Mobile devices
Asus has launched a variant of the ZenFone Selfie smartphone in India. It features a 5.5 inch full HD in-plane switching (IPS) display (1080×1920 pixels). The device comes with a diamond-cut back panel design, has 3 GB RAM and 16 GB of internal storage, which is expandable up to 128 GB. It is powered by a 64 bit octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 processor with Adreno 405 GPU. The phone comes with 13 megapixel rear and front cameras with 28 mm focal length, f/2.0 aperture and dual-colour real tone flash. The smartphone runs on the Android 5.0 Lollipop operating system (OS) and is equipped with a 3,000 mAh battery. It offers connectivity options such as 4G LTE, Bluetooth 4.0, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n/ac, Wi-Fi-Direct and global positioning system (GPS). The smartphone is available in glacier grey, sheer gold, polygon-illusion diamond white, illusion polygon blue and illusion smooth pink colour variants. The smartphone is priced at Rs 12,999.
Xiaomi has launched the Redmi 3S and Redmi 3S Prime smartphones in India. The Redmi 3S comes with 2 GB RAM
and 16 GB inbuilt storage, while the Redmi 3S Prime comes with 3 GB RAM, 32 GB inbuilt storage and a fingerprint scanner. Both the handsets feature a 5 inch HD display with a screen resolution of 720×1280 pixels and run on the Android Marshamallow-based MIUI 7.5 OS. The smartphones have a 13 megapixel rear camera with LED flash and a 5 megapixel front camera with 1080 pixels video recording capability. They are equipped with a 4,100 mAh battery and offer connectivity options like 4G, Wi-Fi, GPRS/ EDGE, Bluetooth, GPS/A-GPS, Bluetooth, Glonass, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, and micro-USB. The Redmi 3S is available for Rs 6,999 and Redmi 3S Prime is priced at Rs 8,999.
Swipe Technologies has launched the Konnect Plus smartphone in India. It features a 5 inch HD display with a screen resolution of 720×1280 pixels. The device offers 16 GB of internal storage, which is expandable up to 32 GB; it is powered by a 1.2 GHz quad-core processor and has 2 GB RAM. The phone offers dual-SIM support, runs on the Android 5.1 Lollipop OS and is packed with a 3,000 mAh battery. It comes with a 13 megapixel rear camera with LED flash and a 5 megapixel front camera. The handset is exclusively available on Snapdeal and is priced at Rs 4,999.
China-based handset manufacturer Huawei has launched its flagship smartphone P9 in India. 
It features a 5.2 inch full HD IPS LCD display with a screen resolution of 1920×1080 pixels. The device runs on the Android 6.0 Marshmallow OS and comes with a 12 megapixel rear camera and an 8 megapixel front camera. It has 3 GB RAM, 32 GB of internal storage and is powered by Huawei’s HiSilicon Kirin 955 octa-core chipset. The smartphone has a fingerprint scanner and is priced at Rs 39,999.
Reliance Retail has launched the LYF Wind 7 and the Flame 7 voice over long term evolution (VoLTE) smartphones in India. The LYF Wind 7 features a 5 inch HD display with a screen resolution of 1280×720 pixels. It is powered by a 1.3 GHz quad-core Snapdragon 210 processor and has 2 GB RAM. The device is equipped with a 2,250 mAh battery and comes with an 8 megapixel rear camera and a 5 megapixel front camera. It offers dual-SIM support, runs on the Android 5.1 Lollipop OS and has 16 GB of internal storage. The LYF Wind 7 is priced at Rs 6,999. Meanwhile, the LYF Flame 7 features a 4 inch wide video graphics array (WVGA) display with a screen resolution of 480×800 pixels, is powered by a 1.5 GHz quad-core Spreadtrum SC9830A processor and has 1 GB RAM. The device comes with a 5 megapixel rear camera and a 2 megapixel front camera. It runs on the Android 5.1 Lollipop OS and offers 8 GB of internal storage. The dual-SIM 4G handset is packed with a 1,750 mAh battery and is available for Rs 3,499.
Domestic handset manufacturer Celkon has launched its Millennia Ufeel smartphone in India. It offers dual-SIM
support and features a 5 inch screen with FWVGA IPS display, and a 2.5D dragon trail glass. The device runs on the Android 5.1 Lollipop OS and is powered by a 1.2 GHz quad-core Spreadtrum SC7731C processor. It comes with 1 GB RAM, 8 GB of internal storage that is expandable up to 32 GB via microSD card and is packed with a 2,000 mAh battery. The smartphone has a 5 megapixel rear autofocus camera with LED flash and a 3.2 megapixel front camera. It offers connectivity options such as 3G (HSPA+), Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0, micro-USB 2.0, GPS/A-GPS, and a 3.5mm audio jack, and is priced at Rs 3,299.
Vivo has launched its 4G VoLTE-enabled Vivo Y21L smartphone. It features a 4.5 inch display, is powered by a Snapdragon 410 processor and packed with a 2,000 mAh battery. The device comes with 1 GB RAM, 1 GB of internal storage and runs on the Funtouch 2.5 OS, which is based on the Android 5.1 Lollipop. In addition, the phone has a 5 megapixel rear camera and a 2 megapixel front camera. It is available in white and grey colour variants and is priced at Rs 7,490.
Samsung has launched the Galaxy Note7 in India. The 
handset comes with a curved screen and an upgraded version of the S Pen IP68 stylus. Further, the smartphone offers top-of-the-line security with its iris scanning technology. It has 64 GB of internal storage and is available in gold platinum, silver titanium and black onyx colour variants. The phone is priced at Rs 59,900.
Samsung has also launched the Tizen Z2 smartphone in India. The smartphone comes bundled with Reliance Jio’s unlimited 4G preview offer. It features a 4 inch display, runs on the Tizen 3.0 OS and has 1 GB RAM. The 4G LTE smartphone is powered by a 1.5 GHz quad-core processor and is equipped with a 1,500 mAh battery. In addition, the device is preloaded with features such as the ultra data saving mode, S bike mode and the new My Money transfer application. The phone is available for Rs 4,590.
Gionee has launched the Gionee S6s smartphone in India. It features a 5.5 inch full HD 
screen with IPS display and 2.5D curved edge glass. The dual-SIM phone runs on the company’s Amigo 3.2 OS, which is based on the Android 6.0 Marshmallow (OS). The device is powered by a 1.3 GHz octo-core MediaTek MT6753 SoC processor and is packed with a 3,150 mAh battery. It comes with 3 GB RAM and 32 GB of internal storage, which can be expanded up to 128 GB. The phone has a 13 megapixel autofocus rear camera and an 8 megapixel front camera with flash. It offers connectivity options like 4G (with VoLTE), Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0, 3.5 mm headphone jack and Micro-USB, and is priced at Rs 17,999.
Services
Bharti Airtel has launched new post-paid plans under its “myPlan Infinity” series that offer various benefits. The plan priced at Rs 1,119 offers unlimited voice calls (local, STD and national roaming) along with 1 GB of bundled 3G/4G data. Besides, there is free subscription to Wynk Music and Wynk Movies and 100 SMSs per day are available under the plan. The plan priced at Rs 1,599 offers unlimited voice calling along with 100 SMSs per day, 5 GB of 3G/4G data and free subscription to Wynk Music and Wynk Movies. The packs are also available in the denominations of Rs 1,999 and Rs 2,999, which offer 10 GB and 20 GB of 3G/4G data respectively.
Aircel has launched an affordable range of data packs under its “1 GB for All” initiative for its subscribers in the Northeast. Under this, the operator will offer 3G data packs ranging from Rs 95 to Rs 175 with a validity of 28 days. The benefits under these packs will vary as per high, medium and low data usage.
Vodafone has announced the launch of its youth-focused “U” packs in the Uttar Pradesh (West) circle. Under the offer, the user can avail of separate data usage allowances at night. Apart from free unlimited music downloads for two months, the user can get a data loan of 60 MB for 3G services. Further, the customer can make calls to any one number at a special rate of 20 paise per minute. Vodafone is also offering special U kits at select outlets across Uttar Pradesh (West) and Uttarakhand to increase the uptake of this offer. In addition, the operator has started a campus engagement programme with colleges across the region.
Vodafone India has also announced a new RED post-paid plan, which offers unlimited roaming and voice calling along with 8 GB data at Rs 1,999. A variant of this plan is also available for Rs 1,699, offering free roaming (incoming calls only), unlimited voice calling and 6 GB data. In addition, Vodafone has launched a series of entry level Vodafone RED postpaid plans priced at Rs 499, Rs 699 and Rs 999 with double data benefits and attractive talk time.
Bharti Airtel has collaborated with Samsung to offer bundled data with handsets. The operator will offer 10 GB of 4G data at the price of 1 GB to Samsung J series customers. The offer can be availed of over three recharges and is available only for prepaid customers. Airtel had previously introduced bundled data offerings with leading handset players such as Apple, Xiaomi, Micromax, Intex and Lava.
Telenor India has launched a new special tariff voucher (STV) worth Rs 28 in the Uttar Pradesh (East) circle. As per the company, the STV offers one of the lowest tariff plans in the circle. Under the scheme, customers can enjoy all local and STD calls to other networks at Re 0.25 per minute. The STV comes with a validity of 28 days.
Reliance Communications (RCOM) has launched the “call drops se chutkara” offer, which allows prepaid customers to make 300 minutes of application-to-application (app-to-app) data calls in the Delhi-NCR circle. The offer is available at an introductory price of Re 1 and provides 7 MB data per day to customers, sufficient to make 10 minutes of app-to-app calls per day. Any data from this quota, if not utilised on that particular day, will stand forfeited. The new plan will enable users to make calls worldwide through various popular data-based applications such as WhatsApp, Viber, Line, Facebook Messenger and Google Hangouts. The service is already available in the Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh circles. Going forward, RCOM plans to roll out this service in other circles as well.
