The service works the same way as a voice mail, with the added benefit of video.
MTNL will soon launch video mail services for its customers in Delhi and Mumbai. The services will enable users to leave a video message in case the person called is not available.
MTNL will use a Tanla Solutions 3G platform to offer this service.
MTNL is the first Indian mobile operator to launch 3G services in India.
Tanla wants to capitalise on the 3G value added services space. The company already provides 3G services to networks outside India such as in the United Kingdom and Sri Lanka.
Tanla’s 3G VAS platform enables a number of video based interactive applications such as interactive video response portals, video chat, video SMS, video alerts and video mailing. This enables mobile operators and service providers to enhance portal offerings with feature rich, personalised video interactivity.
MTNL to start video mail service
HTC launches Wildfire with Rcom
HTC Corporation and Reliance Communications have announced an exclusive partnership to launch the HTC Wildfire smartphone in India.
The 3G ready HTC Wildfire, equipped with HTC Sense, is an Android-based GSM phone that offers integration of popular social networks.
Under the alliance, Reliance GSM customers can avail up to 500 MB of free data access every month for a period of six months.
The HTC Wildfire will be priced at Rs 16,590 and will be available at all HTC resellers across the country.
Mahesh Prasad, president – marketing, wireless business, Reliance Communications, said, “The launch of HTC Wildfire is in line with our strategy to offer next-generation service on mobile phones enabled with superior voice clarity, hi-speed wireless data network access and ultra-fast application downloads to Reliance Mobile customers.”
The HTC Wildfire smartphone features a 3.2-inch touch screen, a 5 MP camera with auto focus LED flash, FM radio and a media player with a slot for expandable memory. The HTC Wildfire comes with some additional features including proximity sensor, G-sensor, digital compass, light sensor and an optical joystick, next generation caller ID, support for phone, email, text messaging, Wi-Fi and HTML web browser.
2150 cases of mobile cloning in 2009-2010
The government today said telecom operators have reported 2,150 cases of mobile cloning during 2009-2010.
“The government has come to know through telecom service providers that approximately 2,150 cases of mobile cloning through duplication of subscriber identity in different parts of country have come to their notice during 2009-2010,” Minister of Communications and Information Technology A Raja said in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha.
Mobile cloning is a method of copying a mobile phone’s International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) onto another phone, which allows the user of the cloned phone to make fraudulent calls, the bill for which is sent to the victim as opposed to the perpetrator. This method is also used to carry out anti social activities.
Raja further said in his statement that though cloning of subscriber identity is difficult due to elaborate authentication and Encryption mechanisms used in the mobile network, the government plans to monitor mobile cloning through TERM (Telecom Enforcement, Resource and Monitoring) cells.
Mobile handset sales to reach 139 million this year end: Gartner
The number of mobile device sold in India is expected to reach 138.6 million in 2010, an increase of 18.5 per cent over sales of 117 million units in 2009.
According to a report by Gartner, the mobile handset market is expected to show steady growth through 2014, when sales are projected to surpass 206 million units.
Indian handset sales currently constitute about 10 per cent of worldwide mobile phone sales. Gartner says that due to the size of the Indian market and its open nature (mobile devices being sold independent of service provider), India has attracted many global mobile manufacturers.
The report further says that local mobile device manufacturers have also entered India’s already crowded phone market, and that this intense competition has LED to very low cost devices being sold in the country, where previously very few vendors such as Nokia and Motorola used to dominate.
Anshul Gupta, principal research analyst at Gartner says, “Established global device manufacturers are losing ground due to fierce competition from local and Chinese manufacturers in the low cost segment. Carrier strategies, lower tariffs and/or third generation (3G) data plans will continue to shape the mobile device market in India.”
He adds, “A large volume of mobile device sales in India come from the low end device segment. The average selling price of a mobile device is approximately $52 (about Rs 2,400), with 85 per cent of devices sold costing below $100 (approximately Rs 4,700).”
According to Gartner, although 3G technology has not been introduced in India yet, 3G device sales are expected to account for 16.7 per cent of total sales this year, up from 9.2 per cent in 2009. By 2014, 3G device sales are expected to account for 69 per cent of total sales.
Smartphone sales in India made up 5.2 per cent of total device sales in the first quarter of this year, and Gartner expects this share to increase to 18 per cent by 2014.
Uninor introduce new plan to expand base in Karnataka
Uninor has announced a new variation for their dynamic pricing model in Karnataka.
According to the plan, the operator will offer 60 per cent dynamic discount on the one paisa per second model for local as well as STD calls. At full discount, a one minute call could now cost the customer 24 paise.
The discount will be applicable on calls made from Uninor to any other operator’s network.
Dynamic pricing offers customers changing discounts on their calls based on traffic on the network. The discounts change with location and with time, with each cellphone tower broadcasting a different discount. At the same location, the discount changes on an hourly basis.
The plan is available on a recharge tariff of Rs 26 which is valid for three months. The plan will be available at 11 exclusive Uninor stores and over 29,000 other shops across Karnataka, and can be activated by visiting the nearest retail shop.
O-Zone and Vyke launch mobile VoIP in Delhi
O-Zone, a WiFi service provider in India, and Vyke, a mobile Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) service provider, will begin the roll out of their exclusive partnership to provide Vyke’s mobile VoIP service to O-Zone’s wireless customers across India from August 1.
Bobby Sarin, founder and chief executive officer, O-Zone, said “We chose Vyke because of their excellent record of providing telecom customers worldwide with a reliable and easy solution for cheap international calling. This agreement allows us to extend our service offering to our customers and adds a new and high potential sales channel to our existing distribution structure.”
The initial launch sees Vyke and O-Zone giving away 1,000 free virtual top up vouchers to select customers in five Cafe Coffee Day shops in Delhi NCR, before rolling out the service to 50 Cafe Coffee Day shops across Delhi NCR.
In mid August, the mobile VoIP service will be available in Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore and Kolkata. The vouchers will allow users to make up to Rs 50 worth of free international calls to over 50 countries. O-Zone WiFi users will be able to make cheap international calls from their mobiles to landlines and mobiles, with savings of up to 98 per cent, using Vyke’s mobile VoIP service.
Kim Berknov, chief operating officer of Vyke said, “We’re finding that globally, telecom customers increasingly want high quality, cheap international calls with no contracts or connection charges. Our partnership with O-Zone to offer Vyke’s mobile VoIP service has allowed us to provide just such a solution to Indian WiFi users.”
ZTE to launch smartphones for the Indian market in five months
Chinese telecom firm ZTE Corporation, which had entered the Indian retail market as a standalone player last year, will offer smartphones by the end of year.
“We plan to launch ZTE branded smartphones in the Indian retail market by the end of year, which will increase our existing market share in the country,” ZTE India chairman and managing director D K Ghosh said.
Last year, the company launched a range of low cost GSM handsets at price points ranging from Rs 1,100 to Rs 3,800 and it is estimated that ZTE sold over 15 million handsets in India by bundling various Indian operators’ services with their handsets.
ZTE partners with BSNL, Reliance Communications and Tata Teleservices in India.
Popular applications on Samsung’s Bada platform
Utility apps top the list, while entertainment and games apps are also very popular on Samsung’s Bada platform.
An application that turns the Samsung Wave (S8500) into a flashlight, tops Samsung Apps’ list of most popular App downloads between June 1 and mid July.
While a utility app held the top spot on the list released today by Samsung Apps, the application hub of mobile phone maker Samsung, entertainment apps were a heavy presence throughout the list. The third-most downloaded program, Illusions, offers visually stimulating puzzles and screenshots. SouthAfrica2010 gained popularity during the recent football tournament. Free-throw practice app for basketball fans and an arcade style shooting program too ranked high in popularity among consumers.
Magic Torch, a unique app which transforms the phone into a flashlight with four different screens: standard light bulb, ecological light bulb, neon light bulb, and white screen, topped the charts as the most downloaded application across the globe.
Another utility app MyMirror, which turns the phone into a mirror using the camera device, featured on the list as well.
Entertainment programs filled the rest of the list; the most popular apps for the Wave device were: Need For SpeedTM Shift (game), Illusions (entertainment), SouthAfrica2010 (entertainment), BatteryLife (productivity), Basketball (entertainment), Shot Gun (entertainment) and Exciting Freekick (games). BatteryLife calculates remaining battery power based on factors such as WiFi use, call time, music play and use of 2G or 3G internet connections.
“Response to Samsung Apps has been tremendous in our target markets, and a lot of it is because of the popularity of utility and entertainment apps,” said Kanghyun Kwon, vice president, media solutions center, Samsung Electronics.
He added, “The days of using a phone just for talking are long gone — functionality is key now. With Samsung Apps, we aim to fill the need for functionality and practical apps for all of our existing Samsung customers, as well as attract new customers by adding more unique applications. We’re excited with what the future holds for Samsung Apps.”
Created in September 2009 to provide Samsung smartphone users a dedicated online application destination, Samsung Apps has more than trebled the size of its stores in most European and Asian markets and now offers a multitude of new applications including games, social networking, ebooks and health related tools.
Samsung Apps was created by and is overseen by Samsung’s Media Solutions Center (MSC), which is also responsible for developing the Bada platform, Social Hub and various other programs. After recognising the growing importance of content and applications, the MSC was established to develop content strategy and tools across the company’s business divisions.
Huawei all set to introduce tablet in India
According to sources Huawei plans to enter the smartphone and tablet market in India on its own. Earlier it used to sell its phones bundled with operator services.
It plans to introduce Smakit S7 Android tablet. Huawei had showcased this tablet at this year’s mobile world Congress where it had attracted a lot of eye balls.
The SmaKit S7 has a 7-inch wide screen with a resolution of 800 x 480. It supports information-sharing across screens to present the same content simultaneously on computers, mobile phones and TV screens.
The SmaKit S7 tablet allows users to easily access local information, visit social networking websites and shop from online application stores. To provide end-users with an integrated home solution, SmaKit S7 can be connected to home gateway, TV or Android handsets. The Tablet will support 3G connectivity for making calls.
The Huawei Android internet tablet weighs about 500 grams and has a battery life of about 4 hours while playing 720p HD video.
The Smakit is the second tablet to be launched in the market with the first being Olivepad from Olive mobile last week.
Knowing Huawei, the tablet will be priced attractivley, with extected price to be close to Rs 20,000 mark.
It is also likely to introduce its smart phone called U8800 which uses the Android 2.1 operating system, and integrates HSPA+ capabilities to support downlink speeds of up to 14 Mbps.
The smartphone will feature a 3.8-inch wide screen. It had also showcased 3 more smart phones during the Mobile world Congress which are also likely to be introduced in India. These devices are expected to be priced lower than U8800 and other Android phones currently available in India.
Huawei enters smartphone business in India
Huawei has launched two Android powered handsets, along with a 3G handset in India. It aims to supply devices to 30,000 retailers by the year end.
Huawei has finally entered the handset market in India, on its own. Earlier it sold its phones by bundling them with mobile operator services only.
The company has announced the launch of two Android smartphones along with one 3G GSM phone and one CDMA handset.
Its Android handsets U8500 and U8300 will be priced between Rs 10,000 and Rs 15,000. And its GSM CDMA handsets will be priced between Rs 4,000 to Rs 6,000.
It will sell its handsets through two authorised dealers namely Ingram Micro and Bright Telecom. The company aims to supply phones to between 20,000 and 30,000 retailers by the end of the year.Huawei U8500Huawei U8500 is an Android 2.1 based smartphone with a 3.2 inch full touch screen. It supports 3G+ capabilities, as well WiFi and Bluetooth. Its features include push mail, Facebook and Twitter integration; A-GPS; 3.2 mega pixel camera, video calling etc. Users will also be able to buy applications through the Android Market. The phone’s memory can be expanded up to 16GB through Micro SD. The phone is based on a Qualcomm chipset, and the price is expected to be below Rs 15,000.
Huawei U8300Huawei has introduced another Android 2.1 phone named U8300. This is a full QWERTY phone with a 2.6″ QVGA 320×240 resistive touch TFT display. It is a 3G+ handset with built in WiFi and Bluetooth. It supports connectivity capabilities such as Bluetooth and also supports Android Market downloads. The U8300 has a 3.2 mega pixel camera with flash at the back and a smaller camera on the front for video calling. It also includes Google Maps and A-GPS support for navigation. For music, it has a 3.5 mm Headphone jack and plays video as well as most music formats. Memory can be expanded up to 16GB through Micro SD. A unique feature of the phone is inclusion of ambient light Sensors which adjust the backlight of the screen according to the ambient light.
Huwaei U9130For the lower end of the segment, Huawei has introduced a 3G phone U9130. The phone has a 2.4 inch display with 320×240 pixel resolution. The phone supports video calling and has a 3.1 mega pixel camera at the back and a smaller camera for video calls on the front. It doesn’t have WiFi, but does support Bluetooth. One of the important omissions from the U9130 is radio. However, GPS is included along with Google Maps and YouTube. The phone’s battery backup is another important aspect which, as per the company, gives a 350 hour standby time. The U9130 is expected to cost less than Rs 6,000.
Huawei CDMA C5600C5600 is the CDMA handset in the new line up. It has a 2″ screen with 240X320 pixel resolution. It supports Bluetooth, has a 3.5mm jack, FM radio, and expandable memory. It supports most music formats. Battery backup is this phone’s strong point with 400 hours Standby time and 6.5 hours talk time. The phone also includes social media apps.