IMImobile & Airtel Launches Voice-based VAS Cell Shakti
IMImobile, the global technology partner for telecom operators, today announces the launch of “Cell Shakti”, a specialized mobile VAS offering for Airtel GSM mobile service users in Andhra Pradehs telecom circle.
Airtel Subscribers can call 52345006 to subscribe to Cell Shakti. User can also listen to the live updates in Telugu on their mobile by dialing 52345006. The subscription charges for this service will be Rs. 1 per day.
Madhavan Iyer, Vice President Managed Services of IMImobile, speaking on the launch of Cell Shakti said, “Through Cell Shakti we plan to inform, empower and help bridge the digital divide in the rural markets. By giving reliable and comprehensive information on mobile on the key aspects of rural life, we aim to improve lifestyle productivity and earnings of the rural people. We strongly believe that with Cell Shakti services, we would be contributing in a small way towards empowerment of the rural population in India.
Russian Govt to Take 20% in MTS India Televenture
MTS India, as SSTL brands its CDMA services is operational in 12 circles of India, bagged a pan India UAS licence in 2008. In one year MTS India has crossed the milestone of 5 million CDMA subscribers. It also rolled out EVDO based high speed wireless internet in selected cities. Company expects to turn EBITDA positive in 2013 inspite of continued falling of mobile call tariffs to be expected.
Russian Govt to Take 20% in MTS India Televenture
Sistema Shyam Teleservices Ltd(SSTL), the Indian arm of Russia’s Sistema in joint venture with India’s Shyam Group which operates CDMA mobile brand MTS is going to sell off 20% share to Russian Government. Russian Govt is going to invest around $680 million in India via SSTL by October 2010 as expected.
The deal with Russian Government is in talk from 2009 but announcement of Indian budget makes the whole process delayed, and now it is expected the deal to be closed by the end of Q3 or early Q4 of 2010. The company is also planning to go for an Initial Public Offer once the Russian government makes its scheduled investment by the end of the third quarter.
MTS India, as SSTL brands its CDMA services is operational in 12 circles of India, bagged a pan India UAS licence in 2008. In one year MTS India has crossed the milestone of 5 million CDMA subscribers. It also rolled out EVDO based high speed wireless internet in selected cities. Company expects to turn EBITDA positive in 2013 inspite of continued falling of mobile call tariffs to be expected.
BSNL Launches Bouquet of Special Tariff Vouchers in Andhra Pradesh
Keeping its stride to provide Better Recharge or Tariff plans for its 2G and 3G subscribers in Andhra Pradesh circle, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) today announced the launch of thirteen super attractive Special Tariff Vouchers (STVs) under SMS, Local, National Calling and Unlimited Calling categories.
The new STVs for Andhra Pradesh include One Paisa-3 Second Plan, Any Network Local call @30p, SMS@1 paisa, Two New SMS Pack, Unlimited Local and STD Call Plan in various denominations, 10 paisa Local calling plan and lots more.
Here are the Details-:
Special Tariff Vouchers (STVs) MRP Validity Applicable on
STVs CATEGORY-1
Local Calls to Own Network- Unlimited FREE and Calls to Other Net @ 49p/min Rs.298 30 Days 2G
Local Call to Own Net @10p/min, and Other Net @49p/min Rs.131 30 Days 2G
Local Call to BSNL N/W @10p/min, and Others as per main plan Rs.61 30 Days 2G and 3G
Local & STD own Net 20 paisa/Minute Rs.47 30 Days 2G and 3G
Local Call to any Network @ 30 paisa/Minute Rs.61 30 Days 2G and 3G
Local Call to own Network @ 1 Paise/3 Seconds Rs.54 30 Days 2G
125 Minutes Local Video Calls FREE Rs.56 30 Days 3G
Local & National SMS at 1 paisa /SMS Rs.13 30 Days 2G and 3G
Note-:
-Only one STV can be allowed at a time from category 1
-The STV currently used will override on using the new STV of CAT-1
-The STV validity is extended from the date of RC.Existing validity will not be counted
-Use *124# to know the validity of CAT-1 STV only
STVs CATEGORY-2
Unlimited Free Local/STD Calls (BSNL to BSNL anywhere in India) Rs.31 1 day 2G and 3G
Unlimited Free Local/STD Calls (BSNL to BSNL anywhere in India) Rs.151 7 days 2G and 3G
Unlimited Free Local/STD Calls (BSNL to BSNL anywhere in India) Rs.501 30 Days 2G and 3G
Note-: -CAT-2 STVs can be used in parallel with CAT-1 & -CAT-3 STVs and applicable to all Prepaid plans.
-The STV validity is extended from the date of RC. If existing validity is higher, then old higher validity will be maintained.
-*124# facility is not applied
STVs CATEGORY-3
2000 Local and 1000 National SMS Free Rs.23 30 Days 2G and 3G
3000 Local and 1000 National SMS Free Rs.33 30 Days 2G and 3G
Note -CAT-3 STVs can be used in parallel with CAT-1 & CAT-2 STVs and applicable to all plans
-On expiry of STV validity, Balance SMS will be nullified
-Balance SMS will be carry forwarded on using another SMS STV
-The STV validity is always extended from the date of RC.
- *124# facility is not applied, Free SMS can be given in EOCN USSD
Truth Behind MTS Unlimited Internet "MBlaze" at Rs.999
1. This scheme is not valid for Maharashtra and Goa (Including Mumbai).
2. Customer need to e-recharge with Rs.999 to avail this scheme following which he/she will get a speed of 3.1 mbps for first 15 GB. Post 15 GB the user will be migrated to "Mbrowse" speed of 144 kbps.
Would you still like to go for this offer?
Bharti Airtel launches “Talk-to-me”
Airtel Subscribers can call 5432171 through their Airtel network at Rs. 6/min. With the new dial in Service – Talk to Me, customers will be able to connect to the celebrity / singer. The service will allow a select group of callers at a time to connect with the celebrity for a live conversation in a sequential mode. Every caller will be prompted in advance and given equal time to interact with their favorite star through the IVR. The celebrity will have an option of managing the call by extending the time or move to next customer. Going forward Bharti Airtel will connect to the most popular celebrities in the state with their fan base.
Announcing the launch of new service, Mr. Venkatesh V, CEO, Mobile Services, Karnataka Circle, Bharti Airtel said “It has been a significant year at Bharti Airtel - Karnataka circle. With the circle completing 10 successful years of journey in the state, it has always been a game changer with dominant market share. One of the reasons for our success in Karnataka has been the innovative products that we have launched, which has endeared us to our customers. For any film buff, being able to actually speak to a super star, would be like a dream come true. We are delighted for being the first to introduce this revolutionary product, Talk to Me – a live voice chatting platform, that will help connecting our subscribers across Karnataka with their favorite super stars on the Airtel mobile network”
Commenting on the new product, the noted Kannada film actor ‘Hatrick Hero’ Shivraj Kumar, said, “It’s a great pleasure for me to be here at this moment and to be part of Airtel’s first-of-its-kind innovative product. I’m also honored for Airtel choosing me as their first celebrity for the unique initiative. ‘Talk to Me’ on Airtel now connects the subscribers across Karnataka LIVE with their favourite Kannada & Bollywood film stars and that will also help them to use the same platform to connect, communicate and interact with personalities from other genre too.”
Acer inundates market with new set of desktop monitors
Acer is flooding the markets with its new range of TFT desktop monitors, keeping in mind the launch of desktops by other competitors. Acer witnessed exponential increase in market share in the monitors' category in India. So the launch of D240H, D241H, B273H, T231H, S243HL monitor gives a further boost to the present scenario.
"Our strategy of 'Go Big Go Wide' has been the driving force in our endeavor to offer the market bigger & wider form factors, set new standards and add value by bringing out the latest technology first to the market", said S. Rajendran, Chief Marketing Officer, Acer India.
The D240H monitor comes equipped with a card reader and 1GB internal storage. The 24 inch HD monitor also has a built-in digital photo frame function through which photos can be displayed even if monitor and computer are not connected.
The D241H model comes with Display+ technology that permits link to internet even in the absence of a PC.
The B273H, with height adjustment, swivel and tilt angle features, is good for office use. The monitor can be tilted 15 degrees up and 5 degrees down, rotated 35 degrees to both right and left. The height can be adjusted up to 11 cm.
The 23 inch T231H monitor features multi-touch functionality and the angle can be adjusted from 5 degrees to 60 degrees. It comes with foldable stands which makes it easy for the monitor to be mounted on a wall.
The S Series monitor, S243HL, is a thin and light monitor and uses white LED technology for eco-friendly power conservation.
What remains to be seen is how the introduction of these new set of monitors influence the market hold of Acer, which is presently 19.5 percent.
Apple's lowest-priced Mac mini at $699
Apple has launched a new version of its lowest-priced computer, Mac mini, with twice the graphics performance and lower power usage, starting from $699.
It consists of a Nvidia GeForce 320M graphics processor, a 2.4 gigahertz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 320 gigabyte (GB) hard-disk and 2GB RAM. It comes with Mac's Snow Leopard operating system.
Samsung's B7350 Omnia Pro 4 with Windows Mobile 6.5
Samsung announced its latest Omnia family smartphones, the B7350 Omnia Pro 4 and the B6520 Omnia Pro 5 and it runs Windows Mobile 6.5 and looks a bit like Samsung's BlackJack and Jack smartphones.The Omnia Pro 4 is outfitted with a 2.62" TFT LCD touchscreen with 320 x 320p resolutions. The 3.2MP VT camera offers AF and CIF functionality and bundles in Face Detection and Smile Shot technologies. It is expected to hit the markets across Europe, CIS and South Eastern Asia from July.
The phone incorporates Bluetooth v2.1 with EDR and is embedded with a USB 2.0 FS port. It offers users wireless connectivity through Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g. The device is attributed with internal memory of about 200MB that can be expanded up to 32GB through the microSD slot. The Omnia Pro 4 is certified by Sybase Afaria that secure access to enterprise applications.
The video recorder supports a host of formats, namely, H.263+AMR NB, MPEG4+AMR NB, ASF, Real One and WMV. Users can listen to music through the built-in Windows Media Player 10 that supports WMA, MP3, AAC/AAC+/eAAC+, AMR formats. The Sound Alive technology helps in enhancing the audio output of the device. Cisco WebEx online meeting with audio and web conferencing facilities allows the handset to share presentations.
Users can listen to FM radio with auto-tuning facility though the 3.5mm ear jack and navigate locations with the built-in A-GPS. It supports a bandwidth of GSM quad band / HSDPA 7.2 MB/s 850/900/1800/1900MHz and WCDMA dual band 900/2100MHz. Users can browse seamlessly courtesy the Opera browser while also accessing push e-mail and PIM. Social networking sites can also be accessed through this handset. The dimensions of the phone measure about 117.7mm x 59.8mm x 11.9 mm.
At Rs. 5299, GFone introduces new dual sim touch screen phone
With an affordable price tag and amazing features, GFone brings its new dual sim (GSM+GSM) touch screen phone GFone 777 for the Indian consumer. The phone comes with a 3.2 inch screen, a 3 MP camera with photo editor and 8 GB expandable memory. Strategically priced at a modest Rs. 5299, the phone targets the middle class and students.
Its connectivity options include Bluetooth A2DP, EDGE which comes with a 3.5 mm headphone jack. The phone packs in FM radio on speaker, built-in media player, unlimited video recording and playback with mp4 and rmvb support.
The phone gives a real business edge to the consumer, as one can schedule meetings, make presentation, send and receive emails at a fast speed, read Word, Excel, Power Point or PDF files. It also features an Indian calendar, answering machine, blacklist call and SMS feature and a mobile tracker.
The Nimbuzz and Snaptu apps of the device help in easy access to social networking sites and get updates on news, weather and sports. The user can also install additional Java application on the phone.
Overall the phone sounds like a good deal for the raring to go middle class Indian and the new age brand of students who are prudent in their choice of tech products, to keep themselves on the edge while not burning a hole in their pockets.
Apple's latest smartphone iPhone 4G available at Rs.10-15k range
The newest smartphone by Apple, iPhone 4G, is now available in India. The price of the phone is expected to be Rs. 15,000 for the 32GB version and Rs. 10,000 for the 16GB version.
The device uses the advanced LG LCD Display technology namely In-Plane Switching technology (IPS). The phone boasts of being the thinnest smartphone at 9.3mm and has built-in 5MP camera.
The new model also comes with the upgraded operating system iOS 4.0 and a new feature of high definition display called Retina,that gives resolution four times better than iPhone 3G.The battery is 40 percent more efficient.
Steve Jobs, Chief Executive Officer, Apple said, "The new iPhone has the IPS technology, an advanced LCD technology which is better than OLED technology. IPS is a premium display technology which results in incredibly sharp text, images and video."
The other regular features include Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.1, video recording, photo and video geotagging, and support for display of multiple languages.
With this smartphone, Apple will hope to contend with other companies like HTC known to bring out similar devices. How the market takes on to the device remains to be seen.
