Articles for the Topic: 'Gadgets'
Philips GoGear Portable MP3 Player
Philips has recently unveiled yet another iPod nano look alike portable MP3 music player, the GoGear featuring 2-GB flash memory.
The new Philips GoGear with 2-GB flash memory (expendable) is suffiecient for storing upto 1000 standard bitrate songs or upto 5000 medium resolution pictures and it can play MP3s, WMAs, and WAV files.
The Philips GoGear also features an integrated FM radio tuner with 20 presets, ID3 tag and album art support, and direct voice/FM/line-in recording facility.
The Philip GoGear with 2-GB flash memory is likely to be available in India by Julu 2006 and is expected to be prices at about Rs. 9,000/-
$30 GSM Mobile Phone Handset launched
GSMA, a global body of GSM operators has launched world’s most economical mobile phone handset for less than Rs. 1,350 or $30 and announced their ambition to connect half of the entire world population with mobile phone by the year 2010.
GSM operators Association (GSMA) also said in an official release that this weekend, the mobile phone industry will connect the 2nd billionth GSM mobile phone user in the world.
GSM-based mobile services have also seen phenomenal growth in India, where out of the 100 million mobile subscriber base, the GSM based mobile user base is 80 million. China is the largest single GSM market in the world today with more than 370 million users and the USA has 78 million users.
Asus J206 iPod Style Music Phone
Asus, the motherboard major has introduced, J206, a mobile phone which features full portable music playback including MP3/AAC/WAV music file format support.
Asus J206 is capable of 12 hours of playback time, has 60 MB of internal memory, and a microSD slot which allows up to 2 GB memory expansion for more music on the phone.
The Asus J206 seems to be so heavily inspired by iPod design that it has the iPod click-wheel interface almost copied, right down to the icons and placement.
The sensor under the touch pad detect heat from your hand and then the phone will determine the action. This type of the design is nice since it give you all the music player control you need. Plus it enables scrolling the music playlist simply by moving hand on the touch pad.
Asus J206 is of just about same size as that of Nokia N91 music phone and has slider phone design. With USB connectivity and a headphone jack built right in. Bundled with the phone is “Music Manager”, an iTunes like music syncing program, it looks like clear substitute of expensive iPod.
Haier Launches CDMA and GSM Mobile Phones Handsets
Haier, a Chinese electronic consumer products maker, has announced its entry into the Indian mobile handset market with the launch of its CDMA range of mobile handsets in India in association with Tata Teleservices along with the launch of several GSM and CDMA mobile phone handsets priced, starting from Rs 2000 a piece.
Haier also declared its intent for setting up a mobile phone handset manufacturing unit in India in the next 18-24 months to address the target of selling five million mobile phone handsets in India over the next two years.
Company has also introduced a new range of both CDMA and GSM mobile phones in a price range of Rs 2,000 to Rs 20,000 for indian consumers.
Haier has approached one of the largest GSM operators in India to develop customised packages with Haier’s GSM handset range.
Despite its existing brand recognition in India due to presense of its other white goods business in Indian market, this ambitious Chinese brand will have to compete head on with the likes of Motorola, Nokia, Sony Ericsson and Samsung, though its aim is not as immodest as to try toppling the leader, Nokia.
iBall Launches ‘Take Note’ Standalone Digital Notepad
iBall, a leading desktop peripherals manufacturer in India had today launched the iBall ‘Take Note’, cordless, lightweight, the first of its kind digital notepad in India.
iBall ‘Take Note’ uses the ordinary paper and a ball point pen to write. Beneath the everyday paper used for writing is a unique mechanism to digitally records all the notes, ideas, drawings, and sketches in the pad’s built-in 32 MB flash RAM.
The gadget digitally captures and stores everything one writes and draws on a paper, and is not required to be connected to a PC while being used.
The captured files can be downloaded onto a PC or a laptop using the USB-2 interface. Once transferred to desktop or laptop, the files can be modified, colored, converted to text or edited like any other data object and it can be saved as a book-file or an individual file. The notes so downloaded can be easily emailed. The built-in 32 MB Ram can store over 150 pages.
HP Introduces New Range of Notebook Computers
Hewlett-Packard India introduced new range of notebook computers for Indian market with enhanced security features that include fingerprint identification system.
The new HP notebook computers are equipped with a high security lock mechanism based on a fingertip identification system developed by company to allow access to users on their fingerprint matches against the pre-configured identification database already stored in the machine.
“The latest offerings would further strengthen the business notebook portfolio and comes with a set of personalised features that will help users to protect their crucial data,” HP India Vice President Ravi Swaminathan said.
The new HP high security notebook computers are priced between Rs 80,000 to Rs 1,20,000 based on various hardware configurations.
Wireless Pocket Web Access Gadget Launched By Datawind
Datawind Corp, a Canadian wireless Web access gadget manufacturer, has introduced its new product Pocket-Surfer in India. Pocket-Surfer is a tiny Bluetooth enabled mobile Web access device which Datawind claims to provide the world’s fastest mobile Internet access.
Being able to connect directly to local wireless GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) network of mobile phone service provider, the Pocket-Surfer provides near desktop or laptop quality web surfing experience to users in their palm without having to connecting to a cellular phone or plugging into a landline modem or routers.
Users now have the power to access the web anywhere at anytime, using the technology they desired based on cost and device needs.
HCL Would Market Apple iPods and desktops in India
HCL Infosystems, a IT company, entered into a non-exclusive strategic agreement with Apple Computers to distribute Apple desktop computers and its hot selling portable digital musical gadget iPod in India.
HCL said it would provide compelete sales and service support for distribution of Apple iPods in India which will be available in the price range of Rs 4,000 to Rs 23,000 through its wast network of 1,000 HCL retail outlets across the country.
As of now, almost all Apple iPods in India have been sold by unorganised retail and grey market mostly in big cities.
Ajai Chowdhury, CEO and Chairman of HCL Infosystems, said “HCL plans to sell and distribute Apple Desktop computers for Education, media and Entertainment purposes.”
HCL Infosystems had similar kind of strategic agreements TOSHIBA for selling laptops and notebook PCs in India through its large regional distribution network.
LG Launched M6100 Multimedia Mobile Phone
LG Electronics India announced its launch of its new stylishly sleek and feature packed Multimedia GSM Mobile Phone handset M6100 in India.
Equipped with many remarkable features and targeted towards the high end segment, the new LG M6100 has a sleek design and weighs just 88 gms. It is the first GSM in India, which has pre-installed English to English dictionary.
In addition, it comes with a password protected folder application called ‘data bank’, which will enable the consumers to store all confidential information on their phones giving the users enhanced security of their private data.
Armed with a 1.3 mega pixel digital camera, the M6100 enables one to capture precious moments perfectly with crystal clear details.
BenQ Siemens Q-Fi EF71 Music Mobile Phone
The BenQ-Siemens has launched Q-fi EF71, one of the first mobile phones within BenQ-Siemens´ ‘Q-Fi’ range of music devices.
Equipped with a 10-band graphic equaliser hooked up to a pair of built-in 3D surround-sound speakers and fed by the company’s own music playback applications it lets you customize your music and allow users share their music with friends while on the go in fine quality.
BenQ Siemens Q-fi EF71 mobile phone feature easy-to-use music entertainment with easy access to music functions and a plug and play, all-in-one solution for mobile music lovers.
That makes Q-fi EF71 a fully-featured music phone with exceptionally stylish looks with its timelessly and high-quality aluminum surface. For easy access to music functions, dedicated music keys are integrated seamlessly into the surface while enhancing the appearance of the device.
Samsung Unveils India’s First Wide-Screen CDMA Mobile Phone
Samsung India has launched launched India’s first wide-screen CDMA mobile phone handset ‘Wideo’, packed with lots of multimedia features and options with a special Tata Indicom package made available exclusively for Tata Indicom customers
The new Samsung Wideo features include:
- 262K TFT horizontal swivel screen
- 1-mega pixel rotating camcorder with up to two hours of video recording
- Dual stereo speakers
- 3D gaming
- Advance MP3 player with Juke box
- Speaker phone
- Pen drive memory with 45MB storage space.
- Video Streaming
- 72 polyphonic / MP3 ring tones
- TV/DVD remote control
- Hindi SMS
- 11 MB memory for Games, phonebook etc.
- Free accessories : Standard 1000 mAh battery, Extended 1300 mAh battery, Cradle battery charger, Stereo Headset, Leather carry pouch & Travel Charger
LG Lauches 8GB MFJM53 HDD MP3 Player
LG has launched a new 8GB MFJM53, a multifunction personal digital MP3 media player with FM radio.
The LG 8GB HDD MP3 player, meant to compete with the iPod, has several features that gives it the advantage.
The MFJM53 has an 8GB drive, a 1.77-inch 128×160 pixel (262,144-colour) touch-sensitive OLED screen, and measures a slight 10.1 x 4.8 x 1.4cm, weighing 88g.
In addition to playing MP3 files, the new LG MFJM53 can handle PlaysForSure WMA files, WAV, Ogg, MPEG-4 AVI, and JPEG files.
The tiny looking gadget also has an powerful FM radio, built-in microphone, and line-in port for audio recording, and company is boasting of up to about 30 hours of music playback or 4 hours of video on a built-in rechargable battry.
Microsoft Plans To Launch ‘Xbox 360′ Around Diwali 2006
Microsoft India today announced its plans to launch its next generation video gaming and entertainment system ‘Xbox 360′, in India later this year around Diwali and would set up a retail network for its distribution across 7 cities.
Mitch Koch, Microsoft Entertainment and Devices division, told reporters that Microsoft’s next generation gaming console ‘Xbox 360′ will be available for pre-order starting in June 2006, though actual delivery would commence by Nov or Dec 2006.
The company would set up 1,200 retail centres across 7 cities, including four metros, in the country, he said.
Download – AMCap 9.08 build 68.2
AMCap is a small yet fully functional video capture and preview application compatible with Microsoft DirectShow (formerly ActiveMovie, hence the name). It is based on the sample AMCap source code from the Microsoft DirectX 9 SDK.
The VMR9 option enables support for the multi-monitor, zooming, aspect ratio and deinterlacing features (Microsoft DirectX 9.0 required.)
Micron to Introduce 8-Megapixel Image Chip
Electronic circuits and Chip maker Micron Technology has indicated that it would soon unveil a thumbnail-sized digital sensor that enables pocket-sized cameras and cell phones to capture bursts of 10 high-quality photos in a single second or even high-definition video.
The company today unveiled a prototype of an 8-megapixel image sensor that packs a punch with incredible capture rates at full resolution and stunning high-definition (HD) video capture.
