Samsung India launched the first solar powered cellphone

Samsung India has just announced the global launch of their first solar-powered mobile phone, the “Solar Guru” (Guru E1107) in the Indian market. The new handset enables its users to charge the battery anywhere via sunlight.



Dr. Farooq Abdullah, Minister for New and Renewable Energy and J. S. Shin, President and CEO, Samsung South West Asia HQ launched the phone at a ceremony organized by the company at its manufacturing complex at Noida. “The Solar Guru has been developed keeping in mind the needs of Indian consumers, especially customers residing in areas where the electric supply is unstable, so that the consumers can rely on solar charging to remain connected.” states and J. S. Shin, President & CEO, Samsung South West Asia Headquarters. The Solar Guru represents the Company’s efforts to strengthen its leadership in the solar panel mobile market.



With an extended solar-powered battery, the Samsung Solar Guru solves the problem of unavailable or unstable electric supply, particularly in far flung areas. The phone has the capacity to provide around 5-10 minutes of talk time with one hour of solar charging (Measured when the phone is turned-off under the sun light of 80,000 Lux. Results can be different depending on circumstances). Moreover, the solar panel charging allows its users to save money and energy consumption on traditional electrical charging.

Apart from India, Solar Guru will also be launched in June in Europe, Southeast Asia, Southwest Asia and Latin America.

It will go for just Rs. 2,799 ($59).

iPhone 3G S announced: $199 16GB, $299 32GB, August in India

As endlessly predicted, Apple's unveiled a new iPhone today at WWDC, the iPhone 3G S -- the "s" stands for speed. Although it looks almost exactly like the 3G, it's much, much faster -- some tasks are almost four times faster. Data speeds are upped to 7.2Mbps HSDPA, and the camera is now a 3 megapixel unit with tap-to-autofocus and auto white balance -- and just as expected, it now supports 30fps VGA video recording with editing features. You're also getting a built-in compass, Nike+ support, and a new battery that offers 5 hours of 3G talk time and 9 hours of WiFi internet use. There are some surprises, too -- holding down the home button now enables a new voice control interface that lets you do everything from make calls to control iTunes, and Apple's touting a new "fingerprint-resistant oleophobic coating." New and end-of-contract pricing is set at $199 for 16GB and $299 for 32GB when it goes on sale June 18th Stateside and in 80 more countries in August -- and the current 8GB 3G will remain on sale for $99, effective immediately. You'll have to pay a bit more if you're mid-contract, though -- $299 for the 3G and $399/$499 for the 3G S.

Iphone 3G S hits the India market on August 09

Nokia N96 for Rs. 40,000?

The Nokia spokesperson (India) has just confirmed with us that the N96 will priced between Rs. 32,000 and 35,000.


The iPhone killer hopeful, Nokia's N96 is officially out of the box. It comes loaded with features, and a rather heavy price tag of EUR 550 (around Rs. 43,000) excluding taxes!

The N96 features a 2.8-inch display, as well as a 5 megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics. It also offers live TV, turn-by-turn voice navigation, 16GB of internal memory that can be increased to 24GB with an optional microSD card, superior sound and music, as well as N-Gage gaming.

Feature-rich? Sure! Value for money? No way! But then again, which latest drool-worthy gadget is nowadays? The N96 sure looked drool-worthy when it was introduced, but the price looks set to bury a fan's excitement.




The N96 is expected to turn out to be yet another dampener for Indians those still mourning the price of Apple's iPhone 3G in this part of the world, where it was launched with a logic-defying 30K plus price tag.

However unlikely it may seem, we hope Nokia will reduce the announced price for their new phone.

As for the pricing of this phone here, we haven't been able to get in touch with Nokia India, as yet. In the meantime, check out this unboxing video for the N96.