Friday, November 20th, 2009
Despite a tough regulatory environment for mobile banking in India, Nokia expects to soon roll out its financial and banking services in the country under the banner of ‘Nokia Money’. The world’s largest mobile phone company has initiated talks with six banks in India who will be responsible for cash management and handling banking regulatory issues. As per Nokia’s strategy, it plans to tap its huge network of 1.9 lakh phone retailers and dealers who will act as the consumer point and banking correspondents.
Nokia will offer an universal platform where the mobile phone can be a medium for banking, international remittance, payment of utility bills, pay merchants for goods and services and buying tickets. “India figures amongst the top 20 countries where we plan to roll out Nokia Money in the first phase. While at present Indian banks may have a mobile banking platform, it is limited to a single bank and telecom operator. What we plan to offer is a full-fledged service which will bring together all banks, operators and even handsets of other brands,” said Teppo Paavola, global head of Nokia Money service. Talking about the regulatory challenges in India, Mr Paavola said the key issue will be to turn the Nokia retailers into Nokia Money agent.
[Via: unwireindia]
Posted in Nokia | No Comments »
Friday, October 30th, 2009
Vodafone Group Plc Chief Executive Officer Vittorio Colao wants to introduce a system for payments via mobile-phone in India because a large part of the rural population doesn’t have access to banking services.
“We have been trying to introduce mobile-phone money transfers in India for some time,” Colao said at a U.K.-India business conference in London today. “Unfortunately, so far we haven’t succeed because of a set of rules and constraints, but I’ll continue to push for it.”
Global phone companies such as Vodafone, France Telecom SA and Nokia Oyj are introducing offerings that allow money transfers with the help of mobile phones in emerging markets. Mobile-money in emerging markets could ring in $7.9 billion of sales for operators by 2012, according to the GSM Association, an industry group in London. Vodafone already offers mobile payment systems in some African countries.
Posted in Mobile Operators | No Comments »
Wednesday, September 9th, 2009
HTC has announced the upcoming availability of the Android-powered Hero smartphone in India. The Hero is the second Android device to be available to Indian customers, after the HTC Magic, released earlier this summer.
Unlike the Magic, HTC Hero comes with HTC’s new Sense UI, which lets users customize the phone’s software. The new device also features access to Android Market, a 320 x 480 pixels capacitive touchscreen display, Wi-Fi, GPS, 5MP autofocus camera, 3.5mm headset jack, and MicroSD card slot.
HTC Hero’s price is of 34,600 INR in Maharashtra, and 31,990 in India’s other states. Airtel’s customers who buy the Hero will get 100MB of free monthly data downloads for 6 months.
[Via: unwiredview]
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
Tuesday, September 8th, 2009
Micromax, the leading Indian mobile handset manufacturer, announced with MTNL the launch of Micromax H360, the first operator branded 3G HSPA handset in India. Micromax H360 demonstrates the cooperation of Micromax - India’s leading mobile handset manufacturer, MTNL, the state-owned telecom services provider and the first telecom operator to launch 3G services in India and Qualcomm - a leading developer and innovator of 3G and advanced wireless technologies, products and services. With Micromax’s quality manufacturing, MTNL’s efficient 3G network services and Qualcomm’s highly regarded technology, the H360 is all set to provide an enriched 3G experience.
The H360 will come pre-loaded with unique applications to enable video calls, mobile TV, social networking, wireless business solutions through web browsing and other Internet-based services. These handsets will initially be available in the cities of Mumbai and Delhi. MTNL became the first 3G mobile service operator in the country by introducing its “3G Jadoo” service recently in Delhi and Mumbai.
H360 was formally launched today at the ‘India On’ Qualcomm 2009 Conference in New Delhi, attended by Mr R S P Sinha, CMD MTNL (Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited), Mr Rajesh Aggarwal, MD Micromax and Kanwalinder Singh, senior vice president of Qualcomm and president of Qualcomm India & South Asia.
The H360 will be available exclusively to MTNL customers at a price of Rs. 5499/-. Users can now watch live Cricket matches, real-time national & regional news, bollywood music & movie videos, their favorite TV Soaps, national and regional language channels and much more through the Mobile TV application available on H360, which has high speed internet access on HSDPA with peak speeds upto 3.6Mbps. The handset will also offer video telephony for users to see their caller live on screen. Besides this, the available social messenger application allows the users to blog, email, access Facebook and Orkut at all times and stay connected with their friends and family.
Mr. Rajesh Aggarwal, Managing Director, Micromax, said, “Delivering best of the technology and path breaking innovation has always been our priority. We work towards bringing exclusive technology in the hands of the masses. A 3G Mobile is still considered an expensive piece of technology, but H360 is here to break all the rules. The journey of 3G in India has just begun and there is a need for mass awareness of 3G. We are thankful to MTNL and Qualcomm for having worked with us to enable us to bring forth a revolutionary product for the Indian 3G subscribers. We are confident that this handset will redefine the 3G experience in India and with increasing awareness and availability, 3G mobiles will gain mass popularity.”
Mr. R. S. P Sinha, chairman and managing director, MTNL, said, “We have had a successful launch of the 3G Jadoo service this year and received encouraging response from consumers. With the introduction of the first MTNL branded 3G phone, we are opening up ubiquitous access to a host of entertainment and enterprise applications and make 3G services available to our subscribers at an affordable price. We are pleased to work with Qualcomm and Micromax to bring the best user experience to our subscribers”
“We applaud MTNL and Micromax for launching India’s first operator-branded, full-featured 3G HSPA handset at an affordable price point. Micromax H360 by MTNL comes integrated with a suite of applications for mobile Internet, social networking, mobile TV and rich multimedia content that enable a whole new experience for Indian users by utilizing all the capabilities of this feature rich 3G handset,” said Mr. Kanwalinder Singh, senior vice president of Qualcomm and president of Qualcomm India and South Asia. “Operator-branded handsets provide a customized experience to end consumers and have been very successful in 3G markets worldwide. We are pleased to work with MTNL and Micromax to start this trend in India.”
[Via: infibeam]
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Tuesday, September 1st, 2009
You can now download the final version of Opera 10, a browser that has been in beta for some time. The most significant feature of Opera 10 is Opera Turbo, a compression engine that makes data transactions faster by simply reducing the amount of information transferred. Opera claims to be 8X faster in bandwidth-limited conditions.
Obviously, more things have evolved, including the user interface, the spell checking and many other things. That said, Opera is already working on future improvements like Unite, an embedded web server that lets people share data easily, or faster Java performance, which comes in handy on Web 2.0 sites like Facebook. Opera 10 is free.
[Via: ubergizmo]
Posted in Internet | No Comments »
Tuesday, September 1st, 2009
Aimed at experienced shooters looking for value and sophisticated SLR performance, Sony today introduced the full-frame a (alpha) DSLR-A850 camera and a new 28-75mm F2.8 lens. The a850 model shares the same 24.6 megapixel sensor and most features of the flagship a900 camera, introduced last year, but will be available for just under $2000 (body only).
“Sony is bringing the benefits of a full-frame digital SLR camera to a broader group of consumers,” said Kristen Elder, director of the Digital Imaging business at Sony Electronics. “The a850 strengthens Sony’s alpha DSLR line, which now offers models in each step from high-end professional down to the amateur enthusiast.”
The a850 camera is designed to deliver ultra-fine picture quality with a high resolution, 24.6-megapixel, 35-mm full-frame Exmor CMOS sensor and fast image processing with dual BIONZ processing engines. It also offers high-speed continuous shooting of 24.6 megapixel images at up to three frames per second.
Ultra-Fine Images: The camera’s Exmor CMOS sensor delivers the photographic expressive power of wide angles and perspective that only a 35 mm full-frame sensor can offer, and is designed to take advantage of the resolving power of high-precision alpha lenses. Its high pixel count and large size provide enhanced image detail and a wider dynamic range for natural color reproduction and subtle tonal gradations.
Image processing gets a boost in speed and power from two BIONZ processing engines. Large amounts of data captured by the 24.6-megapixel sensor can be quickly processed to achieve a fast shooting response. Additionally, this dual BIONZ system applies advanced noise reduction algorithms producing images of exceptional quality and detail, especially at high ISO sensitivities.
Capture the Right Shot the First Time: The camera’s innovative intelligent preview function takes the guesswork out of setting up a shot and the hassle of taking multiple shots to achieve a desired effect.
After pressing the depth of field preview button, the camera “grabs” a RAW preview image which is processed and displayed on the LCD screen. You can then fine tune white balance, determine the best level and effect of dynamic range optimization, adjust exposure compensation and check histogram data, all before you actually take the picture. Preview images are not recorded on the camera’s memory card, thus saving capacity.
The camera’s autofocus system features nine sensors with 10 assist points for improved tracking of moving subjects. A center dual cross sensor comprised of two horizontal and two vertical line sensors as well as a dedicated f/2.8 sensor are included to achieve greater precision, especially when using fast-aperture lenses.
[Via: infibeam]
Posted in Digital Cameras | No Comments »
Wednesday, August 26th, 2009
HTC Corporation formalized today (August 24th) a memorandum of understanding covering “substantive cooperation on TD-SCDMA” with China Mobile, Ltd., China’s largest telecommunications service provider.
Mr. Wang Jianzhou, Executive Director, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of China Mobile, commenting on the MOU, expressed that “Achievements achieved by HTC in the global smart phone industry have been most impressive. HTC is today a brand recognized and respected across Greater China. Growth of the TD-SCDMA mobile network, using an international standard developed and promoted by Chinese, has already stimulated broad based excitement and enthusiasm. We are exceptionally pleased with this opportunity to partner with HTC and to meet future challenges as one. Together, we look forward to expanding the TD-SCDMA industry chain and spurring development of the Cross-Strait telecommunications sector. We look for this partnership to become a model of cooperation.”
HTC Chairman Cher Wang, commenting on the new MOU, noted, “China Mobile is one of the world’s leading telecommunications companies. We look forward to developing together many advantages that enhance our core competitive strengths and deliver to Chinese consumers smartphone products that are increasingly user-friendly and intuitive. HTC CEO Peter Chou added, “Going forward, HTC will actively develop intelligent advanced wireless broadband products based on the TD-SCDMA standard, and will work closely with China Mobile to design and make products tailored to the needs of the China market - products that will deliver to Chinese consumers mobile telecommunications products incorporating cutting-edge conveniences, features and technologies.
TD-SCDMA is the first international technology standard in China’s century-old telecommunications industry for which administration and ownership of related intellectual property rights (IPR) are based in China. The standard also marks an important milestone in the innovation and growth of China’s telecommunications sector.
[Via: infibeam]
Posted in HTC | No Comments »
Friday, August 21st, 2009
Forget about those DVD players in your vehicle, it is time to keep up with the latest with the Panasonic CY-BB1000D Blu-ray player. This in-dash Blu-ray player will not only handle the latest full HD movies in your vehicle, it is also more than capable of playing back your collection of DVDs and audio CDs without missing a beat. In addition, it supports AVCREC and AVCHD videos, too.
No idea on whether the CY-BB1000D will make it out of Japan or not in due time, but folks living in that part of the world can pick theirs up for €743.
[Via: ubergizmo]
Posted in Cars | No Comments »
Tuesday, July 28th, 2009
WD announced two new mobile hard drives that reach new capacity extremes. The highlight is a one terabyte model - the industry’s highest-capacity 2.5-inch drive available. Industry-leading 333 GB-per-platter technology enables the new WD Scorpio Blue SATA 2.5-inch hard drives to offer mobile storage device and notebook users an enormous 1 TB capacity. A 750 GB WD Scorpio Blue model also will be available.
The WD Scorpio Blue 750 GB and 1 TB hard drives have a 12.5 mm form factor and are ideally suited for use in portable storage solutions, such as the newly released My Passport Essential SE Portable USB Drives. Other applications include select notebooks and small form factor desktop PCs, where quiet and cool operation are important. Both WD Scorpio Blue drives deliver high-performance with a 3 gigabits per second (Gb/s) transfer rate.
“The convergence of the growing mobile computing and digital media trends produces demand for desktop-like capacities in portable devices,” said Jim Morris, senior vice president and general manager of client systems at WD. “Our new WD Scorpio Blue drives enable people to take even more of their digital collections with them wherever they go and, realizing the value of their data, back up their notebooks on their My Passport drives.”
WD Scorpio Blue hard drives offer high-performance, low power consumption and cool operation in portable applications. They are designed with WD features to be reliable and shock resistant while also delivering industry-leading capacity and performance.
WD Scorpio Blue Features:
WhisperDrive - WD’s exclusive WhisperDrive technology combines state-of-the-art seeking algorithms to produce one of the quietest 2.5-inch drives available.
ShockGuard - Leading-edge ShockGuard technology combines firmware and hardware advancements to meet the highest combined shock tolerance specifications required for mobile and notebook applications.
SecurePark - Parks the recording heads off the disk surface during spin up, spin down and when the drive is off. This ensures the recording head never touches the disk surface, resulting in improved long-term reliability due to less head wear and improved shock tolerance.
Price and Availability - WD Scorpio Blue 750 GB drives (model WD7500KEVT) are available now through select distributors and resellers; the 1 TB capacity (model WD10TEVT) is available now configured into My Passport Essential SE USB drives. The manufacturer’s suggested retail price (MSRP) for the WD Scorpio Blue 1 TB drive is $249.99 USD and for the 750 GB version it is $189.99 USD. WD Scorpio Blue hard drives are covered by a three-year limited warranty.
[Via: infibeam]
Posted in Computers | No Comments »
Thursday, July 2nd, 2009
The classic iPod Lego Speaker has been given a new coat of paint - two, actually, as they now come in silver and gold metallic colors, retailing for $25 a pop.
Perfect for you to add some much needed bling to your desktop, and best of all is they won’t need any batteries since they’ll act as power vampires, sucking up juice from your iPod when plugged in via USB.
[Via: ubergizmo]
Posted in Speakers | No Comments »
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