MindTree, a global IT solutions company, has announced its entry into ready-to-brand mobile handset products business. The new business, N!Mo (Next in Mobility), will offer white-labeled mobile handsets to telecom service providers and original equipment manufacturers.
MindTree’s N!Mo will address the complete product lifecycle — from concept through delivery and the recent acquisition of Kyocera Wireless India will give it a strong foundation. The business will be headed by Samartha Raghava Nagabhushanam as president and chief executive officer, and will be a part of MindTree’s product engineering services group.
“N!Mo further adds to our strong leadership position of delivering intellectual properties and design services, by offering ready-to-brand products in wireless technologies to our customers. This will enable higher value creation through non-linear business models,” says Janakiraman S, president and group chief executive officer, product engineering services, MindTree, in a company statement.
Ashok Soota, executive chairman, MindTree, adds, “N!Mo will become MindTree’s seventh engine of growth and will play an important role in achieving our stated vision of $1 billion in revenues by 2014,” said.
MindTree Ltd specialises in IT services, independent testing, infrastructure management and technical support, knowledge services and product engineering.
MindTree forays into mobile handsets
Movie rental service BigFlix now on mobile
BigFlix.com, the online DVD rental service of Big Entertainment, has launched a mobile application and a mobile WAP site. The site was already offering voice and SMS-based interactive services.
To download the BIGFlix application to their mobiles, customers have to SMS ‘BIGFLIX’ to 55454. BIGFlix then will send a SMS reply containing an active link, https://mobile.bigflix.com. The user has to click on this link to commence the downloading of the application which completes within just a few seconds, followed by few step-by-step on-screen installation instructions. After the installation, the application is ready to be used.
To begin using the BIGFlix WAP site, mobile users have to launch their mobile’s web-browser and visit the link https://m.bigflix.com. A micro version of the BIGFlix Movie Rental website with entire DVD catalog and all the features will become available to the user.
Speaking on the occasion of the launch, Kamal Gianchandani, chief operating officer, BIGFlix.com, said, “These applications will help us enhance our customer relations and drive greater engagement with our existing users. Today, mobile phone is a must have communication tool and is accessible to almost every common man across the country, hence launching this service will help us reach and meet with our aim to connect with a vast number of people across the country anytime anywhere.”
Commenting on the release of these service enhancements, Sanjeev Singhal, chief technology officer, BIGFlix.com, added, “BIGFlix.com users appreciate technological innovation and will welcome the enhanced convenience that comes from having fast and easy access to the BIGFlix movie rental catalog and rich quality of service features available for queuing, pickup and more, while being on-the-move. We have designed these services keeping in the mind the needs of the burgeoning class of users preferring mobile access to our services.
The BIGFlix application runs on popular handsets made by leading manufacturers such as Nokia, Blackberry, Sony Ericsson, Samsung, HTC, Motorola, LG, iPhone and many more.
Reliance Communications to offer Windows Mobile services
Reliance Communications and Microsoft have entered into a strategic partnership to offer Windows Mobile solution on Reliance’s wireless network. According to the agreement, Microsoft will offer its productivity solutions to Reliance customers including push email support, chat, photo-sharing, content back-up and other applications. The company will offer Microsoft’s Windows Mobile solution as part of its post-paid and pre-paid offerings on its networks.
As part of the roll-out, Reliance Communications is introducing a data plan offering a data download of 200MB for Rs 95 per month exclusively to Reliance Mobile customers using Windows Mobile phones.
Vrajesh Shelat, head wireless data business, says in a statement, “By offering the Windows Mobile solution, we will be able to address a wider customer base in this segment. This special data plan for Windows Mobile for post-paid and pre-paid users on Reliance Mobile GSM and CDMA networks will ensure that price is no longer a barrier for premium data services.”
“This is a one of its kind partnership between Reliance Communications and Microsoft that underscores the importance of the mobile software in delivering an unmatched user experience,” adds Amajit Gupta, director, communications and media segment, Microsoft India.
Reliance Communications will leverage its telecom infrastructure backbone to offer Windows Mobile service on its network.
New features in Windows Mobile include support for rich HTML e-mail, increased functionality within Microsoft Office Outlook Mobile and Office Mobile programs, and improved security and device management for IT managers. It also delivers advanced mobile communications, increased mobile productivity and optimised mobile business performance, with a consistent and familiar Microsoft software experience.
Spark Mobiles announces launch in India
Spark Mobiles, a part of United Arab Emirates-based Spark Group of Companies, has announced its foray into the Indian market. The company has signed on actor, R Madhavan as the brand ambassador for its range of mobile handsets.
Elaine Ester Roach, chairperson, Spark Group of Companies, tells afaqs!, “We will zero in on the creative and media agencies to handle our communications in a month’s time. The pitch is currently on.”
Currently, the promotional activities are being handled by the company’s in-house creative department in Dubai.
Spark Mobiles has earmarked ad spends of over Rs 100 crore for its Indian business, says Roach. The campaign will kick off in December. The handsets will be launched before the end of 2009, Roach says.
The company stresses on the ‘toughness’ of the handsets and will build its positioning around phones that are “virtually indestructible under demanding conditions”, specifies Roach. The phones are waterproof, shockproof and have been tested by four-wheel drive over. Additionally, they will also offer high-end multimedia, Web access and advanced music features.
In a press statement, Roach says, “We have a strong base and a respectable market share in the UAE and are now eyeing India as an important potential for our growth strategy. We have a demonstrable past of challenging established brands and are confident our handsets would be a hit amongst Indian audiences.”
“The single most important factor that convinced me to endorse this product was the amount of research and development that has gone into the making of the phones,” says Madhavan.
The company plans to launch five phones by the year-end and add 15 more handsets in another year’s time. While the pricing of the phones is being decided on, the basic handset is priced at Rs 2,200.
The handsets will initially be manufactured in the UAE. The company will set up assembly units in India soon.
Sony Ericsson starts free Cloud storage rollout
Sony Ericsson back in the month of November surprised its users by announcing free 50 GB of cloud based storage from Box.net but later backtracked. However, now it has finally made the free 50 GB free Box.net Cloud Storage space available to all its Xperia smartphone users.
So under this festive offer, all Xperia users can simply download the Box.net application on their smartphones to enjoy 50 GB of cloud based storage which is otherwise available for a premium price only. Existing Box.net users can also download the application and the free 50 GB storage space will be added to their existing accounts.
Xperia user can store, retrieve and edit files on Box cloud storage through their smartphone or any device they choose. So basically this service is not just meant for the users to be used on the smartphones only but can be used across a wide range of devices including personal computers as well.
Sony Ericsson has LED down its Xperia users once and this time they are taking extra precautions to make sure that the service is working flawlessly throughout the globe.
To make use of this survive, users just have to simply download the Box application from the Android Market. Log in to your Box account (or create one) from any Xperia Android handset before December 31st 2012, and you will get the free storage worth 50 GB.
Vodafone most admired telecom brand online: Survey
Drizzlin Media, a social media consultancy, has released the results of its survey on the most admired telecom brands based on social media conversations.
According to the survey, Vodafone is the most admired telecom brand online with a score of 117.57 points. This brand was admired most for its ads and promotional messaging. In terms of products and services, BSNL Mobile is most admired.
However, in terms of customer service, MTNL scored the highest while Vodafone was at the bottom of the stack.
The survey also showed that despite the popularity of Facebook, only two telecom brands Tata Indicom and Vodafone are active on it.
The survey monitored 10 telecom brands on six online platforms: blogs, Twitter, social networks (Facebook and Orkut), forums, YouTube and Mouthshut. About 7000 conversations were taken as a sample, of which relevant ones numbered 1631. Of the conversations where gender could be identified, 83 per cent were by men and six per cent were by women.
Another revelation of the survey was that telecom companies in India are limited in their engagement of customers online.
“We chose to analyse the buzz around telecom companies in India as the first of our surveys since telecom is a consumer intensive industry. Since the industry is so competitive, it becomes essential for telecom companies in India to understand what their consumers say about them online as it directly impacts subscriber numbers, reputation and revenues,” says Deepak Goel, chief executive officer, Drizzlin, in a statement.