Acer's new netbooks

NEW DELHI: Acer has refreshed its range of netbooks with two new additions, Acer Aspire One AO751h and Acer Aspire One AOD250.

/photo.cms?msid=4559700 Weighing less than three pounds (2.75 pounds for the AO751h and 2.44 pounds for the AO250), both models come in choices of four colors: Diamond Black, Ruby Red, Sapphire Blue and Seashell White.

The 11.6-inch Acer Aspire One A0751h has Wi-Fi support and is available with a six-cell battery for up to eight hours of power. There is choice between an Intel Atom N270 or Atom Z520 processor. The netbook packs 1GB of memory, a 160-GB hard drive, and Windows XP Home edition.

The 10.1-inch Aspire One A0D250 has the same memory capacity, hard drive, and operating system as that of A0751H. However, the netbook is available only with an Atom N270 processor.

The AO250's standard 3-cell battery can provide up to three hours and 15 minutes of battery life, while the 6-cell battery can provide up to six hours.

For connectivity, the new netbooks have Wi-Fi 802.11b/g and come with the option for 3G broadband wireless connectivity. Other key features of the models include three USB 2.0 ports, Ethernet and VGA as well as Bluetooth. Both new models also feature a multi-in-one digital card reader. Source:Indiatimes infotech.

If you are a cellphone addict?

As terms like 'signal seeker', 'human antenna' and 'nomophobia' become a part of our tech-dependent life, is distance from the mobile the only way to keep the doctor away?

You step into the basement, the network signal goes weak, and you feel drops of sweat trickling down the back of your neck. It's way past midnight and you're up every hour to check for a missed call or an unread message. A low cash balance reminder on your cell gives you a headache. Sounds familiar ?

If your answer's yes, you're probably technology's latest victim. And, what's more, your tech addiction may actually pave the way for a trip to the doc! Read on to know if you're already in the danger zone.
Wrong signal
 
Wrong signal
 
A class XII student, Payal Kumar, says, "I start worrying if the mobile signal is weak." IT executive Nitin Arora's story's no different. "When a signal bar goes missing it's enough to make me nervous," he says.
 
But, Nitin has a solution up his sleeve - he just holds his phone at a height. However, Faith Gonsalves, 21, says that she panics for all the right reasons. "I'm most worried about safety, especially when I'm out alone," she says. 
 
Lost and found
But that's not all. Says Deepti Kapoor, a homemaker, "The thought of misplacing a mobile is stressful and agitating. The day I couldn't find a mobile in my bag, I was very scared." And, she's not alone. "People can't think of life without a mobile, anymore. And, the moment they realise that they've either forgotten their charger or their mobile at home, they panic.
 
They suffer from disturbance and helplessness," says Dr Adarsh Kohli, additional professor of clinical psychology, PGI, Chandigarh. 
 
Ringing syndrome
 
Payal talks about another habit - "I keep staring at my mobile when I'm expecting a call." And, then there are some who imagine their phone is ringing or vibrating! Nishi Sharma, a first-year student of literature, is a victim of the 'phantom ring' or 'phantom vibration'. "I usually imagine my phone to be ringing when I'm at a crowded place or when I'm sleeping," she says.
 
Graphic designer Tabrez Ali's problem is more peculiar. "I bought a new mobile phone a couple of months back, but I still keep hearing my old phone's ringtone," says the 24-year-old. And then, there are other sounds that grow on us. Tathagata Ray, a third-year student, confesses that he can't imagine a day without the sound of his mobile keypad. 
 
What's the solution?
 
But, is there a solution to it all? Switch off your phones, suggests Aritra Hore, who works for an NGO. "Switching off or just being away from the mobile can be a relieving experience," opines Aritra.
 
An IT executive, Pooja Midha vouches for the same. "I try switching off my phone for just an hour every second day, and it relaxes me no end. Though, initially, I would look at the watch for the hour to end, now I am comfortable doing that," she says. 
 
Are you a victim too?
 
Check out if you too are showing any of the following warning signals.
 
Nomophobia: The fear of being out of mobile phone contact. It's the abbreviation for 'no-mobile-phone phobia.' It could be a result of low battery, broken phone, a no-cellphones-allowed sign, no signal, low balance, etc.
 
Phantom Ring: Imagining the mobile to be ringing or feel it vibrating in the pocket, when it's actually not.
Pocket Patter: Patting your pockets to check if the mobile is still there.
 
Human Antenna: Stretching your arm to hold the phones at a height in the hope that it'll get the strongest signal. Source:Indiatimes Infotech
 

Nokia's new low-cost phones

The world's top handset maker Nokia, which saw its worst-ever quarter in January-March, has made three new additions to its low-cost cellphone portfolio.

Targeted at the emerging markets, the new launches include a sub-Rs 6K 3G phone. With the launch the mobile giant aims to further solidify its marketshare at the low-end. In fact, Nokia's wide offering at the low end has kept it ahead of its traditional rivals like Samsung Electronics, though the Finnish firm has been losing marketshare at the top end to rivals like Apple and Research in Motion.

Here's looking into the specs sheet of the Nokia's three new low-cost additions.
 
Nokia 2730 classic
Nokia 2730 classic
 
Candybar Nokia 2730 Classic is the cheapest 3G phone to date. Equipped with a 2-inch QVGA (320x240) display, the phone has a micro USB connector, 30MB of expandable memory and Bluetooth 2.0.
The 3G ready phone also supports EDGE. The phone has a 2 megapixel camera with 4x digital zoom. Nokia 2730 classic also comes with a standard 3.5mm jack. The phone offers 3.3 hours of talktime (or about 17 days of standby). It also has Ovi Mail and packs Nokia's Life Tools.
Nokia says the phone will be available in the second quarter of this year at a price of Rs 5,300. The company also says that the new 3G handset is targeted at entry-level prepaid users in both developing and developed markets.
 
Nokia 2720 fold 
 
Nokia 2720 fold
Clamshell Nokia 2720 fold sports a 1.8-inch display with a resolution of 128x160. The phone packs 32MB of memory and has no further memory expansion option. The phone has 1.3 megapixel camera and offers Bluetooth 2.0 support.
The phone, however, is not 3G ready but supports EDGE. Nokia says the phone will make its debut in the fourth quarter of this year at an expected price of Rs 3,600.
Nokia 2720 fold also includes Ovi Mail, Nokia Life Tools and supports up to 18 days of standby time and approximately 5 hours of talk time. The phone also has an FM radio with the ability to record radio, MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service), Bluetooth and MP3 ring tones
Nokia 7020
 
Nokia 7020
The other low-cost phone from Nokia is 7020. The clamshell phone sports a 2.2 inch, QVGA display. The phone comes with 45MB of internal memory with support for further memory expansion.
Nokia 7020 has a 2 megapixel camera and is a Quad band GSM phone with EDGE support. The phone like Nokia 2730 classic does not supports 3G. Nokia says the phone will be available from the fourth quarter of this year (October) at an approximate price of Rs 6,000.Source:Indiatimes Infotech
 

Mobile Application Stores

Most of us would have heard about Mobile applications and some of us would have heard about application stores for the same. This article digs mor
e into the nuances of the same.

Mobile Application Stores are the desired one-stop shops for the mobile applications where one could browse, select, buy and sell mobile applications on the web. They have been existing for many years now in different forms but the concept has got a lot of traction in the last one year.

The application stores have been as old as 2001 when Qualcomm came up with the complete developer-to-consumer channel for discovering, provisioning, distributing and billing applications on BREW handsets. Since then we have seen a plethora of mStores including Handango, Nokia Download!, Apple Appstore, Google Android Market, Microsoft, RIM application center and Samsung application store (beta) and couple of others.

One of the concerns that these raise is that the already fragmented mobile industry may become more fragmented. The need of the hour is to get the applications working across platforms, devices and operating systems.

The latest update on the same is the launch of the 'Ovi Store' from Nokia, which will consolidate its existing Download!, Mosh and WidSets efforts on the applications. It will also provide customized and contextually relevant user experience determined by factors like personal contacts and physical location.

There is a growing interest for the application stores because they provide a new revenue stream for the operators, handset OEMs and application developers apart from providing a single place for the user to look for the applications catering to the platform.

The success of the application stores can be gauged by the fact that Apple Appstore resulted in more than 5,000 new applications, $30 million revenues in the first 30 days of operations and 200 million downloads in the first 100 days.

Handango is one of the first application retailers and is the largest cross-platform smartphone application distributor with over 150,000 applications (including variants) in its online stores and over 100 million applications.

The five key ingredients of Mobile Application Store solutions include single marketplace, centralised billing, global distribution, provisioning, on-device discovery and revenue distribution model.

It was mentioned earlier that the key stakeholders in the mobile application stores are the operators, handset OEMs and the application developers. However, the most successful application stores will come from the handset OEMs because they can manage the distribution, provisioning and on-device discovery elements, while partnering with billing and retailing vendors to complete the picture. The other stakeholders probably have lesser control of all the ingredients of success. The few players such as Google, Microsoft, Adobe, Qualcomm, Nokia, Intel and RIM also have higher chances of success because of their might, reach and vertical integration. source:Indiatimes Infotech

Dual SIM phones Ban

CHENNAI: The Madras High Court restrained mobile phone manufacturers Samsung, Mirc Electronics and Spice Mobile and several retailers from manufac
turing and selling multiple SIM holding mobile phones.

"On a petition filed by our client Somasundaram Ramkumar, Justice Jaypaul has issued an injunction whereby Samsung Electronics, Mirc Electronics and Spice Mobile were restrained from manufacturing multiple SIM holding mobile phones," D Ferdinand, Ramkumar's lawyer and a partner at legal firm BFS Legal said.

Several retailers, including online retailers ebay India, Rediff.com and importers were also restrained from selling such phones, he added.

Earlier, Ramkumar had accused the companies and retailers of infringing his patent for multiple SIM mobile phones. The case will be taken for hearing April 13.

In another case filed by Ramkumar, the high court Justice K Venkatraman ordered the Customs Department to implement the Intellectual Property Rights (Imported Goods) Enforcement Rules 2007 to protect the petitioner's legal rights.

The rules enable the customs officials to seize imported goods that infringe patents.

"This is my first step in establishing my right as a patent holder," an elated Ramkumar said.

A 36-year-old electronics engineer, Ramkumar holds the Indian patent (No.214388) for plurality of SIM cards in a single mobile handset as well as plurality of Bluetooth devices in headphone and earphone jacks.

In his petition, Ramkumar said Mirc, Spice and Samsung were manufacturing mobile handsets infringing his patent for the product and the technology and 10 others were advertising and selling the products all over India.

On his complaint to the Chennai Customs Office, officials in various cities have already impounded import consignments of mobile handsets with plurality of SIM cards. Source:Indiatimes Infotech

Go-ahead to GSM operators for China-made mobile

NEW DELHI: The government has given a go-ahead to GSM operators to provide a new unique identification number to over 16 million China-made mobilephones in the country.
Users of these handsets, which don't have the 15-digit International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) number, will have to shell out about Rs 180 to obtain the number.

The department of telecom (DoT) had earlier asked telecom operators to bar services to phones without the IMEI number, citing security reasons. Many handsets assembled locally or imported from China don't have IMEI numbers that allow security agencies to trace the location of the phone user.

The DoT had proposed to bar all mobile phones without IMEI numbersafter investigations into last year's bomb blasts revealed that mobile phones used by terrorists didn't bear valid IMEI numbers. But now with a new software, developed by GSM operators' body Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) and Mobile Standards Alliance of India, users of such handsets could get genuine IMEI numbers and continue to receive telecom services.

They will have to visit any of the 1600 centres being set up by COAI across the country to get the software installed on their phones. The first 10 such centres became operational in Delhi on Monday and the remaining will be ready in a phased manner.

"We believe that most of these handsets are owned by the masses. Thus, it would be unfair and unjust to disconnect such customers as they have bought these handsets unknowingly," COAI director general TV Ramachandran said. The association has obtained the IMEI numbers from GSMA, the global body that allocates these numbers.Source:Indiatimes Infotech