How costly is iPhone 4 overseas?

Apple's iPhone 4, which was released by Airtel and Aircel in India 11 months after its international launch, is more expensive here than anywhere else on earth.

There was a time when handset giants used to launch their products in international markets first and then bring the products to India after one or two years, but now things are changing, with companies increasingly launching their handsets in India simultaneously or within a couple of months of the product's international launch.

Users in India would have loved to see the iPhone 4 launched in India at the same time as abroad, but better late than never: Apple iPhone 4 was released here courtesy Airtel and Aircel on May 27, almost a year after it was launched in international markets.

Google to launch Street View in India, starting from Bengaluru

Street View maps offer not just directions but also complete pictures of streets.

Google has announced that it will begin collecting images in Bengaluru for its Street View feature in Google Maps. This is the first time that the internet giant will provide the service for any Indian city.

Google cars and Trikes will today begin driving and taking street level photographs of public locations around the city. The images will be made available at a later date in Street View on Google Maps.

Samsung rolls out Gingerbread upgrade

Galaxy Tab and Galaxy smartphone users can now upgrade to Android 2.3 as Samsung announces Android Gingerbread upgrade for various devices.

Samsung Electronics has officially announced that its Galaxy Tab and other Galaxy smartphones will soon start getting Android Gingerbread upgrades. The devices chosen for the upgrade are not few and include Samsung Galaxy S, Galaxy Tab, and Galaxy Ace, Gio, Fit and mini smartphones.

The upgrade, from Android Froyo (Frozen Yoghurt) 2.2 to Android Gingerbread 2.3, will offer users faster performance with a low CPU consumption rate, while supporting powerful 3D Graphics for enhanced mobile gaming.

BlackBerry in a hurry to re-establish itself

The BlackBerry's problems have been obscured by sales figures so far. But with the iOS and Android onslaught, it needs apps fast.

The shift towards the perception that BlackBerry makers Research In Motion are in trouble due to the onslaught of Android and iOS phones is natural, but premature. Only some time ago, BlackBerry made a serious effort to take younger users into its fold as well, and the campaign seems to have hit it off in the UK, in India, South Africa and in some other countries (that don't include the USA).

In these countries, the new trend started with younger people getting their BlackBerrys through their seniors or parents who were buying new devices and handed their old BlackBerrys to the kids. These youth found BlackBerry messenger to be very useful and the fact that it was free was an added bonus. Despite the new-found popularity among younger users and, of course, the enterprise segment, Research In Motion is definitely having some problems due to the increasing popularity of iPhone and Android phones.

However, the growth rate of handset sales has obscured some of the company's problems so far. The operating system is all important when it comes to smartphones, because where hardware is concerned there are only touchscreen devices and those that have Qwerty keyboards.

The BlackBerry operating system looks good but dated, and that's why the company has come out with BlackBerry OS 7. 

Research In Motion recently made a slew of announcements at the BlackBerry World event, and in addition to that, BlackBerry Messenger is its hidden social network, which has a community in everywhere, including in India, and the members of this community are not likely to trade their messengers for anything else.