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.
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Sony Ericsson launches 8.1 Megapixel Camera phone
Friday, September 12, 2008
Apple 3G iPhone brightens up grey market
The launch of Apple iPhone by Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Essar seems to have revived the dwindling sales of the gizmo in grey markets.
The reason: the price tag announced by the two GSM giants is too high and all those who had been waiting to buy it officially, are now rushing to the grey markets to get the 16GB iPhone for as low as Rs 20,000-Rs 22,000.
“Sales had dipped after it was announced in May that Airtel and Vodafone will bring iPhone to India. Many postponed buying the phone from us. However, since the prices announced are almost 50-60% more than at what we sell, we are getting back business,” said a dealer at Heera Panna, Mumbai’s best known grey market for all high-end phones.
Saturday, August 9, 2008
When will the iPhone 3G hit the Indian streets?
iPhone 3G combines all the features of iPhone plus offers 3G networking. It has built-in GPS for expanded location-based mobile services, and iPhone 2.0 software which includes support for Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync, and runs hundreds of third-party applications.
“iPhone has been the iconic technology revelation of this year," said Sanjay Kapoor, president of Mobile Services at Bharti Airtel. “Airtel has been at the forefront of innovation and customer delight in the Indian telecom sector. Introducing iPhone 3G to
Customers will be able to purchase iPhone 3G at Airtel Relationship Centers. Details of pricing will be announced soon; for now, it seems Airtel wants to retain some sense of mystery, and speculation, that's been built up around the iPhone 3G's launch in
3G services to enhance Indian mobile industry
The 3G service will not only allow much faster communications but also a wide range of applications such as high-speed net access, video calls, fast music and video downloads, interactive gaming and global positioning over internet.
"Spectrum in 2.1 GHz band will be allocated for 3G telecom services throughout the country," Raja told a press conference here, adding some 60 MHz of spectrum was available for wireless telephony in the country.
"We may give licenses to up to 10 operators. It depends on the availability of spectrum. Initially, we will have five players. In
He said a reserve price of Rs.1.6 billion ($40 million) had been fixed for
The base price would add up to Rs.28 billion for an all-India licence and the government expects to earn more than Rs.300 billion ($7.5 billion) from the auction of spectrum for 3G services.
State-run Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL) that provides telecom services in
Raja said his ministry was also in talks with National Security Advisor M.K. Narayanan, who has been entrusted with the task of finding out how much of the spectrum available with the defense forces can be used for civilian purposes.
"Once the armed forces release spectrum, we may accommodate more operators for 3G services."
Global telecom companies and new entrants in the industry can also bid but they will have to pay an entry fee for the cost of a telecom license over and above their bid price for the spectrum auction.
"We welcome the government's announcement of its 3G policy and believe this will benefit the entire wireless communications ecosystem," said Kanwalinder Singh, president for
"3G will bring efficient voice and rich data services to Indian consumers."
The first 3G networks were rolled out in