TechGazing

Samsung seems to be betting very heavily on all-touchscreen phones that do not cost the earth. After the success of the Star and Corby, the company has now come out with what it calls its “most affordable 3G full touch handset”, the Star Nano 3G. The device sports a 2.6 inch touchscreen, a 1.3 megapixel camera and Samsung’s TouchWiz 2.0 interface that allows users to access different websites and services from a host of widgets on the homescreen. Of course, as its name itself indicates, the phone is 3G-ready, and its price tag of Rs 7,320 is supposed to be on the lower side for such a device.

Honestly, we think the screen is a bit on the smaller side for a device that is based on a touch interface (the BlackBerry Bold has as big a screen AND a QWERTY keypad to boot) and we do think that a 1.3 megapixel camera is a bit passe in these days when one can get a 3.2 megapixel shooter for most devices in the Star Nano 3G’s price range. Nevertheless, we think it is the performance of the device on a 3G network that Samsung is really betting on and after seeing how well the Corby has handled it on Tata Indicom, we would not bet against this one. Of course, we are still waiting for 3G to come to India, but Samsung seems to be ready for it already. Consumers are unlikely to complain.

There has been a stir in India tech town for the last 24 hours, ever since a few websites reported that BSNL is offering a Huawei phone in Tamil Nadu for as little as Rs 6,500, and for Rs 6,750 with a 3G connection thrown in. There is some confusion over whether it runs Android or Brew, but most of our sources confirm that the phone does indeed exist. Called the U7510, it comes with a full touchscreen, has 100 MB internal memory (expandable to 8 GB), Bluetooth and two cameras - a 2.0-megapixel main camera and a front facing VGA one for video calling. All of which makes it sound like a terrific deal, even if it is just limited to Tamil Nadu.

The only problem is that we have seen no official confirmation of the offer from BSNL - the phone is not on the service provider’s website. Still, if the news is true, then it is surely one of the best value for money offers we have seen on any phone in India (if it runs Android, it becomes the best value for money deal, ever!). We are keeping our fingers crossed that it is true and that such offers will come all over the country shortly.