Apple gets OK to use Swiss railway clock design

Apple Inc. has struck a deal with Switzerland's national rail company to license the use of its iconic station clocks for the iOS 6 operating system, which is used by iPhone and iPad mobile devices.

Swiss Federal Railways, or SBB, says the two parties have signed a licensing agreement, ending their dispute over Apple's use of round clock faces with black indicators except for the second hand, which is red.

SBB had approached Apple to tell the company that it owned the clock design.

In a statement Friday, it said the deal's terms including the amount of the licensing fee would remain confidential.

Engineer and designer Hans Hilfiker developed the SBB railway clock in 1944.

Top 5 Smartphones in India

Planning to buy a Smartphone and spoilt for choice. Here ia a list of the Top 5 Smartphones in India.

HTC Hero (AKA T-Mobile G2 Touch) for Rs 31,990

A Google phone that plays down its Googly elements, the Hero feels next-gen in every respect. Its custom multitouch interface gives the iPhone a run for its money and its internet apps are superb. It has a 3.5 mm jack but only MicroSD for storage.

Nokia E72 for Rs 22,989

Just edging out the Bold 9700 as our favourite messaging mobile, the slender E72 offers a potent mix of multimedia talents (5 MP camera, GPS) and a fine QWERTY keypad. A metal finish and welcome 3.5 mm headphone socket seal the deal.

BlackBerry Bold 9700 for Rs 31,990

BlackBerry's updated Bold remains one of the stars of mobile emailing. It brings a sharper 480x360-pixel screen, snappier menus and ridged keys that are a delight to prod. There’s even a 3.2 MP camera with LED flash for fun outside the boardroom too.

HTC Touch HD for Rs 49,900

The HD's 3.8 inch, 800x480 screen is exceptional. It makes this HSDPA-equipped handset a brilliant web browser and movie player, and glosses over WinMo's complexities. Other highlights include a 5 MP camera and a-GPS.

Apple iPhone 3G for Rs 29,650

Hot Buy: Apple's latest manoeuvre has the smartphone veterans reeling. It's taken the best gadget ever, added HSDPA broadband and GPS to its competition-trouncing mobile experience and knocked a huge chunk off its price.

Sure, the 2 MP camera is disappointing, but glossy black or white finishes update the design and applications galore extend functionality in new and cool ways. It even supports Microsoft Exchange, so it can now be used as your business phone. The emphasis is still on fun, though, with 8 GB or 16 GB of pure pocket entertainment prowess.

KILLER FEATURE: Best ever iPod, amazing video and web… and it makes calls.

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3G: Handset companies line up new launches, cut prices

Mobile phone manufacturers have seized the opportunity to sell 3G phones, even before private telecom operators are awarded the airwaves, by lining up new launches and cutting handset prices to just over Rs 4,000.

In doing so, cellphone makers are attempting to lure buyers of high-end GPRS handsets, which operate on the 2G spectrum. Phones operating on the 3G airwaves, which are up for auction, offer faster data downloads and high-quality video streaming.

“Even before 3G auctions are complete, we have seen significant demand for handsets,” says Jeff Taylor, co-founder, INQ Mobiles.

Nearly 20% of India’s 550 million cellphone subscribers possess high-end GPRS handsets, which are priced between Rs 2,500 and Rs 35,000.

Nokia is offering a 3G phone (model: 2730) from Rs 4,119 onwards, while Sony Ericsson’s phone begins at the Rs 6,000 price-point. At the higher end, Blackberry’s 3G model is priced upwards of Rs 17,000 while Apple’s iPhone 3G is priced at over Rs 30,000.

Mobile phone manufacturers are expecting the spectrum auctions to shake up the Rs 35,000-crore market, which operates on wafer-thin margins of 1-2%.

Value-added service players are also eyeing gains from the launch of TV serials or comedy clips on mobiles. Second-largest player Samsung has one of the largest cellphone line-ups with 13 models and plans to launch up to seven more in the next six months.

“India is a technology-adaptive market, and thus the new launches,” says Ranjeet Yadav, head of Samsung’s IT division.

Delhi, Bangalore and Mumbai are the largest markets for high-end phones. The Capital alone sees 20% of sales for phones costing over Rs 10,000 in India. “Pricing of handsets will not be a problem as most handsets are already quite affordable,” says Sudhin Mathur, head of LG’s India mobile division. LG has about five 3G handsets and plans to introduce up to 10.

Surfing, emailing and downloading of applications will be the most sought-after features on the new handsets, says Mr Taylor of INQ Mobile, which entered the Indian market just two months ago with Aircel.

The company has two handsets in the Indian market, both of which are 3G-enabled. It is planning to come out with altogether five handsets in the mid-market price segment of below Rs 8,000, he says.

iPhone Launched in Thailand with Poor 3G Network

The iPhone 3G has arrived in Thailand with the mobile operator True Move. According to the website iPhones Talk, Apple reportedly negotiated for some time to get the phone into the country. Despite its potential appeal in the Thai market, there is speculation surrounding how many Thai users will be able to take full advantage of the iPhone 3G's rich features due to spotty 3G coverage and lack of education about the phone's advantages, in addition to the lack of heavy data related usage there.

Given its price tag, another question arises: Does the iPhone make sense for consumers and operators in countries where voice calls dominate mobile use, and data/Wi-Fi usage isn't very high?

Due to a decision made by leading Thai mobile operators last year the country has scaled down their investment on 3G network upgrades, which could result in a large group of iPhone users without a fast, native network on which to use their gadget. According to Reuters India, however, True Move expects to launch 3G mobile services in Bangkok this coming April.

iPhone 3G coming soon to Egypt through Vodafone

Apple's iPhone 3G will soon be available in Egypt, and Vodafone Egypt is reportedly gearing up to be the first mobile operator to sell the high-tech gadget in the Arab world's most populous country.

Customers nationwide can pre-register online and be notified when the phone arrives to Vodafone Egypt's stores, according to a telecom source who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

Vodafone — the world's leading international mobile communications group – sealed a deal with Apple in May to bring iPhone 3G to 10 countries where the mobile operator is present. According to news reports, Vodafone now sells the phone in Australia, Italy, New Zealand and Portugal, and it is expected to bring it to Egypt, the Czech Republic, Greece, India, South Africa and Turkey later this year.

Up to now Apple has insisted on exclusive agreements with carriers, striking deals with AT&T in the US, O2 in Britain, Orange in France, and Deutsche Telekom in Germany. In exchange for exclusivity, Apple takes a cut of the revenue that wireless operators collect for voice and data services each month, something no other phone maker is believed to get.

iPhone 3G combines all the revolutionary features of iPhone with 3G networking that is twice as fast as the first generation iPhone, built-in GPS for expanded location based mobile services, and iPhone 2.0 software which includes support for Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync and runs the hundreds of third party applications already built with the recently released iPhone SDK.

Iphone Madness in Turkey, Despite Beeing 40% More Expensive Due to Taxes

New iPhone, which has been launched yesterday midnight, has pulled the expected attraction not from Vodafone but from Turcell users. Although new iPhones were priced 40% more expensive in Turkey compared to the rest of the world due to 20% Special Communication Taxes and 18% Value Added Taxes (VAT), sales has lasted until the early morning hours at Turkcell stores.

Finally, the expected day arrived and new iPhone 3G devices have been launched yesterday. And just like its different device concept, sales concept was quite different as the sales started at midnight. All the iPhone fans and curious buyers gathered at Bagdat Avenue for the night that bounded 25 September to 26 September.

While iPhones were launched by both Vodafone and Turkcell in different price lists, new devices just hit the targeted expectations especially for Turkcell subscribers. We have interviewed with subscribers from both camps and they raised various reasons explaining the failure of Vodafone hitting the targeted expectations.

Of course the more appropriate price lists offered by Turkcell have affected the interest shown to devices and therefore they gained an advantage in this sales campaign. And Turkcell user profile being composed of upper-income leveled users has also helped them in sales. We have also found that Turkcell’s announcement, which indicated that 50 iPhones will be put into a lottery, has helped to grow such an interest in the sales.

Turkcell General Manager Sureyya Ciliv made the first sale for the company at 00.00 am and the lucky subscriber who had the first iPhone 3G was 12 years old Emre Telli. Several hundred meters long queues were formed in front of the Turkcell Store in Bagdat Avenue.

Nokia’s Touch Phone on Oct 2. Too Little Too Late?

Nokia is going to release a touch-screen phone on Oct. 2nd, Reuters is reporting today. Based on comments the company made earlier this summer, the device, code-named “Tube,” will be cheaper than rival models and be aimed at hot growth markets, such as India. In a post earlier this month, I had asked about the whereabouts of this phone. Here is what I wrote then: “It has been over a year since the iPhone was launched, and Nokia still doesn’t have anything new to show except for some videos. Sign of a company that is, well…yes, I’m just going to say it…too bureaucratic. Either that or they’ve decided to adopt the ostrich approach to competition.”

Well, at least a response is coming, if this news is actually true. Since it’s coming from Reuters, I am inclined to believe it. Nevertheless, my first reaction was: Is this too little, too late? After all, many of their smaller rivals — LG, Samsung, even HTC — have responded with interesting if not entirely effective competitors to Apple’s iPhone. The lack of a touch-screen device makes Nokia look like a slow-moving giant that is trying to respond to whiplash-inducing changes in the mobile business.

Nokia has to grapple with the new reality of creating a seamless web and software experience on its phones. As a regular user of all things Nokia, I have to say they are not even close. Ovi, music download services and other features they have introduced don’t quite seem to have the seamlessness of an iPhone or even a Samsung Instinct.

Regardless, I will wait to see what comes out of Helsinki in a few days. What are your thoughts on Nokia and its lack of a touch device? Is the “Tube” is going to change anything?

Samsung Omnia in India to take on Apple iPhone 3G

South Korean mobile phone maker Samsung has now launched their Omnia mobile phone in the Indian market.

Samsung Omnia is seen as the company’s challenger to the Apple iPhone 3G.



The phone comes powered with the Microsoft Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional platform.

It is now on sale in India for prices between Rs 37,999 (24GB) and Rs 39,999 (32GB) which is slightly higher than the Apple iPhone 3G 16GB model.

Samsung Omnia comes preloaded with MS Office mobile edition. Samsung Telecom country head Sunil Dutt spoke about this new model: “With all the features included in the mobile phone, one can easily make out the difference. It is our flagship model, aimed at users who desire a lot of functionality, style, usability and entertainment in one device. It will help users to be at the forefront of work and play at the same time and stay connected anytime, anywhere.”

The phone features a five megapixel auto focus camera and GPS.