Devices
Samsung has launched the Galaxy On8 smartphone in India. It features a 5.5 inch HD+ touchscreen display with a screen resolution of 1080×1920 pixels. The phone is powered by a 1.6 GHz octa-core processor, coupled with 3 GB RAM and 16 GB of internal storage that can be expanded up to 128 GB via a microSD card. It runs on Android 6.0 and is supported by a 3300 mAh non-removable battery. The handset has a 13 megapixel rear camera and a 5 megapixel front camera. The device will retail from Rs 10,490 in India.
Samsung has launched the Galaxy On6 smartphone in India. It features a 5.6 inch HD+ touchscreen display with a screen resolution of 720×1480 pixels. The phone is powered by a 1.6 GHz octa-core processor and comes with 4 GB RAM and 32 GB of internal storage that can be expanded up to 256 GB via a microSD card. It runs on Android 8.0 and is supported by a 3000 mAh non-removable battery. The handset has a 13 megapixel rear camera and an 8 megapixel front camera. The Samsung Galaxy On6 has been priced at Rs 14,490 in India.
Do Mobile, the Indian subsidiary of China-based Shenzhen United Time Technology, has launched the Mate 1 smartphone in India. It features a 5.7 inch full view display with a screen resolution of 720×1480 pixels. The 4G voice over long term evolution (VoLTE)-enabled handset is powered by a 1.3 GHz quad-core processor and has 2 GB RAM and 16 GB of internal storage that can be expanded up to 32 GB. It runs on the Android 7.0 Nougat operating system (OS) and is equipped with a 2800 mAh Li-ion battery. The handset has a 13 megapixel rear camera and an 8 megapixel front camera. The Mate 1 smartphone has been priced at Rs 6,299 in India.
Asus has launched the ZenFone 5Z smartphone in India. It features a 6.2 inch full HD+ in-plane switching
(IPS) display with a screen resolution of 2246x 1080 pixels. The phone is powered by a 64-bit octa-core Snapdragon 845 processor. It runs on Android 8.1 Oreo. It is equipped with a 3300 mAh battery. The handset has a 12+8 megapixel dual rear camera and an 8 megapixel front camera. The Asus ZenFone 5Z comes in three variants – 6 GB RAM with 64 GB of internal storage, 6 GB RAM with 128 GB of internal storage and 8 GB RAM with 256 GB of internal storage. These are priced at Rs 29,999, Rs 32,999 and Rs 36,999 respectively.
Nokia has announced the new Nokia 3.1 smartphone in India. It features a 5.2 inch HD+ touchscreen display with a screen resolution of 720×1440 pixels. The phone is powered by a MediaTek 6750 octa-core processor and comes with 2 GB RAM and 16 GB of internal storage that can be expanded up to 128 GB via a microSD card. It runs on Android 8.0 and is supported by a 2990 mAh battery. The handset has a 13 megapixel rear camera and an 8 megapixel front camera. The Nokia 3.1 smartphone is priced at Rs 10,499 in India.
Huawei has announced the Honor 9X smartphone in India. It features a 5.84 inch full HD+ IPS 
touchscreen display with a screen resolution of 1080×2280 pixels. The 4G VoLTE-enabled handset is powered by an octa-core HiSilicon Kirin 659 processor. It comes with 4 GB RAM with internal storage variants of 64 GB and 128 GB. It runs on the Android 8.0 OS and is supported by a 3000 mAh battery. The handset has a 13+2 megapixel dual rear camera and a 16 megapixel front camera. The phone is also equipped with a fingerprint sensor on the back panel and comes with a face unlock feature. The two variants of the Honor 9X smartphone have been priced differently. While the 64 GB variant is priced at Rs 14,600, the 128 GB variant is priced at Rs 17,800.
Ziox Mobiles has launched the Super DJ feature phone in India. It features a 2.4 inch Bright display. The phone comes with a 2800 mAh battery, a Bazooka speaker and rear DJ lights. For entertainment purposes, it has wireless FM radio, an MP3 and video player, and several connectivity options including Bluetooth. It also has memory expandable up to 16 GB. The Super DJ feature phone can store up to 500 contacts and 200 SMSs at a time. It also integrates auto call recording and multi-language support for an all-inclusive feature phone experience. The phone comes with 12 months of warranty and is available in the market for Rs 1,899.
Huawei has announced the Honor Play smartphone in India. It features a 6.3 inch full HD+ IPS
touchscreen display with a screen resolution of 1080×2340 pixels. The 4G VoLTE-enabled handset is powered by a 2.36 GHz octa-core Huawei Kirin 970 processor. It has an inbuilt memory of 64 GB that is expandable up to 256 GB. The phone comes in two variants – one with 4 GB RAM and the other with 6 GB RAM. It runs on Android 8.1 and is supported by a 3750 mAh battery. The handset has a 16+2 megapixel dual rear camera and a 16 megapixel front camera. The phone also provides a fingerprint sensor on the rear panel, and uses GPU Turbo technology, which can increase performance by up to 60 per cent and reduce battery consumption by up to 30 per cent. The 4 GB variant is priced at Rs 19,999, while the 6 GB is priced at Rs 23,999.
Mobiistar has launched the X1 Dual and E1 Selfie smartphones in India, priced at Rs 10,500 and Rs 8,400 respectively. While the X1 Dual features a 5.7 inch HD+ IPS display, the E1 Selfie has a 5.45 inch HD+ IPS display. Both phones come with a screen resolution of 720×1440 pixels. The X1 Dual smartphone is powered by a 1.3 GHz quad-core MediaTek MT6737 processor coupled with 3 GB RAM. Meanwhile, the E1 Selfie smartphone is powered by a 1.28 GHz Cortex A53 processor paired with 3 GB RAM. The smartphones have 32 GB of inbuilt storage, expandable up to 128 GB via a microSD card. The two selfie-centric smartphones come with a 13 megapixel rear camera and a 13 megapixel front camera. The 4G VoLTE-enabled handsets run on Android 8.1 and are equipped with a 3000 mAh battery. The handsets also come with a seven-level face beauty mode, upgraded photo-processing algorithms and optimised beauty filters.
Mobiistar has launched the C1 Lite, C1 and C2 budget smartphones in India, priced at Rs 4,340, Rs 5,400 
and Rs 6,300 respectively. All three smartphones feature a 5.34 inch HD+ IPS touchscreen display with a screen resolution of 480×960 pixels. The C1 and C2 smartphones come with 2 GB RAM and 16 GB of inbuilt storage, expandable up to 128 GB. The C1 Lite smartphone comes with 1 GB RAM and 8 GB of inbuilt storage, expandable up to 128 GB. While the C1 Lite is equipped with a 2700 mAh battery, the C1 and C2 smartphones are supported by a 3000 mAh battery. All three smartphones are 4G VoLTE enabled and run on Android 8.1. The C1 Lite has a 5 megapixel rear camera and a 5 megapixel front camera; the C1 comes with a 5 megapixel rear camera and an 8 megapixel front camera; and the C2 with an 8 megapixel rear camera and an 8 megapixel front camera.
Services
Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) has announced the launch of a Rs 27 plan for its prepaid customers. The plan comes with a validity period of seven days and offers unlimited voice calls without any Fair Usage Policy limit along with 300 SMSs for the total validity period. The plan is available for all subscribers on a pan-Indian basis from August 6, 2018.
Bharti Airtel has announced a new prepaid plan for its users priced at Rs 75. The plan comes with a validity of 28 days and offers 1 GB of 2G/3G/4G data in total, beyond which users will have to pay for the additional data they use. Under the plan, Airtel is offering its prepaid users 300 minutes of local, STD and outgoing roaming voice calling along with 100 SMSs for the entire validity period.
Idea Cellular has announced a new Rs 295 prepaid plan for its users. The plan comes with a validity of 42 days and offers 5 GB of 2G/3G/4G data in total for the duration of the plan along with 100 SMSs per day. After users exhaust their 5 GB quota, they will be charged for their additional data consumption at 4 paisa per 10 KB for the remainder of the period. Idea has imposed a cap of 250 minutes per day and 1,000 minutes per week on voice calls. Any calls over and above the given limit will be charged at 1 paisa per second. In addition, Idea users can make outgoing voice calls to only 100 unique numbers in a period of seven consecutive days. After that, 1 paisa per second will be charged for the remainder of the plan.
Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited has rolled out its JioPhone Monsoon Hungama offer from July 21, 2018. The company has announced that buyers can exchange their old feature phone with JioPhone for Rs 501 from July 21. JioPhone was launched in 2017 and has since been upgraded with some significant features. The feature phone now has a voice assistant, which can be used to give commands for actions such as calling, texting, opening YouTube, WhatsApp and Facebook. However, under the Rs 501 exchange offer, the “effectively free” offer won’t apply. People buying JioPhone through the Monsoon Hungama offer will not get any refund as it is a one-time payment purchase. In order to avail of the “effectively free” offer, one will have to pay Rs 1,500 for the JioPhone and the exchange offer will not be applicable.
Vodafone has announced a new R217 4G MiFi router for its users. The 4G dongle can connect up to 15 users simultaneously for accessing Wi-Fi and provide download speeds up to 150 Mbps. The device supports the 800/900/1800/2100 MHz bands for LTE connection and the 900/1800 MHz bands for GSM. The MiFi device uses WPS authentication along with the standard password protection in order to ensure security. It also has a hotspot monitoring application, which helps users keep track of the Wi-Fi usage. The device features an intuitive plug-and-play web user interface. It is powered by an 1800 mAh battery.
Airtel has introduced an added data benefit in its Rs 399 Infinity post-paid plan. Under the new offer, Airtel customers will get an additional 20 GB of 3G/4G data per month for one year. The plan comes with a rollover facility that allows the unused data to be carried over to next month. In addition, Airtel is offering unlimited local, STD and roaming outgoing calls, and a free subscription of Wynk Music bundled with this plan.
Vodafone has announced a new Rs 47 prepaid plan for its customers with a validity of 28 days. The pack offers voice calling, SMS and data benefits. Under this offer, users get 125 minutes of local/STD/ national roaming voice calls along with 500 MB of 2G/3G/4G data for the given validity period. Users also get 50 SMSs for the entire duration of the plan. The Rs 47 plan can be activated only via the balance deduction mode.
