Apple Confirms iPad 2 India Launch. Lands 29 April...(Tommorrow)... ...

Apple has a finally made the launch official effectively confirming our report. Like we had mentioned, India features in the list of 12 countries where the tablet would go on sale starting April 29, 2011.

This also comes after Vijay Sales sort of pumped up the hype about the arrival of the iPad 2 in their stores soon.  Apart from India, the iPad 2 also goes on sale in Hong Kong, Israel, Korea, Macau, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, South Africa, Turkey and UAE. The China launch will happen only on May 6. 

The iPad 2 was already being sold in India for exorbitant prices in the grey market. There were also some websites selling the iPad 2 in India unofficially, before this official launch. As for the prices, here’s how things are stacked up. Prices start from Rs.29,500 for the base Wi-Fi only 16GB version to Rs.46,900 for the Wi-Fi plus 3G 64 GB variant. Here are the individual prices of each of the models.

Wi-Fi 16GB             Rs.29,500
Wi-Fi 32 GB           Rs. 34,500
Wi-Fi 64 GB           Rs. 39,500
Wi-Fi+3G 16 GB   Rs. 36,900
Wi-Fi+3G 32 GB   Rs. 41,900
Wi-Fi+3G 64 GB   Rs. 46,900

India also gets the Smart Cover for the iPad 2. The polyurethane version is priced at Rs. 2,100 while the leather version will set you back by Rs. 3,800. All these prices are inclusive of VAT.

What do you think about these prices? The old iPad prices started from Rs.27,900 and topped at Rs. 44,900 for the top end variant. Do you think paying a small premium is okay for the new, faster, sleeker iPad 2?
Update: We are getting signals (mixed with a little guessing by @annkur) that the iPad 2 might go on sale with a lot of retailers for Rs 27900 and not Rs 29500 (which happens to be the Apple MRP). Wait and watch.

New generation of Qualcomm Snapdragon processors for mobiles are leaked... ...

A leaked presentation of Qualcomm's next generation Snapdragon chips reveals plenty to be looking forward to. Based on the future Krait architecture, the MSM8270, MSM8930, MSM8960, and APQ8064 are expected to be as much as five times faster than current CPU chips. When it comes to graphics power, they are said to be 4 times faster which provides the user with 'console quality gaming'.  

A chip made out of a a 28 nanometer process would have 23% more computing power and use 47% less battery power than an Cortex A-15 running at the same speed. Similar to the A-15, these Snapdragon chips could run at 2.5GHz and will be offered in single-core to quad-core models. 
Qualcomm will be sending out the MSM8960 with 3G and 4G LTE cellular capabilities by the end of spring with the remaining chips getting tested by the end of this year. But don't expect to see this new generation of Snapdragon chips in a handset until sometime next year. As you can see below, this new generation of Snapdragon will be capable of running 1080p displays and 3D video, 7.1 Dolby SurroundSound and a 20MP camera. 

iOS is the most wanted OS, after Android

Competition between mobile operating systems is increasing each and every day. At the moment, Android is leading the race and is the most favorite OS. Well, if you don’t believe me then a report is proving it. According to Nielsen survey, they went out to find out which is the best and most wanted OS at the moment in USA, and mostly people are choosing Android as their future OS and iOS is the runner-up. Last year, iOS was leading but things in mobile market changes so rapidly. iOS is currently falling behind Android but iOS will still remain the second powerful OS. As Gartner also reported that Android will dominate the mobile market by 2015, it looks like it will happen before 2015. RIM BlackBerry OS looks really outdated to users and that’s the reason they are moving from BlackBerry to other devices. BlackBerry World event is around the corner, so let’s see if RIM can do something amazing to impress their fans.

Google I/O is also next month and I am pretty sure that Google will introduce some new features to Android. Reason Android is leading that it’s highly customizable, easy to use and a lot of devices are available to choose from. The only problem Android is facing right now is the battery problem. People are complaining that battery life on Android is very low, but it can be increased by rooting and adding some good ROMS, but we are talking about stock ROM. So I hope Google will also make a solution for it.

Apple iOS is unique, simple, and very easy to use. Even a little kindergarten child can use it, that’s the reason people like it. Android is a little complicated as compared to iOS, but iOS is not highly customizable like it. Apple will be launching the newer version of iOS soon, so I hope it will bring some good new features to iOS users.

So folks, tell us what is your favorite OS at the moment?

LG Optimus Me Launched in India ...Price-Rs 8999

LG has quietly introduced the Optimus Me aka P350 which was revealed in a exclusive by FoneArena .The device is an entry level Android phone expected to retail at Rs.8999 (MRP). It runs on Android 2.2 and is powered by a 600 MHz CPU.

The device is found on the LG India site and was spotted by AndroidOS

We had a chance to check out this handset at MWC this year and it was not as responsive as the Optimus One  but it was usable. We expect the price to be much lower in the market once it’s fully rolled out

The retail box includes a Battery, Charger, Manual, Stereo Ear Microphone, USB Data Cable and 2GB Memory Card

Next iPhone images leaked, bigger display ... ...

A few hours ago,  an iPhone is shown running on T-Mobile 3G network. People are calling it iPhone 4S which is actually successor to iPhone 4 but now the story is getting complicated. We started thinking that next iPhone will be just like the current model, having only some changes under the hood. Now folks over at M.I.C Gadget got their hands on first leaked images of an iPhone which is completely different from the current model. As you can see in the image above, the screen size is slightly bigger than the current model and the display is edge-to-edge. I think this is the real iPhone 4S/iPhone 5 and the one we saw running on T-Mobile was just another prototype test version of White iPhone 4. It’s possible that this device will come with a dual-core A5 processor, 8 MP camera, and the latest unreleased version of iOS. Check out another image of the leaked device in comparison with iPhone 4:

Well, I think the big screen looks good on iPhone and with Retina display, I am sure that playing games and watching videos on this display will be an amazing experience. I hope we will see this device officially in September. So iFans out there, I am sure that you are very excited about the next iPhone, no?

Sony Tablet – S1 and S2 Honeycomb Tablets announced... ...

Tokyo, Japan – Sony Corp has announced the Sony Tablet and has shown off 2 devices the S1 and S2 which are Android Honeycomb tablets. The S1 is a tablet aimed at rich media entertainment while the S2 is aimed at mobile communication and entertainment. Bear in mind that these devices are just codenames and we will know the real names once the company launches them in Fall 2011.

Update: Video added

Both the devices have WiFi and 3G/4G connectivity and run on Android 3.0 . The S1 has a 9.4 inch display and has a special off-center of gravity form factor.

S2 has 2 5.5 inch displays has a dual screen presentation and usability.  The Sony Tablets can act as a remote control to other Sony entertainment devices.

While details are pretty scant at the moment enjoy the awesome pics below. The devices certainly look interesting. So who likes the S1 and S2 ?

Four Nokia Windows Phone Devices Detailed... ...

Apparently, mobile review has got some interesting details about four of the new and upcoming Nokia devices which would come with Windows Phone mobile operating system. Obviously, there is no confirmation about these devices but Nokia has done quite a few new changes and it seems like the devices won’t be available until next year. As mentioned a total of four devices have been leaked and two of them are Nokia X7 and Nokia N8 variants which would be based on Windows Phone, there is a QWERTY touchscreen devices in a candybar form factor and finally a E6 variant which would be the most affordable of all.

It seems that Nokia has now discontinued using the “chassis 1” format which is highly constrained by hardware and has moved to using the “chassis 2” prototypes which will allow the company a greater flexibility in terms of design and the hardware which it can use.

The Nokia X7 variant which Mobile-Review calls the Nokia W7 (not the final name), would be powered by a Qualcomm QSD9250 processor and will sport a WVGA display. The chassis design would be very similar the newly announce Nokia X7 and there is a possibility that the device may come with an AMOLED display. It will sport an 8 megapixel camera with autofocus and flash and will be available in the market sometime in fall 2011, but it may take up to Q1 2012.

Next is the Nokia N8 variant which will have the same 12 megapixel camera and would be targeted towards the high-end smartphone market. It may also be Nokia’s first dual-core smartphone as it will be powered by a dual-core Qualcomm processor which would be supported by an Adreno 320 GPU for a better graphics performance. However, the design may be quite different from the Nokia N8 and it is expected to hit the markets as early as Q1 2012.

Then there is the candybar shaped device which also has a physical QWERTY keypad. This device may be a part of Nokia E-series of handsets as it would be released by Nokia with Nokia-developed enterprise-focused services. Next is the entry-level Windows Phone device from Nokia which would be based on a very similar design to that of the Nokia W7 but would come with slightly lower specifications and would get a very affordable pricing. It will apparently be equipped with an EDOF full-focus camera which can be very useful in price sensitive markets like India. Both of these devices would be based on existing Symbian prototype hardware and would release early 2012.

Most of you might be aware that Nokia and Microsoft are expected to release a total of 12 Windows Phone devices coming out next year, and these are just the first four of them. This would be the first wave of their Windows Phone devices and the second wave would include Nokia’s 2012 flagship device and another high-end camera smartphone. However, there is one extremely interesting thing which the guys at Mobile-Review have mentioned which says that the Finnish mobile phone manufacturer is still evaluating Android and everything is depended on Windows Phone sales in the first half of the next year.