Huawei launches world’s first plug and link datacard HiLink in India

Huawei, a leading global information and communications technology (ICT) solutions provider, on Thursday commercially launched the world's first plug and link data card, the HiLink E303Cs in India.

Powered by a number of patented technologies, the HiLink E303Cs automatically connects users to the Internet in as little as 15 seconds after the datacard is inserted into the USB port, without the need for a tedious dial-in process, driver installation or manual configuration. This is up to 75% faster than products currently on the market. The HiLink E303Cs is the first EDGE/GPRS/GSM-compatible product in the Huawei HiLink series that supports HSPA+network with 7.2 Mbps Downlink. The HiLink is available pan-India July 2012 onwards, in telecom and PC stores and online channels. MRP of HiLink is 2199.

                                                               

 “Huawei is committed to providing Indian consumers with products that feature ease of use and optimal user experience. With customers at the heart of our strategy, we have been at the forefront of datacard development with industry leading technologies and product form factors. Leveraging revolutionary 4th generation datacard technology, the HiLink series is poised to change the datacard industry landscape. The HiLink technology is the result of more than one year of dedicated research and development and we believe that it will not only enhance consumers’ user experience, it will also enable operators to reduce backend development and maintenance costs and speed up UI customization, enhancing the competitiveness of their products”, said Victor Shanxin, President, Huawei Device India.

Nokia Lumia 900, Lumia 610 coming to India tomorrow

Nokia India is set to roll out two new smartphones running on Windows Phone 7.5 (Tango) in India tomorrow, Lumia 900 and Lumia 610. As per the press invite sent by the Finnish manufacturer, it will also launch The Dark Knight Edition of the former at the event. There is no official statement regarding the prices of the phones.

Lumia 900 is a top-end smartphone that boasts of a 4.3-inch AMOLED display and 8MP rear camera. It will run on a 1.4GHz processor coupled with a 512MB RAM and have 16GB internal memory. The Lumia 900 Batman edition smartphone, which has already hit stores in UK, will be offered with exclusive The Dark Knight Rises content, including themed wallpapers, ringtones and limited edition Batman or Bane character images.

The other phone to be launched tomorrow is the Nokia Lumia 610, which had made its debut atMobile World Congress. It sports a 3.7-inch display, 5MP camera, 800MHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, 256MB RAM and 8GB of internal memory. The Mobile Indian has reported that this smartphone will cost around Rs 11,000.

Microsoft, which has developed the Windows Phone platform, has stated that it will upgrade these devices to Windows Phone 7.8, which consists of some Windows Phone 8 (WP8) features. However, these devices will not receive the Windows Phone 8 update, Microsoft has said. 

Apple plans smaller, cheaper iPad to take on Google’s Nexus 7

SAN FRANCISCO: Apple plans to debut a smaller, cheaper iPad by year-end to help maintain its dominance of the tablet market, two persons with knowledge of the plans said.

The new model will have a screen that is seven to eight inches diagonally, less than the current 9.7-inch version, said the sources who asked not to be identified. The product, which Apple may announce by October, will not have the high-definition (HD) screen featured on the iPad that was released in March, said one of the sources.

A smaller, less expensive iPad could undercut the ambitions of Google, Microsoft and Amazon.com to gain traction in the advancing tablet market, said Shaw Wu, an analyst at Sterne Agee & Leach.

The new device will probably have a price closer to Google's Nexus 7 tablet and Amazon's Kindle Fire, both of which have 7-inch screens and cost $199. "It would be the competitors' worst nightmare," Wu said in an interview . "The ball is in Apple's court."

Since the iPad went on sale in April 2010, Apple has dominated the tablet market, which is predicted by Display-Search to reach $66.4 billion this year. Apple has 61% of the market, according to research firm Gartner.

Apple's rivals are eager to gain a toehold. Google said on June 27 that it will sell a tablet-style device called the Nexus 7.

Earlier in the month, Microsoft announced a tablet called Surface that will have a similar screen size as the current iPad. Amazon's Kindle Fire was released last year. The entrants' best chance of success has been to focus on markets where Apple had no toehold, said Jan Dawson, an analyst at Ovum.

The Surface comes in two models that are most likely to appeal to buyers who want to continue using Microsoft's Windows software, Dawson said. While Microsoft has not disclosed pricing or timing for either, the higher-end version will probably be pricier than the iPad and targeted more at an emerging class of laptop PCs called Ultrabooks, he said.

The latest iPad ranges in price from $499 to $829. Google's Nexus 7 could stack up well against Amazon's Kindle Fire, which went on sale in November.

The Nexus 7, manufactured by Asustek Computer, has a faster processor and better battery life than the Kindle Fire, as well as a front-facing camera. Still, competing with a lower-priced iPad will be more challenging, Wu said. Apple benefits from having more than 225,000 apps that have been tailored specifically for the current iPad.

Can a Google patch save the Galaxy Nexus from its US ban?

Google just might help Samsung overturn a ban on its Galaxy Nexus phone, after a  US judge rejected a request by Samsung to lift a pre-trial injunction against sales of the device.

On Friday, US District Judge Lucy Koh in San Jose, California, also granted Apple’s request to block sales of the smartphone, the Galaxy Nexus. Samsung had asked the court to stay the injunction pending resolution of an appeal. Apple had objected to the Galaxy Nexus, saying that it infringed on four of its patents.

According to Apple, the Nexus’ “Quick Search Box” which is able to search multiple sources through a single interface is like Apple’s Siri. Apple insists that this is patent infringement. The other three areas where Apple has accused Samsung of patent infringement are actionable linking, slide-to-unlock, and touch screen word suggestion.

Now it seems that Google will help Samsung fight the ban. According to TheNextWeb Google has revealed that is ready to roll out a software update that it hopes will overcome a possible US sales ban on the Galaxy Nexus.

According to the report, Once the patch is rolled out, devices that are updated will see the homescreen-based quick search option simplified so as to only show results from the Web, with local search options disabled entirely on the device. The voice search option will also be restricted to retrieving results from the Web.  

The restricted search option could thus ensure that Samsung could get the injunction reversed if the smartphone no longer uses the unified search platform, which seems to be the major cause for contention.

Meanwhile it seems that Google has ceased sale of the phone from Google Play in the US, reports the Verge. The Verge also states, the description of the phone now reads “Galaxy Nexus HSPA+ (soon with Android 4.1, Jelly Bean),” which suggests that maybe the company merely stopped selling devices without the new update.

This current fight seems to be over search options in the smartphone. With Jelly Bean, the Nexus will get Google Now, which is similar to Apple’s Siri. Hopefully the new OS or the software patch will ensure that Samsung can avoid the ban.

As a condition of the Galaxy Nexus injunction, Apple was ordered to post a bond  of more than $95 million to secure payment of any damages sustained by Samsung should the injunction be deemed a wrongful decision later.

This is a significant victory for Apple as pre-trial injunctions are rarely granted.