Sunday, March 14, 2010

India to conduct missile interceptor test

CHANDIPUR - The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) will on Sunday conduct a missile interceptor test off the Orissa coast as part of building a two-layered Ballistic Missile Defence shields.

An indigenously developed Advanced Air Defence missile (AAD) missile will engage and destroy an incoming target missile, a modified Prithvi in an endo-atmospheric interception at a low attitude of 15 kilometer.

The Prithvi will take off from the Launch Complex-3 at Integrated Test Range in Balasore district. Within minutes, the AAD will be fired from the Wheeler Island.

Today’s test will be the fourth test being carried out by DRDO scientists.

Meanwhile, there are reports that at least 3,000 people from six nearby villages near the Defence base have been shifted to temporary camps.

Sunday’s expected missile test follows Pakistan’s decision to test fire naval missiles.

Pakistan on Friday reportedly test-fired a number of missiles and torpedoes, acquired from other countries, from ships and submarines in the Arabian Sea.

The tests included anti-surface missiles from an F-22P frigate, acquired recently from China, air-to-surface missiles from P-3C aircraft and sub surface-to-surface missiles from Agosta 90B submarines, which were bought from France, The Dawn reported.(ANI)

Samsung Dual Sim Mobile Launched

In the last few years Samsung Electronics have emerged as a popular player in the mobile handset segment with its GSM and CDMA models giving market leader Nokia a run for its money. A latest trend among the mobile handset makers is the dual SIM handsets which allow the users to use two SIM cards simultaneously in one cell phone. However, Samsung’s new Dual Sim Mobile models have made things easier for the CDMA phone users who also want to use a GSM SIM without buying two phones. The models unveiled by the company are Duos 259 and the Duos Touch.

As evident from its name, the Samsung Duos Touch has a cutting edge touch screen device that supports a GSM and CDMA connection at the same time. The battery of the Duos touch is a powerful one according to the company and the users of Reliance, Tata Indicom and Virgin Mobile networks will be able to use it. TheSamsung Duos 259 supports nearly all GSM and CDMA mobile services in India. It is a scaled down Dual Sim version and does not have a touchscreen. The camera used in the phone is 1.3 Mp which is pretty rudimentary.

The Samsung Dual Touch mobiles that have been recently launched are priced at INR 6,820 and INR 10,290. The users of Tata Indicom can get 1000 free minutes if they exchange their existing handset with thesemodels. The models bring good news for the CDMA phone users who are still limited to fewer handset choices.

Aircel Peek: Full QWERTY Email Device @Rs.2999

Aircel is already very popular with their internet services called pocket internet which allows users to surf unlimited with their mobile devices at just Rs. 98 per month. The latest addition of this dedicated mobile Email device will surely add to the popularity. The device named ‘Peek’ looks like a simple BlackBerry but it does not have any phone call capability. It is a dedicated email device and can manage upto 3 email accounts within it. This device coupled with a multimedia phone will surely serve as a poor man’sBlackBerry. The device also looks very good and sturdy with its aluminum plated back.

There will be both prepaid and postpaid plans for the email services. Unlimited email service is available for the prepaid customers at Rs. 867 for 90 days. There is also option for unlimited email for 7 days at Rs.89 and 30 days for Rs. 299. The postpaid users have to pay a rental of the same Rs. 299 per month for unlimited email services.

The device has a 2.5 inch QVGA 65K color screen which should be enough to read the email attachments in Word, Excel and PDF formats. The attachments must be up to a maximum size of 10MB. It also supports Microsoft Exchange. It has a multifunctional clickable scroll wheel and a back button apart from the comfortable full QWERTY keyboard. It also has an interesting security feature that will protect it from any unauthorized access. It can delete all data if a wrong password is entered 10 times in a row. The device is expected to run more than 2 days on a single charge.

Maxx Mobile Has Grand Plans

The mobile handset and accessory market in India is witnessing rapid growth and this has prompted domestic mobile brands to make heavy investments to make a foray into hitherto untapped markets. Maxx Mobile, based in Mumbai, has announced its aggressive plan to invest a whopping 2500 crore to rev up its business. Ajjay Agarwal, who is the managing director and chairman of Maxx group, has said in a recent statement that the company shall raise the capital by means of equity, bank loans as well as debts. The amount will be spent in activities like brand positioning and capacity expansion.

In the present fiscal the company invested Rs 150 crores. The demand of cell phones and related accessories is only going up with time. Even though the Korean and Japanese companies are doing great business, the scope for domestic players is also huge, mainly among the lower income group of buyers. That explains why Maxx Mobile is about to set up its third manufacturing capacity in Haridwar. The company needs to boost its capacity of making batteries and chargers, as the chairman said. Apart from selling its products in India, Maxx Mobile also exports its products to African countries.

Maxx Mobile has kept the price of its products low to capture the market. Recently it has come into focus after agreeing to act as the sponsor of the ongoing IPL 3. The mobiles made by this company may be affordable but they do not lag in the feature department. The model range of the company would suffice for the basic and heavy users.