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Idea launches mobile banking service

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Idea cellular has launched a mobile banking service called ‘Idea MyCash’, which is powered by Axis Bank to offer basic banking services including money transfer, using the mobile platform.

Axis bank and idea cellular has signed a MoU last December to offer financial products and services offered by the Bank through the mobile operator’s retail outlets.

Under this service idea cellular retailers will act as business correspondent of the Axis bank and will help the users open no frills bank account.

Users will also be able to deposit and withdraw money from their account through these retailers.

“Axis Bank in association with IDEA Cellular is offering a branchless banking solution that provides the elements of security, access and convenience in a cost effective manner. This association in a larger context enables the Bank to undertake financial inclusion by providing a host of financial inclusion products and services through the IDEA mobile platform and offered through select IDEA retail outlets” Shikha Sharma, managing director and chief operating officer of Axis Bank said.

“Idea MyCash, in association with Axis Bank, will ride on our deep rooted network to make banking services accessible to millions of Indians and include them in the economic development through financial inclusion” Sanjeev Aga, Managing Director, Idea Cellular commented.

Similar services have been launched by ICICI bank and SBI in partnership with operators like Vodafone and Airtel.

App Review: Shoot and Tag

rahul-gupta
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Only a handful of applications are fortunate enough to be endorsed by Nokia and even a fewer are added in its beta labs. The latest addition to the Nokia Beta labs is the Shoot and Tag application.

The application while recording a video automatically splits it in various bits or chapters so that the next time you need not to go through the whole video to look at a particular part of the video.

The does it through a software that automatically detects change in the subject during video recording.

For example, while shooting a natural scenery you shift to your kid doing something strange, so the shoot and tag application will detect the change in the subject and will tag the video and make a separate chapter out of it, with the new subject in its thumbnail preview.

Using this app, users can record short as well as longer videos depending on the capacity of their device. There is no limitation of size with this application.

However, this application does not allow the hardware button to be used for the video recording, so if you have a habit of using the hardware button for video recording you might have to struggle a bit with it.

Pricing and availability completely depends of Nokia and their liking or disliking of this application. As of now the application seems promising and can be downloaded from the Nokia Beta Labs or by visiting the following link https://betalabs.nokia.com/apps/nokia-shoot-and-tag.

Top phones for senior citizens

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Top phones for senior citizens

Although a high camera, faster performance, high resolution displays and multimedia are becoming key identifiers of a good mobile phone; these features are nothing more than a nuisance for some, especially elders.

With age our eyesight and hearing weaken. For old people, using a normal mobile phone is quite a task in itself. So rather than let the elderly struggle with cell phones, we have identified some mobile phones that are specifically designed for them.

iBall Aasan

The iBall Aasan might look like a funny little mobile phone but for senior people it is nothing short of a boon. Its extra large back-lit keys and large but simple display are very easy on the eye.

The design of this phone is such that it fits easily in the palm and does not cause any discomfort while holding. The shortcut keys are placed on the side for easy access and include buttons for torch and wireless FM radio.

The phone features a loudspeaker and the earpiece is tuned at a louder volume as compared to most other mobile phones. One of the remarkable features of this device is its SOS feature. This emergency feature allows the user to send a pre-recorded emergency message to five preset numbers at the touch of a button. After that the phone calls the numbers one after another until a call is answered, if not the phone repeats the loop three times.

It is priced at Rs 3,500.

Skymoon D1201

You might have not heard about this manufacturer but you will find its phones in the market soon. The D1201 is a small mobile phone but with a big keypad and a 1.7 inch display, for easy readability and operation.

This phone also features a flashlight and wireless FM. There are shortcut keys located on the sides that can be used to access FM and the torch, and to control the volume.

The design of this phone is quite similar to that of the iBall Aasan.

It is priced at Rs 1,500.

Other cell phones that provide great functionality for senior people are available only in the international market. However, people in India can buy them through channels such as Ebay Global. Two of such phones are mentioned below.

Samsung Jitterbug

Even though senior people like simplicity and prefer functionality over design, Samsung has dared to provide the first clam-shell cell phone for them.

The keypad is big with backlit keys that make readability better in both bright as well as dark light conditions. The phone features dual displays, with large character size and powerful speakers that make listening to calls possible in both noisy and quiet environments.

It is priced at Rs 3,700.

Just 5

When it comes to mobiles for seniors, all phones feature a big keypad and big character display. The major benefit of this phone is the emergency response feature, but in India you won’t be able to use it.

Here you will be using it as a basic phone with loudspeaker, wireless radio, and flashlight &#151 all standard features found on such devices.

It costs about Rs 4,500.

Olivepad 2 by month end

nilabh-jha
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Olive Telecom, which was the first company to introduce a tablet computer in India, is bringing out a new version of its Olivepad in a bigger, better avatar.

The tablet, the name of which is not known yet (though it may be called Olivepad 2,) will be available in India within the next 15 days.

According to sources it is expected to use a 10.1 inch screen, and the latest Android, version 3.0.

It comes on the heels of the launch of iPad 2 by Apple, which, however, is yet to arrive in India.

Olive is also working on a new user interface, which will give the tablet a distinct look and feel. This is a new move as the current Olivepad uses standard with no tweaks.

On the pricing front, while iPad 2 costs the same price as iPad 1, the new Olivepad will be about Rs 5,000 more expensive than the original edition.

Going by the market trend, the new tablet is expected to have a 1 GHz processor. 3G, front and rear cameras, and Wifi connectivity are given, as even the current model has these features.

Olive’s products have always been feature rich and since Samsung Galaxy Tab is only slightly more expensive than the new Olivepad, Olive will definitely ensure that its tablet has better specifications than GalaxyTab.

Samsung is also ready to announce the upgrade of Galaxy Tab and it will be interesting to watch how Samsung prices it.

The other reason that should cause Olive some worry is that iPad is now available in the market and prices start at just above Rs 30,000. Though for similar specifications to Olivepad you will need to shell out almost Rs 40,000.

BlackBerry Messenger might allow chat with Gtalk friends

nilabh-jha
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To woo non business users, BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) may soon allow people to chat with friends using other messenger clients such as Gtalk and Yahoo Messenger.

Till now BBM has been a closed network, and is trusted by millions of business users, but according to sources in the developer community, BlackBerry is thinking of opening up this network.

This move might prove to be a double edged sword. While it might attract a lot of new users, it might also dilute the USP of BBM.

The beta version of BBM 6.0 is already out with Twitter integration and better file sharing capability. It will be interesting to see if this is really carried out, and how it will be received by consumers.

App to secure your Android phone

prasoon-kumar
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Smartphone owners who tend to save a lot of personal and official data on their devices, are naturally worried about their phone’s safety. The complexity and cost of the device are additional causes for anxiety.

To solve the problem, Whisper Systems has released an called WhisperCore, which encrypts data in your smartphone.

With the app, data remains inaccessible for others and even files which are erased by miscreants can be recovered by its special tools.

The app uses a passphrase to encrypt data, which is then stored on a removable card or drive partition.

WhisperCore has immense appeal for businesses that are concerned for data secrecy as employees tend to use their smartphones for official purposes.

The enterprise solutions from Symbian and Research In Motion (RIM) also encrypt data, but their target audience does not include private users.

The app WhisperCore, on the other hand, is free for individual users. Right now, the app can only be used in Nexus S phones, but support is likely to extend to other devices as well.

Motorola Milestone gets Froyo update

rahul-gupta
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After months of testing, Motorola has finally decided to upgrade the operating system of its Milestone devices. Users can now update their phones from the present 2.1 Eclair to 2.2 Froyo.

Motorola has tagged this as a voluntary update that will not affect those who wish to continue using the present OS.

Some of the major advantages that users will get from upgrading, though, are support for Flash 10.1 and better integration of Java Script for faster rendering of webpages.

A Wifi hot spot feature has also been added, and will allow people to use their phone as a Wifi router.
Other enhancements include better security options and the ability to install applications directly on the external memory or card.

Although the update is meant to make devices faster, a Motorola disclaimer also warns that some functions might get slower and DRM locked media on the phone’s memory will be wiped clean. Also, there is a chance that some preinstalled applications might not work with the updated version.

Users can directly visit Motorola’s support website to update their device.

Indian Air Force to launch 3G services

The Mobile Indian Network
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Indian Air Force (IAF) will launch an exclusive wireless service in June this year that will enable its officers and air warriors, up to the rank of sergeant, to stay connected round the clock.

Under this, around 80,000 Indian Air Force personnel would be provided with high-end mobile phones.

“The new 3G service will be a secure communication network enabling voice, data, video streaming and file sharing, enhancing real-time operational efficiency,” an IAF press release said.

The services will use the Air Force Network (AFNET) communication system that was launched last year.

The latest value-added service on a wideband CDMA-based 3G portable network, using state-of-the-art mobile communication technology, will be integrated into AFNET, which will be the backbone of the connectivity, added the release.

In the first phase, the network will be operational in Delhi area within six months and in the second phase, the network will be in place for all remaining IAF establishments across the country by 2013.

HCL-made handsets, which will cost around Rs 16-17,000, would be given to all officers and air warriors up to the rank of Sergeant in the over 1.5 lakh-strong service.

With the 3G services, IAF personnel would be able to communicate through a secure network enabling voice, data, video streaming and file sharing, enhancing real-time operational efficiency.

Facebook app for Android updated

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In a welcoming news, a new update has been made in the Facebook app for Android that not only makes it more secure but has also brought a lot of other user friendly features.
Users can now upload photos to their friend’s wall on their Facebook profile and Groups as well.

Improvements can be seen in the landscape mode of the app. Earlier, the user interface used to be the same even if the users switches from to landscape mode.

Users now need not to orient the photos manually as the photos in the Facebook app are oriented in the right direction automatically.

The update also includes some bug fixes, but the Android forum message doesn’t clarify what are those.

With an updated 1.5.2 version, the Facebook app is also more secure now. It uses SSL (Secure Sockets Layer), which encrypts the data when it gets transmitted over the Internet.

Earlier the 1.5.1 version was being used.

Microsoft’s Zune will continue to live in some other form

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Microsoft’s Zune music player will die a quiet death as the consumers are consistently opting for iPods or other smartphones which can play music as well, according to a report of Bloomberg. The support for existing Zune players will continue from Microsoft but there would be no new models from the company.

There has not been any categorical denial from Microsoft yet, but in a statement Dave McLauchlan, senior business development manager for Zune, clarifies the situation to a great extent.

The Zune music player coming in a separate hardware is likely to stop, as the company now sees Windows Phone 7 as the future home of Zune music player.

As a music player, Zune received tremendous support from Microsoft in promotion, but it never managed to capture the market like iPod from Apple did. Zune will continue to live, but in a different form. The Windows Phone 7 platform already has about 10,000 apps and is growing quickly. The addition of Zune to it would add greatly to its versatility and content library.

Clearly, with tablets and smartphones becoming the preferred devices to access the music content, the Microsoft’s decision to pursue a software-only strategy appears to be the right one. Even the alliance between Nokia and Microsoft could create an entirely new market for the company.

The two major problems with Zune music player were its image, as it was a me-too product, and the design was not right (it appeared too bureaucratic). Microsoft was always conservative by nature, and it showed in Zune.

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