Spice to launch dual-sim Android phone MI-270 in India soon

Spice Mobility Managing Director Dilip Modi has stated that Spice will release their first dual-sim Android smartphone this week in India. Dubbed as MI-270, this Android phone will join the previously launched MI-300 and MI-310.
Powered by the low-cost MediaTek 600 Mhz processor, it will have Android 2.1 on-board, 3.7 inch capacitive display. Spice MI-270 will be priced around INR 9,000 in the country and will have available at Spice HotSpot outlets and other retail stores.
Nothing is really exciting about the phone from Spice, it would have been better if company would have at least bundled FroYo.

LG’s FIRST DUAL-CORE SMARTPHONE COMES TO AUSTRALIA

LG has this morning announced plans to bring the Optimus 2x to Australia for a RRP of $649.

LG Optimus 2X comes to Australia (Credit: LG)

LG says it’s the world’s first “Mobile Phone to Use a Dual-core Processor” according to the Guinness World Records, and the device will be available running Android 2.2, with an upgrade to 2.3 to be announced shortly.

The Optimus 2X features NVIDIA’s Tegra 2 mobile dual-core CPU as well as full 1080p video playback and a Micro HDMI port allowing owners to place images onto an external display such as a television. The screen is 4″ and has capacitative touch support, with an 8 megapixel rear-facing camera.

“Harvey Norman is excited to be working with LG to bring this great new device to the Australian market. The Optimus 2X, with its dual-core processor and range of cutting edge features, is very appealing to our customers who are always looking for the latest and best in technology,” Ben McIntosh, General Manager of Computers & Communications at Harvey Norman said in a statement this morning.

The device will be available exclusively with Harvey Norman, and will go on sale later this month. Eventually more retailers are expected to stock the device.

BlackBerry Bold 9900, 9930 Smartphones Announced

Finally, Research in Motion has announced the much awaited touchscreen BlackBerry Bold in two versions - GSM and CDMA. Both the Bold 9900 and Bold 9930 will also debut the BlackBerry 7 OS that will be powered with a 1.2GHz processor. The 9900 is a GSM model while the 9930 is the CDMA version. RIM hasn t reveal the price of these handsets but has promised to make them available from leading mobile operators across the world from this summer.

In fact, the phone, which was earlier branded as the BlackBerry Bold Touch is the same leaked handset, codenamed Montana, that was listed in RIM s roadmap for 2011. RIM, in its coming generation of devices, plans to rely heavily on touch, NFC, and other modern-day features of smartphones. The new BlackBerry Bold handsets have a 2.8-inch capacitive touchscreen display that supports VGA (640x480) pixel resolution. They also have a QWERTY keyboard along with an optical trackpad as input points. Housing a powerful 1.2GHz processor along with 768MB RAM, they are expected to run the BlackBerry 7 OS smoothly and seamlessly.

At the rear lies a 5 megapixel camera capable of recording 720p HD video. Apparently, RIM wants its smartphones to be at par with current devices.

Check out the features below:

- 2.8-inch capacitive touch screen display - VGA (640x480), 287 dpi resolution
- Ultra-easy QWERTY keyboard, optical trackpad
- BlackBerry 7 OS
- 1.2 GHz Qualcomm Processor, 768 MB RAM
- 8 GB on-board memory, plus microSD slot supporting up to 32 GB cards
- NFC technology
- 5.0 MP camera, supports 720p HD video recording
- Orientation Sensor (Accelerometer), Digital Compass (Magnetometer), Proximity Sensor
- Built-in GPS / aGPS
- Dual-Band Wi-Fi - 802.11 b/g/n at 2.4 GHz and 802.11 a/n at 5 GHz
- Bluetooth 2.1+EDR support
- Wireless Network support:- 9900: Tri-Band HSPA+, Quad-Band GSM/EDGE o 9930: Dual-Band CDMA/EV-DO Rev. A, Dual-Band HSPA+, Quad-Band GSM/EDGE
- 1230 mAh removable, rechargeable battery
- 115 x 66 x 10.5 mm, approximately 130 g

RIM has disclosed more details about the upcoming BlackBerry 7 OS in terms of what exclusive features consumers can expect. BlackBerry 7 OS will bring a faster BlackBerry browser that will deliver better JavaScript performance, along with support for HTML5. The graphical user interface will appear more fluid. Personal content can be separated from official or corporate content through a new feature called BlackBerry Balance. The operating system will also offer voice-based searches, wider document support, and a richer media experience.

As of now, there is no way to determine the price of these handsets, and no word on when either of them will be available in India. In a couple of months, we hope to get clarity on this subject, once RIM formally launches the BlackBerry 7 OS.

Osama bin Laden dead, killed by US in Pakistan

An ''age progressed'' combination photo of Osama Bin Laden (Usama bin Ladin) provided by the U.S. Department of State and the FBI on January 15, 2010.

WASHINGTON/ABBOTTABAD, Pakistan - Osama bin Laden was killed in a U.S. assault on his Pakistani compound on Monday, then quickly buried at sea, in a dramatic end to the long manhunt for the al Qaeda leader who had become the most powerful symbol of global terrorism.World leaders hailed bin Laden's death but the euphoria was tempered by fears of retaliation and warnings of the need for renewed vigilance against attacks.
The death of bin Laden, who achieved near-mythic status for his ability to elude capture under three U.S. presidents, closes a bitter chapter in the fight against al Qaeda, but it does not eliminate the threat of further attacks.
The Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, in which al Qaeda militants used hijacked planes to strike at economic and military symbols of American might, spawned two wars, in Afghanistan and Iraq, inflicted damage on U.S. ties with the Muslim world that have yet to be repaired, and redefined security for air travelers.
President Barack Obama on Monday said, "This is a good day for America."
"Our country has kept its commitment to see that justice is done. The world is safer," Obama said. "It is a better place because of the death of Osama bin Laden."
A small U.S. strike team, dropped by helicopter to bin Laden's compound near the Pakistani capital Islamabad under the cover of night, shot dead the al Qaeda leader in a firefight, U.S. officials said.
"This was a kill operation," one security official told Reuters, but added: "If he had waved a white flag of surrender he would have been taken alive."
The revelation that bin Laden was living in a three-story residence in the military garrison town of Abbottabad, and not as many had speculated, in the country's lawless western border regions, is a huge embarrassment to Pakistan, whose relations with Washington have frayed under the Obama administration.
A U.S. intelligence official said there was no indication that Pakistan was aware that bin Laden was sheltering at the compound. Reflecting the lack of trust between the United States and Pakistan, U.S. officials said they did not tell Pakistan about the operation until it was over.
Obama, whose popularity has suffered from continuing U.S. economic woes, will likely see a short-term bounce in his approval ratings. At the same time, he is likely to face mounting pressure from Americans to speed up the planned withdrawal this July of U.S. forces from Afghanistan.
However, Bin Laden's death is unlikely to have any impact on the nearly decade-long war in Afghanistan, where U.S. forces are facing record violence by a resurgent Taliban.
Many analysts see bin Laden's death as largely symbolic since he was no longer believed to have been issuing operational orders to the many autonomous al Qaeda affiliates around the world.
Financial markets were more optimistic. The dollar and stocks rose, while oil and gold fell, on the view bin Laden's death reduced global security risks.

Samsung to launch Galaxy Tab 10.1, 8.9 next month in India

Samsung Mobile India Head Ranjit Yadav today confirmed the launch plans for new Galaxy Tabs in India. According to him, Samsung will release Galaxy Tab 10.1, 8.9 in the market next month and these tablets will be sold for around INR 35,000 and INR 28,000 respectively.

The pricing seems to be pretty decent, but it is still unclear that this pricing is for 3G version or WiFi only versions.  I think, it is for the WiFi only versions, as the 3G version of original Galaxy Tab was priced at INR 38,000 at the time of launch last year.

Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 and 8.9, which were announced at a Samsung event in March sport a slim form factor and come with Honeycomb and dual core processors inside

Hackers Cash-In On Royal Wedding

The royal wedding ceremony of Prince Williams and Catherine Middleton was a globally watched event with people who were not invited or could not attend could see it live on the Royal Channel on YouTube. After the wedding, Internet users were seen scrambling for wedding related photos, videos etc. Hackers seem to have taken advantage of this and routed them onto malicious sites since they tend to exploit popularly used search terms.  Googling “royal wedding coverage” on Google Images – which the company said was the number one search term in the US - led users to a bogus computer infection warning. This particular malware has surpassed all efforts to kill it. While its main aim is to steal credit card numbers for scammers based in Eastern Europe, it also installs various password-stealing applications by exploiting the security holes in the user's computer. Meantime, Google has responded to the malware attack piggy-backed on the royal wedding, “Google can respond quickly to new threats like these because utilizing popular search terms and events to lure users into visiting malicious web pages is not new. We've looked at these issues closely and work hard to protect our users from malware. We actively work to detect and flag sites that serve malware, keeping on top of the latest trends and watching for popular search terms. To do this, we have manual and automated processes in place to enforce our policies. We're always exploring new ways to identify and eliminate malicious sites from our index.”

LG Optimus 2x listed in Guinness Book for “first dual core mobile phone”

Wow, LG seems to have a lot of time of all this marketing stuff rather working on some more coolAndroid devices. Anyways, coming back to the news, Guinness Book has officially listed/certified LG Optimus 2x as the first mobile phone to sport a dual core processor.

LG Optimus 2x, which went on sale on January 25 in South Korea comes with 1 Ghz nVIDIA Tegra 2 dual core processor and we have since seen many other smartphones to come with the same processor including Motorola Atrix.

“Optimus 2X’s registration on Guinness Book is a fruit from launching an innovative product that can lead the market. We’re going to establish technological leadership of LG Mobile in smart phone market”.

-Jong-Seok Park, Vice President and head of operations of LG Electronics Mobile Communications