RIM unviels two new touchscreen BlackBerry Torch phones

Research In Motion on Wednesday took the wraps off two more powerful versions of its touchscreen BlackBerry Torch, aiming to buy time until it can introduce a radically new software package in its smartphones.

The new phones, along with a Bold upgrade unveiled earlier, are part of what the Canadian company called its biggest global launch ever as it seeks to claw back North American market share losses from Apple’s iconic iPhone and a slew of devices running on Google’s Android software.

The three touchscreen phones, running on the new BlackBerry OS 7, each boast an improved screen display and pack a 1.2 GHz processor from Qualcomm, the most powerful ever for a BlackBerry phone. All three devices will launch with carriers globally by the end of August, RIM said.

The browser for the new phones is 40 percent faster than the original Torch, RIM’s last major phone launch which hit shelves almost a year ago.

But since co-chief executive Mike Lazaridis has already promised “superphones” next year using the QNX-based operating system running RIM’s PlayBook tablet computer, analysts are looking beyond the launch.

“This is a necessary product refresh in advance of the big bang that we hope and expect will happen with QNX-based phones,” said CCS Insight vice-president of research John Jackson.

RIM shipped 13.2 million phones in the three months to late May, its first fall in shipments versus the prior quarter since at least mid-2007, as it pushed this launch back to August.

RIM’s newly-promoted global head of sales Patrick Spence said BlackBerry heritage was as a leading communications tool and “what we’re talking about now with BlackBerry 7 is really enhancing that experience.”

One of the Torch versions is to the eye identical to the original touchscreen device with a slideout Qwerty keyboard, the other is RIM’s first touch-only device since the disappointment of its Storm model.

The Bold upgrade will feature a near-field communications (NFC) chip that can turn the phone into a mobile wallet. It was first shown at RIM’s BlackBerry World conference in May.

RIM’s North American market share has dipped sharply in the past year as high-end Android devices proliferate and Apple’s iPhone was added to Verizon’s lineup. Globally the fall has been less severe but from a smaller starting point, according to data compiled by research firms CCS Insight and Gartner.

“What would constitute success for these guys is essentially holding the fort,” CCS’s Jackson said. “A stop-loss outcome would be a success for these products in developed markets.”

The Waterloo, Ontario-based company has seen its share price fall in kind, down 65 percent from a February peak, as its earnings and outlook have missed expectations and its PlayBook has yet to make a dent in the iPad’s dominance of the tablet market.

It closed at $24.15 on the Nasdaq on Tuesday, another fresh low at levels last seen five years ago, giving the company a market capitalization of $12.7 billion.

Sensex below 18000; DLF, L&T, Tata Motors, ICICI down

Indian markets extended losing streak as concerns of global economic slow-down due to financial crisis in the US and Europe rattled global equities. All the sectoral indices were in the negative terrain. According to analysts, the market is likely to correct further in near term and are advising to avoid buying at current levels.

At 11:15 am; National Stock Exchange’s Nifty was at 5393.30, down 63.25 points or 1.16 per cent. The broader index touched a high of 5415.35 and low of 5385.85 in trade so far.

Bombay Stock Exchange’s Sensex was at 17904.27, down 205.62 points or 1.14 per cent. The 30-share index touched intraday low of 17886.57 and high of 17986.47.

“The intermediate short term trend is negative as Nifty future is just holding near to its important trend-line support of 5440 joining from the lows of 11 Feb (5175) to the low of 25 May (5328) on the closing basis. Going forward if Nifty future starts trading consistently below 5440 then 5360 – 5290 is possible very soon. So avoid buying below 5430. Positive moves could be seen only above 5510.

For the Sensex strong support exits at 18060 levels and trading below this point in the near could make the index more weak and could drift further up to next support of 17900 – 17750 levels while resistance seen at 18400. Avoid buying if Sensex breaks below 18000 levels.

BSE Midcap Index was down 1.03 per cent and BSE Smallcap Index moved 1.16 per cent lower.

Amongst sectoral indices BSE Realty Index was fell 2.48 per cent, BSE Capital Goods Index moved 2.25 per cent lower and BSE Bankex slipped 1.65 per cent.

DLF (-4.08%), Larsen & Toubro (-3.12%), Tata Motors (-2.97%), Jindal Steel (-2.94%) and ICICI Bank (-2.29%) were amongst the major Sensex losers.

How Silicon Valley’s new Indian entrepreneurs are blooming in all hues

SAN FRANCISCO: The Indian entrepreneur in America – a middle-aged man who runs an IT consulting outfit or a body shop. That person has not disappeared. But it’s a stereotype that is now being challenged by a new clutch of entrepreneurs looking beyond the usual realms that Indian entrepreneurs are identified with.

“A lot of traditional Silicon Valley industries like semiconductors and networking have matured. Today’s Indian entrepreneur is simply where the market is. And that obviously includes social, mobile and cloud,” says Vish Mishra, a venture capitalist at ClearStone Ventures and global head of the world’s largest entrepreneurial body, The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE).

While still in his 20s, Aayush Phumbhra started textbook rental Chegg – which in a few years made several acquisitions and is now rumoured to be filing an IPO in the near future. Just six years out of college, Kunal Sarkar created

Lumos Labs, a gym for the mind. “What has changed is that there are a lot of younger street-smart Indian entrepreneurs today,” says Tim Guleri, a former serial entrepreneur and managing director at Sierra Ventures. Indian women entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley remain few and among the most prominent faces is Sramana Mitra.

With her all-virtual venture One Million by One Million, Mitra advises entrepreneurs on strategy, lets them access her network and mentors them for VC pitches. The fee: $1,000 a year. Mitra wants to ‘nurture’ 1 million entrepreneurs, each with $1 million or more in revenue, by 2020.

Indian entrepreneurs are blooming in all hues. Take Harjinder S Bhade’s company Coulomb for instance. By providing a network of charging stations for electric vehicles (EV) and their applications throughout the world, Coulomb has made EVs practical for consumers.