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.

Announcing the launch, Sanjay Kumar, DGM-Telecom, Intex Technologies, said, “Out of the total subscriber base for mobile phones, more than a quarter comes from rural India. INTEX Hero promises to address their basic needs of convenience and communication and signifies a focused brand line expansion to offer more value to our customers.”

The Hero has 1800mAh rating battery that should provide more than adequate battery back up. The company is actually claiming that it will be able to offer users, on a full charge, a talk time of up to 9 hours. This would make it particularly apt for the consumers in tier II & III regions. Other features include an FM radio, camera, expandable memory, MP3 audio player, a 1000 contacts phonebook memory etc.

The handset is priced at Rs. 2,999 (MOP) which seems a like a great deal if it comes through with the battery life.

The IPL, promoted by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and featuring some of the top players in world cricket, had introduced an SMS contest aimed at keeping interest in India alive. The league, which was a huge commercial success in its inaugural edition in India last year, is being played in South Africa this year as the tournament clashes with India’s general elections. “There was no formal complaint. Such SMS contests are being played world over,” IPL governing council member Rajeev Shukla told Reuters on Tuesday. “But it has been closed for now,” he added. He did not say for how long.

Former Indian cricketers had raised serious misgivings about the contest, in which participants have to predict the sequence of runs that will be scored in the next over, saying that it amounted to gambling, which is illegal in India. Sports Minister Manohar Singh Gill expressed concern that it could also give rise to a fresh bout of corruption in the game. “We have already had… a match-fixing scandal in the game,” he said in a strongly worded statement on Saturday, referring to a scandal that broke in India and rocked international cricket in 2000. “It seems the ICC (International Cricket Council) had expressed concerns about such possibilities in the IPL league,” he added.

Vivek Khare, Business Head, Jeevansathi.com said, “With this application we take the matrimony search a step ahead. The interface suited to the 2 inch screen will help users search for matches while on the move, through their mobiles. In today’s age with ever increasing mobile connectivity this application is aimed to resonate with customers and increase daily logins.”

The short-code 56300 allows users to download the WAP application through GPRS connectivity of any cellular services provider. The application allows users to create their profiles, search profiles matching their criteria as well as express interest in suitable matches. Users can view complete profiles with photos via the application.

Existing members can use their mobile phones to login to the site, search and express interest. Users can also check match alerts and respond to profiles that have expressed interest.

“We are delighted to offer Aura to Indian consumers with its luxurious design, artistry and sensory experience,” said Faisal Siddiqui, Head of India Operations, Motorola Mobile Devices.

Aura is Motorola’s latest high-tier mobile device targeted at the trend-setter Indian who has a taste for the exquisitely stylish, unrivalled quality and sensuous luxury, he added.

Motorola claims ‘Aura’ is the world’s first mobile phone with 16 million colour and 300 dpi resolutions.

The phone sports 2GB on-board memory, and works on networks including the GSM 850, GSM 900, GSM 1800, GSM 1900 and EDGE Class 12 and GPRS Class 12.

The phone’s battery offers up to 7.3 hours of talk time plus 400 hours of standby time. Other key features include Stereo Bluetooth 2.0 +EDR and AD2P, 2 megapixel camera with fixed focus, USB 2.0 hi-speed for connectivity and Symphony browser.

Also, phone has Motorola’s proprietary CrystalTalk technology that lets users get rid of unwanted noises while talking through their handset.

Aura features hand-sculpted richness, stainless steel housing and will also be available in sundry textures and patterns. The phone was launched by the Bollywood celebrity and Motorola’s brand ambassador Abhishek Bachchan, who presented the first Aura to fashion designer Manish Malhotra in Mumbai.

Both the phones comes with the latest version of TouchFLO 3D interface which has been deeply integrated in the customized version of Windows Mobile 6.1. It also brings the important information to the top level user interface by providing quick access to people, email, messaging, photos, music etc. The Touch focus areas have been enlarged to be more finger-touch friendly. The Touch Diamond2 has a 3.2-inch VGA touchscreen display while the Touch Pro2 has a 3.6 inch WVGA touchscreen and a slide-out QWERTY keyboard. They are both powered by Windows Mobile 6.1 but it is expected to ship with Windows Mobile 6.5 as it is also been announced. Both will have 3G, WiFi b/g and Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP stereo wireless. The Touch Diamond2 comes with a 5 megapixel camera with autofocus while the Touch Pro2 has a 3.2 megapixel camera with autofocus. The Touch Pro 2 also has the HTC straight talk feature which improves the email, voice and speakerphone functionality of the phone. You can also transform it into a conference room speaker phone system just by flipping it over.

The Touch Diamond2 will be available in the second quarter of the year. The Touch Pro2 will be available in early summer. There is no word on pricing right now.

Acer M900

The M900 features a 3.8-inch WVGA touchscreen, embedded fingerprint sensor, a full keyboard and allows users to keep track of activities and access their contacts and files through synchronization with a notebook or desktop computer.

It comes preinstalled with Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional, Outlook Mobile email and Office Mobile (Word, Excel and Powerpoint) and has HSDPA connectivity.

The M900 comes equipped with GPS, FM Radio, voice recorder and voice-command, as well as expandable memory, and a 5-megapixel autofocus camera with flash.

Acer F900

The F900 has a 3.8-inch WVGA touch screen and touch keyboard. The user-interface makes navigating through the device easy and provides quick links to contacts, email messages, bookmarks, calendars, date and time, world weather and music.

The F900 comes also with an integrated 3.2-megapixel auto-focus camera with flash, GPS, FM Radio, voice recorder, voice command, and expandable memory.

With direct access to key applications via the widget-based home screen, The F900 features easy one-hand navigation with the new Internet Explorer 6 supporting JavaScript and Adobe Flash Lite, providing access to various webmail clients and a suite of internet applications. The F900 features high-speed 3.75G HSDPA/HSUPA and WiFi connectivity.

“People demand mobile cameras that take excellent pictures in all light conditions,” says Juha-Pekka Sipponen, Director, Nokia Nseries. “That’s why the aperture of the Nokia N86 8MP is comparable to that of a high-quality, stand-alone digital camera. Whether it’s running with the bulls in Pamplona or capturing the panoramic beauty of a sunrise over Sydney, the Nokia N86 8MP will take brilliantly clear, wide-angle images that are instantly geotagged to be uploaded onto sites like Ovi Share or Flickr.”
 
The Nokia N86 8MP camera includes a wide-angle Carl Zeiss Tessar lens for panoramic pictures, shorter latencies and variable aperture for super sharp photos in challenging bright and low light conditions. A fast mechanical shutter will help ensure pictures with less motion blur. What could be construed as a disappointment would be the presence of  a dual LED camera flash instead of a Xenon.
 
“When it comes to taking the best digital photos, it’s the quality of the lens and the sensor that count, not just the quantity of pixels. The Nokia N86 8MP is the first mobile device with variable aperture, adding to the Carl Zeiss Tessar lens for excellent results. It has never been easier to capture special moments in such a great quality,” says Helmut Heier of Carl Zeiss.

The handset features -

• 2.6 inch OLED, scratch resistant hardened glass display with a 240 x 320 pixel resolution
• Dual Slider
• 8GB of internal memory (microSD card support)
• HSDPA, Wi-Fi, EDGE
• Bluetooth with A2DP, USB 2.0 (micro)
• GPS with A-GPS support (Nokia Maps)
• FM radio with RDS and FM transmitter feature
• 3.5mm AV socket
• Rear kickstand

With full Ovi integration, users can share their location with personal content like geotagged photos. The Nokia N86 8MP comes with a built-in compass, along with an integrated 3-month license for full voice and pedestrian navigation.
 
The Nokia N86 8MP is expected to begin shipping in the second quarter of 2009 at an estimated retail price of Rs. 23, 331 (EUR 375), before taxes and subsidies.

The Ivalo will feature:

• a 3.5 inch TFT touchscreen (widescreen. Nokia loves that it seems)
• 32GB of ROM
• GPS, A-GPS
• FM radio with a transmitter as well
• 5 megapixel camera
• Wi-Fi, EDGE/GPRS
• TV out
• Bluetooth and of course USB 2.0

Madeleine, which reports are saying could be a mid-range handset will come equipped with :

• QWERTY keyboard
• 3.2 megapixel camera
• Wi-Fi, EDGE/GPRS
• N-Gage support for gaming
• GPS
• FM radio

There’s absolutely nothing official about these handsets but with GSMA and MWC 09 just around the corner one has to hope that we’ll see them, even if they are prototypes, on display.

Other reports a little earlier also stated that the Finnish mobile magnates were also planning of launching a mobile application store as well as a device that the reports are calling E75. Could it be one of these? We’ll just have to wait and see.