Apple struggling with iPhone in India

There is a huge market for mobile phones in India, but according to the locals, Apple's iPhone hasn't even made a dent.

That's the conclusion of a long story published by LiveMint.com analyzing the first few months of Apple's foray into India with the iPhone 3G. Analysts estimate that just 11,000 iPhones have been sold in India since Apple launched in that country in September, which is probably equivalent to a week's worth of sales at the downtown San Francisco Apple store.

It doesn't seem that Apple ever thought it would make a huge splash in India, allocating just 50,000 iPhones to that market, according to the article. Of the 120 million mobile phones sold in India each year, around 6 million are of the smartphone variety, and Nokia owns the market with between 60 percent and 70 percent market share.

Several reasons are given for the tepid debut of the iPhone in India: price, promotion, and distribution. The authors note that India's mobile market doesn't follow the carrier subsidy model used in most places around the world, and as a result the iPhone is being sold for far more than some had expected after the $199 (9,500 rupees) worldwide price was announced. Still, that doesn't seem to have been the primary reason for the slow sales, since competing phones are priced about the same as the 30,000-rupee 8GB iPhone, although some think that customers thought they would get the cheaper price and were disappointed that it didn't apply to them.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-10096534-37.html

Speed daters 'driven mainly by looks'

 Forget chat up lines if you are looking for love at a speed-dating event, for the big groups are all about looks and not personality, claim scientists.

Boffins have found that the bigger the group of potential mates to choose from the more likely individuals are to make a decision based on looks and sex appeal alone - because their mind blanks at the choice and they revert to basic instincts - that's what scientists believe.

In primates and birds, the larger the group, the better the chance that non-dominant individuals have of being chosen as a mate, reports New Scientist.

Alison Lenton at the University of Edinburgh, and her team looked at whether this is true for people too.

Speed-daters race through a series of "mini dates" of about 5 minutes then invite whoever catches their fancy to get in touch again later.

To reach the conclusion, Lenton and her team studied 118 sessions with groups of between seven and 36 people, and found to their surprise that as the size of the group grew, the offers became skewed towards just a few individuals, while the least popular ended up with fewer or no offers.

The study has been published in the journal Animal Behaviour.

So why do humans seem to differ from other animals? In smaller groups, says Lenton, people trade off different qualities in prospective mates - physical attractiveness for intelligence, for example. Faced with too much choice, however, people resort to crude approaches such as choosing solely on looks.

http://in.news.yahoo.com/139/20081113/385/ten-speed-daters-driven-mainly-by-looks_1.html

Sony Ericsson Xperia X1a Phone To Hit US Market On Nov 28

Sony Ericsson has made announcement about the launching of its much-awaited Xperia X1a phone, which will hit US market on November 28.

The phone will be available through the Sony Style stores, which have already started receiving pre-orders from Thursday (November 13).

The Sony Ericsson Xperia X1a, which is focused more on lifestyle of a consumer, features a brilliant 3.0-inch 16-bit color TFT touchscreen with a full QWERTY keyboard.

The prettiest phone to arrive in the market sports a 3.2 megapixel camera with 30FPS video recording with a bright flash for videos and photos.

Based on the Windows Mobile platform, the Xperia X1a comes with a 256 MB SDRAM and 400 MB of onboard memory with support for microSD card.

The XPERIA will have 400MB of internal memory, which is expandable to 32GB.

Moreover, the phone with sleek arc-slider design weighs just 145 grams and supports both Quad-band GSM and HSPA networks, and Wi-Fi 802.11b/g and Bluetooth 2.0 for connectivity.

The other goodies include 3G, Bluetooth 2.1, USB 2.0, wireless LAN 802.11b/g, EDGE and quad-band GSM, UMTS, HSDPA, HSUPA, and HSCSD.

The phone would cost $799.99 for the unlocked version.

http://www.topnews.in/sony-ericsson-xperia-x1a-phone-hit-us-market-nov-28-288767

Panasonic Goes After Sanyo to Keep its Cylinders Running

Panasonic Corp. and Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd. are hashing out a buyout plan that – if approved by shareholders and regulators – would cement Panasonic's status as a global electronics leader.

Board members of each company are sitting down with the plan to roll Sanyo into a Panasonic subsidiary. And included in that plan is shedding dead weight from Sanyo, which – despite a wide swath of products – has been struggling to gain traction on the innovation front while facing the global financial headwinds.

One analyst believes the acquisition could cost Panasonic $8.8 billion, which may be a high figure, considering Sanyo's home appliances and microchips have been losing money, Reuters reported.

That opens the possibility of selectively buying certain Sanyo businesses, or buying the whole thing and lopping off the weakest links.

"Strategically (the deal) makes sense, though it doesn't necessarily make sense for Panasonic to take on every single bit of Sanyo Electric," Hannah Cunliffe, fund manager at Germany's Union Investment, told Reuters. "There has to be some relatively aggressive restructuring."

These brands, Sanyo especially, are much more than its consumer retail arm – high-definition TVs and DVD players. Sanyo is one of the world's biggest suppliers of rechargeable batteries for cell phone, computers, MP3 players and cars.

It's also the world's seventh-largest solar cell maker, Reuters reported.

Absorbing Sanyo's industry-covering product line would likely be cheaper for Panasonic than pouring more resources into its own slowing division.

Keeping Cylinders Running

The global financial rout has severely blunted retail electronics sales, despite wide acceptance that this is a promising growth industry.

The fact is that domestic and corporate budgets have been slashed, and the extra coin that would normally buy new high-tech gadgets is instead being used for more basic needs.

Like the banking industry, this demand crunch is putting small- to mid-sized electronics manufactures in an extremely tough position. Sanyo's wide range of products could buoy the company, but only if it had the size and capital to keep its businesses running.

Panasonic – on the other hand – desperately needs to expand its product line and is sitting on a $10 billion cash reserve.

CEOs for both didn't mince words about their intentions at an Osaka press conference, as reported by the Wall Street Journal.

http://news.indiamart.com/news-link.html?url=http%3A%2F%2Fus.rd.yahoo.com%2Ffinance%2Findustry%2Fnews%2Flatestnews%2F*http%3A%2F%2Fus.rd.yahoo.com%2Ffinance%2Fexternal%2Fpssa%2FSIG%3D131evgcjg%2F*http%3A%2F%2Fseekingalpha.com%2Farticle%2F104877-panasonic-goes-after-sanyo-to-keep-its-cylinders-running%3Fsource%3Dyahoo

Latest Apple Rumor: DRM-Free Music Headed from Sony BMG to iTunes

In 2006 and 2007, Apple (AAPL) was one of the torch-bearers in the movement to push record labels to license downloadable copies of their music without digital rights management encryption (DRM). When the fruits of that effort were eventually harvested and the labels decided to go DRM-Free, the rewards largely passed Apple by.

At the time, iTunes was already the leading distributor of digital music. There wasn't a competitor even close. The record labels, in an effort to level the field and try to shift the balance of distribution power to a less monopolistic scenario, allocated DRM-Free licenses only to Apple's rivals; stores like Amazon and Walmart. It's a strategy they've yet to reconsider.

To date, EMI remains the only representative of the Big 4 (the world's four largest record companies) that allows Apple to sell DRM-free tracks. Rumor has it, however, that may soon start to change.

Apple-centric website 9to5Mac reported this weekend that Sony BMG (which is now wholly owned by Sony (SNE)) may be preparing to offer a DRM-free license to iTunes sometime in the near future. If true, the news would begin to make good on a pledge Steve Jobs made in May 2007 when he said he expected more than half the songs in iTunes to be available in iTunes Plus, Apple's DRM-Free offering, later that year.

The news sounds promising but readers should also beware. The original posting begins with the ominous line, "let's just say we have a hunch on this one." No sources, even anonymous ones, are provided. Additionally, the timeline for delivery is reported as being any time in a range of weeks or months ahead. With such limited information, the report of soon to be announced DRM-free license for iTunes amounts to little more than another rumor in an already crowded sea of Apple gossip. It's another whisper on the Applevine.

Could it turn out to be true? Absolutely. Is it it likely? With such a wide time window, the possibility increases, but I still wouldn't expect anything soon.

Why not? …
To date, the music labels have set themselves on a path to try and create a more competitive digital marketplace. Part of the strategy behind that appears to be an effort to keep iTunes in a DRM box while competitors are empowered with a broader selection of portable DRM-free tunes. Even though it's questionable whether its working , Amazon MP3 has been growing, and other label-backed services like MySpace music are moving forward too. A deviation now would be a surprise.

http://news.indiamart.com/news-link.html?url=http%3A%2F%2Fus.rd.yahoo.com%2Ffinance%2Findustry%2Fnews%2Flatestnews%2F*http%3A%2F%2Fus.rd.yahoo.com%2Ffinance%2Fexternal%2Fpssa%2FSIG%3D13946q8nc%2F*http%3A%2F%2Fseekingalpha.com%2Farticle%2F105621-latest-apple-rumor-drm-free-music-headed-from-sony-bmg-to-itunes%3Fsource%3Dyahoo

Cancer scan uses radar technology

The first breast screening system to use safe radio waves rather than radiation-producing X-rays is being successfully trialled.

The new scan, which took three years to develop, is being tested at Frenchay Hospital near Bristol.

The new system carries the same minor radiation risk as "speaking into a mobile phone at arm's length".

The scans also take less time than the conventional X-rays but produce an image which is just as clear.

Doctors say the machine does not expose patients to the risk of cancer, and a scan takes only six minutes.

Professor Alan Preece and Dr Ian Craddock began developing a breast-imaging device which used radio waves, unlike conventional mammograms, in 2003

Dr Craddock, from the university's electrical and electronic engineering department, said: "This new imaging technique works by transmitting radio waves of a very low energy and detecting reflected signals, it then uses these signals to make a 3D image of the breast.

"This is basically the same as any radar system, such as the radars used for air traffic control at our airports."

You don't have to get to the right angle, there is no squeezing on your breast at all Theresa Thornton, patient

Mike Shere, associate specialist breast clinician at North Bristol NHS Trust (NBT) said: "Currently women are diagnosed in three ways; firstly by a clinician, then by using imaging such as mammography and ultrasound and lastly by a needle biopsy.

"The radar breast imaging system came to Frenchay Hospital in September this year and so far around 60 women have been examined using it.

"It takes less time to operate than a mammogram - approximately six minutes for both breasts compared with 30-45 minutes for an MRI, and like an MRI it provides a very detailed 3D digital image.

"Women love it as they compare it to a mammogram and find the whole experience much more comfortable."

The radar breast imaging system is built using transmitters and receivers arranged around a ceramic cup, which the breast sits in.

Theresa Thornton, one of 60 women examined using the new technology, was referred for a mammogram after finding lumps in her breast - subsequently found to be benign.

She told BBC News: "With the new technique its just a cup so you don't have to position yourself into it on certain angles, literally the cup just comes straight up to you, covers your breast and that's it.

"You don't have to get to the right angle , there is no squeezing on your breast at all."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/bristol/somerset/7724137.stm

`BlackBerry less reliable vs iPhone’

NEW DELHI: Apple's iPhone has half the failure rate of RIM's BlackBerry in the first year of use,says a study carried out by a mobile-phone
warranty firm.

The SquareTrade study, which analysed cell phone failure rates for more than 15,000 new phones, found iPhones had a malfunction rate of 5.6 per cent in the first year, compared to 11.9 per cent for BlackBerry smartphones. Palm's Treos fared worse, with 16.2 per cent having some sort of malfunction in the first 12 months of use.

The study noted that the most prominent malfunctions for iPhone users appear to be touchscreen-related, accounting for a third of all reported issues with the handset. However, 12 per cent of iPhone users reported accidental damage to their handsets within the first year of use -- the average for other handsets is nine percent.

"It's likely that any iPhone owner can guess the reason iPhone accidents are so common," the authors wrote. "After two minutes of handling an iPhone, it's impossible to escape noticing that the handsets are incredibly slippery. The form doesn't help, either. The dimensions make for a difficult grip, especially for those with small hands. These two factors conspire to make the iPhone more accident prone than just about any other handset model we've seen."

The report's authors also noted that fewer than half-a-percent of iPhone owners reported battery problems after a year of use, compared with around one percent for BlackBerry and Treo users.
http://infotech.indiatimes.com/News/BlackBerry_less_reliable_vs_iPhone_/articleshow/3704886.cms