If you have the money to splurge and are looking for some hot new functions on your phone, read on. Mobile companies across the globe are all set to woo customers with new gizmos, which go far beyond being only tools of communication.
The attempt is to create an all-in-one machine in your hand on which you can listen and download your favourite music, surf the net, shoot high quality pictures which make digital cameras irrelevant, play exciting real-time games and even check your health.
Nokia 6680
Just the thing for camera freaks. The Nokia 6680, a 3G phone, which has just hit the Indian market offers you two integrated 1.3 megapixel cameras.
The camera on the back comes with a landscape camera mode and flash while the VGA camera on the front is for video calls. So, with the camera in front, you can conduct face-to-face video calls from your phone.
It also offers a high resolution 262,144 colour display for the perfect picture. The imaging smartphone also has video-sharing capability, so you can share and view video clips in the middle of a call.
And if you want more it has settings like high-end digital cameras for night photography, brightness adjustment, image quality, self-timer, white balance settings, and colour tones.
You can also print digital photos directly from your smartphone -- transfer the photos to a compatible printer through bluetooth wirelessly or through cable.
The 6680 has other ingredients too: a Real Player Media software for listening to your music and downloading it, a 10MB internal memory and a expandable memory of 64MB.
Nokia N-90
If you are ready to wait for a while, there is more coming up from Nokia. The N-90, which has a "Four-axis 'Fold and Twist' form factor is a delight for customers looking for high quality imaging.
The phone, which is expected to hit India next month comes with a 2 megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics. It also offers high quality VHS resolution for video recording.
It has a 262K color display (352 X 416 pixels) and of course lots of memory space. A 3G phone, it has the usual capabilities of this category of next-generation phones.
Nokia N91
Are you waiting for an iPOd challenger? If you're one of those who doesn't want to carry both a phone and a music player, wait for the Nokia N91, the music player integrated with a smart phone which offers you hi fi CD quality sound.
The machine has an incredible four gigabytes of memory which lets you store over 1200 songs ( that's more than an Apple mini iPod which can store up to 1,000 songs).
The phone allows to do up to 12.5 hours of music playback, and to make it easy for customers to negotiate through the music, this phone-pod offers you dedicated music keys. Nokia India is not divulging prices but since mini-iPods cost around $160, and 3G phones cost a packet, don't expect this to cost anywhere less than Rs 35,000 or thereabouts.
Motorola PEBL V6
If it's style you're looking for, wait for the Motorola PEBL V6, which is expected to hit India by August-September. Created with a smooth oval form it has an iconic oval shaped design with elegant metallic finish.
Weighing 110 grams, the PEBL comes with 5 megabytes of embedded memory, integrated VGA digital camera, voice dialling facilities, and a talk time of up to 400 minutes.
Sony Ericcson K 600i
Buoyed by the success of the P10i, Sony Ericcson has an exciting offer for business executives as well as those who want a complete phone.
The K 600i whose shipments have begun to India and will be available in the market in the next few weeks offers an amazing array of goodies: it's a 3G phone with a 1.3 megapixel camera, digital media player, FM radio and when someone sends you an e mail, it gets pushed to your phone directly (like in the case of the Blackberry -- but of course this will depend on whether your phone operators offer the service).
What's more, if you are a golf lover, the phone comes pre-loaded with a golf game with champion Vijay Singh.
Sony Ericcson Z520i
The mobile company has many other phones, which will hit the Indian market by August and September. The Z520i which was demonstrated in the Communications Asia in Singapore has many unique features: it is a clamshell phone so you can change the covers according to your style.
You can choose from eight light effects, and mix them with melodies and program your phone to get to know who's calling by the light effects and the music.
Needless to say, it has a camera and comes preloaded with some exciting games.
