Consumer Technology

iPad Finally Launches In India, BSNL 3G Data Plans Revealed

January 28, 2011 by Raj Agrawal Leave a Comment

The Indian consumer market can now “officially” taste the much hyped Apple’s iPad.

Apple finally managed to launch it’s iPad in India after a long wait and with this, BSNL has revealed it’s plans and prices for iPad’s 3G data service.

With the various tablet based computers steadily penetrating the Indian market, it is interesting to see Apple’s own tablet coming out and ready to be sold with it’s usual price weight. iPad is being sold as two major variants, one with Wi-Fi and the other with Wi-Fi + 3G, each available with 16GB, 32GB and 64GB hard drives. Have a look the following chart which specifies the prices for each iPad type available.

iPad (Wi-FI enabled)	iPad (Wi-Fi and 3G enabled)
16GB – Rs. 27,900*	16GB – 34,900*
32GB – 32,900*	32GB – 39,900*
64GB – 37,900*	64GB- 44,900*

* Inclusive of all taxes

A snapshot of iPad’s price list shared by one of the Apple executives in Mumbai, India:

prices for iPad india revealed — Snapshot

On the other hand, BSNL revealed it’s 3G data plans for the iPad.

Prepaid

Particulars	Unlimited Monthly Plan	Limited Monthly Plan	Daily Plan
MRP of Recharge Vouchers(RCV) in Rs.^	999	599	99
Free Data Usage	Unlimited	6 GB	Unlimited
Validity	30 Days	30 Days	1 Day
Data Usage Charges Beyond Free Usage	NA	1p/10Kb	NA

Starter Pack in Rs.100^. Free.usage with activation 1GB/month for six months.

MRP is inc.usive of Service Tax @10.30%.

Postpaid Plan

Particulars	Unlimited Monthly Plan
Activation Charges in Rs. *	100
FMC in Rs. *	999
Free Data Usage	Unlimited
Validity	30 Days

*Exclusive of service tax.

Thanks to OnlyGizmos.com for pointing out the availability of BSNL 3G data plans.

Sony’s CineAlta Super 35mm Digital Production Camera Launched In India

December 20, 2010 by Raj Agrawal 3 Comments

The Sony Electronics Asia Pacific has unveiled it’s latest and an innovative digital cinematography camera this week in Mumbai.

The PMW3-F3 CineAlta Super 35mm is the latest innovation on Sony’s digital 35mm roadmap wrapped tight with great set of features along with portability, performance and price, explicitly targeting the Indian filmmakers. It is claimed to be the first professional handheld digital camera with a Super 53mm imager.

The acclaimed Director/Cinematographer Mr. Santosh Sivan who is also the winner of 12 National Awards and 21 International Awards along with his team had provided a preview of a short film shot in Chennai, India using the PMW-F3 camera. I had the privilege to view and grasp the visual quality of the video shot by this camera first hand and I was truly entertained by the stunning visuals and richness of depth in each video frame.

The working and technical aspects of this wonderful camcorder can be read in detail from the following booklets:

Price: The PMW3-F3 CineAlta Super 35mm comes with a suggested list price of Rs. 12,30,000 (tax inclusive) for the PMW-F3L (without lens) and Rs. 1,710,000 (tax inclusive) for the PMW-F3K (with PL Lens kit). Also includes two SxS media cards, two battery packs and a charger.

Orders and Availability: Though this product won’t be in the market before February 2011 in India, it can still be bought early from the Authorized dealers.

Nvidia’s 3D Technology Product Line Now In India

November 12, 2010 by Raj Agrawal 3 Comments

It’s 3D, it’s realistic, it’s awesome and little heavy on the pockets.

Nvidia is popular for it’s extensive range of GPUs and it has recently launched a new product line targeting the mainstream Indian market. With the tremendous success of 3D movies like Avatar and many others, also considering the numerous festive seasons in line, this is indeed a great time to launch Nvidia’s new product line in India. Nvidia has partnered with the leading global brands making the 3D entertainment systems easily available for the Indian masses with introducing 3D monitors, 3D Cameras, Projectors, Notebooks and Desktops.

I had a opportunity to witness almost the entire product line at the Nvidia’s promotional event and perhaps the most interesting product I came across were the 3D enabled – Gaming Computers. The working is pretty simple, an emitter which is connected to the computer communicates with the USB powered 3D ‘Active’ glasses which successfully takes the usual gaming experience to the next level! I must say that I was blown away with the 3D gaming experience as it was much superior than my expectation. The reason behind the awesomeness of Nvidia’s 3D gaming is because of the Active 3D glasses it uses rather than the conventional Passive ones found in many cheaper alternatives.

Rather a more interesting product Nvidia now offers is the NVIDIA® 3DTV Play™ which allows.users to connect NVIDIA 3D Vision™ enabled notebooks and desktops to 3D HDTVs for the ultimate high-definition, big-screen entertainment experience. This means that 3D Games, 3D Photos and Blu-ray 3D Movies can now be easily experienced with Nvidia Geforce GPU computers connected to HDMI 1.4 3D HDTVs.

The only shortcomings I witnessed is the ‘wireless’ technology these Active 3D glasses are made with. The glasses have to be in the range of the data emitted. Any break ups in the links between the glass and the emitter can cause the screen of the glasses to flicker which can be uncomfortable. Secondly, the price of the glasses is not very consumer friendly. The glasses can be priced at Rs. 7,000/- appx each and the number of glasses bundled with the 3D system bought is entirely dependent on the retailers. This makes the product line more of a luxury and still a niche.

Being a new initiative in the Indian market, with time and R&D, it is obvious that the entire package of the 3D systems will soon replace the current 2D entertainment systems into 3D, entirely.