nike + ipod

arnt these aaaaaaaaawwwwwwwsssssssssoooooooooooommmmmmmmmmmeeeeeee......

Facebook Users Complain of New Tracking

Some users of the online hangout Facebook are complaining that its two-week-old marketing program is publicizing their purchases for friends to see.

Those users say they never noticed a small box that appears on a corner of their Web browsers following transactions at Fandango, Overstock and other online retailers. The box alerts users that information is about to be shared with Facebook unless they click on ''No Thanks.'' It disappears after about 20 seconds, after which consent is assumed.

Users are given a second notice the next time they log on to Facebook, but they can easily miss it if they quickly click away to visit a friend's page or check e-mail.

"People should be given much more of a notice, much more of an alert," said Matthew Helfgott, 20, a college student who discovered his girlfriend just bought him black leather gloves from Overstock for Hanukkah. "She said she had no idea (information would be shared). She said it invaded her privacy."

The girlfriend was declining interviews, Helfgott said.

An Overstock.com Inc. spokesman said no one was immediately available for comment Wednesday.

Facebook has long prided itself on guarding its users' privacy, but the walls have gradually lowered. In 2006, a "news feeds" feature allowing users to track changes friends make to profiles backfired when many users denounced it as stalking and threatened protests. Facebook quickly apologized and agreed to let users turn off the feature.

The new program lets companies tap ongoing conversations by alerting users about friends' activities through the feeds. About 40 Web sites have decided to embed a free tool from Facebook, known as a Beacon, to enable the marketing feeds.

The idea is that if users see a friend buy or do something, they'd take that action as an endorsement for a movie, a band or a soft drink.

But it also raises privacy concerns.

Mike Mayer, for instance, saw a feed item saying his boyfriend, Adam Sofen, just bought tickets to "No Country For Old Man" from movie-ticket vendor Fandango.

"What if I was seeing 'Fred Claus'?" said Sofen, 28. ''That would have been much more embarrassing. At least this was a prestigious movie.''

In some cases, companies can buy an ad next to the feed item with the friend's photo. Although Fandango didn't do that, Mayer, 28, still found Beacon unsettling.

"If my identity is going to be used to promote something for someone else, that seems problematic," said Mayer, who was previously employed in online advertising. "It could be a misrepresentation of my purchases."

Fandango officials referred inquiries to Facebook, which issued a statement defending its practices. Facebook officials have also said advertising supports the free service.

"Beacon gives users an easy way to share relevant information from other sites with their friends on Facebook," the statement said. "Information is shared with a small selection of a user's trusted network of friends, not publicly on the Web or with all Facebook users. Users also are given multiple ways to choose not to share information from a participating site, both on that site and on Facebook."

Users are able to decline sharing on a site-by-site basis, but can't withdraw from the program entirely.

On Wednesday, Facebook launched a mechanism for users to indicate what types of news feeds they like and dislike. Individuals could possibly use that to lower the frequency of marketing items, though the company has said they won't be able to reject them completely.

Liberal advocacy group MoveOn.org formed a protest group Tuesday and had more than 6,000 members by Wednesday. The group is calling on Facebook to stop revealing online purchases and letting companies use names for endorsements without "explicit permission."

"We want Facebook to realize that their users are rightly concerned that private information is being made public," MoveOn spokesman Adam Green said, adding that Facebook could quell concerns by seeking "opt in" consent rather than leaving it to users to "opt out" by taking steps to decline sharing.

Facebook user Nate Weiner, 23, said he uses a tool for the Firefox Web browser called BlockSite, which he says prevents sites from sending data to Facebook.

"What if you bought a book on Amazon called 'Coping with AIDS' and that got published to every single one of your friends?" he said.

Nokia's N82 Finally Released

After being teased with the info that the phone exists, but with no news on the release date or pricing, it’s finally here. Nokia has launched the N82. Another high end mobile from the Finnish mobile makers with a 5 megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics. But this time, unlike the N95, they equipped the phone with a Xenon flash.

The N82 is also equipped with A-GPS for navigation with preinstalled Nokia maps and all the standard packages come with a free voice guided navigation trial. You can purchase additional features, such as city guides and longer subscription to the navigation. Also available in the standard pack is a 2GB micro SD card.

"The evolution of camera capabilities in mobile devices has been extremely fast over the past years. With the Nokia N82 we have reached such a superior level in image quality, speed and ease of use that not only does it outperform any other camera phone on the market, but it's also a very credible alternative for single purpose digital still cameras," said Satu Ehrnrooth, head of Nokia Nseries Cameras Category, Multimedia, Nokia. "In addition to the high-end camera, the Nokia N82 also enables you to navigate and discover new places, enjoy your music, browse the web, play games, chat online and be part of the global web 2.0 community wherever you go. Thanks to the wireless broadband connectivity, convergence and yet again increased performance, the Nokia N82 is all you need in your pocket!"

Among the other features are Wi-Fi connectivity, 3G capabilities with HSDPA for faster internet connection, Bluetooth with A2DP capabilities and miniUSB v2.0. The N82 also has an integrated Stereo FM radio, TV out, document viewer and a new auto rotate feature so if the phone is turned the display automatically switches to landscape mode. It also supports N-Gage games and has a direct upload feature for your images, so it will simultaneously upload your files while you use the phone for any other purpose.

The Nokia N82 is available now in key markets with an estimated, pre-tax, unsubsidized sales price of approximately Rs. 25,810(450 euros).

3G? What's That?

In a long overdue but very welcome move, India recently announced its first steps to becoming part of the 3G cellular services club. This issue, which has received a fair share of newsprint and TV coverage, is of vital importance for the future of for mobile telephony in India.

These days the use of the term 3G is common. Almost everyone who uses it knows it stands for Third Generation (in mobile phone standards and technology specifically). 3G technology opens the doors to the creation of a whole new mobile environment that isn't just fast but is capable of actually enhancing your mobile experience.

The path to 3G
3G is the result of nearly a decade of development and evolution of the GSM standard. It brings with it a host of changes, including near broadband-like data speeds, video conferencing – and, with the increasing complexity of mobiles, support for new technologies such as GPS and streaming video.

However, before it reached its current state, GSM had to undergo a rather painful growth. GSM was conceived in the early 80s as a common standard to be deployed across Europe. This required the cooperation of 13 countries and sharing of knowledge before the first network went live in 1991.

After that it went through a lean phase with adoption being slow, as there were a pressing number of issues such as excess traffic handling ability, lack of network security and cost of deployment. Another aspect was the fact that 1G networks were purely analog networks. Thanks to these, the towers for these networks had to be powerful and put out some strong signals for the (bulky!) handsets to receive them. The lack of mass adoption meant call rates were high.

2G brought with it some crucial changes which included increased traffic handling, improved call clarity by a liberal use of voice codecs, and reduced power requirements which allowed handsets to become smaller and consume less power. 2G also brought with it call encryption which made 'wireless sniffing' next to impossible. All this was made possible as networks were now fully digital.

The introduction of 2G networks was a catalyst for the explosion of the GSM phenomenon. The rapid pace of adoption saw the cost of equipment fall, and deployment costs going down rapidly. The most important fact of this particular generation was the emergence of text messaging, popularly known as SMS. It became the one 'killer' feature on whose popularity alone GSM saw some explosive growth.

This growth was not smooth, however. Around this time the Internet had exploded and proliferated as a mass medium. As mobile telephony began to get more popular (and in some countries even overtook fixed line telephony) as the main method of communication, the need for 'always-on’ data connectivity was felt. This was made possible with the introduction of GPRS, a massive step up from the previous generation.

Thanks to GPRS, it became possible to be always connected via a WAP browser to the Internet and have anytime, anywhere access at usable speeds. To accommodate this, networks were enhanced to better support data connectivity. This generation also saw the evolution of the SMS standard into a multimedia-ready state (MMS). While MMS didn't have the same commercial success as SMS, it nevertheless came to define the 2.5G standard.

It is here that we see a curious fork in GSM evolution. UMTS was intended to be a direct upgrade for all 2.5G networks. However, due to the very high costs involved, a new form of data connectivity was offered to compensate and offer good standby service till 3G could be implemented. This service was called EDGE and was an evolution of the old GPRS format. It offered vastly superior speeds and far better connectivity for the newly emerging camera phone market and smartphones. This phase is now popularly referred to as 2.75G .

This brings us to 3G. Technically it's a direct upgrade to EDGE networks, but it runs on a wholly different set of frequencies. It also employs a different underlying technology (WCDMA) and can make only part use of existing networks. Entirely new infrastructure has to be deployed for the successful roll out of 3G.

What 3G offers
From video phone calls to using the Internet to make calls (VoIP) to wide-area wireless voice telephony and broadband wireless data services, 3G offers it all. Just imagine being able to see on your phone screen someone you're in conversation with! (Of course, this may not always be in your best interests, should you be in the middle of something indiscreet, but nevertheless it is the next step in mobile technology.)

Very recently in India steps were taken to make 3G a reality by first enabling number portability. Imagine you are unhappy with your current service provider and would like to switch. The issue is that over a period of time you've built up a large contact base. What if you can simply change over and still retain your old number? Very convenient!

3G technology allows you do all of this and so much more. The technology also makes it a lot easier for mobile service providers to easily support a larger amount of voice as well as data users. To give you a clearer view, these are some of the services that 3G, as a whole, offers users:

• Mobile TV (DVBH)
• Video calling, video mail and video conferencing
• GPS and car navigation
• Digital catalog shopping
• B2B applications
• Remote medical diagnosis and education
• Digital audio and video delivery
  

To avail of these services, your mobile device has to be 3G compatible. Of course, these days most are. Switching to a 3G way of life also requires a hefty investment from the service providers. Perhaps that's why we haven't seen it in India yet. But, as we mentioned, it won't be too long now.

What lies beyond
While India takes its first steps towards 3G, the rest of the world has moved on. 3G already has an upgrade – 3.5G, which promises the introduction of streaming TV, the ability to stream video directly from your cellphone (similar to a webcam), and a whole lot of other amazing features. That sad part is that we may have to wait another 4-5 years before we see all this. Or hopefully not...

Genius Announces New iPod Speakers

Taiwan based Genius has extended its line of speakers for the iPods with the 2.1 iTempo 800CD equipped with an incorporated subwoofer, CD player, iPod dock, AM/FM tuner, USB flash disk slot and SD/MMC card slot.

The audio system has two built-in 2" full-range drivers and one 4" woofer, delivering up to 20 watts real RMS output power.

iTempo 800 CD ropes USB disk (USB 1.1 and 2.0) and SD/MMC card to playback files and show the ID3 tag on the LCD display while the AM and FM Tuner have 20 preset stations each. The speakers also include two line-in jacks for connecting to other audio sources, one headphone jack and a clock and alarm with wake up and sleep features.

Sandeep Ramani, Country Manager, KYE Systems (India) said, the Genius iTempo 800CD is an ultimate iPod speaker system which promises to go well along with all the features of entertainment and a rare alarm clock feature with wake up and sleep features. I am sure it will be a hit among many music enthusiasts & lovers. It also reflects our commitment to research and our passion for offering people new ways to enjoy."

The Genius iTempo 800CD, is available with Transtek, Ingram Micro and Redington, the authorized distributors for Genius in India for Rs. 13500 and comes with one year warranty.

Transfer iPod Music Without a PC

Imagine if you will, you have an iPod. That wasn’t too hard now was it? Now imagine if your friend has one too and has some music you really want. The problem is you’ll have to take your iPod to their PC connect it and transfer files onto your iPod. What potentially could go wrong is if you end up syncing it to that PC by mistake, you’ll lose all your data. Now imagine you’re hiking though the hills and are nowhere next to a PC, particularly your friends PC.

A company called miShare has developed a tool for just such quandaries. It's small enough to fit in your pocket and is equipped with two Apple iPod ports at either end. The iPods simply need to be hooked up to the said ports and files can be transferred between the two devices. In order to begin the transfer process the center buttons need to be pressed. The miShare runs on a Linux platform and it offers a choice between images, movies or music to be transferred.

It has its own power source through an internal battery that can be charged with an AC adapter. The price nor release date has not been disclosed yet, however it is expected to be out sometime in December.

Boy Strangles Old Lady to Play Online

A 13 year old Vietnamese boy was arrested yesterday for allegedly strangling an 81 year old woman to death. According to the local police, Dinh The Dan "confessed that he needed money to play online games and decided to kill and rob the woman".

The woman, Mai Thi Mau lost her life for 100,000 dong (around Rs. 244). After strangling her with a rope, Dan buried her in a pile of sand in front of his house. The saddest part is that is that he won’t even go to prison! Here’s what a local policeman had to say –

"He is too young to be put in prison for the crime he committed, but we will send him to a reeducation camp, which may release him after he shows enough good behavior."

I think it’s about time people look at MMO addiction as a real concern across the globe. Now there are rehabilitation centers for MMO addicts scattered around the globe, but they’re too few in number and to scarce. The real problem lies in admitting or identifying that you’re addicted.

I was addicted to World of Warcraft for two years too, and I lost out on a huge chunk of my social life and it was more detrimental to me than fun in the long run. So the next time you think about picking up an MMO, consider whether you can control how many hours you choose to spend with it; if you can’t, just skip it and stick to something that takes up fewer hours of your day.

Nokia Launches New Xpressmusic Phones

Nokia’s recent additions to the Xpressmusic series are finally here. The 5610 and 5310 Xpressmusic phones have a variety of features to users not including the obvious fact of having an apparently better music player than some of the previous models. Let’s not forget that Nokia has also decided to take on a rather edgy look with these phones with a black finish with either Blue or Red portions.

Nokia 5610

The 5610 is a slider phone that comes equipped with Aluminum side panels, a 2.2 inch display with 16 million colors and a resolution of 240 x 320 pixels. The company says that it offers up to 22 hours of music playback. We’ll have to wait and see after the review to confirm that of course. It supports external memory with microSD cards up to 4GB. The 5610 Xpressmusic also features a 3.2 megapixel camera with auto-focus and dual LED flash. The handset uses 3G technology, Bluetooth with A2DP, the new standardized microUSB v2.0 and also has an FM radio with RDS. It supports MP3, MP4, AAC, eAAc, and WMA formats.

Nokia 5310

This candybar phone is 9.9mm thick and weighs about 71g. It also supports 4GB microSD cards and is equipped with a 2 megapixel. The 5310 also supports Bluetooth with A2DP compatibility and also uses microUSB v2.0. It has a 2 inch QVGA display with 16 million colors and a resolution of 240 x 320 pixels. It has an FM radio and uses a 3.5mm earphone jack and is EDGE enabled.

Both phones are available in stores and are priced at Rs.15,429 for the Nokia 5610 and Rs. 12,549 for the Nokia 5310.

msn india mobile services launched

India has always been an important market for online products and services, so it's little wonder that MSN India saw fit to launch its mobile services in the country. MSN’s new mobile client has the potential to become really big. David Raissipour, Product Unit Manager for MSN Mobile, and Senthilkumar Sundaram, Head – Mobile Business, MSN India, were at hand today to give us information on the range of services that MSN India Mobile is bringing in.

MSN India Mobile allows you to log in to check email or chat on MSN Messenger or browse current events using your cell phone, but the company claims there's much more to it. Interestingly, the service has been designed to optimize itself for whatever type of mobile device you have, so long as it supports normal XHTML viewing.

Not only do the pages appear to load faster, the size and placement of data is adjusted for optimized viewing on your display screen. It's also able to change the orientation if your mobile device allows Landscape viewing. Text will also adjust to best suit your display. The content will range from news to live sports to lifestyle and entertainment. We were told that, over time, there would be a lot more on offer, including mapping for GPS-enabled devices, and streaming video.

MSN has tied up with Nokia to be its worldwide partner. Though the MSN client may not be available for the Indian market yet, we were assured it wouldn't take long. The grapevine also suggests that MSN will be tying up with a local service provider. We are uncertain who won the bid, but rest assured, we'll find out soon enough.

To get a first-hand idea of things, point your WAP or GPRS-enabled phone to http://msnmobile.in.

Spice Dual D-80

Easy to use and operate Decent enough camera Hot-swap slots for second SIM and memory card Connectivity/charging is easy No radio or Bluetooth A bit bulky

Mobile technology has definitely taken a step forward with the ability to allow users to simultaneously have two discrete phone numbers in a single device. And lord knows many of us do lead dual lives. With work and play kept separate, this is a great way to allow us to have both lives controlled from one device and not be burdened with carrying around multiple phones. The Spice Dual D-80 has tried to accomplish this. These are my findings after putting it through our Tech Tests.

Form Factor
The Spice Dual D-80 is, as it states, a dual SIM card phone that allows you to use to separate GSM numbers. The clamshell flip design is rather squarish and unimpressive. It’s a bit bulky as well, but on the plus side it’s lightweight at 109g. The OLED display on the outside comes in handy on clamshell phones. The external speaker and 1.3 megapixel camera are also located in front.

On one side of the phone is the Hot Swap (thank goodness) slot for a secondary SIM card and the volume/zoom keys. On the other side is the dedicated camera key. The bottom is where you’ll find the mini USB and MicroSD card slot and also the 2.5mm earphone socket.

The keypad may seem very familiar, and that’s because it is. If you’ve seen or used Motorola handsets, you’ll find this extremely easy to get along with. The good thing is there are separate keys for the two SIM cards. These allow you to choose whether or not you’d like to have both or either active. This is definitely a sensible option. The main internal display is a bright but they could have made it bigger; the resolution at 176 x 220 is okay though.

Features and Performance
The D-80 has all the features you’d expect, from a business point of view. It's not in the BlackBerry range, naturally! The calendar features include an alarm clock, and a To-Do list with an alarm as well. You can set reminders and schedules for various dates. Other handy applications include a World Clock, Calculator, Currency Converter, Stopwatch and a Health function that allows you to calculate what height or weight is ideal. There’s also a feature that allows you to keep track of your menstrual cycle if you’re female.

There are also a few games to keep you entertained.

Media
From the media point of view the D-80 is well equipped. The MP3 player is actually quite good. With some cool player interfaces to choose from, and preset EQs, the quality may not be superb but it’s still a step above being just decent. The external speaker is unusually loud and shrill, loud being more prominent.

The video player is easy to use and the acceptable files that the D-80 reads for Audio and Video include MP3s, 3GP, and MPEG formats. There’s also an image editor if you want to jazz up your pictures a bit. Unfortunately it has a 2.5mm earphone slot. This would have been a problem earlier, but with 2.5mm to 3.5mm converters easily available it’s no big deal.

Camera

The 1.3 megapixel camera is actually quite decent. There are plenty of settings to choose from to get the best possible image quality. The same goes for the video recorder. The photos do appear a bit grainy and dull, but not too bad for a 1.3 megapixel camera. It does pick up the colors quite well in certain places sometimes though.

Battery
The D-80 does live up to its claimed 3.5 hours talktime. One problem I didn’t have with the phone was the battery. To put it another way. I was able to listen to music, send messages, and makes calls (from both GSM SIMs) and got a decent, almost two-day battery life out of the D-80. It has no need for a charger. You can simply plug it into your PC to charge it and transfer files.

The Bottomline
The dual GSM SIM card mobile is definitely a good idea for people who need to use two phones. I can’t say much for the design, and it makes an extremely annoying noise when flipped open or closed, but the D-80 does live up to its promise of providing the convenience of two GSM numbers in a single device.

It does this quite well, in fact, and all for the price of Rs 9,849. Maybe it could have had a better design, so hopefully we can look forward to that in a later iteration. But this is quite good as is, notwithstanding the lack of an FM radio or Bluetooth.

Specs

Spice Dual D-80
Network	GSM 900/1800/1900, GPRS
Physical	90.75 x 46 x 21.5 mm, 109 g
Display	176 x 220, 16m colors, TFT
Memory	MicroSD external
Media	MP3, 3GP, MPEG, Voice Recording
Camera	1.3 megapixels, video (QCIF)
Connectivity	USB
Battery	260 hrs standby in dual mode, 260 hrs single, 3.5 hrs talk
Street Price	Rs 9,849

Nokia Unveils Future Trends in Mobile Tech

Nokia has unveiled plans for its next-generation mobile technology. It's not simply about mobile devices either; preference is also being given to operating systems and software. The plans were put forward at the 'The Way We Live Next' event, an exclusive briefing at the Nokia Research Center in Oulu, Finland’s northern technology hub.

"The world of mobile communications is changing at an ever increasing pace," said Tero Ojanperä, CTO, Nokia, in his keynote address. "To continue to stay ahead in this environment and to develop innovative new products and services that excite consumers, companies need to embrace openness on many levels."

"At Nokia, we work with experts in the academic, scientific and developer communities, and increasingly importantly, directly in interaction with our customers. Innovation can come from anywhere, and we need to have the tools and flexibility to respond to that challenge," he added.

At the briefing, Nokia delivered presentations on a range of topics, such as:

• Web technologies driving innovation in mobile
• Nanotechnology and solutions for the environment
• The evolution of the Internet user experience
• Mobile payments and banking using Near Field Communications
• Future energy sources
• Smart Connectivity and the future of wireless broadband

Nokia also demonstrated a variety of breakthrough technologies, including the following:

MOSH: A one-to-many distribution platform; a targeted channel for developers and technology leaders to publish applications and other content for mobile devices, to a global audience.

Widsets: A mobile Internet service with more than 3 million registered users and over 2000 widgets, which allows people to enjoy and share their favorite Internet content and to create and publish their own widgets in the spirit of Web 2.0.

Point & Find: An exciting new way to discover more about your surroundings, using the camera on your mobile device. The mobile device then displays relevant information about what you are looking at, fetching real-time information from the Internet.

Shoot to Translate: A demonstration using software that translates written characters into another language; the original text is captured with the camera on the Nokia multimedia computer and translation happens in real time.

Virtual worlds: In addition to previewing the first ever photographic exhibition taking place simultaneously in Second Life and the real world, Nokia showed how 3D virtual environments could be implemented on mobile devices to create an immersive user experience.

In addition, Nokia announced a relaunch of its Beta Labs site, with more interactive features. Beta Labs shares some of the new ideas that Nokia is working on and lets users help shape their future development.

Nokia also demonstrated Mobile Web Server, a beta lab application running on S60 smartphones. It allows a mobile device to function as an Internet server, making it possible for people to access content on their mobile remotely from a web browser on another device, or to allow other people to do so.

Mobile Web Server takes the development of Web 2.0 communities to another level as, rather than centralizing content from many people on a single site, it emphasizes decentralization as a way of creating another kind of community.

For more details on these new technologies click here.

Fujitsu Unveils New Budget Laptop

Fujitsu has launched a new laptop – the V1010 – for budget users. The new model is based on Intel’s Core 2 Duo processor, has a 120 GB HDD, and can have up to 2 GB of DDR2 RAM.

This 15.4 inch laptop’s graphics are based on Intel’s GMA 950 chipset. It has a dual-layer DVD burner, and comes with the standard connectivity options.

The V1010 will retail at $800 and will be available in select markets by the end of November.

Samsung Launches Two 5MP Camera Phones

Samsung seems to have made it a habit to surprise us by launching a succession of new phones, each more eye-catching than the previous.

After its latest music phone (the Serenata, with audio manufacturer Bang and Olufsen) and a fashion statement phone (with well known Designer Armani), Samsung has decided to go solo on its latest masterpieces: the F700 and G800 mobiles.

What makes these phones so special? They’re both equipped with 5 megapixel auto-focus cameras, that's what!

Specs for the F700 indicate that it’s a tri-band phone with a 2.8 inch TFT display and a slide-out QWERTY keyboard. It’s also likely that the F700 is 3G-enabled with HSDPA.

Samsung F700

The G800, it would seem, is equipped with a Xenon flash and apparently has 3x optical zoom. Other specs include Bluetooth, but there's no mention of A2DP compatibility. Of course, the pictures do tell us that it’s a slider.

Samsung G800

Prices and availability have not been confirmed yet. I guess we’ll have to wait a bit longer for the official deal with the specs as well, so stay tuned.

Top High-End Mobiles for Diwali

Diwali is the time to celebrate, to let go and splurge. Mobile phones make great gifts, so I wondered: why not let you guys know what we at Tech2 consider the best high-end mobiles? They would obviously be priced rather steep, but hey, if you can afford it, why not flaunt it? So here are some phones that’ll make you drool.

Multimedia Mobiles
MOTO RAZR2 V8

This has got to be one of the slimmest phones ever. Not because of the cool TV ad but because of the design itself. At the end of the day, however, it’s a luxury mobile with plenty of what I like to call the 'flash-factor’. That means its one helluva mobile phone.

To elaborate, it has a 2-inch external display with 240 x 320 pixel resolution and 256K colors, with a semi-touch screen. What that means is that you can also change tracks with the flap closed simply by tapping the bottom of the external screen. The camera and the music player are both good but what’s most impressive is the build quality. The flap hinges have been tried and tested more times than I care to count and they help up well.

The RAZR V8 is available in five models, from a 512MB version to a 2GB with Motorola’s Snoop Stereo (A2DP Compatible) Bluetooth headset.

Specs

Motorola RAZR2 V8
Network	GSM 850/900 /1800/1900
Physical	99 x 47 x 14 mm, 94g
Display	Internal: 2.2-inch TFT, 256K colors (320 x 240 pixels). External: QVGA, contextual touch screen feature, 2 inch 240x320 pixels, 256k colors
Memory	512 MB internal or 2GB (No external memory)
Camera	2 Megapixel
Connectivity	USB (micro) v.2.0, Bluetooth (A2DP), GPRS, EDGE, Infrared
Battery	Up to 330 hrs standby, 6.30 hrs talktime
Street Price	Rs 15,000 for 512MB and Rs 16,000 for 2GB

Sony Ericsson W910i

Although we haven’t been able to put this phone through its paces, we did preview it intensively and I must say that our first impressions have been very favorable. The new media interface (with a gyroscopic sensor that automatically switches to landscape mode if the phone is turned) is awesome.

The 2 MP camera in the test piece was quite good. The slider is smooth and though the keypad is a bit of problem it’s nothing you can’t get around. The large 2.5 inch display is clear and great for videos. Even the applications and games available with the W910 are superb.

Specs

Sony Ericsson W910i
Network	GSM 850/900/1800/1900, HSDPA
Physical	99 x 50 x 12.5 mm, 86g
Display	240 x 320, 256k colors, TFT, 2.4 inches
Memory	40MB internal, M2 support
Media	MP3, WMA, Voice recorder
Camera	2 Megapixel, Secondary VGA for video calling
Connectivity	USB v2.0, Bluetooth with A2DP, 3G
Battery	Up to 400 hrs standby, 9 hrs talktime
Street Price	Rs 19,000

Business Mobiles

BlackBerry 8300 Curve

BlackBerry is in a class by itself, as RIM (Research In Motion) took pains to establish from day one. The Curve endows the BlackBerry business class mobile with a 2 MP camera with flash and Bluetooth with A2DP. Aside from the traditional BlackBerry functionality, this mobile may not stand out so much, but it does have what it takes to satisfy almost all requirements in terms of multimedia and business functions. The large 320 x 240 pixel, 65K color display is a definite bonus, and the QWERTY keypad and TrackBall navigation are great too.

Specs

BlackBerry 8300 Curve
Network	GSM 850/900/1800/1900
Physical	107 x 60 x 15.5 mm, 111g
Display	320 x 240, 65k colors, 2.4 inch
Memory	64MB internal, MicroSD
Media	MP3, WMA
Camera	2 Megapixel, flash
Connectivity	USB, Bluetooth with A2DP
Battery	Up to 408 hrs standby, 4.30 hrs talktime
Street Price	Rs 21,000

Asus P535

This was one of the better Windows Mobile phones we got to review. With GPS and A2DP compatibility, it's quite well equipped, not to mention Wi-Fi connectivity and a 2 MP auto-focus camera. Windows Media player 10 is great for videos and music. Of course it provides users will business functionality for reviewing MS documents easily. A good business phone, it also comes with an assortment of accessories that make it usable in most places, including your car.

Specs

Asus P535
Network	GSM 900/1800/1900
Physical	109 x 59 x 19 mm, 145g
Display	240 x 320, 65k colors, TFT touchscreen, 2.8 inches
Memory	256MB internal, MiniSD
Media	MP3, WMA, Voice recorder
Camera	2 Megapixel, auto-focus
Connectivity	USB v1.1, Bluetooth with A2DP, WLan
Battery	Up to 200 hrs standby, 5 hrs talktime
Street Price	Rs 29,500

All-in-Ones

Nokia N95

Without a doubt I have to say this is one of the best phones I tested. It has everything you need from both an entertainment perspective as well as a business angle. The 5 MP auto-focus camera was great and the music player excelled when compared with other high-end models. With Wi-Fi, EDGE, 3G with HSDPA, Bluetooth with A2DP compatibility, Infrared and mini-USB connectivity this has got to be the most connectable phone there is.

The smooth slider and large display sporting a resolution of 240 x 320 pixels and 16m colors is a great way to view images and movies. The N95 has a TV-out feature, so it can be hooked up to a TV. My eagerness to test the next-gen version with an inbuilt 8 GB capacity is overwhelming. The big question is: just HOW much better can it get?

Specs

Nokia N95
Network	GSM 850/900/1800/1900, GPRS, EDGE, 3G/HSDPA
Physical	99 x 53 x 21 mm, 120 g
Display	240 x 320, 16 million colors, TFT, 2.6-inches
Memory	160mb internal, MicroSD (1GB provided)
Media	MP3, AAC, FM, 3GP, MP4, Voice Recording, Photo / Video editor, TV out (3.5mm AV slot)
Camera	5 MP, Carl Zeiss lens, autofocus, video(VGA 30fps), secondary CIF videocall camera
Connectivity	USB 2.0 (mini USB), Bluetooth 2.0+EDR, A2DP, IR
Battery	220 hrs standby, 5 hrs talktime
Street Price	Rs 24,500

These phones do require rather deep pockets, but as I said Diwali is the season to go all out, be it for yourself or family. So if you think you can afford one of these phones, go for it. Have a blast!