Nokia's iPhone killer, N96

Nokia, the country's dominant handset player, is plotting to steal Apple's iPhone thunder. The company is set to launch its latest high-end phone N96, which calls a 'killer product' in India, three days before the much-awaited 3G-enabled iPhone's debut in India.

The N96 was tipped to be launched globally in October and this may perhaps be the handset maker's first global launch in India.

Industry experts say Nokia is rushing the N96 to India to counter the hype associated with the 3G iPhone, which will be offered by Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Essar.

While Nokia is expected to launch the product in Delhi on Tuesday, the handset is likely to be available in the market from the first week of September.

Nokia's N96 is expected to be priced around Rs 35,000. In comparison, the iPhone is likely to cost about Rs 31,000 for the 8 GB version and between Rs 35,000-37,000 for the 16 GB one.

Till date, Bharti, Vodafone and Apple have remained tight-lipped on iPhone's pricing strategy in India. But if the iPhone is bundled with a carrier's service, the price could be half this amount.

Apple's launch of a single product seems to have perturbed Nokia despite commanding a 60 per cent market in India.

Indeed, Nokia Corporation's global president and CEO Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo has acknowledged the launch of Apple's iconic iPhone in India would impact the company here.

"When iPhone comes to India, it adds to our competitors here. The entry of a new product in the market creates customer interest and it, therefore, impacts us in India," he said during a recent visit to India.

He also added that that consumer interest in iPhone would lead to an increased awareness on many of the concepts and features available on Nokia's handsets.

A quick comparison of features of both handsets shows that while the iPhone scores over the N96 with its larger 3.5-inch multi-touchscreen, it only comes with a 2 megapixel camera.

N96, which has a two-way slide keyboard and a 2.8-inch screen, comes with a 5 megapixel camera.

For corporate users, the iPhone packs a punch with its encrypted Push-mail with Microsoft Exchange, which the N96 lacks. Apple has also put in a 3-axis accelerometer that senses motion much better than N96's basic motion sensor.

The feature comes in handy while gaming when a player can steer the game using the phone itself, rather than a joystick.

However, there are things one would miss in the iPhone like being able to transfer data using Bluetooth, something the N96 allows. One can only use the Bluetooth feature in iPhone for hands-free calling.

For Indian consumers who are avid texters, iPhone's no-SMS-forwarding feature could be a handicap. Apple's iconic phone, of course, also lacks your regular FM and offers users streaming Internet radio.

Indian users also may not be used to Apple's style of sealing the battery within the handset. On the other hand, the N96 offers you the freedom to remove and replace the battery.

While the iPhone offers the popular Google maps, the drawback is that these maps do not offer voice directions in India. The N96 offers Nokia Maps 2.0 with voice directions for India as well.

On the memory front, N96 scores over the iPhone as it offers its 16GB built in memory is expandable to 24GB using microSD cards.

Both phones also offer different web browsers-the iPhone comes with a full-featured Safari browser compared to the Nokia HTML browser in the N96.

Again, while both handsets offer fast internet, N96 has a few added features such as mobile TV and video calls using the front-side VGA cam.

Developer Says Firefox 3 Best Memory Manager

.NET developer Sam Allen wanted to see how efficiently Firefox, Internet Explorer, Flock, Opera and Safari used memory, so he created a “Memory Watcher” application to track Web browser memory use. Allen admits his testing was unscientific, but claims the results are still valid, according to InfoWorld.

So who won? Mozilla’s Firefox 3.0. Firefox 3.0 not only used the least amount of memory, but also its memory use didn’t noticeably grow over time.

Apple’s Safari 3 .1 for Windows came in last place because it ate up more memory the longer it was used. Safari hasn’t been Apple’s shining star. It was the first application to be hacked in a three-day hacker contest and it has been plagued with flaws, including a recent carpet bombing bug.

Mozilla Firfox 3.0 installer can be downloaded here.

Sony Plans Video Downloads For All Key Products

Sony sets new growth strategy centered on video-downloading services and electronic products that can be connected to each other and to the internet.
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After spending the past three years restructuring, Sony Corp. set a new growth strategy centered on video downloading and electronic products that can be connected to each other and to the Internet.
The Japanese electronics maker plans to offer a video-downloading service through all its key products, including its televisions, computers, music players and video game devices, in the next three years. It plans to give 90% of its product categories network and wireless capability in the same period.
"Our mission is simply to be the leading global provider of networked consumer electronics and entertainment," Chief Executive Howard Stringer said.
Sony plans to start this summer by offering movies and other video content through its PlayStation3 video game console's network service in the U.S.
It will begin delivering movies directly to its Internet-connected Bravia liquid-crystal display televisions in the U.S. this autumn. Sony said it would become the first company to stream a movie directly to a television without a set-top box and without a cable- or satellite-TV subscription.
Mr. Stringer, charged with turning around the struggling company when he took over in June 2005, has been slashing costs, cutting jobs and getting rid of unprofitable businesses. With those efforts completed, the latest strategy will be a big test of whether he can also stimulate growth for the company.
As Internet connections have gotten faster and consumers are getting more of their entertainment online, analysts say, downloading services for movies and television shows could become a market worth billions of dollars in the U.S. alone.
Mr. Stringer, a former movie executive, has often talked about the importance of designing products that can be connected to each other and combined with easy-to-use software to download video, music and other content.
Establishing a dominant position in this area is crucial for Sony. Its Walkman music devices lost out to Apple Inc.'s iPods because the Japanese company didn't have compelling music-downloading software.
Sony, which owns a movie studio and a music company, has an advantage over rivals because it has access to both content and electronic devices and can play off the strengths of both industries. For example, the first movie it plans to offer directly to TVs is "Hancock," a Sony Pictures movie it will release before it is available on DVD.
Still, it is coming in late to a market crowded with strong rivals. Apple, for example, offers a set-top device, Apple TV, that lets users play music and video from their computer-based iTunes library. Microsoft Corp.'s Xbox 360 video game console already offers video downloading.
Also, Sony has had problems in the past getting its notoriously independent product units to work together. A previous effort to create a portable music player and online music service for the Walkman failed in part because of internal squabbling.
Mr. Stringer has been laying the groundwork for the latest effort, promoting executives who understand software and content as well as Sony's traditionally strong area, hardware.