Now, HTC Pulse free with a one-year contract

Here's a quick round up of the latest and hottest happenings in the world of gadgets and gaming this week.

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MTS is launching its first CDMA smartphone in the market, the Android 2.1-based HTC Pulse, a launch that also celebrates the company reaching the milestone of 10 million subscribers in India. The phone also happens to be the first operator-subsidised smartphone in the country -- it comes free with a one year contract that has a post-paid monthly data plan of Rs 1,500.

With the plan, users will get 1,500 minutes of talk time, 1,500 messages and 1,500 MB of data every month for the first 12 months. The phone can also be purchased separately from MTS for Rs 18,000.

The HTC Pulse doesn't shine brightly in the face of its competitors, but for free, it will definitely attract those not looking to spend on a smartphone, but want one nonetheless. It has a 528MHz Qualcomm MSM7600 processor, 256MB RAM and 512MB ROM, a 5MP camera, and 3.1MBps CDMA EVDO 3G connectivity. Its 3-inch capacitive touchscreen has a 320x480 resolution. The phone also supports microSD cards up to 32GB.

The phone has a 1300 mAh Li-ion battery that is rated to deliver up to 3 hours and 34 minutes of talktime, and a standby time of 373 hours. It weighs 120 grams.

Apart from the usual Android ecosystem on offer, users can also use Apalya for mobile TV, a service MTS has tied up with.

There has been no comment from MTS whether the HTC Pulse will get a Froyo update.

NEXT: RIM CEO gets angry when asked about BlackBerry problems in India

RIM's recent experiences in India and the Middle East have been long and tortuous, with the company slowly being forced to turn over control of its much-used and famously-secure BlackBerry services in the respective regions for reasons of national security. An agreement has yet to be reached on that front, and in the meanwhile, Research In Motion has had to contend with the rising market share of Android and iOS smartphones.

While RIM's co-CEO Mike Lazaridis is not best known for his oratory skills, a recent BBC interview put in to light the stress the company is undergoing. When asked about the "problems [RIM] has had in terms of security, and the various arguments" with governments in India and the Middle East, Lazardis called the question unfair, vehemently defending the security of platform, and calling an end to the interview due to the sensitive nature of the issues being discussed:

"That's just not fair. Because first of all, it's nuts. We have no security problems... we've just been singled out, because we're so successful around the world. It's an iconic product, used by businesses, it's used by leaders, it's used by celebrities, it's used by consumers, it's used by teenagers, we were just singled out."

"Alright, so it's over, [the] interview's over. Please, you can't use that word, it's just not fair We've dealt with this, this is a national security issue, turn that off "

Surprisingly and a bit irresponsibly, this part of the interview was made available by the BBC, allowing us to satisfy our morbid curiosity in the face of a struggling platform.

RIM has quite a few of its eggs riding the PlayBook basket, a QNX-based underdog tablet scheduled to launch in the U.S. and Canada on April 19th.

NEXT: Sony reduces prices of the PSP in India, to Rs 7,990

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Sony reduces prices of the PSP in India, to Rs 7,990 with Street Cricket Champions

Months before the Sony Next Generation Portable device arrives, Sony Computer Entertainment has reduced the price of the original PSP in India for the summer season. Now available for Rs. 7,990, the PSP also comes with a free game called Street Cricket Champions.

Sony India points out that the PSP is more than just a gaming console, but also a "total entertainment package."Apart from movies and music, other online content is available on the PlayStation Network and Store.

The Sony Music Unlimited service will probably also be introduced in India with the PSP. Game titles are currently retailing for Rs 599. The PSP go is currently available in India for Rs 12,990, and comes with 10 free games.

NEXT: Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 to launch on June 8, arrive in India by July

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Samsung has announced the launch date of the Galaxy Tab 10.1, which is now scheduled to hit shelves in the U.S. on 8 June 2011. It will be launched globally within 30 days of this, and Samsung assured reporters in the country that it will come to India soon after, by July. The Galaxy Tab 8.9 for now doesn't have a fixed date, and will arrive sometime after the 10.1 tablet launches.

The super-slim Galaxy Tab 10.1 is an Android Honeycomb tablet that Samsung hopes will take on the tablet-defining and also super-slim Apple iPad 2 directly. While Samsung has not announced when exactly it will be releasing Wi-Fi+3G versions of its tablet, it has priced its Wi-Fi version at the same price as Apple, with the 16GB version set to retail for $499 (approximately Rs. 22,000), and the 32GB version for $599 (roughly Rs. 27,000).

In other news, Samsung India has now announced that its Galaxy S II flagship Android smartphone will be arriving in the country sometime in May.

NEXT: Adobe announces Creative Suite 5.5 (CS5.5) apps for tablets

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Adobe has announced the availability of an update to its Creative Suite 5 software pack, called Creative Suite 5.5, or CS5.5. The update can be downloaded by way of monthly subscriptions. The update will begin rolling-out in a month's time.
 
The Adobe Creative Suite 5.5 packs many new tools, and focusses on providing design features that are relevant for popular modern devices such as smartphones and tablets. One of the features includes the Photoshop Touch Software Development Kit scripting engine, which gives developers the ability to create touch-based Photoshop applications, which can be used on four tablet operating systems, including Android and iOS.

Using the feature, Adobe has already created three applications for the iPad, called Adobe Color Lava Adobe Eazel, and Adobe Nav, which will allow users to edit and create images with a variety of Photoshop tools. The update also includes complete support for what is being called the future of the web -- HTML5.

NEXT: Leaked Windows 8 screenshots show upcoming Windows App Store

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While the following Windows 8 images were leaked more than a month ago, they have begun circulating all over the web in the recent past. The images, sourced from milestone builds of Windows 8, show the Windows App Store.

Apart from hosting Microsoft software like Office 2010, users will also be able to download Windows compatible third-party apps, share gift coupons, and more.

Very similar in interface to the Apple App Store, Mac App Store, and the Chrome Web Store, the Windows App Store layout has been criticized for being unoriginal.

As the images are from a milestone build, you can expect more than a few changes before the release.

NEXT: Fly Mobile to launch four low-cost Android phones in India soon

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Fly Mobile, a U.K. based cellphone manufacturer, has announced it will be bringing four new low-cost Android phones into the Indian market, with prices ranging from Rs. 7,000 to Rs. 10,000. All the phones will have 5MP cameras, and, sport Android 2.2 Froyo onboard.

The announcement was made by Fly Mobile's CEO, Prem Kumar, who also gave a tentative launch date the third quarter of the current financial year. He added that Fly Mobile was looking to offer customers an India-specific Android app store, to be launched by the third quarter again. "Fly Mobile is strengthening its app ecosystem and is in the process of launching its app store, which will be India centric. Consumers will be able to experience our store by the third quarter this year."

The company will also be expanding its service network in India, increasing the number of service centres from 384 to 450 in the near future.

NEXT: Nokia finally announces Nokia E6 and X7 phones

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Nokia has finally officially announced two much leaked Symbian models -- the Nokia E6 business phone and X7 entertainment phone. Along with the two new models, it has also finally refreshed the Symbian^3 OS, with the Symbian Anna update. New features bring all those little interface details we've been hearing about for the better part of a year, in a total of 50 enhancements, including new icons, an improved browser, homescreen, split-screen input, and Ovi Maps application. Find more coverage on the Symbian Anna OS update here.

The Nokia X7 is scheduled to arrive in Q2 2011, and is priced at 380 euros. The Nokia E6 is expected in Q3 2011, with a price of 345 euros excluding subsidies and taxes.

The official Nokia E6 and X7 don't look different from their leaked counterparts, and their specifications come as no surprise either. However, while we all knew Nokia would try to give the E6 a high-resolution touchscreen, it has managed to squeeze in a full VGA resolution (640x480 pixels) on a 2.46-inch display, coming out to a Retina Display-rivalling 326 pixels per inch. In fact, Nokia says the pixel density of the E6 is four times as high as the Nokia E7. Unfortunately, the screen is not Nokia's ClearBlack Display, but a regular TFT.

The Nokia E6 is another business-centric E-series QWERTY device with a touchscreen, Microsoft Mail for Exchange, Communicator Mobile and SharePoint, allowing support for up to 10 email accounts. It is supposed to deliver up to 14.8 hours of talk time, and nearly a month of standby time. The E6 also has an 8MP camera on board, with dual-LED flash and an EDoF sensor the same as the E7 and X7, also capable of 720p HD video recording at 25 fps. It has 8GB of built-in storage, expandable with a 32GB microSD card. Find more specifications in the table below processor details have yet to be revealed.

The Nokia X7 is a sharply angled phone with a large 4-inch display, the same 360x640 ClearBlack Display screen as the Nokia E7, and Nokia N8 phone. Apart from the same 8MP EDoF camera as the Nokia E6 and E7, it has the same 680 MHz ARM 11 with Broadcom BCM2727 GPU as the Nokia N8 and E7. It has 256MB RAM, 1GB ROM, and will probably come with an 8GB microSD card bundled.

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