At the launch of iPhone 4 on Verizon’s network, Apple’s chief operating officer Tim Cook said that the company would have had to make many design compromises to use the first generation LTE chipsets in an iPhone, and that it therefore decided against a 4G LTE handset.

Although the statement is slightly vague, it probably means that LTE chipsets are a bigger drain on battery, or that engineers would have to increase the size of the iPhone for it to be LTE-enabled. It is clear though that Apple will most likely work on the LTE version of iPhone later, as its first priority was to provide iPhone 4 to Verizon customers in the USA as early as possible.

Verizon’s contenders in the 4G space are AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile, the last two of which have been in an advertising war of sorts over whose 4G network is fastest. To be precise, Sprint has a WiMax network whereas T-Mobile has HSPA+, both of which offer 4G-like speeds.

SBI and Airtel have joined hands to form a new company that will offer mobile banking services. The initiative is aimed at financial inclusion of the un-banked population in the country.

Under the new initiative Airtel outlets and retailers will serve as business correspondents (BC) of SBI (State Bank of India) and the bank’s customers will be able to deposit and withdraw money from their accounts at Airtel outlets. They will also be able to transfer this money to others electronically as well from Airtel and SBI outlets. Services in the near future will include loans, insurance, credit cards and purchase transactions.

Mobile banking will be a cloud based service accessible via mobiles, PCs and bank branches (ATMs and BC outlets included). Customers will also be able to use SBI’s network for their banking activities. Airtel has more than 1.5 million retail touch points in rural and semi urban areas, compared to SBI’s 13,000 branches.

Together SBI and Airtel will invest Rs 100 crore in the joint venture. SBI owns 51 per cent of the new company and Airtel owns the remaining 49 per cent. The investment is in addition to infrastructure, which is already in place. SBI will appoint the chief executive officer of the new organisation while the chief operating officer will be from Airtel. While SBI will take care of the banking, Airtel will contribute its distribution and technology.

Customers will be able to transfer money to bank accounts of any bank. They will have to pay a small, as yet unspecified, fee for such a service. They will meanwhile also earn interest on their deposits, though the rate was not announced. O P Bhatt, the charman of State Bank of India, said, “We will charge the customer some amount but it will be nominal; we will focus more on scale rather than high profit from individuals.”

The JV will start operations from March 31 this year, once clearances from the government and RBI (Reserve Bank of India) have been received.

RBI has allowed banks to appoint for-profit companies as business correspondents (BCs). The tie-up Airtel and SBI is possible due to this change in policy.

Sunil Bharti Mittal called the move a game changer. He said, “I have been working on this for the past four years; it has now become possible due to policy change. We will be able to bring financial inclusion and economic empowerment to the masses.”

Chief executive officer of Research In Motion, Mike Lazaridis, has confirmed that the company plans to launch BlackBerry phones that use its new QNX operating system and run on multi core processors.

Lazaridis says that Research In Motion is thinking long term though. He believes that due to battery life and cost issues, it will be best for RIM to wait for appropriate hardware before it launches BlackBerrys with multi core processors.
In an interview with PC Mag, RIM’s chief said the new smartphones will have a simpler version of PlayBook’s user interface. The QNX smartphones will probably run existing Java apps, so people will find it smooth to shift from their existing BlackBerrys.

Right now though, RIM seems to be focusing on its PlayBook. With iPad clearly leading the tablet market, and RIM’s PlayBook being hailed as a possible competitor, the company has a lot to accomplish. PlayBook’s Browser is built on open standards. It supports Flash and performs several tasks simultaneously.

Developers who want to write code for PlayBook may have to do it in three probable ways – either through an existing Java app, or on OpenGL, or using Adobe Air.

QNX was founded in 1982 as Quantum Software Systems, and was acquired by RIM specifically for its tablet business.

Although an Android smartphone can technically do everything an iPhone can, iPhones still score over the best Android devices because the device is more intuitive, tends to heat up a lot less and uses the battery more efficiently. One forum that says so though you could find more is an official Motorola site.

Despite the success of Android phones, there are some flaws in Android that still need to be addressed. Android may be getting things wrong because while iPhone owners are just enjoying their phone, people using Android device need to use a task manager app to kill tasks.

Even updating Android smartphones appears complicated to some. There are no Android user guides that don’t assume anything and explain step by step. People are confused by guides talking to them in technical jargon. Even when Android users love their phone’s specs, many replace their device before long…. something goes wrong.

First, carrying a huge smartphone might be a disconcerting feeling for many people. Android phones tend often to be large. The largest is the 5 inch Dell Streak which runs Android 2.2 Froyo. Further, those who are happy with the speed at which their phone operates are often uncomfortable with the heat it generates. Still others dislike the fact that some Android phones come pre loaded with apps they don’t want.

Although some cases of dissatisfaction don’t prove anything against all Android smartphones; nor against one smartphone model running Android for that matter; but when the criticism against Android is added up, the OS doesn’t look good to a potential smartphone buyer.

One tends to think one won’t get through a normal workday before the Android phone runs out of battery, which isn’t acceptable to business people. The turn by turn GPS application, particularly, uses more battery than expected.

These criticisms grow all the more relevant as personal computing is spread over multiple devices. Users may check emails using their Android phones, and use tablets for presentations and to share documents. In such a situation, if one device creates problems, it will be easier to shift to another device — there will always be a backup computer. It’s easier than ever for people to dump a product they dislike. So it becomes all the more necessary for Google to begin by making the user interface for Android simpler and more intuitive than it is.

The wait ends finally for the iPhone 4 lovers. Verizon Wireless has announced it will begin to the sale of Apple’s iPhone from February 10. The four year continuous run of AT&T as the sole carrier of the phone ends with it. The Verizon customers will be able to place their orders from February 3 itself.

The iPhone 4 itself is a modified iPhone 4, so it may run on the CDMA network of Verizon. Users will have to pay $199 and $ 299 for the 16 GB and 32 GB devices respectively. AT&T offers the phone at the same price.

The 4G LTE network is still new and hence slightly unreliable, that’s the reason Apple has decided to use the 3G CDMA network of Verizon to provide the phone, which means users will have to compromise with some aspects. Users won’t be able to use data and voice services simultaneously, which is not the case with the users on the AT&T network. The EV-DO 3G network is reliable, but 4G LTE is definitely faster.

The advantage on the Verizon network however is that iPhone on it can be used as wireless hotspot. Five additional devices can be connected to the device as well. The deal between the two companies, however, is not exclusive which means others carriers can also offer the service in future.

So it’s a phone which is usable on a real phone network, and hopefully dropped calls also would not be there. While we were listing the good things, the other side of the story also got piled up. It is not an iPhone 4G phone on the LTE network. The screen size is smaller than the other phones lined up for a release on Verizon network. iPhone does not have dual or even a faster Processor than earlier. If the users sign a two year contract and the better phone comes up after a few months, they would be ruing their decision.