Manual For Technology

The HTC Tattoo will launch next month, however keen customers are already able to pre-order the Android-based mobile phone from Vodafone.

The HTC Tattoo is the latest mobile phone to be announced that will run on Google's Android operating system, which allows owners of Android-based mobile phones to access thousands of applications downloadable from the Android market.

HTC Sense interface

The phone also runs on the HTC Sense interface, which offers users a number of customisable homescreens. More about the Sense interface can be found in the HTC Hero first look video.

While Vodafone hasn't yet confirmed the price or contract details of the Tattoo, the handset is expected to be more affordably priced than the previous three HTC Android phones: the G1, the HTC Magic, and the HTC Hero.

HTC Tattoo specification

The Tattoo's specifications include a 3.2Mp camera, a 2.8-inch touchscreen, Wi-Fi, 3G and GPS connectivity. The Tattoo also has an MP3 player and radio - and a welcome 3.5mm headphone socket so you can use the headphones of your choice.

Jon Barrow, Which? mobile phone expert, said: 'We hope that the rumours about the Tattoo being a more affordable handset are accurate, as it would be great to bring the Android market to a wider market. We look forward to testing this device in our labs sometime soon'.
Android mobile phone handsets

HTC currently dominates the market with Android-powered mobile phones, but this is set to change with models from Samsung, LG and Sony Ericsson on the not too distant horizon. A first look of the Android Samsung Galaxy can be read in our mobile phone report, and a first look video of the Galaxy can be viewed in our IFA 2009 report from the consumer electronics show in Berlin.

 
















Samsung Giorgio Armani W820/W8200 was first spotted weeks ago, but now we’ve got some official press pics to check out, showing the luxury device up close. No info on its launch date, but at least we can declare ourselves charmed by the gold-plated back cover of the handset.

This phone packs a 3.1 inch WVGA touchscreen display, a 5 megapixel camera, a microSD card slot (up to 16GB) and support for Bluetooth, DMB TV and HSDPA connectivity.

Samsung Giorgio Armani W820/W8200 also features an alphanumeric keypad and we still haven’t figured out if we’ll ever see the phone outside of Korea or not.

Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd, strengthened its Omnia series with the launch of Omnia II–GT I8000, the all-in-one redefined phone in the Indian market. Samsung Omnia II is a high-performance full – touch screen phone that incorporates the best multimedia features, User Interface and fast connectivity to deliver superior user experience and business performance.

Based on Windows 6.1 platform, Omnia II is the Company’s newest, high performance full-touch screen phone that brings together style, multimedia and business performance in one device. The mobile follows on from the phenomenal success and heritage of the Omnia and extends Samsung’s market leadership of all-in-one touch phones in India. Samsung Omnia II has a stunning design with a sleek finish, all New Intuitive 3D User Interface, ultimate digital entertainment, professional camera experience, all displayed in a 3.7” bright AMOLED full touch screen, which offers unrivalled sharpness of tone, vivid colours and greater clarity in direct sunlight as well as consumes less power.

Brilliant Touch Experience
With its revolutionary Cubic User Interface and Advanced Touch wiz, Omnia II offers a very innovative, effortless and convenient viewing, allowing users to move around and multi-task seamlessly. Motion-enabled features including 3D photo Album, Video library, Music library, Browser bookmarks and FM Radio User Interface make it intuitive and exciting to enjoythe best ever mobile multimedia experiences.

Moreover, Preloaded and Downloadable Online Mobile Widgets delivers up-to-date information of your choice with just one touch, creating a personalized interface with which to accessthe infinite wealth of web content.

With Samsung communities, the Omnia II lets users easily upload images and videos to popular social networking sites such as Facebook, Picasa, Flickr, MySpace, Photobucket, Friendster – a breeze. Add to that,the phone’s high-connectivity functions including Wi-Fi and HSUPA capabilities mean that user’s photos can be shared to their friends in no time.

Brilliant Multimedia Companion
Samsung Omnia II ensures you capture the life-like photographs of your friends and family through the dedicated 5MP camera with Dual Power LED flash, which allows you take digital camera-quality photographs on your phone. Users can enjoy and share these images and videos through a super-fast internet access of HSUPA 5.76Mbps and 3G.

Through its Streaming Video Player, users can also go for High quality (H.264), You Tube Video Streaming accessible through Online Widgets onthe screen. The mammoth 8GB internal memory expandable to another 32GB, allows users to store up to 40GB of data.
Best Mobile Office Experience
Based on the Windows 6.1 platform Samsung Omnia II allows users to view and edit various MS-office documents like an MS Word, Excel and PowerPoint all displayed in a 3.7” bright AMOLED full touch screen. Through its Microsoft Active Sync feature, it also provides its usersthe facility of Push email service making it a complete ‘one stop business solution on the go’.

Unlimited Music experience
Through its Music recognition service, Samsung Omina II allows its users to explore unlimited music possibilities like sing or record music from external sources for music recognition, get album art and song info, find lyrics of the songs, buy the song from Amazon or similar websites. This makes the phone an amazing entertainment for music lovers.

The Omnia II is priced at Rs 28,990.

Demand for mobile phones that can accept two SIM (subscriber identity module) cards has picked up strongly in India, but Nokia, the dominant handset vendor in India, is late to the market.

Dual SIM phones currently account roughly for close to about 15 percent of mobile phones sales in the country, and the market is growing fast, said Anshul Gupta, principal research analyst at Gartner.

Nokia plans to launch its first dual-SIM phone, the Nokia C2, in India in the next few months.

Competitor Samsung said its dual-SIM phones, introduced in the second quarter of last year, will account for 12 to 15 percent of mobile phones sold by the company this year. That's up from about 8 percent of unit sales last year, said Ruchika Batra, a spokeswoman. The company is launching more dual-SIM models this year, she added.

The market is mainly driven by users who want to switch between carriers to take advantage of the best deals, said Gupta. Business and professional users may also use these phones to have a separate mobile number for personal and official calls, he added.

A large number of buyers of Samsung's dual SIM phones use the two SIMs on the phone to switch between network providers if coverage gets patchy, or when they are traveling between cities, Batra said.

The market for dual SIM mobile phones is dominated currently by locally branded phones, and phones from Chinese vendors selling into India, according to Gupta.

Such vendors are providing increasing competition for big-name players like Nokia, which had a 54.1 percent share of the India's 101.54 million-unit mobile phone market in 2009, according to research firm IDC India. The company's share is bound to go down as more vendors enter the Indian market, IDC India said in April.

Indian and Chinese vendors are making inroads at the low end of the Indian mobile phone market by offering a combination of features such as dual SIM, powerful speakerphones and a battery life of up to 30 days, Gupta said. These vendors have stripped some features, like the camera and Wi-Fi, from mobile phones to lower costs, and instead focused on features like long battery life which are so critical in rural markets, he added.

India had 617.5 million [m] mobile subscribers at the end of May, according to data from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India.

Do you plan to discard your mobile phone or exchange it for a new one? Then consider this: Old mobile phones constitute 1,700 tonnes of the 50,000 tonnes of e-waste generated in India each year and, according to a UN report released early this year, e-waste from mobile phones is set to rise 18 times by 2020.

E-waste, or electronic waste, implies discarded computers, mobiles, refrigerators or any other electronic appliance at the end of its life. With growing consumerism, discarding e-waste has become a big challenge in the country.

This has spawned a relatively new sector: Organised recycling. As of now, 16 players have sprung into action by re-cycling mobile phones, which also contain precious metals like gold, silver and platinum as well as other metals like copper. Mobile phone and PC makers gobble up three per cent of the world’s entire gold and silver supply each year, not to mention 13 per cent of palladium, 15 per cent of cobalt, and plenty of copper, steel, nickel and aluminum.

Faisal Faraz, marketing manager for e-waste recycling company Greenscape, says, “Almost 90 per cent of e-waste is being recycled by the unorganized sector, which includes small scale garbage collectors. The process they use for extracting precious metals is not only harmful, but also results in the loss of almost 75 per cent of the precious metals.” He reasons that a licensed re-cycler can extract metal waste in an eco-friendly way.

While all parts of a gadget are re-cycled locally, printed circuit boards (PCBs) of mobile phones are exported abroad to smelting companies for metal extraction. Last year alone, Greenscape exported 100 tonnes of PCBs from e-waste (1.3 tonnes from mobile phones) to smelting companies, like Umicore, in Belgium.

Besides precious metals, an average mobile phone contains poisonous substances like lead and mercury, which can pose serious environmental and health hazards if not disposed properly.

The Indian Cellular Association (ICA), which represents the mobile industry, is said to be working on e-waste guidelines. Pankaj Mahendroo, president, ICA, says, “Except for a few vendors there is no massive recycling initiative yet.”

This is the situation in a country where annual mobile sales are forecasted to reach 138.6 million in 2010 — an increase of 18.5 per cent over last year’s sales of 117 million units, according to Gartner data. “Cellular phone penetration in India stood at 45 per cent in 2009 and, now, the market is entering a second growth phase, with replacement sales increasing from 45 per cent in 2009 to 50 per cent of total sales in 2010,” informs Anshul Gupta, principal research analyst at Gartner.

Major handset makers may have announced a take-back policy that collect old handsets and give them to authorised re-cyclers, but the exercise is clearly lacking momentum as most users are still unaware of such schemes.

According to a Nokia study, awareness in India about recycling was the lowest among all countries surveyed at 17 per cent and 84 per cent of Indians didn’t think about recycling their unwanted phones.

A small beginning was made by Nokia with ‘Planet Ke Rakhwaale’ — a take-back and recycling campaign launched early this year. Under the programme, Nokia encourages consumers to drop their unused mobiles and chargers, irrespective of the brand, into 1,350 recycling bins placed at Nokia Care Centres. As of April, Nokia says it has collected more than 16 tonnes — or more than 500,000 phones and accessories.

Samsung, too, informs that it has an on-going recycling initiative across 216 centres. “We have tied up with a government-authorised recycling agency for recycling old mobiles. The response to this initiative has been encouraging and we plan to shortly extend this take-back programme to our consumer electronics products as well,” says Ranjit Yadav, director, Mobile & IT, Samsung India, without detailing how many mobile phones the company has recycled so far.

Sony Ericsson, while claiming it has a take-back policy for old handsets, remained uncommunicative on details.

A mobile phone or a cell phone is a long range, portable electronic device that is used for mobile communication. A cell phone uses a network of specialised base stations known as cell sites. Current mobile phones come equipped with a number of useful applications like Instant Messaging, Internet Access, Camera and Hands Free. The third generation (3G) mobile phones were first commercially launched in Japan in 1990. Due to advances in technology, cell phones have become increasingly compact over a period of time.

Currently, the Nokia Corp. is the largest manufacturer of mobile phones in the world. The company has a current global mobile phone market share of approximately 36 percent. Africa has the largest growth rate of cell phone subscribers in the world. Over 6 million cell phones are sold in India in a month alone. The country expects to reach up to 500 million subscribers by the end of 2010. These days, the cell phones can also be custom decorated to reflect the owner’s personality.

Gone are the days when only high profile business people and executives could afford to own a mobile phones. These days, mobile phones have become very common. Be it a student, home maker or an executive, everyone keeps a cell phone with him or her these days. Mobile phones industry is a multi billion dollar industry today. The success of many businesses depend upon the efficient utilisation of mobile phone services. In fact, there is a large number of people who cannot spend a single day without using a mobile phone.

Mobile phones keep one in touch with her or his near and dear ones at all times. These devices come quite handy in an emergency situation. One can always inform about his emergency to the police, family members or his friends with the help of a cell phone. Most high end mobile phones these days come equipped with a video camera and a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver. A GPS receiver helps in locating the exact position of the mobile phone user.

Retailers across the UK are offering attractive free gifts with branded mobile phones to the consumers to increase their usage. These free gifts could include goodies like free talk time, free text messages and subsidised call rates. Some of them will also give consumers costly gifts like a Nintendo Wii or Sony PlayStation gaming console when one purchases a high end mobile phone from them. Many retailers also give cash back offers on some selected handsets. Still others will insure the user’s handset for free for a limited period of time. Some may even offer a free handset as a gift to the users.

The free gifts with mobile phones are a relatively new trend. The manufactures offer free gifts to the users with cell phones to increase the sale of their devices. UK based mobile network service providers like Orange, Virgin and Vodafone have come up with many innovative mobile phone deals. Such deals help these network service providers to increase their subscription base.

Free gifts with mobile phones have become so popular that people always look for them before purchasing a new handset. World’s leading manufacturers of mobile phones like Nokia, Samsung and Sony Ericsson have come up with many new models of cell phones in past few years. Some of the highly capable handsets launched by these manufacturers during past few years include Sony Ericssson W850i, Nokia 8800 Sapphire Arte and Samsung U100. Retailers in the UK are offering free gifts like Apple iPod, laptops and XBox 360 Elite gaming console with these handsets.

One may also opt to purchase a Contract Mobile phone or a Pay As You Go Mobile phone. These handsets come with attractive mobile phone deals. One may get a lot of incentives under these deals. One may also search the internet to know more about the free gifts offered by various online retailers in the UK. 12 months free line rental is the latest deal that is gaining popularity among the people in the UK. In fact, a large number of people these days purchase only that handset which is offered with some free gift.

The strongest Android phone currently on the planet, Samsung I9000 Galaxy S, has hit the Indian shores. The Samsung I9000 Galaxy S has the biggest Super AMOLED screen in the market with a size of 4 inches. The Galaxy S is available in two versions, 8GB and 16GB. But I have only seen the 16GB in the Indian market (Kolkata).
The Samsung I9000 Galaxy S has a 4″ Super AMOLED capacitive screen with WVGA (800 x 480) resolution. As usual, a 3.5mm slot is present. The phone has a inbuilt memory of 8GB / 16GB, depending on the version you purchase. The external microSD slot is expandable up to 32GB. The Galaxy S has a healthy 512MB RAM and 2GB ROM.
The Galaxy has supports both 2G (GPRS: Class 12 (4+1/3+2/2+3/1+4 slots), 32 – 48 kbps EDGE: Class 12) and 3G (HSDPA, 7.2 Mbps; HSUPA, 5.76 Mbps) connectivity. Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n with DLNA support is also present. The Bluetooth version on Galaxy S is 3.0 with A2DP support.
The camera is the only weak point in Galaxy S along with the plastic build. The camera is of 5MP resolution with autofocus but no flash at all. The video is recorded at HD (720P) resolution at 30fps. A secondary camera for video chatting is also present with VGA resolution.
The Android version on Galaxy S is 2.1 (Eclair). The processor inside is one of the best in the market, ARM Cortex A8 Hummingbird processor with a clock speed of 1Ghz. The processor is based on 45nm fabrication process. Stereo FM Radio with RDS support is also present. GPS with aGPS and Digital Compass support is also present. The video player on Galaxy S supports codec like .avi, Divx, .mkv, which is excellent according to me.
The battery power is of 1500mAh Li-Po battery. The battery performance on Galaxy S is excellent, in fact second best after Samsung Wave. The Galaxy S is available in Black and Grey. The price of Samsung I9000 Galaxy S is INR 28500 (US $608).

Features:
Network: HSUPA 900/1900/2100EDGE/GPRS 850/ 900/1800/1900
Dimension: 64.2 X 122.4 X 9.9 mm (119g)
Display: 4.0” WVGA(480x800) 16M SUPER AMOLEDmDNIe(Mobile Digital Natural Image engine)
Samsung Android 2.1 (Eclair)Samsung Apps / Android MarketVarious applications downloadable
Social Hub:Integrates SNS, email, and calendar accounts
Android Samsung UI:Multiple HomescreensHybrid WidgetsSamsung I9000 Galaxy S
Processor:1GHz CPU SpeedBattery (Standard) Li-pol, 1,500mAh
Talk time : 2G/ 769 minutes, 3G/ 391 minutesStandby : 2G/ 750 hours, 3G/ 625 hours
Camera:5.0 Megapixel AF cameraSelf Shot, Action Shot, Add me, Cartoon Shot, Smile Shot
Video:HD Video Player & Recorder (1280 x 720) @ 30fpscodec: DivX, XviD, MPEG4, H.263, H.264, WMV, VC-1format: 3gp(mp4), AVI(divx), MKV, FLV, H.263Sorenson
Music:Music Player with SoundAlive3.5mm Ear JackMP3/AAC/AAC+/eAAC+/OGG/WMA/AMR-NB/AMR-WB/WAV/MID/AC3/IMY/FLAC/XMF

Memory:16GB/8GB+ MicroSD(Up to 32GB)
Android Browser: Flash Lite3.1, RSS reader
Multi-touch zoom
Light sensor: Accelerometer sensor, Proximity Sensor, Digital Compass
Additional Features: Layar Reality Browser powered by Tele AtlasSwype, Write & GoThinkFreeAldiko e-book

Swiss mobile phone firm Swissvoice launched five mobile phones in the price range of Rs 2,999 to Rs 5,999 thus making its grand entry to the Indian market.

“Initially, we will target the youth segment in the tier II and III cities in northern India. From next month, we will launch the handsets in southern states,” Swissvoice India Director Dollar Gulati said.

The European company launched the handset through its Indian subsidiary Swissvoice India. The Swiss company aims to sell around 30,000 handsets every month in the hugely crowded Indian handset market. Besides the internationla giants like Nokia, Motorola, Sony Ericsson, Samsung and LG, in the recent past Indian market has seen local competitors in Spice, Micromax, Lemon, Lava, Karbonn and Zen mobile phones.
and manufactures its products in China with R&D being conducted in Hong Kong, the company said.

Microsoft is slated to launch its much talked-about Windows Phone 7 operating system

Microsoft has completely made a new start Windows Phone 7. Its just-discarded mobile OS, Windows Mobile 6.5.3, had seriously gone long in the tooth. First, it was Apple which showed everyone how outdated and unsophisticated it was with iOS and iPhones. Then came Android, Google’s entry into the smartphone OS space. Being free, it quickly picked up as a more open alternative to the walled garden of iOS and Phone. Microsoft is late to the party alright, but remember this is Microsoft, and whenever they have felt really threatened, they were perfectly willing to throw major marketing muscle and money at problems.

Android currently is growing extremely fast, and not just in the US. Cheap Android phones are being introduced prce-sensitive markets of Asia and Africa – something which expensive iPhones cannot do. Here is our list of Android smartphones in India.

In this context, Microsoft’s decision to launch Windows Phone 7 in India so quickly after its launch in US is intriguing. Would they be able to put up a fight in India?
Free pass to Microsoft App Marketplace

First, let us look at the information that is available about the upcoming launch of Windows Phone 7 in India. Developers can create applications sell them, or offer them free through Microsoft’s App Marketplace after they register for a fee of $100 – but app developers who show up at Unpluggd will get free passes for Marketplace.

These passes will allow them to bypass the credit-card entry section on the AppHub website and they will directly be able to register to sell their products through Marketplace to Windows Phone 7 users around the world.

People who want to attend Unpluggd, though, need to register to do so. Microsoft, along with various phone manufacturers, will also showcase some of the smartphones that run on the new operating system.

Windows Phone 7 prices in India will be key to success

What has kickstarted the Android market in India are the super-cheap Android phones. Nowadays, for pretty much the price of a top feature-phone, you could pick up an Android device in India. iPhones, even the last generation 3GS models, cost above Rs 30,000 here. It is no contest, then.

But Microsoft is likely to face its first hurdle here. Windows Phone cell phones have high-end specifications, so how will they keep prices low to make them popular in India?

This will be a touch challenge for Microsoft, for sure. If they price them similar to how they would priced in US without contracts, they would be at the very top of the smartphone market in India – and sell very few units. Are Microsoft’s amibtions for Windows Phone 7 in India so limited?

Or, they could try and do what Apple may be planning – introduce phones on contract. Yes, rumors are that CDMA iPhones would come to Tata and Reliance on contract. This would ensure that initial prices remain low, while the buyer is bound by a one or two year contract.

That, definitely, is one way out for Microsoft. The alternative would be to limit themselves to the top-end of the market, and price their Windows Phone 7 smartphones out of almost everybody’s reach. Well, all we have to do is to wait for the actual launch!
Windows Phone 7 mobile phones for India: Which of these would be launched?

These WP7 phones haven’t yet been announced for the Indian market, though quite a few of them are slated for international launch – including in the US. The new Windows Phone 7 cell phones launched in the US, which are likely to cost typically around $200, include:

HTC HD7
HTC’s HD7 is a Windows Phone 7 smartphone available with T-Mobile in the US, O2 in the UK and Telstra in Australia. The phone will be available around mid November in the US and a little before that in Europe.

The HD7 has a 4.3-inch WVGA TFT screen that offers a resolution of 800 x 480 pixels. It is powered by a 1GHz Qualcomm MSM8250 chipset, and gives you 576MB of RAM. The device comes with a 5-megapixel camera. The phone is rather similar to the HD2, albeit with the ability to record 720p high definition video at 24 frames per second. The phone has 16GB of memory, and offers built-in apps for Netflix, T-Mobile TV, etc.

HTC has a major presence in India, and now have a wide range of Android phones. They might decide to bring this excellent Windows Phone 7 device to India.

HTC Surround
HTC Surround is yet another Windows Phone 7 device, which is available with AT&T in the US and Telus in Canada. In the US, it will cost about $200 with goodies and a two-year contract.

The phone has some interesting hardware features such as a kickstand and a speaker that slides out from under the device. The Surround sports a 3.8-inch WVGA display and has a similar processor from Snapdragon as the HD7. The phone is different from the HD7 because it offers Dolby Mobile and SRS surround sound. So, this might be the one handset for audiophiles looking for great music capability on the move.

Music aficionados in India would be thrilled if Microsoft launches this smartphone in India.

HTC Mozart and 7 Trophy
The HTC Mozart and 7 Trophy will be out in October. These two Windows 7 devices are very similar to the HTC Surround and HD7. The Mozart has a 3.7-inch display and an 8-megapixel camera with xenon flash, while the Trophy offers you a 5-megapixel camera and is going to be the cheapest WP7 phone from HTC (or, so the company says).

HTC 7 Trophy will be available in the UK on Vodafone’s network, while the Mozart will be sold through Orange in the UK and some other European markets. Neither handset is slated for release in the US though.

HTC 7 Pro
The HTC 7 Pro will be available through Sprint in the US early next year. The phone has a tilting screen. Its touchscreen slides back and snaps into place so that the device takes the form of a mini laptop. It has a five-row QWERTY keyboard in landscape format.

Dell Venue Pro
Dell’s Venue Pro runs Windows Phone 7. It will be available from T-Mobile in the US this holiday season. Expect a 4.1-inch touchscreen that displays a resolution of 480 x 800 pixels. You will also find a 5-megapixel HD camera. The phone has a QWERTY keyboard, but in portrait format so you can hold the handset and type with one hand. The Venue Pro, in all likelihoods, will be the first of many WP7 devices to be made by Dell. The company hasn’t yet revealed how much the phone will cost.

LG Quantum and Optimus 7
LG, too, has entered the Windows Phone 7 market with its Quantum device for the US and Optimus 7 for Europe and the rest of the world. The Quantum will be available in the US with AT&T for $200.

The two phones have the usual Windows Phone 7 features – 1GHz chip, 8 or 16GB memory, a 5-megapixel camera, HD video recording and playing capabilities, etc.
The Optimus is meant for entertainment, while Quantum is for business users. The key feature of these phones is apparently their ability to transfer media to computers, HD TVs and other devices nearby.

Samsung Cetus
Finally, we have Samsung’s Cetus smartphone, which recently debuted on – guess what? – Windows Phone 7 OS. It seems that the South Korean consumer electronics company has renamed the Cetus to Samsung Focus and has also launched the Omnia 7. The Focus has a 4-inch WVGA screen and gives you the usual Windows Phone 7 specs. It will be available with AT&T in the US, while the Omnia 7 will be available in Europe with T-Mobile, Orange, SFR and Movistar.