Nokia Unveils 5800 XpressMusic in India

Nokia India has unveiled its much awaited "Touch Music" device, the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic, in India.



Also announced is the scheduled launch of the beta version of the Nokia Music Store.

Nokia has also announced a tie-up with Universal Music Group, Sony BMG, EMI, Warner, Tseries, Big Music and Yashraj.

Anssi Vanjoki, Executive Vice President, Nokia said, "With more than 300 million music enabled devices sold, and a strong base of over 10 Nokia Music stores in operation globally, Nokia has been able to gain incredible amount of knowledge and insights on what people want in a music device and track important trends on how people consume music. We will continue to break new grounds in this space by building more and better services for our consumers."

D. Shivakumar, Managing Director, Nokia India said, "As Nokia's first mass-market device with a touch screen, the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic turns a 'user interface' into a 'human interface' by truly putting people first. When it comes to music phones, people all over the world want a device that is a great music experience – with more memory, loud and powerful speakers, easy synchronization – and must still work well as a mobile phone with direct access to important contacts and content. The iconic Nokia 5800 XpressMusic delivers on all these counts."




The Nokia 5800 XpressMusic along with offering a variety of input methods including a virtual alphanumeric keypad and a virtual computer-style QWERTY keyboard, also has a pen stylus and a plectrum.

It introduces the 'Media Bar', a drop down menu that provides direct access to music and entertainment. The Media Bar also offers a direct link to the Web and to online sharing. The phone offers all the music essentials, including a graphic equalizer, 8GB memory, support for all main digital music formats and a 3.5mm jack. It has built-in surround sound stereo speakers and the innovative 'Contacts Bar' lets consumers highlight four favorite contacts on their home-screen and, through a single touch, track a digital history of recent text messages, emails, phone logs, photos and blog updates.

The phone features a 3.2-inch widescreen display, a 16 by 9 aspect ratio and 30 frames-per-second playback and recording.

Equipped with a 3.2 megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss lens, the phone allows images or videos to be shared via online communities, such as Share on Ovi, Flickr, or Facebook. Music playlist song titles can also be shared through Bluetooth, MMS or online sharing.

The device will be available in India starting January 2009 for Rs. 21,839.

The Nokia Music Store, an online music service is a part of OVI and will go live in December 2008.

Motorola QA30 Has Slide Out QWERTY Keypad

According to reports Motorola has a new 'Q' series device that should be out as a CDMA phone in the US with their Alltel operator. The device, called the QA30, looks quite sharp with a slider form factor that has a bit of a twist. The keypad that slides out from under the 2.5-inch TFT LCD (240 x 320 pixel resolution) display is QWERTY.




The MOTO QA30 will also come with a 2MP camera, microSD card support for external memory, USB 2.0, Bluetooth 2.0, Facebook access, full HTML support as well as a standard 3.5mm earphone socket for the handsfree. There are no more details about the OS, the pricing or the availability of the device. For now word is, the QA30 will be launched only in the USA.

HP Launches Multi-touch Consumer Tablet PC

HP has announced the industry's first convertible notebook PC with multi-touch technology designed specifically for consumers.

Building upon the touch innovation HP developed for its TouchSmart desktop PCs, the HP TouchSmart tx2 Notebook PC was developed for people on the go.

The enhanced HP MediaSmart digital entertainment software suite on the tx2 allows users to more naturally select, organize and manipulate digital files such as photos, music, video and web content by simply touching the screen.

"Breezing through websites and enjoying photos or video at the tap, whisk or flick of a finger is an entirely new way to enjoy digital content on a notebook PC," said Ted Clark, senior vice president and general manager, Notebook Global Business Unit, Personal Systems Group, HP. "With the introduction of the TouchSmart tx2, HP is providing users an easier, more natural way to interact with their PCs, and furthering touch innovation."

The tx2 recognizes simultaneous input from more than one finger using "capacitive multi-touch technology," which enables the use of gestures such as pinch, rotate, arc, flick, press and drag, and single and double tap.

The convertible design with a twist hinge allows consumers to enjoy the TouchSmart in three modes - PC, display and tablet. With a rechargeable digital ink pen, users can turn the tx2 into a tablet PC to write, sketch, draw, take notes or graph right onto the screen – and then automatically convert handwriting into typed text.

Starting at less than 4.5 pounds, the tx2 has a 12.1-inch diagonal BrightView LED display and an HP Imprint "Reaction" design.

In an effort to provide consumers with rich content through the Internet, HP has expanded its partnership with MTV Networks (MTVN) by offering video content from 10 television channels and online brands within MediaSmart's TV module.

Beginning in December, users can enjoy all the best content from Nickelodeon, MTV and Comedy Central. MTVN also plans to make content from Atom, CMT, GameTrailers, Logo, Spike, The N and VH1 available within MediaSmart's TV module.

Powered by the AMD Turion X2 Ultra Dual-Core Mobile Processor or AMD Turion X2 Dual-Core Mobile Processor and built on Windows Vista Home Premium, the tx2 will be made available worldwide in an array of configure-to-order options.

The HP tx Series Notebook Stand elevates the tx2, enhancing its usability while stationary, including making it possible to put the PC in an upright position for full interactivity with the touch screen.

The HP TouchSmart tx2 is available at starting price of $1,149.

Moto VE66 Announced

Motorola has announced the MOTO VE66 with enhanced CrystalTalk audio technology, a 5-megapixel camera and MP3 player-like navigation.

The slider device also boasts the first widgets integration on a Motorola mobile device.

"The MOTO VE66 delivers on consumer’s demand for more personalized listening and imaging experiences on a mobile phone," said Tracey Koziol, corporate vice president, Mobile Devices, Motorola. "With a diverse multi-media experience, the VE66 truly enables you to make a statement and express yourself on your terms."

MOTO VE66 amplifies conversations and helps reduce background noise with enhanced CrystalTalk technology. The VE66 also further enhances the audio quality with the addition of a second microphone, which helps eliminate more ambient background noise from the call.

On pressing a dedicated camera key, the VE66 will auto focus, activate an LED flash, if necessary, stabilize the image and reduce red eye. Automatic color saturation delivers whiter whites and crisper blacks.

The Wi-fi-enabled VE66 also features an MP3 player with USB 2.0 and integrated FM radio.

MOTO VE66 is expected to be available this quarter though no price has been attached to the phone as yet.

PRADA II Launched With BT Wrist Watch

About a month or so ago, LG and PRADA had announced another collaboration to bring out the next generation PRADA. The handset has now been officially launched and is set to hit stores in Europe by late November this year.

The latest edition of the PRADA Phone by LG (Model: LG-KF900) preserves the same original minimalist, totally touch screen exterior. A defining modification though involves a QWERTY keypad that slides out to give a more professional look.

The handset’s user interface has also received an improvement with LG’s latest active flash UI technology and haptic feedback on touch input. Dynamic upgrades to the software are well complimented by hardware extensions that include 3G capability with HSDPA up to 7.2 Mbps and an advanced 5 megapixel camera featuring slow motion video recording and DivX playback. Other features include Wi-fi, a full HTML browser and video calling capabilities.

Some of the contents included with the handset feature the PRADA Fall/Winter 2008 Lookbook, new PRADA animation films dedicated to the PRADA Phone by LG, and wallpapers illustrating principal themes from PRADA’s annual design collections dating back to 2001.

This time around, LG and PRADA have reinvented the mobile trend with another offering, the ‘PRADA Link’ (Model: LG-LBA-T950). Expected to release with the new handset, this sleek digital timepiece is a Bluetooth device that can remotely monitor phone calls as well as read full SMS text messages without having to extract the phone from a bag or pocket.

The new PRADA Phone by LG and the PRADA Link will be available at a starting price of Rs. 37, 113 (600 Euros) and Rs. 18,495 (299 Euros), respectively.