Gmail Mobile 2.0 for Java & Blackberry

Google has released the new v2.0 of its Gmail Mobile client. The update comes for Java based and Blackberry phones. The Gmail Mobile client has received a complete performance improvement making the client quite quick. The other improvements come as multiple accounts management, multiple mobile email drafts, and new shortcuts. Now some of these new improvements/ added features aren’t available to all phone models, which is not really a sad case as the phone may not be allowing the app.

You can download the new version of the Gmail Client from the official website m.google.com/mail via your mobile web browser.

Reliance Communication: Notebook FREE with an Internet Connection

Reliance Communication has announced its collaboration with Acer, Asus, HCL, Intel, and Lenovo to offer Intel’s Atom-based laptops (Netbooks) free with RCom Internet connectivity to its customers.

Isn’t that something really odd now, getting a Netbook (Asus Eee PC type laptops as you may call them) for free along with something as small as an internet connection. Well be surprised because its true. Its a new scheme from RCom & lets check out the details.

Details of the scheme are as follows:

• The free laptop offer is valid only on the purchase of a 12 or 24 month unlimited Reliance NetConnect package, for which monthly charges are Rs. 1,500.
• Users can pay for the 12/24 months package either on a monthly basis (various payment options) but wherein additional interest rates on the Rs.1,500 would be charged OR you could pay the whole amount and as an added bonus get a Reliance Mobile Phone/Big TV Connection for free (Free doesn’t seem to be stopping at all)
• There will be no additional charges for the NetConnect USB Modem
• An Unlimited NetConnect Plan will be offered to the customers (Speed CDMA 1x = 144kbps)
• And finally the list of netbooks being provided:-

Asus EeePC 9-inch XP (904HD 160G) - Rs.22,000

Acer Aspire One 9-inch Linux - Rs.23,000

Acer Aspire One 9-inch XP - Rs.25,000

Asus EeePC 9-inch XP (904 HA 160G) - Rs.25,000

HCL MiLeap MH04 10-inch XP - Rs.26,000

Asus EeePC 10-inch XP (1000HXP 160G) - Rs.26,000

Lenovo S10 XP 10-inch - Rs.26,000

HCL Ultra Portable Tablet PC - Rs.36,000

So here is a cool way to comfortably get basic and portable computing and connectivity.

Asus launches the G71 Gaming NoteBook

One Book To Rule Them All, Asus has just launched its new G Series NoteBook namely the G71. Its out to take on the likes of the Alienware & the Dell XPS. It’s the world’s first QX9300 Quad Core processor enabled notebook.

Keeping the Gamer in mind the G71 has an 17-inch 8ms Crystal Shine display, an NVIDIA 9700 GT 512MB DDR3 powering its graphics, 4 gigs of RAM and 1TB of storage space. The rest of the specs can be checked below. A special feature Direct Console 2.0 is something we will have to check out for ourselves. Its an all-in-one gaming control interface.

Nokia 5800 XpressMusic: Finally the Tube is out

The codenamed “Tube” handset is finally out and as suspected its in the XpressMusic series. Well nothing new because all of this news has been circulating for quite a while now. The phone finally made its retail appearance in London and Singapore. Its the first full-touch operated Series 60 handset from Nokia.

It’s not only going to be hot among the Symbian community but everyone wants to know what its capable of. And please for those who are still looking to compare this with an iPhone look else where. Even though I’m saying this it ain’t going to change much as we will surely see the comparison happening in every media.

Well it’ll never end but I’m hopping to get a feel of this handset soon. No idea about its exact launch date but expected price is around 20K.

Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 Anytime Soon

Well over a couple of weeks back the Sony Ericsson Global site posted a Press Release of the Xperia X1.

The release states that the phone will release in select markets over the 2008 Q4. That list also holds India. Internationaly the phone has already made its apperance in several markets. India still awaits its turn but could be out anytime soon. Will update you whenever I have the word from Sony Ericsson.

New generation iPod’s are here!

Apple has released their new line up of iPods in India. While the iPod Classic and Shuffle don’t see much change the Nano has a new avatar and the Touch also has a few changes worth mentioning.

The iPod Nano is the thinnest Nano ever. It’s sleek new design features curved aluminum and glass enclosure. On the interface side of things the Nano can now create playlists automatically of songs that go great together. There is a built-in accelerometer which which auto switches to landscape when rotated and also helps the Nano go into Shuffle Mode when shaken lightly. The new iPod nano gives users up to 24 hours of music playback or four hours of video playback and is available in an 8GB and 16GB capacities priced at Rs.9,700 and Rs.12,500 respectively. Both capacities are available in several color options - silver, purple, blue, green, orange, yellow, pink, and black.

The iPod Touch also receives a few minor changes; the back has been made curvy like the iPhone 3G. This 2nd generation iPod Touch features a thin contoured metal design as compared to the previous iteration. The 3.5-inch widescreen glass display, 802.11 b/g Wi-Fi wireless networking, integrated volume control buttons, speaker, accelerometer and other advanced sensors have been retained along with Apple’s revolutionary Multi-Touch user interface. The 8GB iPod Touch is available for just Rs.15,100.

Nokia N96 Released

The power house from Nokia, The Ultimate Convergence device; the N96 has been released in India today. You can go pick up your handset from dealers in exchange for Rs. 34,999. As earlier speculated, the handset being sold only through the Idea Network has been denied and the handset will be available from any dealer. There is a slight possiblity to see some VAS (Value Added Service) bundled along with the phone when sold through network providers but with no change in price.

I’ve had the chance to use the N96 handset for about an hour and I didn’t see much to amaze me. As far as I see it, the N95 8GB is the biggest competitor to the N96. And frankly speaking over the N95 the N96 is not much of an upgrade. It could be a buy just for those few select people. For more on a first hand experience of the N96 click here. The article shows throws light on the powerfulness and the functionality of the N96 and how its not much to overcome.

3G finally coming closer?

The 3G auction is to be decided upon by the end of this year, as mentioned by the Department of Telecom (DoT) secretary earlier. The government efforts to commemorate the 3G auction seem to have finally moved into gear. Today the DoT held a pre-bid meeting regarding the prospective companies, both Indian and International, wishing to provide 3G services through the country. Some reports suggest that the meeting had been called by Jyotiraditya Scindia, Minister of State for Communications and IT.

So finally the officials of DoT today will consider a proposal regarding spectrum sharing between mobile operators. The news, was dismissed by the PA to Mr. Scindia. When asked he said, there were no meetings scheduled for today and nothing with regards to spectrum sharing between operators has been highlighted. We will soon have more word on how things are shaping up.

Google Chrome Beta

Google has released a Public Beta of its Browser christened Chrome. I can’t figure out as to why the name Chrome but nevermind. Anything from Google always smells exciting and lets see what the Chrome can do against the likes of Microsoft’s Internet Explorer, Mozilla’s Firefox and the Opera browser. The Chrome is still in Beta don’t know how long it’ll stay that way considering that the Gmail we use is still in Beta for over 4 years now.

I’ve tried the Chrome browser and seemed to have liked the little bits of difference like “No Menus” for example which provides large work space. While using Chrome I did face a couple of computer freezing situations but I think it will get over it soon. What gets me most excited on hearing about Google Chrome is that hopefully they should have the Chrome Mobile which will be compatible with all phones and not just available on the Androids.

LifeinLines: India’s Twitter

LifeinLines is an online space where you can share anything that comes about or happens to you or around you. Apart from the fact that you could use blogs & forums to do so LifeinLines lets you put down those few moments in the most simplest of ways; email, voicemail, video, SMS/MMS, and Gtalk. So now without wasting time you can share your experience via a phone or an internet connection. Even all those moments which you will soon forget from memory loss will be captured and shared with you friends. Go have a try.