Sometime back I wrote about TravelSIM, a GSM SIM that works in over 170 countries. This was for frequent travelers who trot the global on a monthly basis or even more frequently. It seems that the trend is catching on. Now truphone has launched a new SIM that lets subscribers to be local literally anywhere in the world. Moreover, they won’t even have to buy a new SIM card every time they travel out of country. This also means cheap calling anywhere to the tune of 90% as compared to standard calling rates!

Initially it has been launched for the UK, US and more countries will be added in 2010. The list includes South Africa, Hong Kong, Australia and some European countries as well. There are three different kinds of plans being offered the Starter, UK Holiday Pack and the US/UK Pro Pack. The Starter Pack offers local number and local rates for home country including low cost international calling and global roaming. The Starter pack can be upgraded to the Holiday and Pro bundle for more savings and advantages.

Users can also add a local country rate to their SIMs and pay as the locals. Besides all this the company also has a set of customized apps for the iPhone, Nokia and Android phones (including the Google Nexus One) using which users can make free VOIP calls to truphone, Skype and Google Talk users. Check out the truphone website for more information.

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If you are going abroad there exist a number of options for getting mobile access in the intended country. You can either get roaming activated on your existing GSM number (only if your operator has a roaming agreement with an operator in the visiting country) or you can get a new (temporary) connection on reaching that country. There still exists a third option of having a SIM that works in over 170 countries! Welcome to TravelSIM.

This is indeed a new and innovative concept. This is basically an international SIM card, that comes in prepaid and postpaid versions both. The company claims that its services are cheaper as compared to other operators.

Some important features are:

• Savings up to 85 % on international calls.
• Free incoming calls for most of Europe.
• Coverage in over 170 countries.
• Calls and SMS to and from all over the world.
• Ability to add airtime as and when required.
• GPRS

What more can I say? Just check out the TravelSIM website for more info.

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There are over 4 billion wireless subscribers the world over and 80% out of them use GSM as their preferred system of communication, that by simple arithmetic would translate to some 3.2 billion humans. GSM has been known to be secure, since it uses a specialized digital modulation GMSK to be exact and also has built in security via the A5/1 Algorithm that was introduced somewhere in 1998. There are various variants of this algo i.e. the 64 bit version and the 128 bit version. Operators the world use different versions, some use the 64 bit while others have shifted to 128 bit version which is more secure.

Karsten Nohl a German engineer has broken the 64 bit version of the A5/1 algorithm and released his research online via BitTorrent. What this means at least theoretically is that voice conversations, SMS, and other E-commerce related financial transactions can be heard/intercepted, over the air. But this is true only for operators who have yet not shifted to the 128 bit A5/1 algorithm of the GSM standard.

Apart from this, hackers would need specialized hardware to eavesdrop in to the wireless GSM link, they would also require advanced Signal Processing software (something that is available thanks to Open Source). The engineer says he did it to coax operators (who haven’t shifted to the more secure version of the encryption) to make the switch. The GSM Group however, has termed Kohl’s work as illegal and adding that, “This is theoretically possible but practically unlikely”. Well whatever that means the fact of the matter is that the security was comprised and this calls for stringent actions.

This should serve as an eye opener for people using GSM systems.

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As is Nokia N97 wasn’t enough now we have N97 Mini coming out which is a stepbrother to the hottest selling mobile phone on the planet. The mini is very much a N97, with a smaller form factor and some changes. The notable differences are:

• Size: 113 x 52.5 x 14.2 mm against 117.2 x 55.3 x 15.9 mm
• Weight: 138 g against 150 g
• Standby Time: 320 hours GSM, 310 hours WCDMA : 430 hours GSM, 400 hours WCDMA
• Talk Time: 430 mins GSM, 240 mins WCDMA against 570 mins GSM 360 mins WCDMA
• Internal Memory: 8 GB against 16 GB internal
• slightly reconfigured keyboard, no camera lens cover.

Other than these it is very much the original N97 running Symbian OS version 9.4, S60 5th edition. There is WLAN, A-GPS, Quad band, Bluetooth, 5 MP camera etc etc. The big question is why have another smaller mobile phone with almost the same space? Is it to confuse the general public, a marketing gimmick or the rather reduced price tag? Actually rumor has it that a competitor had planned to launch a smaller version of the phone with the name “Mini” and Nokia decided to thwart off the effort; what a pre-emptive launch of a Nokia N97 Mini. They say it is going to cost a little less than the original, at least Vodafone has confirmed its availability in the UK for free on a £35.00 per month package deal. Elsewhere it is going to be launched by mid October 2009, till that happens let us keep our fingers crossed.

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Just a month in to its release Nokia 5530 is making headlines and going strong. This is very much a touch-screen phone which doesn’t carry a hefty price tag, and hence suits the average phone junkie. The following are its glaring features:

• Network: Quad-band GSM
• Dimensions: 104 x 49 x 13 mm
• Weight: 107 grams
• TFT Resistive touch-screen, 16 M colors
• Screen size: 2.9”
• Memory: up to 16 GB MicroSD
• Connectivity: GPRS, EDGE, HSCSD, Bluetooth, 802.11 b/g
• Camera: 3.15 MP (Max Res 2048 x 1536 pixels, LED Flash, autofocus, video at 30 fps)
• OS: Symbian 9.4, Series S60
• Additional Goodies: SMS, MMS, E-Mail, IM, Browser, Music (multiple formats), Stereo FM Radio, Games (Java supported), T9, photo editing, voice commands, accelerometer, handwriting recognition
• Battery Life: Talk: 4 hours, Standby : 336 hours, music: 27 hours (Non-stop maximum)

The phone is available in 5 colors to choose from. It is enclosed in a stainless steel body and is a sleek beauty. This is not a 3G phone, the addition of Wi-Fi is a welcome feature, something which the Samsung phones in the GSM category lack. Symbian OS means OVI connectivity is supported. Its price is also attractive at around $250. The built-in music support means it is generally targeted towards the younger audience. Not a bad phone by any standard.

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I am beginning to believe that Samsung is going to make it big, in fact it already has. I mean just look at it, their annual sales, the mobile phones, LCDs, Air conditioners, laptops and what not. In my part of the world people normally believe that Nokia was, is and will be the mobile phone maker. I seriously doubt it. Samsung is doing it all at a much lower price. Now that every phone maker is out to make a touchscreen phones, Samsung has flooded the market with more models than Versace could throw at the annual Fashion show in his heydays.
Features and Physical layout.
Samsung Star has it all, looks, touchscreen, camera, storage space, style and a reduced price tag. It’s a quad band GSM phone, weighing just 93 grams. The dimensions are impressively thin 105 x 53 x 11.9 mm. The screen size is an impressive 3 inches. The resolution stands at 240 x 400 pixels. Display is 256 k TFT resistive Touch Screen. The face is adorned with three buttons at the bottom for connecting a call, ending it and for going one step back in the menu. The left side has the sound rocker buttons and the much needed PC Sync, hands-free and charger bay all bundled in to one. The right side houses a camera button and the Hold key. The rear houses a 3.2 MP camera lens with a top resolution of 2048 x 1536. There is no Flash, repeat no Flash. Darn! Video capture is at 15 fps.
Internal memory is 50 MB with options for Micro SD up to 16 GB! Connectivity includes class 12 EDGE and Blue-tooth.

Applications. The phone comes bundled with Samsung’s TouchWiz UI Interface. The screen is responsive and applications are opened in a jiffy. The home screen is spread over four pages or screens and the various icons can be adjusted on each one. The extraordinary feature is presence of widgets to gain access to the much needed websites like Facebook, Picaca and MySpace etc.
Text entry is via the usual onscreen numeric pad, the onscreen keyboard or even by writing on the screen as it supports handwriting recognition. Voice quality is impressive and connectivity is good. The phone has all the usual applications like Organizer, voice recorder, stopwatch, Browser, documents viewer, image editor etc.

Performance. Picture quality is quite good as is bound to be in any 3.2 MP camera. However, a need for Flash is direly felt. The camera supports smile detection features. Voice quality and connectivity is also impressive. The looks are also impressive. The accelerometer makes it possible to use the phone in landscape or portrait view. With the smart unlock feature users can unlock there phone by simply writing the desired letter on the screen instead of pressing two buttons in rapid succession.

This phone is not meant for business people, rather it is for the teens, young and party goers. The absence of WLAN, 3G and Flash conveniently take sit out of that category. But then at the price tag at which it is coming this is what you get.

Visit Samsung India site for more details.

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