Although smartphones are glamorous possessions that are meant to make life easier, anybody who has owned one for long realises that these devices don’t come without their share of problems. Even popular handsets that have sold in millions such as Apple’s iPhone have faced numerous consumer complaints. In the 2010 Reliability and Service Survey conducted by PCWorld, it was noted that problems surface once the novelty of a smartphone wears off and a mature subscriber base starts using these devices. For example, users of the iPhone in the United States of America have time and again complained of AT&T’s network. In terms of data speed and voice quality, AT&T has been ranked last in PCWorld’s survey.

BlackBerry users too find at least one significant problem with their phone. BlackBerrys are rated below average in terms of usability and reliability by those who took part in the survey. Meanwhile Windows Phone 7 users have reported issues regarding unaccountable data usage, presumably by a third party. If this problem is genuine, these users would face financial repercussions reflected in their data bills.

Notwithstanding these usage related issues, there are problems at the level of the operating system such as there being no copy-paste function in WP7; and Android OS sending SMSs to unintended targets.

Going forward, there are fears that mobiles infected by viruses might increase exponentially as people exchange more data with their smartphones instead of through their computers. It is likely that smartphones have now become mini-computers, and the possibility that things may go wrong with one’s smartphone will continue to increase as these devices and their software get more complex.

Akai Mobiles has launched a 3D dual SIM phone called WOW. The phone also has a 3D user interface and offers surround sound. The new Akai phone costs about Rs 8,000.

Users can view videos in HD quality, which can be stored in a memory that is expandable to 8 GB.

Among other features of the WOW is a 3.2 mega Pixel camera, HVGA resolution resistive touchscreen, FM radio, video player, sound recorder, Bluetooth, GPRS/MMS/WAP, Edge, JAVA support, mobile tracker, data security options, number blacklist feature, G-Sensor, 3.5 mm Audio Jack and conference calling facilities.

WOW can also be used as a modem. It has a battery backup of ten days with four hours of talk time. At 95 grams, Akai’s WOW is also a light weight machine.

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.