NEW DELHI: Finnish cellphone maker Nokia has launched a low-priced handset X2 in the Indian market.

The candybar X2 sports a 2.2-inch QVGA screen and weighs 81 grams. The phone packs dual speakers, dedicated music keys, FM stereo and support for up to 16GB of storage via microSD card.

Other key features include Bluetooth 2.1, 3.5mm headphone jack and USB 2.0. The phone runs on Nokia’s proprietary S40 OS.

X2 also offers direct access to Facebook from the homescreen and comes with Nokia Messaging for email and Instant Messaging. Other notable feature include instant access to apps from Ovi Store, a 5 megapixel camera and a video recorder.

The phone is priced at Rs 5,000 and is likely to be available from June.

Nokia last week unveiled details of its first phone N8 with new Symbian 3 software, designed to challenge the iPhone and Blackberry at the high-end of the market.

The company cut its profit outlook and delayed the sales launch of Symbian 3 phones until the third quarter, sending its shares sharply lower. “Nokia is reacting to the fire alarm,” said Swedbank analyst Jari Honko.

Nokia, which has yet to show the phone to journalists or analysts, is counting on the new software to start clawing back market share lost to the company’s new rivals.

However, analysts said the new model and software upgrade at best put Nokia on par with features already available to consumers of Google’s Android software, or Sony Ericsson, which has sold a 12-megapixel camera phone since 2009.

“Symbian 3 is evolutionary not revolutionary, but N8, if reliable, is a first step in efforts to make Nokia’s high-end phones credible again,” said Ben Wood, head of research at CCS Insight.

The new N8 flagship model will have a 12 megapixel camera, 3.5-inch touchscreen and retail for 370 euros ($493), excluding subsidies and taxes, Nokia said in a press release.

Analysts said it was unclear how much of an impact the phone will have on third-quarter results as it goes on sale only in selected markets during the quarter.

“I believe it will slightly calm the markets. It does not solve all of Nokia’s problems, but it is an important first step,” said Nordea analyst Sami Sarkamies.

New Delhi: After two years of hard work, Vishal Mehta, an ex employee of Amazon.com, launched the Infibeam Pi, an e-reader that looks like the Amazon Kindle. It has the same e-Ink screen that the Kindle sports, reports Sruthijith KK of The Economic Times.

Mehta, who is having an engineering degree from Cornell and an MBA from MIT-Sloan, worked in Amozon.com for five years and was a Senior Manager at the company in 2007. To start his own online retail venture, Mehta quit his job, sold his house and his car.

The Infibeam Pi, which is priced at Rs.10,000, can be ordered online now and is likely to be shipped in February, is priced at Rs. 10,000. The Amazon Kindle, when shipped to India, costs about Rs.18,000. The Pi supports 13 Indian languages. Infibeam.com, an online retailer that sells everything from flowers to jewellery to books to electronic goods, has more than one lakh ebooks.

Mehta said, “It’s pointless in India, there is no 3G. When we have wireless connectivity, we probably won’t restrict what users can browse. Our essential philosophy is to be as open as possible.”

The Pi has also a micro USB port to connect to a PC. Users will just be needed to create an account with Infibeam.com, register the device and then download the ebooks. The ebooks can be read on the PC as well as on the Pi. The ebooks typically cost 5-20 percent less than the hard copy versions, but in some cases, especially with bestsellers, digital rights are expensive and it’s cheaper to buy the physical books. With the help of Pi, users will be able to read any documents documents (word or pdf, for instance). “A test prep firm can load their proprietary content on this device and give it to students, without worrying that the material will get passed around,” said Mehta.

The company plans to sell about 10,000 devices in the first few months. The company has started accepting pre-orders on the website and is motivated by the initial response.

Report by Karunakar Sahoo, Balasore (Odisha): India successfully test fired its prestigious ‘Astra’ beyond-visual-range air-to-air missile (BVRAAM) from the Integrated Test Range (ITR) Chandipur of Balasore District off the Orissa coast on Monday at about 9.45 a.m.
The Integrated Test Range (ITR) Director SP Dash informed the media that the test fired is successful. The missile is intended to be eventually integrated with the IAF’s Sukhoi-30MKI, MiG-29, Mirage 2000, Jaguar and the Tejas Light Combat Aircraft.

Bhubaneswar: Science and technology minister Ramesh Chandra Majhi on Monday inaugurated the Popular Science Gallery here.
The gallery has come up with an investment of Rs 30 lakh funded by the National Council of Science Museums under the ministry of culture.
Set up at the Regional Science Centre (RSC), the gallery offers an action-packed ambience, where science comes not as a brain teaser but as a fun-filled experience. Commissioner-cum-secretary, science & technology Sudarshan Pal Thakur found his moments electrifying as a series of exhibits on electricity, magnetism and interaction opened up a world of fantasy for him.
Thakur advised the authorities to spread these facilities in rural areas.
He said a robust scientific temper is also found among tribals, who are thousands of miles away from the urban-centric life.
Those ideas should be utilised for the development of the people, he said.
Present on the occasion, Director General, National Council for Science Museum, GS Rautela lamented that few are interested in science education as there is a mad rush for the engineering sector.
RCS project coordinator Archana Khosla said that the gallery has a wide range of exhibits on illusions, electricity and magnetism, music and colours, animation and video takes the visitor to the borderline of mystery and reality to unravel the wonderful world of science.
Here, one can find Charles Darwin speaking about his famous theory of evolution, a severed head gulping down fruits from a platter, a rotating square taking deep breaths, water flowing from nowhere through a hanging tap or a curving tunnel unfolding endless passage for a sensory adventure.
Here, she said, one can also interact with exhibits to create colours or make them vanish, play music by simply walking through a corridor or make a bucket sing to the tunes of popular movie song.
The gallery brings for the visitor some of the best clips from the wonderful world of video and 3D animation vision.
Here, one can pedal a bicycle to take part in an exciting video racing or enjoy the 3D panoramic view of the Martian landscape from the earth, she added.