“We’re returning to an all-time favorite to re-create the original experience,” said Skott Ahn, President and CEO of LG Electronics Mobile Communications Company. “Over 21 million Chocolate handsets have been sold across 54 countries to date and we believe the next generation Chocolate will have a tremendous impact on the market, extending the growth that LG experienced during the first half of this year.”

LG’s new Chocolate phone is the fourth model in the LG Black Label Series. The original Chocolate debuted globally in May 2006 and went on to become the most popular phone in the company’s history. The same year, this mobile phone was recognized internationally for its design innovation by winning the prestigious Red Dot Design and the iF Design awards. Other Black Label Series handsets include LG Shine with its revolutionary full-metal body and LG Secret, an elegant carbon fiber and tempered glass classic.

The handset will feature -

• a 4-inch scratch-resistant multi-touch enabled display that will sport an 800 x 345 pixel resolution and a 21:9 aspect ratio
• 3G with HSDPA, EDGE/GPRS
• Wi-Fi
• Bluetooth with A2DP
• A-GPS
• 3.5mm earphone socket

There don’t seem to be any available images of the handset itself, but check out the hot teaser video making the rounds.

The handset will be using a variation of LG’s proprietary new S-Class UI. There’s no word on the camera’s resolution yet but hopefully we’ll see more of the specs getting confirmed in the coming month as the new LG Chocolate phone is expected to be unveiled in August. Stay tuned.

The phone features an MP3 player, FM recording, gigital camera, expandable memory and one touch torch. The customizable home screen gives the users the freedom to add or change the menus on the home screen as per need and convenience. The Spice C-5300 also features a mobile tracker .

The Spice C-5300 comes with a Free USB card reader and is available for Rs. 3549.

“Whether using it at the beach or in a dusty construction site, the Nokia 3720 classic has been specifically engineered to withstand the splashes, bumps and drops that come with the terrain,” said Markku Suomi, vice president, Connect devices. “While the Nokia 3720 classic is tough on the outside, it is equally functional on the inside – a perfect choice for people who want a long-lasting and reliable mobile phone for any environment.”

The Nokia 3720 classic, a Symbian S40 handset features a sealed, leak-proof design and durable materials in a range of colors. The battery cover, which protects both the battery and the internal circuitry of the device, is locked with a screw, making for worry-free usage in wet, dusty or muddy environments. Other features include -

• 2.2-inch TFT LCD with a 240 x 320 pixel resolution
• LED Flashlight
• MicroSD card support
• Nokia Maps
• GPRS/EDGE
• Bluetooth 2.1 with A2DP, USB 2.0 (micro)
• 2 megapixel camera with an LED flash
• Stereo FM radio with RDS
• 2.5mm handsfree socket

The Nokia 3720 is expected to retail for approximately Rs. 8,520 (EUR 125) before subsidies or taxes. If it launches here now, it’ll have Samsung’s B1200 to contend with but I’m sure we’ll agree that this is the perfect season for it.

It seems like Sony Ericsson has also customized the user interface, the same reports are stating. A few of the features that have also come to light include GPS and 3G capabilities. Still no word on pricing or availability and of course we’ll have to wait for an official press release to figure out what the actual specs are so stay tuned.

The ZN50 will feature Motorola’s new mobile interface called Panorama that like LG and Samsung also allows for up to three homescreens with widget capabilities. How imaginative… not! The handset will also feature -

• a 3.2-inch TFT touchscreen with a resolution of 240 x 427 pixels
• 3.5mm earphone socket with
• dedicated music keys for audio player that also features SRS WOW HD technology
• EDGE/GPRS
• GPS
• microSD card support
• 3 megapixel camera
• TV Tuner
• Bluetooth with A2DP and USB 2.0

There’s no word on the handset coming our way so don’t get your hopes up. As of now it’s reported to be heading for Korea so we’ll just have to wait and see.

It was not too long ago that 5 megapixel cameras were all the rage and this year we’ve seen that that too has passed with 8 megapixels making a bigger scene. However it seems like the jump is already underway to 12MP now with Sony Ericsson and their Satio being the fore-runner followed by Samsung’s Pixon 12. LG, not wanting to be left behind has just unveiled their 12MP camera phone – the LG GC990.

According to reports, the handset’s camera is capable of recoding HD videos at a resolution of 1280 x 720 pixels at 30 fps. It’ll also feature a Xenon flash, auto/touch focus, geo-tagging, ISO, and Schneider-Kreuznach optics. A new addition to the camera’s feature set is what’s being called Intelli-zoom.

Other features include -

• a 3.2-inch TFT touchscreen display
• Wi-Fi with DLNA
• TV Out
• GPS with A-GPS support
• Bluetooth
• DivX and Xvid support for video playback

All of this and LG’s S-Class UI. The handset may have been unveiled but there’s no word yet on the availability and pricing so stay tuned.

The handset is well equipped with features for the social networker that also integrates its A-GPS functionality for updating your ‘Social Location’ on the fly and a Live Desktop feature for the same.

A quick recap of the handset’s features can be found below -

• A 3.5-inch TFT resistive touchscreen, with 16M colors and a 360 x 640 pixel resolution
• The screen has an accelerometer sensor for auto-rotating the display
• Supports handwriting recognition
• It has a slide out full QWERTY keyboard
• 3.5mm earphone socket that doubles up for a TV out for audio and video
• Stereo FM radio with RDS, Visual Radio and an FM Transmitter
• Bluetooth with A2DP and USB 2.0 (micro)
• 3G (with HSDPA), EDGE/GPRS, Wi-Fi
• a 5 megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics
• GPS with A-GPS support, a Digital Compass and geotagging
• 32GB of internal storage as well as support for microSD cards
• Pocket office preloaded

“From the desktop to the laptop and now to your pocket, the Nokia N97 is the most powerful, multi-sensory mobile device in existence. It is an important step towards our vision of delivering a highly personalized Internet experience,” said Vineet Taneja, Director-Marketing, Nokia India. “Fuelled by a multitude of media and applications through the Ovi Store, the Nokia N97 transforms the Internet into an experience that’s completely tailored to the tastes and interests of its user”.
For the first time ever for an Nseries device, Nokia has also worked out an easy EMI payment system for the Nokia N97. It has partnered with HDFC and Citibank to provide a 3 month EMI option at 0% interest rate to consumers in select retail outlets in metros and select cities and towns across the country.

Additionally, on the purchase of Nokia N97, Vodafone consumers will receive an exclusive free data plan over three months for browsing the internet services 24X7. Nokia N97 winners on Vodafone will also get exclusive access to ‘The Groove’, a unique lifestyle widget, which provides users live updates on movies, dining out, shopping, clubbing, cultural events as well as sports. The offer will be valid for Vodafone consumers at all Vodafone Stores retailing Nokia devices, all Nokia Branded Retail outlets as well as Multi Brand Outlets across various cities.

The Spice D-1111 features a 2 MP camera, stereo Bluetooth, expandable memory up to 2GB, Push mail, access to Microsoft Outlook, Nimbuzz, cricbuzz.com, naukri.com and jeevansaathi.com. Reuters and  Opera Mini comes pre-loaded on the handset.  

The phone also features email2SMS service that allows users to read their complete emails on the move as SMS without having to activate GPRS or download any software. Spice Mobiles is offering 1 month free subscription of Emails2SMS service on the D-1111.

Speaking on the launch, Kunal Ahooja, CEO, Spice Mobiles said, “Spice Mobiles has always endeavored to drive innovation in the mobile handset industry and set new benchmarks through user-friendly and smart product offerings. With the launch of Spice D-1111, we have introduced world-class dual-SIM (GSM+CDMA) Windows Mobile in India. This unique gadget caters to working professionals who work hard and believe in having fun.”

The Spice D-1111 comes bundled with a 512MB memory card, leather pouch and a screen guard and is priced at an MRP of Rs. 18,499.

PlayNow provides unlimited access to a wide range of music tracks (MP3 tones, polytones, truetones), games, themes, wallpapers and animations from major record companies around the world and premier developers globally directly from your Sony Ericsson phone.

PlayNow services come packed, with game titles like Need for Speed, Harry Potter, FIFA, SIMS; a gamut of foot tapping music numbers and vibrant wallpapers from Bollywood and Hollywood; themes and much more. Compatible with GPRS services, PlayNow also offers a seamless billing integration saving the hassle of payments through credit cards.

Sudhin Mathur, General Manager, Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications India, “At Sony Ericsson, we have always tried to keep ourselves abreast with evolving consumer needs. The youth in India are constantly on the move today. In fact, they comprise the new download generation. Mobile downloading is fast gaining momentum as the youth want their mobile phones to cater to a range of needs in tune with their dynamic lifestyle. PlayNow is the apt answer to this emerging need.”

“Our focus is on expanding the range of content that we offer to consumers through global and local partnerships. With PlayNow, Sony Ericsson provides integrated hardware, applications and services that enable consumers to seamlessly discover and consume content as they desire,” he added.

For free music and gaming content, Sony Ericsson offers Fun and Downloads – a Sony Ericsson web portal and WAP service – offering Sony Ericsson mobile phone users high-quality content for download. Focusing on fun and entertainment, the content offering on Fun and Downloads includes ringtones, images, video clips, wallpapers, themes, animated content and games for a wide range of Java ME platform Sony Ericsson phones.

“Consumers are increasingly looking for exciting content and premium entertainment experiences wherever they are. By adding a bundled movie proposition to PlayNow arena we continue to remove barriers for consumers to easily access entertainment through their mobile phone” said Martin Blomkvist, Head of Content Acquisition and Management at Sony Ericsson.

PlayNow arena with movies is a bundled movie service from Sony Ericsson, included out-of-the-box for select handsets, allowing consumers to watch up to 60 movies a year on their mobile phone. Optimized to give consumers the best possible viewing experience, users can choose from a selection of around 15 movies at any one time, with additional titles being added to the catalog each month. After ‘side loading’ feature length films onto your phone, you can watch them as often as you like for up to 90 days. Downloaded movies will be automatically formatted to match the performance of your phone. The specially formatted movies are not playable on any other device.

Go to www.playnow-arena.com/movies, select the appropriate device, download the videos of your choice and simply transfer the files to your handset via USB. The available movie catalog is also going to be a country-specific mix of classics and newer titles.