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]
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Friday, November 20th, 2009
Fly Mobile has announced the launch of two new dual SIM touchscreen handsets in India at very affordable prices. The new phones launched are the MC160 and the E106 , both of which are targeted at the youth. Fly has priced these handsets in the Rs. 5,300 to Rs. 6,000 price range, which, according to the company, is way lower than the Rs. 8,000 mark that is usually where basic touchscreen handsets are priced. Additionally, these phones also boast of dual SIM capability, which is rarely seen on most low priced touchscreen phones of today.
First off, we have the MC 160, which is also promoted as a music centric handset with a Yamaha chipset that is claimed to enhance music playback quality. The MC 160 boasts of a QVGA touchscreen that displays 262k colors. It has a decent 3.2 megapixel camera and supports memory expansion with microSD cards. This is apart from the 89MB internal memory that the phone comes with. On the connectivity front, the phone is EDGE and GPRS capable, with support for Bluetooth for local file transfers. No sign of Wi-Fi here – but then that is excused considering the price at which this will retail.
The MC 160 supports video recording, self-help feature, A2DP (Advanced Audio Distribution Protocol), card slot, mobile tracker with remote control capabilities, privacy protection feature, and a phonebook that can store up to 2,000 records. The MC 160 is priced at Rs. 6,000.
Next in line is the Fly Mobile E106 – which happens to be the second cheap touchscreen phone announced by Fly. This one is a dual SIM phone as well, that boasts of a 2.4 inch QVGA screen with 262K colors. The E106 supports FM radio with recording, Bluetooth, GPRS, talk time of 4 hours and a standby time of 240 hours, A2DP, live MSN and motion sensors. The phone also has a basic 2 megapixel camera that should capture decent images.
The E106, Like the MC 160 supports memory expansion, video recording, and a phonebook that can hold 1000 records. The E106 has been priced at Rs. 5,300 in Indian – making it one of the most affordable touchscreen phones in the market.
[Via: unwireindia]
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Monday, November 16th, 2009
Nokia, on Monday, unveiled in India, the new addition to its Nseries range, Nokia N97 mini, which among other things enables the user to lifecast. N97 Mini comes with Lifecasting with Ovi that would open up the next innovative chapter of personal and location-aware internet. Offered in partnership with the world’s largest social network, Facebook – Lifecasting with Ovi is the first application to let people publish their location and status updates directly to their Facebook account from the home screen of a mobile device.
Lifecasting goes beyond just publishing your status – it is about building deeper and closer connections between people. It triggers new kinds of communication patterns, such as sending messages or status updates or even navigating to a friend or a place. Lifecasting with Ovi is available on Nokia N97 mini via Nokia Beta Labs. The new device was launched during Nokia N-Tour-Age, an interactive-technology-solutions showcase of Nokia’s premium devices and services. Designed for the style-conscious consumer, who is active on social networks, the Nokia N97 mini is a smaller mobile computer with stylish stainless steel cues, featuring a tilting 3.2″ touch display, QWERTY keyboard and fully customizable homescreen that makes each Nokia N97 mini as unique as a fingerprint.
The Nokia N97 mini delivers a truly personal internet experience in a compact handset based on the iconic design of the Nokia N97. Users can personalise the homescreen of their device even further with thousands of different applications and services available from the Ovi Store. From games, videos and podcasts to productivity tools and web services, Ovi Store is the easiest way to fill the Nokia N97 mini’s homescreen with applications that reflect individual tastes. Available in three stylish colors, viz, Cherry black, Garnet and White, the Nokia N97 mini will start shipping in the last week of November 2009 at an MRP of Rs 30,939/- only.
[Via: Economic Times]
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Monday, November 16th, 2009
As a globally recognized leader in visual display technology, ViewSonic is all set to enter the mobile market and will soon launch a Windows XP phone, the ViewSonic VPC08. The phone, which will run on Windows XP platform, is being viewed as a perfect merger of PCs and mobile phones.
The ViewSonic VPC08 will come with a 2-megapixel camera placed at the back. It has an Intel ULV-series processor, 512MB RAM, 8GB HD, and supports TF card expansion. The new ViewSonic VPC08 is made in the clamshell style and mini-notebook form factor. It is equipped with two screens and keyboard and this VPC08 smartphone is look like Nokia E90.
There is no information about the launch date of the ITG Windows XpPhone but it is expected to sell at $800. The phone is currently restricted to China alone, but will soon be shared with the rest of the world and it has.
[Via: infibeam]
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Saturday, November 7th, 2009
Acer, third largest vendor in the global PC market, today unveiled its latest range of Smart Handhelds in India. “The new Smart Handheld devices, the neoTouch and beTouch- represents a strategic move for Acer towards becoming a leader in ‘mobility market’ having provided mobile internet solutions to 20 million consumers in 100 countries across the globe” Richard Tan, Country Head India Smart Handheld Business Group, Acer told reporters here.
beTouch E1O1, which targets the mass market, especially the youth, has a 3.2 inches touch screen and equipped with the latest version of Internet Explorer, Windows Marketplace and Live Messenger. “The beTouch E200 is a touch phone created for those who use their mobile device as a mean of keeping in touch with friends, connecting to the Internet and sharing their experiences” Tan said. The Smartphone comes in two colours, black and white and is equipped with a 3.0 inch touch screen, 3.2 pixel camera, among other facilities.They are priced at Rs 11,900 (beTouch e101) and Rs 17,900 (beTouch e200).
The neoTouch, priced at Rs 35,000 is targetted at the high-end market and equipped with functions and applications like Mail, Mobile Internet, multimedia and Microsoft Office Mobile. The Windows phone features a wide, a 3.8 inches high-resolution touch screen, 3G+ connectivity (HSPA), Wi-Fi and bluetooth, among other facilities. “We have tied up with Tata Docomo for the new devices which enables the end user to get 500 mb free download for every month for six months”.
[Via: unwireindia]
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Saturday, November 7th, 2009
The Centre on Wednesday revoked its ban on pre-paid mobile services in Jammu and Kashmir and instead decided to tighten security checks for handing out such connections. “Pre-paid services will continue in Jammu and Kashmir. However, service providers will meet us in Delhi and give a plan for a more secure (verification) system,” said Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram.
The Centre’s decision to ban pre-paid mobile connections in the state from November 1 citing security threats had invited strong protests. The ban was imposed in the wake of reports that connections were being handed out without proper verification. The ban had affected nearly 38 lakh pre-paid mobile phone subscribers in the state. National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah had on Tuesday said that the state government had taken up the matter with the Centre and the pre-paid facility would be restored soon.
[Via: unwireindia]
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Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009
According to India’s Economic Times, pre-paid mobile services are to be blocked in the Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) circle from 1 November. The moves comes on the back of government concerns that such services have been used for criminal and terrorist activities, with the state making the decision after it felt that sample checks on subscriber verification by the Department of Telecommunication (DoT) were ineffective.
Justifying the decision, a statement from the Indian Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) claimed that both service providers and vendors were failing to carry out the correct verification procedures, noting: ‘In some cases, a single person had been issued multiple numbers of connections. The fake documents/identity numbers are also reportedly being used by the vendors particularly, in the case of pre-paid connections.’
It is believed that the government may consider implementing similar bans in other north-east states, as concerns grow about insurgent activity in those areas.
[Via: unwireindia]
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Wednesday, October 28th, 2009
After the huge success of Samsung Guru Series, Star Series, Metro Series & recently launched Corby Series Samsung India has launched a new mobile in Omnia Series – The Omnia II i8000. This Omnia series handset incorporates various high-performance features. Powered by Windows 6.1 Mobile platform, this handset is a perfect blend of style, multimedia and business performance.
The Omnia II incorporates a host of motion-enabled features including 3D photo album, video library, music library, browser bookmarks and FM Radio. The handset also offers support for online mobile widgets as well as popular social networking sites such as Facebook, Picasa, Flickr and more. The 8GB internal memory can be expanded via a 32GB memory card. Omnia II sports a stunning design with a sleek finish. But the appeal of this phone lies in the intuitive 3D user interface and the 3.7″ AMOLED touchscreen display.
Announcing the launch, Ranjeet Yadav, Director IT & Telecom, Samsung Electronics said, “Omnia II is designed to take user experience to the next level. It captures our vision to provide phones to the consumers which are not only great looking but provide even greater functionality and usability using latest technologies and messaging platforms.” With the launch of the Omnia II i8000, Samsung plans to strengthen its position in India’s touchscreen market. Samsung Omnia II i8000 has been priced at Rs. 28,990.00 which seems to be just perfect in comparison to features it offers.
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Wednesday, October 21st, 2009
Research In Motion launched in India on Tuesday two BlackBerry handsets through its distributor Redington. These handsets will be available through retail outlets in line with the company’s strategy since January to launch network-independent phones through Redington, besides its traditional sales through mobile services providers.
The new models launched on Tuesday are the BlackBerry Storm and BlackBerry Curve 8520. The phones will be available at leading electronic stores in 38 cities, RIM said. These stores are already selling other models of BlackBerry phones, the spokesman said. The move to offer the handsets through retail channels fits better with the way consumers in India like to buy, said a spokesman for RIM in India. Consumers usually pick a handset at retail stores from a variety of brands and models, and then insert a SIM (subscriber identity module) card and get it running, he added.
RIM already has ties with nine service providers in India, including the largest Bharti Airtel, and Reliance Communications, the second largest. After buying a BlackBerry handset from a retail store, the customer will still have to sign up with one of these nine service providers, the spokesman said. RIM offers its handsets through retail channels as well in a few other countries where the model has been found to be relevant to the market, he added.
[Via: unwireIndia]
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Tuesday, October 20th, 2009
HP has recently come up with three new TouchSmart all-in-one PCs called the HP TouchSmart 600, the HP TouchSmart 300 and the HP TouchSmart 9100. The TouchSmart 300 incorporates a 20-inch display screen. The TouchSmart 600 features a 23-inch screen. Both the PCs offer support for Windows 7 operating system. As for the HP TouchSmart 300 and 600 consumer desktops, they’ll be available with AMD Athlon II X2 and Intel Core 2 Duo processors respectively, 4GB of RAM and a slot-loading DVD burner (with a Blu-ray player on the top-spec 600-1055). The 300-series get ATI Radeon HD 3200 graphics and WiFi b/g/n, with the 300-1020 having a 500GB hard-drive and the 300-1025 getting 640GB and an integrated HDTV tuner.
The TouchSmart 300 and 600 both models are capable of recognizing multiple gestures like pinch, rotate, arc, flip, press and drag. James Mouton, senior vice president and general manager, Desktop Global Business Unit, Personal Systems Group, HP said that, “Since the launch of the first TouchSmart PC nearly three years ago, we’ve worked closely with a growing number of software companies and independent vendors to develop built-for-touch applications that give consumers and businesses rich interactive multimedia experiences”.
The HP TouchSmart 9100 has been specifically designed for Business class users. The PC takes away the 23-inch display and styling of the 600-series, and offers a choice of Intel Core 2 Duo CPUs, up to 8GB of memory, 250GB to 500GB of HDD space (or a 64GB SSD) and a choice of NVIDIA GeForce 200 or GT230M graphics. There’s also an optional TV tuner, and a choice of slot-loading DVD or Blu ray drives. The 9100 is compatible with Windows 7 operating system.
The HP TouchSmart 300 will cost $899 (approx. Rs. 41,757) while HP TouchSmart 600 will $1,049 (approx. Rs. 48,725) and the HP TouchSmart 9100 business laptop will cost at $1,299 (approx. Rs. 60,360). All of these PCs will be available in market by this December.
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