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Research In Motion (RIM) has introduced the BlackBerry Curve 9220 smartphone in India. The device features a dedicated BlackBerry Messenger key and various applications such as Facebook and Twitter. Its other features include the BlackBerry 7.1 operating system, support for Wi-Fi and an FM radio. The device is priced at Rs 10,990.
Intel Corporation has joined hands with Lava International Limited to launch the XOLO X 900 smartphone in India. The device, priced at around Rs 22,000, runs on the Intel Atom processor Z 2460 with Intel Hyper Threading Technology and supports HSPA+ and 3G connectivity. Its other features include a 400 MHz graphics clock and a 1080 pixel high-definition video encoding facility, an 8 megapixel camera and a high-resolution LCD touchscreen. The device supports the Android Gingerbread operating system and offers five hours of 3G browsing, 45 hours of audio and eight hours of talktime.
SICT Mobiles has introduced the iV 128 dual-SIM handset for the Indian market. The iV128 has a 2 inch QCIF display and offers various applications such as mobile tracking, Blacklist and auto call record. Its other features include Bluetooth connectivity, a wireless FM facility and a 1.3 megapixel camera. The device, priced at Rs 1,325, also supports an 8 GB memory card and dual languages.
Samsung Electronics Company Limited has expanded its Galaxy range of smartphones with the launch of the Galaxy S Advance (GT-I9070) and the Galaxy Pocket (GT-S5300). The Galaxy S Advance has an AMOLED display and a 5 megapixel camera. The Android 2.3 Gingerbread-based device allows users to avail of Google Mobile Services and download free applications from the Samsung Apps store. It is powered by a 1 GHz dual core processor and offers the Readers? Hub, Social Hub and Game Hub content applications, and an HSPA connectivity speed of 14.4 Mbps. It supports the Find My Mobile lost-phone management system that enables users to trace their lost phone via a web browser and allows remote deletion of data. The Galaxy S Advance is priced at Rs 26,900. The Samsung Galaxy Pocket runs on the Android 2.3 Gingerbread operating system and a 832 MHz processor. It has an HSDPA connectivity speed of 3.6 Mbps and 3 GB of internal memory. It offers Wi-Fi connectivity and applications like Facebook, Social Hub and ChatON messenger, and the TouchWiz interface. The Galaxy Pocket is priced at Rs 8,150.
Micromax Informatics Limited has introduced the A50 Ninja device that offers the Artificial Intelligence Speech Handset Assistant, a voice recognition tool. Priced at Rs 4,999, the A50 Ninja runs on the Android 2.3.6 operating system and has a 650 MHz processor. The device also features a multitouch capacitive screen and a 2 megapixel camera and supports dual-SIM cards.
Fly Mobiles has launched the Fly Vision E 370 handset. The Android-based device runs on an ARM 9 chip processor and has 46 preloaded applications, an HGVA resolution LCD screen, a 5 megapixel camera, a 256 MB RAM and 79 MB of internal memory and up to 32 GB of expandable memory. Its other features include the Fly Store with over 150 applications, and support for Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity as well as audio and video playback. The device is priced at Rs 5,099.
Nokia India has expanded its Asha series of handsets with the launch of the Asha 202 device. The Nokia Asha 202 is a dual-SIM touch-and-type phone, which supports web browsing, social networking platforms and gaming applications. It has a 2 megapixel camera, a music player, an FM radio and up to 32 GB of expandable memory. Its other features include the EA games pack, Nimbuzz chat client and Nokia Browser as well as support for the Dual SIM Easy Swap and Bluetooth technologies. The Nokia Asha 202 is priced at Rs 4,149.
Pantel has launched three Android 2.3-based tablets ? the T-Pad IS701R, T-Pad WS704C and T-Pad WS802C ? for customers in India. The Pantel T-Pad IS701R supports Wi-Fi connectivity and is powered by a 1 GHz IMAP210 processor. It has 256 MB RAM, and 2 GB of internal memory that can be expanded to 32 GB via a microSD card. The device features a 7 inch resistive touchscreen with a pixel dimension of 800×600, a VGA front-facing camera for video calling and an HDMI port, and supports Adobe Flash 10.3. The Pantel T-Pad WS704C offers 3G connectivity, A-GPS and accelerometer facilities, and Bluetooth connectivity. It has a 1080 pixel video playback and a 2 megapixel rear camera as well as a front VGA camera. The T-Pad WS802C features a capacitive screen. It has a 1.2 GHz Cortex A8 processor, 512 MB RAM and 4 GB of internal memory. The tablets are priced at Rs 3,250, Rs 11,000 and Rs 13,500 respectively.
Spice Mobility has launched the FLO TV M-5600 handset. The handset, powered by Spice?s FLO user interface, is able to receive analog television signals without any additional data charges or Wi-Fi network. It features a VGA touchscreen, a 1.3 megapixel camera that can capture QICF resolution videos at 15 frames per second, up to 8 GB of expandable memory, stereo FM with recording and a battery standby time of two days with four hours of talktime. Priced at Rs 3,099, the device also offers users access to the S Planet application store.
Services
Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) has introduced various unlimited calling plans for different areas. Two plans, the UL-450 and the UL-600, have been introduced in the urban areas that fall under secondary switching areas (SSAs). The UL-450 plan offers users unlimited free calls to any BSNL fixed line number across the country at a monthly rental of Rs 450. The UL-600 plan, priced at Rs 600 per month, allows users to make unlimited free calls to any BSNL fixed line or mobile number. Calls to other networks are priced at Re 1 per minute. In these areas, subscribers under the operator?s Broadband Combo plans can either opt for the AO-325 plan or the AO-475 plan for a monthly rental of Rs 325 and Rs 475 respectively. Subscribers in SSAs with an exchange capacity of less than 0.1 million lines can avail of two plans, the UL-350 and the UL-500 for Rs 350 and Rs 500 per month respectively. The UL-350 allows users to make unlimited free calls to BSNL?s fixed lines and the UL-500 allows unlimited free calls to both fixed and mobile numbers. Meanwhile, two new plans have been introduced for customers availing of the Broadband Combo plans in these areas. The AO-250 plan entails a monthly rental of Rs 225 and the AO-375 plan comes with a monthly rental of Rs 375. To avail of these plans, customers can call 1500 or 1800-345-1500 or contact any of the operator?s customer service centres.
Uninor has introduced a recharge coupon priced at Rs 39 for subscribers in the Kolkata and West Bengal circles. The voucher offers users the facility to avail of all basic services such as local and STD calls, and text messages. Local calls within the operator?s network are charged at Re 0.10 per minute, while calls to other networks are priced at Re 0.30 per minute. STD calls are charged at Re 0.40 per minute and text messages at Re 0.20 per message. The voucher is valid for 30 days.
Uninor has introduced a recharge pack offer for its customers in Tamil Nadu. As per the offer, all calls to local Uninor numbers are charged at Re 0.02 per minute while calls to all other local numbers are charged at Re 0.30 per minute. Existing customers can avail of this pack through a recharge voucher priced at Rs 17 while a new customer has to recharge through a Rs 32 voucher, which is valid for 90 days.
TATA DOCOMO has introduced the recharge voucher 123 that offers 20 hours of free talktime per day. Priced at Rs 123, the voucher is valid for local calls made within the operator?s network for 30 days. Thereafter, all calls are priced at Re 0.01 per six seconds.
Nokia has tied up with Aircel, Bharti Airtel, Reliance Communications, TATA DOCOMO and Vodafone India for faster internet access for users on the Asha 202 device. This partnership will enable customers to avail of 100 MB of free data downloads per month for six months.
Bharti Airtel has tied up with Gaana.com for its Hello Tunes service. Customers can choose a Hello Tune from the music library on Gaana.com?s website. The service is priced at Rs 30 per month across all circles, Rs 36 per month in Madhya Pradesh and Rs 35 in Karnataka. Each tune downloaded is priced at Rs 15 for 90 days.
Aircel has introduced nine 3G plans under the Pocket Internet Smart plans series. Subscribers can avail of unlimited data transfer on each plan, with speeds ranging from 50 MB to 10 GB. The plans are priced between Rs 7 and Rs 997, and the validity ranges from one day to 30 days.
Bharti Airtel has also launched an e-commerce portal, shop.airtel.com. This platform offers users various deals on mobile handsets, digital television and broadband connections. The operator claims to offer discounts of up to 33 per cent on mobile devices with exclusive plans, up to Rs 500 cashback on new broadband connections and Rs 250 cashback on new digital TV connections.
Bharti Airtel has introduced a tariff plan for customers travelling to Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. As per the plan, users can make local calls at Re 1 per minute while calls made to India and incoming calls will be charged at Rs 10 per minute.
Bharti Airtel has announced new call rates for customers in Wayanad, Pathanamthitta, Idukki, Mallapuram, Thrissur, Palakkad and Kottayam districts in Kerala. As per the offer, calls made to any mobile number will be charged at Re 0.01 per three seconds. To avail of this offer, customers have to purchase a recharge voucher of Rs 39.
TATA DOCOMO has signed a partnership with e-commerce company Snapdeal.com to launch the Deal Zone offer. Under the offer, GSM users can subscribe to SMS alerts on a wide range of products and services with a 15 per cent discount. Deal Zone is an auto-renewed service, charged on a daily basis at Re 1, and is valid for a limited period. To avail of this service, GSM customers are required to send DEAL as a text message to 53333.
Sistema Shyam TeleServices Limited (SSTL) has collaborated with value-added services company DigiVive to launch the MTS Video Bites application. The platform will offer video-on-demand services to MTS?s smartphone users. For MTS customers, the platform will be available as a pre-embedded application in the operator?s Android handsets. Users can also download this application by sending an SMS to 52526. The MTS Video Bites application is priced at Rs 3, Rs 5 and Rs 7 per clip with a validity of 24 hours.
Bharti Airtel has launched 4G services in Bengaluru. To access this service, users are required to purchase the operator?s 4G dongle or its wireless router. Currently, Bharti is offering four monthly plans ? the Rs 999 plan, Rs 1,399 plan, Rs 1,999 plan and Rs 2,999 plan ? with a data download limit of 6 GB, 9 GB, 18 GB and 30 GB, respectively. Once the customer has reached the predefined data download limit, the speed falls to 128 kbps.
