The Motorola Milestone is the Quad band GSM / Dual Band 3G version of the popular Moto Droid which witnessed record sales in USA. It was even named Time magazine gadget of the year for 2009.  Here we have some exclusive photos/pictures of the Motorola Milestone for your viewing pleasure.

The phone is going to be launched in India very soon and Motorola is attempting to come back with a bang !

The phone has a 480×854 pixel – 3.7 inch display with a 16:9 aspect ratio .

The display is a capacitive touchscreen  and has gesture recognition.In addition to the touchscreen the phone has a full QWERTY slide out keyboard.

The phone uses a 550MHz CPU runs on Android 2.0 but the update to 2.1 is being rolled out currently.

The phone sports a 5MP camera with Dual LED flash. Video recording is possible at 720×480 pixels (DVD quality). It has a 3.5 mm audio jack and plays a variety of audio and video formats.

The Milestone is 13.7 mm thick and weighs 165 grams. It should cost you Rs.30000 approx in India !

A Comparision between Nexus One, iPhone 3GS and Moto Droid

Top 10 phones of 2009

• Motorola on target to sell 1 million Droid phones
• Motorola Milestone aka European Droid Sold Out on Expansys
• Motorola Droid Enjoys Great Sales!
• So what exactly are you getting in Droid 2.1 Update?
• Top 10 Phones of 2009

Nowadays mobile phones are becoming more of an entertainment device with the addition of VAS (Value Added Services) from telecom service providers.

Vodafone has launched  ‘Chhota Comics’  on Vodafone Live.

All the popular titles like Suppandi, Chacha Chaudhary, Mickey & Donald, Akbar Birbal, Winnie the Pooh, Hanuman have been included in this service.

Customers need to send an sms: COMIC to 111 to access the WAP URL to download the application and purchase the desired comic.

As per Vodafone, it has over 35 popular titles in various categories and they are priced at the rate of Rs. 2 per strip and Rs. 15 for full length comics.

During the launch of the service, Vodafone CMO, Kumar Ramanathan said:

Last year we launched Amar Chitra Katha on Vodafone, which became very popular with our customers. With the launch of ‘Chhota Comics’ service, we aim to further enhance our customers’ experience by providing them with advanced features and more comic categories.

• Read the Superfamous Diamond Comics on the Go

Sygic has finally announced the public availability of Sygic Mobile Maps with Turn-by-turn navigation for the Nokia N900 Maemo devie. It’s available for purchase for around 60 euros and you need to download around 1.8 Gigabytes of maps data to your phone !

Official Press Release Below

The first turn-by-turn voice guided navigation application for Maemo phones has just got available for European Nokia N900 users at Sygic web e-shop. With the full set of navigation features, multiple user settings, fast route calculation, user-friendly operation and the latest maps situated on-board of the device, Sygic Mobile Maps turns Nokia N900 into a full-featured personal navigation device, and provides for superb user experience and reliable navigation.

The first available region, launched today, is EUROPE. It costs EUR 59,99, it has no time limit on use after purchase, and it includes countries of Western Europe and Eastern Europe as follows:
- Maps included: Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, San Marino, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom, Vatican.
- Maps with transit roads only: Albania, Macedonia, Serbia, Belarus, Moldova, Montenegro, Bosnia -- Herzegovina, Romania, Ukraine.
Further regions will be added and announced gradually. Sygic Mobile Maps navigation application for Nokia N900 Maemo OS phones features Navteq maps.

Product description
Sygic Mobile Maps is a turn-by-turn voice guided navigation software that converts mobile phones into full-featured navigation devices. It is fully operable on hundreds of mobile phones and smartphones running major mobile operation systems, incl. iPhone, Symbian, Maemo, Android and Windows Mobile, incl. Windows Mobile 6.5. It also supports various PDA, PND and MID devices based on Windows CE, Windows XP/Vista or Linux. Sygic Mobile Maps uses latest maps located on-board of the device, which means that the use of the navigation is not conditioned by mobile network signal availability.

Features and benefits of the Mobile Maps:

• All latest maps are with you on your phone.
• Speed cameras, speed limits and railway crossings warnings provide safety for you and others.
• Signposts help you to head in the right direction.
• Lane assistant informs you about the correct lane to be in.
• Automatically adapts to horizontal or vertical view with
• Automatically or manually adjustable color schemes for day and night use.
• User interface and voice guide speak your native language.
• Search for millions of restaurants and other points of interest, with an option to call in, find parking, and navigate to.
• Design your trip with multi-stop route planning before you head out.
• See the summary of your trip before you set off.
• Avoid a roadblock with a single click.
• Save and organize favorites according to your needs.
• Customize what you want to see on the navigation screen.

Download Sygic Mobile Maps for Nokia N900 from: sygic.com/maemo

• Sygic Mobile Maps for Nokia N900 Coming Soon
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• Nokia 2710 Navigation Edition Cheapest Navigation Phone
• Sygic AURA Real 3-D GPS Navigation Coming Soon

In a interview with BusinessWeek Nokia CEO Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo admitted that Nokia has to move even faster and also did not deny possible use of Qualcomm Snapdragon chips on Nokia’s phones.In reply to a question if Nokia was going to create a phone using the Snapdragon chip from Qualcomm his answer was not a no but no comment

I cannot comment on that one. All I can say is that Qualcomm definitely is a potential partner going forward. The companies did fight a long time in court, and now we see them as a potential partner.

Nokia is rumoured to release it’s first Snapdragon based phone later this year and the rumours might actually turn out to be true.

He also spoke about Nokia’s efforts around the Comes with Music service in India where the company spoke to 130 rights holders to get a lot of local music content on Nokia Music Store. Nokia is expected to launch it’s first device with Comes with Music in India shortly

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My buddy Titanas has posted some interesting concept pictures of the Nokia X9 on  greek portal Pestaola

Stefanos and his pals have come up with this concept after doing some homework . According to this concept the X9 is an X6 on steroids.

Features include

• Large Capacitive display
• 12 MP camera with Quad LED
• Video recording at 720p HD
• mini HDMI output
• Dual micro USB
• Secondary AMOLED display for notifications

Although this is just a concept , would be cool if Nokia hired such guys for their creativity !

Read

• Nokia UNIK Concept
• The Transformer Concept phone
• Squibble Portable Phone Concept
• Presenting the Pomegranate Phone

Here are pics of the LG Cookie Pep from lg-phones.org . The Cookie Pep aka GD510 was just launched in India and is a cool looking handset.

The Cookie Pep is aimed at youth who want a touchscreen phone with rich looks and a affordable price.  The first Cookie phone KP500 was well received and the Pep is following the footsteps of the earlier model.

Has anyone brought home this Cookie  ?

• LG Cookie Pep launched in India for Rs.7500

Samsung recently announced SPH-W9705, another clamshell phone in South Korea. Samsung SPH-W9705 is a strong, stylish and sporty phone, specially made for rough conditions such as dust, water, etc. This handset will be exclusively available for subscribers of mobile operator KT in South Korea.

Samsung SPH-W9705 Specs:

• 2.4 inches TFT display
• 240×320 pixels resolution
• 1.07 inches external display
• 2 megapixel camera
• 83MB internal memory
• 16GB expandable memory
• GPRS/EDGE
• Wi-Fi Connectivity
• Bluetooth
• A-GPS
• 3G Connectivity
• Audio and Video Player
• Electronic compass
• Embedded Games
• Java Support
• World Clock,
• Subway maps
• 1000 mAh battery

This handset is built specially for the users with active lifestyle. This device is completely dust and waterproof. The built-in GPS, pedometer and electronic compass is extremely helpful for the mountaineers. This handset does not break even if it falls from a certain height. This device is priced at 400,000 South Korean Won (approx. $350).

• Samsung Launches Android-Powered Galaxy Portal In UK
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• Samsung Metro 5200 Now Available In India For Rs.7439
• Samsung Corby Beat M3710 Emerges
• Samsung S5550 Slider Emerge

We managed to catch the Samsung BEAM aka Projector Phone during MWC last month and it runs on Android and sports the famous Super AMOLED display . Video after the break

The specs of the Samsung Beam include a inbuilt Video/ Photo Projector which is pretty cool. The display is a gorgeous 3.7 inch Super AMOLED display. It also features a 5 megapixel camera with HD video recording.

Projectors on phones adds a whole new dimension to sharing. Imagine you shoot a photo/video on the phone camera , you can actually show it off on a large screen without having to transfer it to a PC or photo sharing site !

This phone was  codenamed Halo and was rumoured to launch with Android 2.1 . Now it’s been officially launched as the BEAM.

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Don’t worry if you have not pre-ordered the iPad. You can get one yourself pretty easily.

At MWC 2010 during a Sony event ,  I spotted this Apple iPad and it was really funny

The guys who made are truly creative geeks !

Update :  A blogger from Taiwan has a ready-to-print PDF to make your own iPad grab it here

Its thinner than the iPad and will cost you just $1 or  $2 max. Now all you need is a color printer , cardboard sheets and some photoshop skills  ! But don’t expect to get Email or download apps from the App Store !

And this iPad has a battery which lasts for a lifetime even if the screen is always on !

• Apple iPad Pre-Orders Start today in USA
• Meet the iMaxi case for the iPad with Protective Wings
• Apple iPad launch date April 3 , Pre-orders from March 12
• Apple iPad first commercial makes debut at Oscars
• Apple iPad Price

Apple sued HTC recently and it drew a lot of negative criticism from the press. The mobile industry saw this as a move to curtail the rise of Android and HTC is the largest maker of Google Android handsets

iPhone was the game changer for the mobile industry. It gave the touchscreen phones a whole new meaning. But does that mean other phone makers should stop making touchscreen phones ? In the recent lawsuits against Nokia and HTC , Apple has expressed just that.

In a press release yesterday HTC expressed it’s agreement  over Apple’s lawsuit and showcased the history of the company’s product portfolio dating back to the HTC  T-Mobile Pocket PC which was the first 3.5 inch touchscreen smartphone in USA as of 2002

HTC Disagrees with Apple’s Actions

Seattle – March 17, 2010 – HTC Corporation today outlined its disagreement with Apple’s legal actions and reiterated its commitment to creating a portfolio of innovative smartphones that gives consumers a variety of choices. Founded in 1997 with a passion for innovation and a vision for how smartphones would change people’s lives, HTC has continually driven this vision by consistently introducing award-winning smartphones with U.S. mobile operators.

“HTC disagrees with Apple’s actions and will fully defend itself. HTC strongly advocates intellectual property protection and will continue to respect other innovators and their technologies as we have always done, but we will continue to embrace competition through our own innovation as a healthy way for consumers to get the best mobile experience possible,” said Peter Chou, chief executive officer, HTC Corporation. “From day one, HTC has focused on creating cutting-edge innovations that deliver unique value for people looking for a smartphone. In 1999 we started designing the XDA[i] and T-Mobile Pocket PC Phone Edition[ii], our first touch-screen smartphones, and they both shipped in 2002 with more than 50 additional HTC smartphone models shipping since then.”

The industry has recognized HTC’s contributions through a variety of awards including Fast Company’s 2010 Top 50 Most Innovative Companies and MIT Technology Review’s 2010 50 Most Innovative Companies. The GSMA also recently awarded the HTC Hero as the “Best Phone of 2009.” Some of HTC’s technology firsts include:

    * First Windows PDA (1998)
    * First Windows Phone (June 2002)
    * First 3G CDMA EVDO smartphone (October 2005)
    * First gesture-based smartphone (June 2007)
    * First Google Android smartphone (October 2008)
    * First 4G WIMAX smartphone (November 2008)

In 2009, HTC launched its branded user experience, HTC Sense. HTC Sense is focused on putting people at the center by making phones work in a more simple and natural way. This experience was fundamentally based on listening and observing how people live and communicate.

“HTC has always taken a partnership-oriented, collaborative approach to business. This has led to long-standing strategic partnerships with the top software, Internet and wireless technology companies in the industry as well as the top U.S., European and Asian mobile operators,” said Jason Mackenzie, vice president of HTC America. “It is through these relationships that we have been able to deliver the world’s most diverse series of smartphones to an even more diverse group of people around the world, recognizing that customers have very different needs.”

For more information on HTC’s history of innovation, please visit: www.htc.com/history.

• Nokia asks ITC to Ban import of Apple products including iPhone , iPod and Macbook into USA
• ITC Agrees to Probe Apple on Nokia’s request

According to PTI , Bharti Airtel has submitted it’s bid for the 3G spectrum in India for the auctions which start on April 9th

Airtel is the country’s largest mobile operator has grand plans for offering 3G services. Airtel already offers 3G services in Sri Lanka and Seychelles.

Tomorrow is the last day for companies to submit their bids for the 3G spectrum following which auctions will take place in April this year.

3G in India has often been a subject of debate over the last few years and the auctions have been delayed countless times due to various reasons.

Lets hope atleast this time the auctions actually take place and operators are awarded licenses to launch 3G services !

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According to a new report by research firm Berg insight, shipments of GPS-enabled GSM/3G handsets increased 92 percent across the around the globe. Over 150 million GPS-enabled phones were shipped in 2009 and forecasts for 2014 stand at a mighty 770 million units

GPS which was a feature attached to only high-end smart phones or navigation centric devices is now making it’s way down to the feature phone segment. Also applications such as Nokia Maps , Google Maps and other apps which support Geo Tagging are really popular amongst users.  Do you use GPS on your phone ?

Press Release below

Gothenburg, Sweden – March 18, 2010: According to a new research report by Berg Insight, global shipments of GPS-enabled GSM/WCDMA handsets increased 92 percent in 2009 to 150 million units. Growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 38.7 percent, shipments are forecasted to reach 770 million units in 2014. Adoption of GPS technology started in the smartphone segment where it is now essentially a standard feature on all new models. Berg Insight anticipates high attach rates of GPS also in new low-cost smartphones about to enter the market. In addition, GPS will become more common in mid-range featurephone models during 2010. Starting next year, users can also expect gradual improvements in location performance in handsets.

“Chipset developers and handset vendors are already working on next-generation location technologies that will address the limitations of GPS when using handsets in urban canyons and indoors”, said André Malm, Senior Analyst, Berg Insight. “Multi-mode receivers that also support the Russian GLONASS satellite system will appear in handsets in 2011. By combining the two systems, more visible satellites will increase the chance to receive sufficiently strong signals to get a fix in more locations”. He adds that receivers compatible with GPS, GLONASS and later also Galileo will not be enough to enable reliable positioning indoors. In the next decade, further performance increases will come from developments in hybrid location technologies. These fuse signal measurements from multiple satellite systems, cellular networks and Wi-Fi, together with data from various forms of sensors such as accelerometers, gyroscopes and altimeters.

About Berg Insight

Berg Insight offers premier business intelligence to the telecom industry. We produce concise reports providing key facts and strategic insights about pivotal developments in our focus areas. Our vision is to be the most valuable source of intelligence for our customers.

• Nokia foraying big-time into Location Based Services
• Nokia to sell 35 million GPS Phones
• Sony Ericsson handsets to contain new Location aware search App “Near Me”
• NOKIA launches new GPS module
• India added a whooping 8.3 million mobile users in November 2007

Qualcomm Inc which is a leading developer of mobile hardware solutions including the latest Snapdragon processors for mobile phones is now bidding for the 3G Spectrum in India. The 3G auctions are finally planned to take place in India next month and the government is inviting bids from companies willing to take part in the auctions. The last date for applying is March 19th.

Qualcomm will seek Indian partners if it wins the auctions to comply with India’s FDI rules.

Press Release

Plans to Facilitate Deployment of TD-LTE to Enhance 3G WCDMA/HSPA and EV-DO Networks and Address India’s Broadband Needs

MUMBAI, INDIA – March 17, 2010 – Qualcomm Incorporated (Nasdaq: QCOM), a leading developer and innovator of advanced wireless technologies, products and services, announced that it has filed an application with the Indian Government to bid in India’s upcoming auction for BWA (Broadband Wireless Access) spectrum in the 2.3 GHz band to facilitate the deployment of TD-LTE. TD-LTE is compatible with 3G WCDMA/HSPA and EV-DO, and will enable a seamless broadband experience for consumers within India and while roaming globally. In India’s unpaired 2.3 GHz spectrum band, TD-LTE is the technology best suited to complement current and upcoming 3G deployments and address India’s rapidly growing demand for high bandwidth broadband services.

Through the use of integrated multimode devices that support TD-LTE as well as 3G and 2G technologies, TD-LTE will take advantage of the 3G and 2G ecosystems, thereby creating economies of scale to enable a broad choice of wireless broadband devices at affordable price points for Indian consumers. TD-LTE enhances 3G networks and offers an attractive value proposition to end-users as well as the wireless ecosystem.

Qualcomm has a history of participating in spectrum auctions to expedite the commercialization of new wireless technologies. By participating in India’s BWA spectrum auction, Qualcomm can foster the accelerated deployment of TD-LTE.

If successful in winning spectrum in the auction, Qualcomm intends to secure Indian partners after completion of the auction and in compliance with the applicable Indian Foreign Direct Investment regulations. Qualcomm and its partners intend to demonstrate TD-LTE technology with the goal of creating a TD-LTE infrastructure and device ecosystem that, in concert with 3G networks and devices, will support India’s broadband goals. Qualcomm and its partners will decide the venture’s strategy in due course. Qualcomm’s goal is to attract an operator partner or partners into the venture at the appropriate time for construction of a TD-LTE network in compliance with the Indian Government’s rollout requirement for the BWA spectrum and then to exit the venture.

Qualcomm Incorporated (Nasdaq: QCOM) is a leader in developing and delivering innovative digital wireless communications products and services based on CDMA and other advanced technologies. Headquartered in San Diego, Calif., Qualcomm is included in the S&P 100 Index, the S&P 500 Index and is a 2009 FORTUNE 500® company.

• Qualcomm to soon power up the new iPhone

Recently HTC announced Android 2.1 update on their HTC Tattoo. This update is now followed by Samsung i5700 Spica too. Samsung has officially announced the Android 2.1 update for Galaxy Spica i5700.

Samsung i5700 Galaxy Spica’s basic features include a 3.2 inch HVGA touchscreen display, HSDPA, A-GPS, Wi-Fi, 3.2MP autofocus camera, 180Mb of internal memory with microSDHC card support and an 800 MHz processor. The update will bring in support for nine home screens for users to customize, augmented reality support, widgets, Visual bookmark, an enhanced camera software that provides more imaging options and software tweaks. Android 2.1 also offers a new virtual keyboard, HTML5 support, better contrast ratios and better hardware performance. The contact management, quick attachment of files to MMS and emails has also seen an improvement. The update will be made via Samsung’s PC Studio 7 software which is pre-installed on the Galaxy Spica and can also be downloaded via Samsung’s official website.

The update, which will be first rolled out in Germany, will soon come to other countries across the world.

Source: Samsung Hub

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Google has announced a new version of Nexus One that is compatible with AT & T’s 3G network. Until now, the phone was available on T-Mobile only. This new version is also compatible with Rogers Wireless’ 3G network in Canada.

Nexus One was launched in January 2010 for a price of $179 with T-Mobile’s contract for 2 years. A report from an analytics firm estimated that Google has sold 135,000 phones in first 74 days. Now the phone is compatible with AT&T’s 3G too (quad-band GSM/EDGE and tri-band 850/1900/2100MHz UMTS). Both T-Mobile and AT&T use GSM-based cell phone standards, the two networks use different frequency bands for their respective 3G traffic. Hence, the T-Mobile-compatible unlocked Nexus One could be used on AT&T, but only at EDGE speeds. Nexus One can be used with a SIM card from GSM operators around the world. Also AT&T subscribers are offered an option of switching to a Nexus One when their iPhone contract expires or when eligible for a handset upgrade.

Here is the Sales comparison of Droid, iPhone and Nexus one through day 74.

Image courtesy : Flurry

The AT&T compatible Nexus One is only available on Google’s Web Site for the price of $529. According to Google’s online store, Nexus One phones for Verizon Wireless in the U.S. and Vodafone in Europe are coming in near future. The release date is not yet announced.

Source : Google Nexus One Board

• Google might bring Cheaper Nexus One to India
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• Nexus One Coming To Verizon In March And Vodafone UK In April
• Google Nexus One Pictures and Videos
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