Sony Ericsson launches 8.1 Megapixel Camera phone

Anyone looking for a camera phone that packs a little more punch than the obligatory low-end cameras found on most phones these days will undoubtedly gravitate towards the new C905a Cyber-shot. With an 8.1-megapixel lens, it boasts the highest camera resolution available through AT&T. Supplementing the snazzy new image sensor is a feature set for snapping photos on the go: Face detection, red-eye reduction, smart contrast sensors, and BestPic options that let you take several successive pictures and save the best ones. Like the previous Cyber-shots, the C905a has a slider phone form factor with dedicated camera keys on the body of the unit ensuring you don't miss choice photo ops because you're muddling around in menus. All that will cost you $230, though if you start a new two-year contract you can get a $50 mail-in rebate.

Social media mavens, on the other hand, will prefer the W518a Walkman, a flip phone that emphasizes the mobile music functionality. When shut, the outside has a small display that shows the ID tags of whatever you're currently listening to, and it has Play/Pause, Next Track, and Previous Track buttons to make it easy to control without having to open the phone up. It comes preloaded with a Facebook app, so you don't have to wait until you get to your home computer (or shell out the money for a full-fledged smartphone) to get your hourly dose of the mundane, and it has a standard-issue 3.2-megapixel camera. You also don't need to wait to get home to download new music either; both Napster Mobile and eMusic Mobile are available for your digital downloading dollars.

Perhaps most noteworthy, however, are the new control options: Advanced Shake Control lets you shuffle or skip songs by flicking the phone with your wrist, and "Gesture Control" lets you deny calls or set your alarm to snooze by waving your hand in front of the camera. It's also substantially cheaper than the Cyber-shot: the W518a will only run for $100, which comes down to $50 if you sign a new two-year contract and get the $50 mail-in rebate.

If that caught your attention, don't forget to check out some of our recent phone reviews, like the high-end Sony Ericsson W995a or the details on Sony Ericsson's Android phone from earlier this month.

New iPhone provokes frenzy in Hong Kong and London

APPLE’S new iPhone made its hotly awaited debut on Friday, with buyers storming stores in Asia and queues forming in European cities. Sales of the device, which combines a music and video player, cell phone and Web browser, kicked off in New Zealand, where a22- year- old student became its first owner. “I’m going to put this on charge, have a play around with it and have anice long sleep,” said Jonny Gladwell, who queued in freezing temperatures for about 60 hours to be the first person to buy the iPhone at a minute past midnight on Friday. Guards in bullet- proof vests and helmets brandished shotguns and guarded over 500 devices on sale in Hong Kong. Softbank Corp, which sells the iPhone in Japan, said over 1,500 people lined up outside its flagship Tokyo store. Policemen yelled at passers- by to make room. In London, an orderly queue in front of the flagship store of O2, a unit of Telefonica, extended around the corner. “We ordered lots. We’ve seen the demand the first time, but we’re blown away by it. I think it is unprecedented,” said Steve Alder, O2 UK’s iPhone director. “We’ve got stocks coming in every week Iam confident that by the end of the summer, everyone who wants one will have one.” “The iPhone phenomenon is going to stimulate the adoption of smart phones. It will change the landscape, the way the iPod did for the MP3 player industry,” said Charles Guo, analyst at JPMorgan. Analysts expect the new iPhone to draw as many as 10.5 million buyers worldwide this year.

Next- gen iPhone is coming to India too

APPLE Inc is bringing its second generation iPhone, equipped with 3G broadband, to India. Apple chief operating officer (COO) Tim Cooks statement late Monday night allayed the apprehension in the minds of millions of prospective customers regarding which model of the breakthrough product India will receive.

“We are thrilled to be working with Bharti Airtel, to bring iPhone 3G to millions of mobile customers in India. We cannot wait to get this revolutionary product in the hands of even more people around the world, Cook said on the sidelines of the world wide developers conference (WWDC) in San Francisco where Apple chief executive officer (CEO) Steve Jobs unveiled the iphone 3G.


On Tuesday, India’s top mobile operator, Bharti Airtel, said it will bring Apple Inc.’s latest third generation iPhone to India later this year. Steve Jobs shocked the world when he revealed the new price positioning of the device.

The 16GB model will now cost $299 while the 8GB phone will retail for $199 at Apple and AT& T stores in the US. When the first model of the iPhone was retailed in June last year the 8GB version was priced at a whopping $499 while the later- discontinued 4GB variant was sold for $399.

The new phone will have 3G capabilities and an embedded global positioning system (GPS) receiver. iPhone II marries all of the features of iPhone with 3G networking to make the device “twice as fast” as the first- generation iPhone.

iPhone II features built- in GPS for expanded location- based mobile services and iPhone 2.0 software with support for Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync, and is capable of running hundreds of third party applications already built with the recently- released iPhone SDK.

Apple's 3G iPhone may hit US markets today

There's a murmur in the American market that the much-awaited 3G iPhone from Apple might be launched on Monday, June 9.

The iPhone (the existing version) which hasn't officially hit the Indian markets is likely to be available in the country in September and may cost upwards of Rs 23,000.

The Cupertino, California-based Apple Inc will be unveiling its World Wide Developers Conference on Monday in San Francisco; the same conference where last year Steve Jobs, CEO, Apple, announced the launch date of the iPhone.

So what is special about the 3G iPhone? Well, for one, it has high speed download packet access that helps very fast downloads. This will be faster than what the EDGE network allows.

Apple has recently introduced a new iPhone software developers' kit which enables third party software developers to develop software for the iPhone. The new phone's other features, however, remain a closely guarded secret.

The phone will, of course, have Internet-enabled multimedia, a multi-touch screen with a virtual keyboard.