are primarily aimed at the stylish and fashion oriented users.

Devinder Kishore, Director Marketing Nokia India maintained, “Mobile phone as a style and fashion accessory is gaining increasing importance in India. We have pioneered the concept of fashion phones and are happy to launch our latest offering in this space - the Prism collection.” Adding, “Nokia Prism Collection comprising Nokia 7900 and Nokia 7500 is an ode-to-architecture with its sharp-angled lines, geometric patterns and graphic light-refracting colors.”

The features of the Nokia 7900 Prism mobile phone are:
*3G technology
*Quad band GSM capability
*2 MP Camera
*1GB of internal memory

The Nokia 7500 Prism mobile phone incorporates the following:
*Glossy black exterior with bright, interchangeable color accents
*2 MP Camera
*Optional 2 GB microSD card
*Strong battery offering nine hours of playback music

Speaking on the details about the unique form factor and look of the Prism collection, Silas Grant, Senior Designer Manger, Focused Appeal, Nokia stated, “At Nokia we realize that mobiles are very personal items and the design has to reflect this intimate status. Nokia has been continuously innovating to bring iconic products that combine aesthetics, technology and ease of use in a sophisticated fashion.

Speaking about fashion, one name that comes to the mind of any fashion aficionado in India is that of Rocky S. Nokia has kept that in mind too, and joined hands with India’s leading fashion designer Rocky S to create a special collection that seeks inspiration by the Prism collection.

Commenting on the partnership with Nokia, Rocky S said, “I am delighted to be associated with Nokia, India’s leading lifestyle-technology brand. This partnership is a great opportunity for me to design a modern collection that reflects the independent attitude of the Indian women. My collection will draw its inspiration from the soul of the Prism collection and will be futuristic, daring and mysterious, brazen and in your face to fascinate the stylish women of today.”

And indeed, Rocky S’ display of the latest clothes collection at the ongoing Will LifeStyle Fashion Week had a true reflection of the new Prism devices in it!


SOURCE:techshout.com
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8GB Apple iPhone Price slashed to $399

Yesterday, Apple unveiled its new and updated iPod family along with the iPhone-isque iPod Touch. As predicted, this certainly was a “special” event as Apple had some huge news which concerns its revolutionary iPhone.



Apple has officially slashed the price of its 8GB iPhone down to $399 (Approx.16,300). Ever since its launch, this version was available for a hefty price of $599, which means that this unique phone has had its price cut by $200.

According to Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO, “The surveys are in and iPhone customer satisfaction scores are higher than we’ve ever seen for any Apple product.”

Besides, Apple also announced that it is on track to sell its one millionth iPhone before September end.

This could possibly have been a good enough reason for Apple to lower the price of its iPhone within less than three months of its launch.

“We’ve clearly got a breakthrough product and we want to make it affordable for even more customers as we enter this holiday season,” Jobs added.

The 8 GB iPhone is immediately available for a price of $399 in the US.

Regarding the 4GB iPhone model, there is news that Apple plans to phase it out. There is no news as of now however, regarding a price cut for this version. The 4Gb iPhone will be available in the market till stocks last.



SOURCE:techshout.com Read More!

Apple Puts Wi-Fi in iPod Touch, Revamps Other iPods

The iPod nano now plays video; the iPhone drops in price.Part 1 of a special five-part series. -->
Peter Cohen and Jason Snell, Macworld


Steve Jobs took the stage at San Francisco's Moscone West expo center promptly at 10:00 AM Wednesday morning, to thunderous applause from the crowd.

"Today we're here to talk about music," Jobs said.

"We've distributed 600 million copies of iTunes so far, and customers hve bought and downloaded over 3 billion songs from iTunes. iTunes is the number one online music store in every single one of the 22 countries it operates in," he explained. "We started with just 200,000 songs and we have over 6 million songs in every single one of those stores."

Jobs told the audience that the iTunes Store -- now the number three music retailer in the U.S. behind Wal-Mart and Best Buy, carries over 550 television shows and has sold 95 million TV shows to date. The service features links to over 125,000 podcasts, with more than 25,000 of them featuring video.


"This last stat I want to share with you blew my mind. In the US, of all the music releases in 2006, 32 percent were digital only releases," said Jobs. "They were not released on a CD. Wow. Look how far we've come: A third of the music released in this country was not on a CD. So that gives you a feeling for how far we've coming in the last 5 years in the digital music revolution."

Jobs revealed that Apple plans to release a new version of iTunes on Wednesday evening that will support the products that are being announced Wednesday -- the biggest new feature in iTunes will be ringtone support for the iPhone.

"We're going to do ringrtones in our own special way," explained Jobs. "And, of course, these are for the iPhone. And what we want is rather than having someone make ringtones for us, we're going to make a custom ringtone maker. We're going to build it into iTunes, and you can make ringtons from many songs available on iTunes including some songs you've already purchased."

Jobs compared iTunes ringtones to the competition, which cost up to US$2.49. "Our ringtones, make 'em yourself, you pay another 99 cents to make the ringtone," he said."

Jobs demonstrated how the new feature works using Aretha Franklin's classic soul number "Respect." All of the songs on the iTunes Store that are "ringtonable" will feature a bell icon column in the music list. You click on the bell, the ringtone maker pops up, and you can click and drag to find the part of the song you want to use as a ringtone. iTunes creates a new file in the ringtone folder, and a new tab in Tunes then lets you decide what to sync to your iPhone.

Jobs played "Give peace a chance," and then added, "That's [for] when NBC calls," referring to Apple's recent dispute with the TV network, which said it will end its partnership to publish shows on the iTunes Store in December.

iPod news

Jobs said that Apple has sold 110 million iPods to date. "The place when the sales curve is strongest is the holiday season," said Jobs. "We're approaching the holiday 2007 season and we want to get ready."

"Today we're going to refresh or replace every product in the lineup," said Jobs.

The iPod shuffle is being updated with "some really nice new colors," said Jobs. Apple is also adding a Product(red) shuffle model, with proceeds going to help fight diseases in Africa.

"Now let's move on to something more substantial: The iPod nano," said Jobs.

The iPod nano is the most popular music player in history, said Jobs. People love it, he added, but Apple wnated to make it better based on customer feedback. New features of the redesigned iPod nano include the ability to watch video on a larger, brighter display. The new iPod nano also features Cover Flow, the ability to scroll through album artwork visually. What's more, the new nano also has games support, more storage features and a full metal design.

The redesigned iPod nano comes in five colors -- red, black, silver, blue and green. "It's incredibly tiny, it's incredibly thin," said Jobs.

The iPod nano now features a 2.0-inch display that features the same resolution as the previous-generation full-sized iPod: 320 x 240 pixels. "We've achieved this with a screen with the highest pixel density we've ever shipped: 204 ppi," explained Jobs. "And the screen is just gorgeous. We you see it you're going to really love it."

The user interface has been enhanced on the iPod nano -- the left side has the traditional iPod menu, and on the right, a preview of what you're selecting. Jobs also indicated that the new iPod nano ships with three games -- Vortex and Sudoku were both named specifically.

Jobs demonstrated the iPod nano playing video by watching an episode of The Daily Show featuring John Hodgman, the actor who appears as the PC in Apple's "Mac and PC" television ads.

Jobs said the new iPod nano provides 24 hours of audio and five hours of video playback on a single battery charge.

The redesigned iPod nano comes in two versions -- a 4GB version in silver, for $149, and 8GB version in colors, for $199.

"These new nanos have left our factories already. They shipped Wednesday, they're on planes, they should be in stores by this weekend," said Jobs. "'A little video for everyone'" is our new line.

The 'classic' iPod

"Now the iPod's got a funny name," mused Jobs. "It's just called 'the iPod' because it was the first one. We though, 'It's time to give it a name.' We're going to call it the iPod classic."

The new iPod still features a click wheen, and it's now in a full metal design in silver and black. The low-end iPod classic (at 80GB) is now thinner than the 30GB thin model that preceded it. Jobs claims the new iPod gets 30 hours of audio playback and five hours of video plaback on a single charge.

Like the iPod nano, the new iPod classic features an enhanced user interface.

Apple is also offering a model that features 160GB of storage.

"This boggles the mind," said Jobs for emphasis. "The first iPod put 1000 songs in your pocket. This new iPod puts 40,000 songs in your pocket. It's amazing."

The new 80GB model costs $249, while the 160GB model costs $349, with availability beginning Wednesday.

The iPod Touch

"You know, when we introduced the iPhone in January, we said it was the best iPod ever. And iPhone owners agree with us. It's incredible, with its multitouch UI, its incredible album artwork and video, it is the best iPod ever," said Jobs. "And people have been wondering, when are we going to bring this tech to the iPod? The answer is, we're going to do it today, and this is what the product looks like."

Jobs revealed a new iPod model that looks exactly like the iPhone, but without the ear speaker slit. It's the same size as the iPhone, but 8mm thinner, according to Jobs, who said, "We think it's one of the Seven Wonders of the World."

The iPod Touch sports a 3.5-inch widescreen display, and along its bottom run music, video and photo icons. "Just like the iPhone, this is the best way to share photos on a portable device ever," said Jobs proudly.


The iPod Touch's button-driven interface also showed icons for a calculator, contacts, clock, calendar and settings icons. What's more, the new device has Wi-Fi -- the iPod Touch is the first iPod to feature wireless networking capabilities, with support for 802.11 b and g networks.

"Others have done this and have failed," said Jobs, referring to wireless networking -- and perhaps making a casual swipe at Microsoft's 'iPod killer,' the Zune. "We think we know why it's failed. What's the problem with adding Wi-Fi? Part is getting on Wi-Fi itself."

"When you're at home, you might need a password. When you're in the office, you might have a password," said Jobs. "But everywhere in between can be challenging. You go to any hotel, and to log in, they throw up a Web page. Portable devices don't know how to deal with Web pages. You go to an airport, you'll see a Web page. Even walking through Stanford University, to use their wi-fi, you have to log into a Web page."

The solution, said Jobs, was to add Safari to the iPod touch.

"So you can view all those Web pages, zoom in, log into any wi-fi network pretty much. But beside that, you get an incredible Web browser ... the best Web browser on any mobile platform," said Jobs. YouTube is also supported.

The iPod touch's battery lasts for 22 hours of audio playback and five hours of video playback per charge, according to Apple.

The iPod touch is a worldwide product launch, said Jobs. It's the first touch product Apple has shipped outside the Uited States, and it's been localized into many languages.

The iPod touch is coming in two configurations -- 8GB and 16GB, for $299 and $399 respectively. Both models are expected to be available "in just a few weeks," according to Jobs, who said that Apple will ship them in September, "in plenty of time for the holiday season."

One more thing

"But there is one more thing, if you'll bear with us," said Jobs.

"You might have noticed that there's an empty spot on that dock of the new iPod touch," said Jobs. "What could that possibly be for? Well, it's for a new app we've written called the iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store."

"'Finally,' some of you are saying," said Jobs. "It's so cool. So let's take a look at what it is."

Opening the iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store displays four buttons: Features, Top Tens, Search and Downloads. You can pick Top 10 songs from all of iTunes or only from specific genres. If you see a song you like, you can preview it, and if you like it, you can tap it to buy it using a Buy Now button. You'll download the song, and the next time you dock your iPod touch to your computer, it will sync back to iTunes.

Jobs demonstrated the new software's capability by buying John Lennon's Imagine. The song was visible in a playlist on the iPod touch called "Downloads."

"Isn't this incredible?" asked Jobs.

The iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store is available internationally in every country where Apple operates an iTunes Store, said Jobs.

"And we're going to bring it to the iPhone," he added. Jobs said the new software will be delivered to iPhone users via an iPhone software update later this month.

Apple and Starbucks partnership

"There's even one more incredible part of this," said Jobs, who said that Apple has been working on this for two years. "I cannot tell you how much pleasure it gives me to announce we've got a great partnership with Starbucks today."

Jobs called Starbucks "an incredible phenomenon in our culture" and added that a lot of Apple employees are great customers. Apple wanted to combine iPods and their love of music with Starbucks' coffee and love of music.

"In the new iTunes Wi-Fi Store, when you get near a participating Starbucks, automatically a fifth button is going to pop up in the store with a Starbucks button," he said.

"You will know what songs they're playing in Starbucks, and you can buy it with one tap of your finger. And if you just missed it, you can look at the last 10 songs they've played. They're going to program some cool music for us in terms of their collections," Jobs said.


SOURCE:pcworld.com
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Microsoft Cuts Zune Music Player Price by $50

Microsoft Corp cut the price of its Zune digital music player on Wednesday by $50 to $199 in an attempt to rev up sales of the device competing against Apple Inc's iPod.


Microsoft announced the price cut for the 30-gigabyte player on the Zune Insider blog run by one of its employees, just hours before Apple's news conference, where the company, as expected, updated its iPod lineup with new models.


Microsoft said it had been planning the price cut "for months" and expects the lower price to lure new customers.


The world's largest software maker faces a herculean task in taking on Apple in digital music players, a category defined by its iPod, which has sold over 100 million units since its introduction in October 2001.


Microsoft introduced the Zune last year, touting its capabilities to share music wirelessly. With only the 30-GB model, Microsoft met its target to sell more than 1 million units before the end of June.


Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft is expected to introduce different Zune models before the holiday season. A Microsoft executive said Tuesday the company had nothing to announce at this time, but said its plan over time is to offer new Zune models and roll out the devices in new markets.


SOURCE:pcmag.com
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Microsoft Adds to 'Zune Phone' Speculation

Microsoft Corp. said on Tuesday that it is "not unreasonable" for the company to introduce a mobile phone combined with features of its Zune digital music player to compete with Apple Inc.'s iPhone.

The Zune phone, a topic of speculation for months since Microsoft introduced its first digital music player last year, could be driven by consumer demand for one multimedia device to make phone calls, play music and take pictures.

To date, the focus of Microsoft's mobile phone business has been providing its Windows Mobile software to handset manufacturers, but the company said an integrated business model of making both device and software could make sense.

"It wouldn't be unreasonable to think expect at some point there might some integrated thing," Mindy Mount, chief financial officer of Microsoft's entertainment and devices division, told investors at Citigroup's global technology conference.

Microsoft has sent mixed signals about the Zune phone. At the time it introduced the Zune last year, the company said a Zune phone was definitely part of its future plans.

Earlier this year, Chief Executive Steve Ballmer said at a CEO forum that the Zune phone is not a concept that Microsoft will ever do but then said it could easily add music or gaming functionality to its Windows Mobile platform.

Windows Mobile is one of Microsoft's fastest growing businesses with license sales expected to nearly double this fiscal year to more than 20 million copies.

It remains a product largely targeted at office workers, but Mount expects that to change as consumers push to combine work and personal needs onto one handset. She said she was not making any specific announcements about its future products.

Mount declined to comment on rumors that Microsoft may buy BlackBerry-maker Research in Motion Ltd., but said the company is happy with its future in mobile right now.

"What I would ask people is what (RIM) really gets you. A lot of their money is coming from the hardware business and they are going after a very particular segment," said Mount, whose division also oversees the Xbox game console and Zune music player business.

Shares of Microsoft rose 33 cents to $29.06 in afternoon Nasdaq trade, while RIM shares touched a new high of $85.88 on the Nasdaq before falling 3 cents on the day to $85.38.


SOURCE:pcmag.com

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iPhone Outsells Smartphones in July

Apple's iPhone outsold all smartphones in the United States in July, its first full month on sale, accounting for 1.8 percent of all U.S. mobile handset sales, research group iSuppli said on Tuesday.

Click Here to Watch iPhone video Review
ISuppli reiterated its forecast that Apple would sell 4.5 million iPhones this year, rising to more than 30 million in 2011.

The two models of the iPhone on the market sold more than Research in Motion's Blackberry series, the entire Palm portfolio and any individual smartphone model from Motorola, Nokia or Samsung.

Sales equalled those of LG Electronics' Chocolate, the most popular feature phone on the U.S. market, iSuppli said.

ISuppli classifies the iPhone as a crossover phone that competes with both smartphones, which have personal computer-like functions such as e-mail, and feature phones, which have extras such as cameras and music players.

"While iSuppli has not collected historical information on this topic, it's likely that the speed of the iPhone's rise to competitive dominance in its segment is unprecedented in the history of the mobile-handset market," iSuppli said.

"Apple achieved this in the face of numerous, well-entrenched competitors."

Most buyers of iPhones in the United States in July were male, under 35 and had a college degree, iSuppli said.

A quarter of those who bought an iPhone switched to operator AT&T, which has an exclusive service agreement for the iPhone in the United States.

The iPhone will go on sale in Europe later this year.

ISuppli gathered its data through a consumer survey of 2 million participants in the United States that it carries out online once a month.


SOURCE:tech2.com

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New iPods to Help Apple Counter Rivals

Apple Inc is expected to unveil new iPods this week, injecting fresh excitement into the product line at a time when defections by partners have shown cracks in its digital music dominance.
Apple has not revealed what Chief Executive Steve Jobs will announce at a Wednesday event in San Francisco, but analysts are betting on an iPod with a large touchscreen and a new form for the smaller iPod Nano.

There is also speculation that Jobs could pull a surprise out of his sleeve and show off iPods with the ability to buy and download music wirelessly, or finally announce the addition of the Beatles' music catalog to the iTunes online store.

It may be more important than ever for Apple to keep its market-leading grip on music players as it finds its iTunes store increasingly under fire from content partners like NBC who are unhappy with how content is priced.

iPod sales accounted for 29 percent of Apple's $5.4 billion in revenue last quarter, and the new models would hit store shelves in time for the key holiday shopping season.

"Competitors seem to always be chasing the last generation of Apple products. It makes it very difficult for competitors to make a dent against Apple in this space," said Michael Gartenberg, an analyst with market research firm Gartner.

In typical fashion, Apple's stock has been on a tear since the event was announced, rising 13.5 percent over the past week. On Tuesday, the shares jumped $5.68, or 4.1 percent, to close at $144.16 on Nasdaq.

Apple was also buoyed by a pair of reports, one from market research firm iSuppli saying the iPhone was the best-selling smartphone in the United States in July, and one from Piper Jaffray saying that sales of iPhones and Macintosh computers were on track to be slightly better than expected.

Updated models are also crucial to maintaining the market dominance of the iPods, which make up seven of 10 digital media players sold in the United States.

Last week, NBC Universal, the top supplier of video content to iTunes, said it would not renew its contract to sell shows on the service because it wanted more flexibility in the way it priced and packaged videos.

"That's the stab in Apple's back. If NBC walks, somebody else may walk. It needed somebody to step away because Apple's got all the pricing power," said Darren Aftahi, an analyst with ThinkEquity Partners.

Earlier this year, Universal's music business said it would not renew a long-term contract to sell songs on iTunes, leaving open the possibility of striking an exclusive deal with another service.

iTunes is also facing more competition from the likes of Wal-Mart Inc, which last month began selling downloadable songs without any copy protection, and Amazon.com Inc, which is expected to launch its music download store this month, and MTV Networks and RealNetworks, which are combining their online music efforts.

"Why can't everyone go digital? NBC can go to Wal-Mart and say, 'Give us a better pricing plan and we'll do an exclusive with you.' I'm not convinced iTunes is going to be the digital media powerhouse everyone expects it to be," Aftahi said.

Sony Corp, the Japanese electronics giant that once owned the personal portable audio market with its Walkman cassette players, is also trying to mount a comeback with new digital video players and is reported to be looking into a music and video download service.

iTunes is a relatively small part of Apple's business, doing about $600 million in sales in the most recent quarter. But all those iPod fans have turned Apple into the third-largest music retailer in the United States, according to market research firm NPD.

"At this point the music stores and the services are driven by the music players, not the other way around. You don't start shopping at the iTunes music store and go out and buy an iPod, it's the other way around," Gartenberg said.



SOURCE:tech2.com
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Apple to introduce Next-generation revamped iPods?

Apple is always shrouded in secrecy and the company thrives on nothing but creating hype about its products. This week, Apple has announced that it would announce significant changes to its iPod line of music players. At least that’s what rumors on the Internet are saying!

Well, what we do know as of now is that Apple has some big news for the entire world on September 5, 2007. What it concerns is the big question here.

Speculation is rife over Apple who is expected to unveil its next-generation iPod lineup which could possibly include an iPod video with a touch-control interface.

Sources have noted that the new iPod video will come with a wide-screen panel, higher storage capacity and Wi-Fi connectivity. Besides, the iPod video is expected to be powered by NAND flash, instead of the traditional hard disk drive (HDD) that has always been used until now.


According to DigiTimes Daily IT News, Apple is outsourcing the production of the new iPod video to Taiwan-based Inventec Appliances. The new generation iPod is expected to start volume shipments by the end of September 2007 or even in early October.


However, throwing everyone off the path is AppleInsider.com, who claims that Apple is going to announce Mac OS X-based iPods. This also sounds truly plausible.

Either way, it’s bound to be some news concerning Apple’s iPods. Let’s wait and watch until then!


SOURCE:techshout.com

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Motorola ROKR E8, a Mobile Phone with a truly Unique Keypad leaked

Details of an unannounced Motorola phone have been leaked by a Chinese site. Apparently the device is called ROKR E8.

Rokr E2

So what’s so special about this phone that we actually took the pain of reporting about it, instead of winding up from work on this lovely Saturday night? Well, here’s something that we wanted to share with our readers, before we sign off for the weekend.

Interestingly, the ROKR E8 doesn’t sport a full-sized keypad. Instead it carries small contact points with labels that are triggered by background lightings.


When the user dials numbers on this Motorola phone, all the keys will light up. But when the user is listening to music, the number keys will be dimmed and the music controls will brighten up. In standby mode there are standard navigation keys and numeric buttons with backlight off.

The other features of the Motorola’s ROKR E8 are:

In-built 2GB memory, with an option to increase the same, thanks to microSD slot
3.5mm headphone jack
Micro USB to sideload the music
2MP camera
Linux-based MOTOMAGX interface
Stereo Bluetooth audio

The earliest that we get to see it is by around 2007-end or perhaps the beginning of 2008. Let’s hope more official announcement for the ROKR E8 mobile phone are made soon from Motorola’s headquarters.



SOURCE:tech2.com

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