ATI s new X1800

ATI Technologies has announced the latest entrant to its Radeon X1800 family, the Radeon X1800 GTO.

ATI Technologies says that its Radeon X1800 GTO will deliver outstanding gaming performance, as compared to other graphics options in the same category.

The Radeon X1800 GTO features both high definition rendering (HDR) and anti-aliasing (AA) support, and incorporates the ultra-threaded shader architecture and revolutionary new memory architecture of ATI's award-winning Radeon X1800 XT and Radeon X1800 XL GPUs.

ATI's Radeon X1800 GTO also features the company's Avivo visual technology, which makes it capable of delivering superior high definition video playback and image quality.

Radeon X1800 GTO incorporates features such as 12 pixels shader processors, 256-bit GDDR3 memory interface, 500 MHz core speed, and 1000 MHz memory speed.

Vijay Sharma, director - desktop discrete graphics, ATI, said, "ATI recognizes that there are gamers at every price point, and the Radeon X1800 GTO is a clear price-performance winner. The X1800 GTO is an important addition to the Radeon X1800 series, further strengthening the mid-range market and giving users a powerful gaming card with a range of multimedia functions."

The Radeon X1800 GTO will be available from ATI's add-in-board partners by end March 2006, at a suggested retail price of $249.

Emirats wins Skytrax award

Emirates has once again gained prestigious industry recognition at the 2006 Skytrax Awards for Airline Excellence, taking top honours in the category for Inflight Entertainment Excellence.

Emirates' award-winning entertainment system, "ice" - an acronym for information, communication and entertainment - is now offered on over 35 per cent of the fleet. It offers over 500 channels of entertainment, video and audio on demand, over 40 games and live news headlines, and is available to travellers in every class.

Customers also have access to e-mail and SMS messaging and satellite telephones. On the Emirates A340-500 there is also a WiFi e-mail service available.

Last year Emirates was adjudged the best in this category at the Skytrax World Airline Awards.

Relience with New Planes

Reliance Infocomm (RIL) has announced a posse of improvements to its One Nation plan, under both post paid and prepaid categories.

In the post paid category, Reliance has introduced two new schemes with lower rentals of Rs 299 and Rs 399.

For the post paid scheme - Reliance "India One 399" and Prepaid RCV 1100, calls between two Reliance phones anywhere in the country will cost only 40 paise, while calls to all other phones anywhere in the country will be charged at Re 1 per minute.

Under Post paid "India One 299" and One Nation Prepaid plans (excluding RCV Rs 1100), all Reliance to Reliance intra-circle calls will cost just 40 paise per minute, while calls to any other phone anywhere in the country will be charged at Re 1 per minute.

For NJ 499, RIL has reduced the One Nation tariff to 75 paise per minute for all calls to any phone in the country, while for NJ 399 the tariff has been reduced to 85 paise per minute.

The new rates for NJ 499 and NJ 399 are applicable to all existing customers as well as new subscribers. Intra-circle calls to Reliance phones will continue to cost 40 paise per minute.

S P Shukla, president - wireless, RIL, said, "We are striving to go beyond the ordinary, to bring our customers a wider choice depending upon their usage patterns. These plans are created based on inputs from our customers. A family with members spread over various states, will find Reliance One India 399 plan and prepaid Rs 1100 RCV very attractive, as it will enable them to be connected at just 40 paise per minute anywhere in the country, despite paying low rentals."

Samsung In India

Samsung Electronics opened a new mobile phone facility at Gurgaon in Haryana.

The ceremony was attended by over 100 business and government leaders including the Governor of Haryana, B S Hooda; the President of the India Mobile Phone Association, Pankaj Mohindroo; among others.

Production is slated to begin immediately, and the new plant is expected to produce one million mobile phones in the coming year - with output capacity to be expanded over time.

Speaking at the occasion, Kitae Lee, president - telecommunication network business, Samsung Electronics, said, "The Indian economy is rising by more than 7 percent a year, and the growth potential for the mobile phone market is unlimited. Our Indian mobile phone plant boasts highly advanced production facilities and technologies, along with an excellent workforce. As such it will become a world-class operation."