Pathik Shah

Samsung is launching the new Android powered Samsung Galaxy S and the Bada OS powered Samsung Wave in India, today at the Samsung Mumbai Blogger Meet.

Samsung Galaxy S I9000

The Samsung Galaxy S is one of the best Android smartphones. Considering that the Motorola Droid X and the HTC Evo 4G are eons away from being launched in India, the Galaxy S will be the best Android device option for Indian users.

The Galaxy S has everything you would want in a smartphone: Android 2.1 with TouchWiz 3.0 and Swype (will soon be upgraded to Android 2.2), a gorgeous 4 inch SuperAMOLED display with a resolution of 480 x 800 pixels, 1 GHz ARM Cortex processor, 512 MB RAM, 8 GB internal memory with upto 32 GB microSD support, a 5 MP camera with autofocus which can record 720p video at 30 FPS, 3G HSDPA, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n with DLNA, Bluetooth 3.0 with A2DP, a GPS transceiver with A-GPS and much more.

This will probably be my next phone (if I don’t get floored by the Samsung Wave).

The Samsung Galaxy S will be priced at around INR 31000.

Samsung Wave S8500

The Samsung Wave is the first smartphone powered by Samsung’s new Bada OS.

It is an excellent phone with superb hardware specs. It has a 3.3 inch SuperAMOLED capacitive touchscreen display with a resolution of 480 x 800 pixels. It is powered by the new Samsung Bada OS with the TouchWiz 3.0 UI. It has a 1 GHz ARM Cortex A8 processor, 512 MB RAM, 1.5 GB internal memory (partitioned) and supports upto 32 GB microSD cards. It is a multimedia powerhouse with a 5 MP camera with autofocus and LED flash which can record 720p video at 30 FPS and has features like face, smile, blink detection and touch focus. It also has the usual connectivity options: 3G HSDPA, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 3.0 with A2DP and GPS.

It can play DivX, XviD and MKV files right out of the box and comes with DNSe which results in excellent audio quality.

The Samsung Wave is expected to be priced around INR 19000.

Bada OS is still in a nascent stage and it couldn’t have had a better launch vehicle than the Samsung Wave.

The Bada Application Store is supposed to have around 100 free applications at launch. As it grows popular, more and more developers will flock to it resulting in more, better applications being available. Check out http://www.bada.com/badadevices for more details on Bada OS and their developer tools.
Samsung also has a Bada OS Developer Challenge going on with a total prize money of 2.7 million dollars.

Infibeam Phi Review – Windows and Android Tablets

Since the Apple iPad launch, many manufacturers have been planning to launch their own tablets. Some, like the HP Slate, have been cancelled, some have been delayed while some are slated to launch soon.

Notion Ink, the original Indian tablet, was one of the most anticipated tablets since its announcement about an year back. However, its launch has been delayed to the end of 2010.

However, there is still hope – After launching its own ebook reader – the Infibeam Pi and mobile phone range, Infibeam has now announced its own Tablet – the Infibeam Phi

Infibeam Phi Preview – Windows and Android

The Infibeam Phi will be available in two versions – the Infibeam Windows Phi and the Infibeam Android Phi.

The hardware specifications of both the Windows and Android version are similar. They comes with 8 GB internal memory (with support for upto 32 GB memory cards), a 7 inch TFT touchscreen display with a resolution of 800 x 480 pixels and come with the Windows CE / Android OS. They support both Wi-Fi and USB connectivity. THe Phi has dimensions of 225 x 175 x 75mm and weighs around 180 grams.

Both of them will have image, audio and video support. You can buy ebooks from Infibeam directly on these devices. The Windows Phi comes with Microsoft Office and GPS while the Android Phi is supposed to support the Android Market. Both the versions are supposed to have a battery life of around 5-6 hours with moderate usage. (1800 mAh Li-ion battery)

Infibeam Phi Price and Availability

Both the Windows Phi and the Android Phi will be available for Rs. 14,999 ($330) with a 1 year warranty and will be available on 30th July 2010.

Preorder – Infibeam Android Phi and Infibeam Windows Phi

Infibeam Android Phi

Infibeam Windows Phi

Pay for Android and iPhone Apps via Paypal in the iPhone Appstore and Android Market

Great news for all Android lovers. With Android hitting 50,000 apps, news has leaked out that Paypal is going to integrate Paypal payments in the Android Market. This is an exciting development, as the only option to pay for Android apps earlier was Google Checkout, which in addition to not being available in most countries, pretty much sucks.

The addition of Paypal as a payment option should drive many more sales as almost everyone has a Paypal account (You can set one up with a credit card in a couple of minutes). This should make Android application development a viable proposition for most developers, atleast comparable to the Apple Appstore.

Paypal has announced that it will enable both application payment options as well as in-App purchases in both the iPhone Appstore and the Android Market.

Thanks, iPhoneclub.

Update 27/02/2010:

Paypal resumes Local Bank Withdrawals to India

Paypal has been working on the issue with RBI and will resume bank withdrawals in India by March 3rd.

Details – Resuming local bank withdrawals to India

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Paypal had officially stopped personal payments to Indian accounts and cash withdrawals to Indian bank accounts 3-4 weeks back because of some issues regarding remittances to India. They are still work on the issue with the RBI regulators; but the issue is yet to be resolved.

Here are some details on the Paypal India situation –

Personal Payments and local bank transfers in India

Update on PayPal situation in India

The alternative to withdraw money from your Paypal account to your bank account in India was to use Xoom.

Starting today, even Xoom has stopped accepting Paypal as a funding source in Indian transactions.

Details on that -

Xoom – Paypal Funded Transactions to India Blocked

How to withdraw money via Paypal to your Indian Bank Account?

The only way to withdraw money from Paypal now is to request a check. The fee is $5.00 and it takes about 5-7 working days.

I have been trying to make sense of the Union Budget 2010-2011 and here are the points which I think should affect the technology sector. There hasn’t been much in this budget for us technophiles though.

Key Features of Indian Union Budget 2010 – 2011

Computers and Mobiles

The Special Additional Duty of Customs (SAD) of 4% on imported mobile handsets has been fully exempted. This should lead to a slight fall in mobile prices if the manufacturers decide to pass on the benefit to the consumers.

The budget has also proposed to remove the 24% import duty on components imported for manufacturing batteries, chargers and other mobile accessories.

On the other hand, the central excise on all non-petroleum products has been increased from 8 to 10%, which may end up eroding the tax savings on technology products due to the above mentioned points.

IT

There have been no specific announcements made which should affect the IT sector directly but the UIDAI (Unique ID Authority of India) project has been approved and Rs. 1900 crores have been allocated to it. The project will most likely be handled by Indian IT companies so this should be good.

Also, Rs. 31000 crores have been earmarked for school education reforms in 2010-2011; which will probably be a boost for the IT sector in the long term.

One of the best things about this budget seems to be that both the GST and the Direct Tax code will finally be applicable by April 2011.

I’m still browsing through the whole budget document. Will update this post if I find anything relevant.