HTC Touch Pro, Viva, Launched in India

HTC and Idea have launched the HTC Touch Pro and the Touch Viva in Mumbai today.

The HTC Touch Pro has a 3D touch interface called the TouchFLO 3D, that provides an intuitive way to manouver through tasks like messaging, calendar appointments or making calls with just one touch.

Committed to improving web browsing, HTC has provided a new customized mobile web browser that enables easy viewing and effortless navigation of websites in the way they are designed to be viewed on a PC.

As part of this browsing experience users can zoom and pan websites with one-hand and automatically view optimized content that has been specially created to fit the display. Turning the device sideways automatically rotates the web page view from a portrait to landscape view.

In addition to web browsing, the Touch Pro includes an HTC-developed, YouTube application for watching a variety of user generated video content as well as including Google Maps for mobile.

The Touch Pro introduces a new 5-row QWERTY keyboard layout that makes typing-intensive tasks like composing email or working on Microsoft Office documents quick and easy. It also features an 2.8-ich display and built-in TV-out functionality.

The Touch Pro is priced at Rs. 34,900.

HCL Introduces Leaptop Series 39 in India

HCL Infosystems has launched the HCL "Leaptop Series 39", designed for Indian conditions, where the ambient temperatures are higher and the surface temperature of laptops tend to become uncomfortably hot. The HCL Leaptop Series 39 is designed to achieve a lower temperature differential of below 6 degrees on its palm rest surfaces.

Developed under its "Design for India" program, the Leaptops meet the Energy star 4.0 compliance standard.

HCL has also showcased its range of Leaptops, the Z35 series, the series 28 and 24, its latest "MTV Edition", the "HCL MiLeap series" and a range of HCL accessories including the "Dictamail" and the "FM Companion".

George Paul, Executive Vice President, HCL Infosystems said, "Over the past three decades, with our understanding and expertise of the Indian market, HCL has always been at the forefront of bringing in technological innovation in the country.  We are committed to bring, cutting edge technology products designed for Indian conditions and have brought in a range of new categories that have transformed the computing industry in India. The launch of HCL Leaptop Series 39 is yet another step towards the ‘Design for India' products strategy."

The HCL Leaptop 39 series comes with a 14.1-inch wide screen and has a battery backup of more than 4 hours. Compliant to the energy Star 4.0 Category A certification, the HCL Leaptop Series 39 consumes less than 1.7W of energy in sleep mode and below 1W in stand-by mode and is optimized to reduce its power consumption.

Further these products are tested for special conditions and undergo rigorous tests such as the HCL five feet drop test and the multiple environment stress tests, which test these laptops under extensive heat, humidity and voltage stress conditions.

The HCL Leaptop Series 39 is based on Intel's Centrino and Centrino2 Processor technology and comes in both Microsoft and Linux versions.

Starting at a price range of Rs. 39,900 for the Centrino Model and Rs. 42,990 for the Centrino2 range, the HCL Leaptop Series 39 will be available nationwide at all HCL DigiLife stores, premium Large Format Retail and other HCL retail outlets.

Asus Announces P565 With 800MZ Processor

Asus has introduced the P565, a business PDA phone that boasts a 800 MHz processor - the fastest in the world so far. Featuring Asus' latest touch-driven user interface - Glide - this leather-accented P565 is apparently capable of delivering a higher quality of graphics and system performance as compared to some of the other handsets in its class.





The P565, running on a Windows Mobile 6.1 professional OS, comes equipped with a 2.8-inch touchscreen with a resolution of 480 x 640 pixels (VGA). This should enhance Asus' Glide system of navigation and enable users to switch between tasks rapidly with their fingertips. The P565 also comes with a suite of business-oriented features and software, including push mail, business card recognition and Microsoft Office Mobile. Other applications such as Anytime Launcher and Multi-Home enables users to view their calendars, the times of local and visiting cities, weather reports, online news and much more - all with an intuitive tap, slide or flick of their fingers.

The handset’s battery lid is lined with black synthetic leather that will give it a hint of class and with its contrasting modern, high-gloss face the idea is to lend the phone tactility with a touch of sophistication. The handset also supports Wi-fi, Stereo Bluetooth, microSD cards for external memory, SIRF III GPS and it comes with a 3MP auto-focus camera as well with video recording capabilities.

Though the handset has been officially announced there is no information on its availability in the market or its pricing, so stay tuned.

Possible Screenshots of WinMob 6.5 Emerge

According to reports, Microsoft has confirmed that WinMob 6.1 is going to be passé as WinMob 6.5 is soon to be making the scene before the much awaited version 7.

According to the images posted, these could very well be just concepts of the UI as they have not been authenticated or confirmed as official yet. It would seem that the new Windows Mobile OS could change the outlook of WinMob handsets. The OS as a whole was due for a revamping and I personally will welcome it.

Office 2007 Support For S60 Users

For Symbian S60 users who use their handsets as a mobile office as well as a media/communication device, Mobile Systems has developed an upgraded version of OfficeSuite that brings Microsoft Office 2007 file support to the table. 

Users will be able to open and edit DOCX and XLSX files on their S60 enabled handset and the files can be saved to their original format for transfer to the PC or email. It will have Unicode support, True Type fonts, spelling capabilities in 6 languages (with word auto-complete and underlining of misspelled words) and the advanced formatting will allow for insertion and editing of embedded tables, images and hyperlinks. It also supports password protected files.

For Excel documents the upgrade comes with an ‘Easy Sum’ function and users will be able to edit XLS and XML files, and CSV files. Other features include over 100 common and scientific functions, charts and hiding and freezing of columns and rows.

With PowerPoint files, users can view files in various modes that include slide view, slide show, notes and outline view.

According to the official site, OfficeSuite has two separate work modes - View mode, where users can open and read document without any limitations in functionality or time with no limited trials and  Edit mode where documents can be modified on the device and saved in their original format. The save is available for a limited 30 days trial though. Registered users of other versions of OfficeSuite can upgrade for Rs. 1,459 ($29.99).

For Quick office users v5.0 is out and also has support for Office 2007 documents.