Samsung S3370 aka Star Nano 3G
With the recent news that the Indian Government picked up $US15billion for the auction of the next patch of its 3G telephony spectrum, vendors are wasting no time releasing new phones onto the market.
With no less than three major releases about to hit the market, smartphone use is no doubt about to pick up in India.
First cab off the rank is Samsung with its S3370 being rebadged as the Star Nano 3G. This one features a 2.6-inch, 240×320-pixel touchscreen with built-in 1.3MP digital camera.
It sports MP3 player, FM receiver and supports social networking sites Facebook and MySpace. According to reports, the phone will be sold for Rs7,320, bundled with a 2GB flash storage card.
Next, and this one has already hit, is the new white version Blackberry Bold 9700 from Research in Motion (RIM). With its high-resolution 480×360-pixel resolution LCD panel and 3.2MP camera, the 9700 delivers plenty of media support from MPEG-4 and WMV video playback, music player that handles AAC, MP3 and WMA audio and features a large 1500mAh Lithium-polymer battery for up to 21 days standby time on GSM, six hours talk time and an impressive 38 hours music playback.
Dual SIM phones are also starting to pick up in India with the release of the G-Fone 571. This unit sells for a very tidy Rs3,999 but combines a 2.2-inch 240×320-pixel display with a 1.3MP camera, support for MPEG-4 video playback and built-in FM receiver. It handles Java apps and is expanadable up to 8GB. This comes on the back of the G-Fone G-588 launched back in March.