Airtel Offers Free Access To Mobile Twitter Till 1st March 2012

Starting today till 1st March 2012 Airtel mobile customers can enjoy free access to Twitter via mobile.twitter.com, and can also use SMS shortcode 53000 to sign up for Twitter and even Tweet or receive tweets from specified users.

Existing Twitter users can now view their timeline, find and follow accounts, post new Tweets, see Tweets mentioning them, and reply to other users and retweet their Tweets all for free on Airtel from now till 1st March 2012.

Ways to enjoy free Twitter access on Airtel till 1st March 2012.

• Twitter mobile website

Visit mobile.twitter.com (with or without GPRS subscription), follow simple sign up process by entering your mobile number and start using!

• Create new account on Twitter on SMS

SMS ‘START’ to 53000, upon receiving reply – SMS ‘SIGNUP’ to 53000. Next, type a username (unique and less than 15 characters) and send that to 53000. Once Twitter approves your username, you will get a confirmation message, prompting you to SMS a chosen password to 53000. On completion of this process, your Twitter account will be created. Sign up is only required if a user wants to tweet

• Follow specific Twitter users on SMS

To receive updates from a specific user, SMS ‘Follow ’ to 53000. Users can follow others on Twitter on SMS even without having a Twitter account of their own

Those new to Twitter can choose to sign up using their mobile number – or even subscribe to celebrity Twitter updates via SMS alerts.

IDEA Cellular Gains Most From Mobile Number PortabilityIDEA Cellular Gains Most From Mobile Number Portability

Looks like IDEA’s MNP campaign ‘No Idea; Get Idea’ has worked for Idea and is helping it to gain more and more subscribers.

As per the recent MNP data from TRAI Across India, 18.44 Mn Mobile subscribers have opted for MNP Service till 26th November, since the national launch.

Idea continues to top the chart on MNP Net Gain now Idea has highest port in share (29%) and lowest port out share (13%) among top three operators.

Vodafone ranks second among the list with a PO/PI (port in – port out) ratio of around 0.73% followed by Airtel with 0.96% (PO/PI)  with net subscriber gain of around 180,922 subscribers.

So what do you think is helping Idea to make it in the top list is it the ad campaign or  the best service ? Do share your views via comments.

Smartphone Usage in India is Still Limited

Indian market has always been crucial for the handset manufacturers, all the big giants have left no stone unturned to enhance and market its product for getting substantial customer penetration.
 

Also for the 1st time Apple Inc made a fast move by providing iPhone 4S in India the very next month from its launch thus making it more clear that now even Apple don’t want to loose the market share in India to the growing Android plethora.

Fair enough but herein we won’t be going into a detailed discussion on ‘Android’ Vs ‘iOS’ phones one can hear it in every debate among tech geeks so let’s look on to the other aspect and that is “Are Smartphone users here utilizing the full potential of product?”

India and other 3rd world countries was a kingdom of Nokia but without innovation Nokis is loosing its reign. Samsung is trying hard to capture this market. Samsung launched Galaxy S II in India before the US launch, not only that Galaxy S II is sold in India at cheaper price than US.

Other handset manufacturers like HTC, Motorola and LG are also trying to win the Indian heart by launching low cost smartphones at below 10K price margin. Chinese OEM – ZTE and Huawei and other indigenous companies like Spice, HCL, Videocon, Olive, Micromax, Karbonn, Lava has launched low cost and ultra low cost Android based smartphones. It is sure that next few years smartphone market will be dominated by Android.

A recent survey done by us in four different cities on Smartphone users and usage patterns depicts quite contradicting to what was expected from the Indian market, like at the time of Android App store coming in, it was believed that Indian users will lead to maximum App downloads from Android store because it is the most free app storefront but that in fact never happened.

Following the points below depicts in brief the Story of Smart handheld devices among Indian users:

· An Indian user is still looking for bundled 3G tariff plans in the coming time to match the complete usability of the product and says their Smartphone usage is directly proportional to the Data plan they are with. “Phone manufacturers and App store owners please note”!

· In India at the time of buying a phone a person matches and looks for most available features but after 6-8 months down the line his interaction with the device limits to one or two applications, Social networking and peer to peer calling only.

· User centric Apps missing “Still the app stores are more or less the replicas from west and thus Indian App stores require more application suiting to Indian target market” for example one of the popular App in USA, tells the amount of calories one intakes while dining in their favourite eating spots like Mc Donald’s, now how many Indian user would have thought to check into this App while having a dine at Mc Donald’s? None!!! App makers in India has to make more India centric app like Traffic information, train time table and other day-to-day utilities.

· Still the new advents in Mobile arena like “MOBILE MONEY” at a very subliminal level which require a pace to reach end users with this kind of App with full functionality can be a Game changer.

MTNL Unlimited Broadband Plan Now At Just Rs. 270

Mumbai’s largest Broadband service provider Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL) today announced the launch of 2 new Longer validity Broadband Plans – DSL Unlimited Quarter Plan-845 and DSL Unlimited Annual Plan-3245 provides Unlimited Broadband access without any FUP with 256 Kbps speed.
 

DSL Unlimited Annual Plan-3245 plan will cost Rs. 3245 for 12 months wherein the effective cost for Unlimited Broadband Access for one month is coming around Rs. 270, which is most affordable and lowest broadband tariff being offered Mumbai circle.

While DSL Unlimited Quarter Plan-845 will provide Unlimited Broadband access without any FUP with 256 Kbps speed for 3 months.

With both plan customer is required to pay monthly Rs. 50 for Modem/CPE charges if MTNL Modem is opted.The new plans will be effective from 01, December 2011 and can be booked by calling MTNL Call Center at 1500 (toll free from MTNL) or 02222221500.

	MTNL DSL Unlimited Annual Plan -3245	MTNL DSL Unlimited Quarter Plan-845
Charges	Rs. 3245 (Advance Rental for 12 months)	Rs. 845 (Advance Rental for 3 months)
Speed  (Download and Uploads)	256 Kbps	256 Kbps
Data Usage	True Unlimited (No FUP)	True Unlimited (No FUP)
Note : Monthly Modem (CPE) charges of Rs. 50 will be applicable If Modem taken from MTNL.

Techzone Achieves Milestone Through Kolaveri Di Song

TechZone is one of the leading Mobile VAS Content provider across all mobile platform for telecom operators in India who achieves new milestone through Kolaveri Di Song‘s response they have received for mobile downloads from customers across all Mobile Operators
 

Kolaveri song has surpass all previous benchmarks and become popular in a very short span of time. It has grabbed the attention of not only the south audience but also all over the nation.

TechZone customer will be offered full length Music Tracks, Videos, Mobile Wallpapers, Ringtones, Caller Ring Back Tones (Caller Tune/Hello Tunes) and other Digital Entertainment formats.

To avail the service, a subscriber simply needs to “SMS THREE to 56060“. SMS charges applicable according your mobile service provider

Internet phenomenon Why This Kolaveri Di… already has over 6 crore YouTube hits. The song was uploaded on the video-sharing website by the makers less than two weeks ago, and ‘soup’ people are already wondering what to expect next from the track that is part of the OST of Rajinikanth’s daughter, Aishwarya’s directorial debut— a Tamil film called 3, Composed by Anirudh Ravichander and written-sung by south-star Dhanush, who also features in the film.

Idea Cellular Introduces 3G Smartphones BLADE and id-280

Idea Cellular today announced the launch of a range of android powered 3G smartphones starting at Rs. 5850 onwards with attractive data package.

The new Idea 3G Android smartphones have been affordably priced to ensure rapid uptake by both – 2G users wishing to upgrade to 3G, and existing 3G users.

As an special introductory offer, Idea is offering data services worth Rs. 3500 with Rs. 259 pack, along with the new 3G smartphones. The pack offers free subscription to Idea TV for 3 months, 1 GB of 3G data download per month for 3 months, 3G Double Dhamaka benefits for 6 months, and Talktime of Rs. 25. This special introductory offer is available for both prepaid and postpaid users.

Hence, for the id280 (Huawei Ideos X1 Gaga) 3G smartphone which is priced at Rs. 5,850, Idea 3G user gets it for a value of just Rs. 2,609. Likewise, the IDEA 3G handset BLADE (ZTE Blade) priced at Rs. 7,992 has a value of just Rs. 4751 for Idea 3G users, thus making them the best buys in their respective segments.

The Idea 3G Smartphones are based on 2.2 Android Operating System (OS) and also have a 3.2 MP Camera, Touchscreen (3.5” & 2.8” Screen size), GPS Navigator software, FM radio and MP3 Player, WiFi, Bluetooth, Social Media Apps such as Facebook, Twitter, Orkut, browser Operamini, and pre-loaded Google and Youtube, besides a range of other high-end smartphone features and Idea TV.

The handset devices can operate as mobile phone, mini computer, and also acts as a Wi-Fi router.

IDEA Blade 3G Smartphone : Full Specification
OS	Android 2.2
Network	GSM 900 / 1800 / 1900 3G HSDPA 900 / 2100
CPU	600 MHz ARM 11 processor, Adreno 200 GPU, Qualcomm MSM7227 chipset
Size	Dimensions       116 x 56.5 x 11.8 mm Weight -110g
Display	AMOLED or LCD capacitive touchscreen, 256K colors Size-480 x 800 pixels, 3.5 inches (~267 ppi pixel density) - Accelerometer sensor for UI auto-rotate (Gravity Sendor) - Proximity sensor for auto turn-off - Multi-touch input method
Sound	Alert types : Vibration; MP3, WAV Ring tones Loudspeaker -Yes 3.5mm jack -Yes
Memory	Phonebook       Practically unlimited entries and fields, Photocall Call records      Practically unlimited Internal 150 MB storage, 512 MB RAM, 512 MB ROM Card slot          microSD, up to 32GB, 2GB included,
Data Connectivity	GPRS /EDGE 3G HSDPA, 7.2 Mbps; HSUPA, 5.76 Mbps WLAN            Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g, Wi-Fi hotspot (Android 2.2) Bluetoot v2.1 with A2DP, EDR microUSB v2.0
Camera	3.15 MP, 2048×1536 pixels, autofocus Features-Geo-tagging Video-Yes Secondary-No
Features	Messaging :SMS (threaded view), MMS, Email, IM Browser :WAP 2.0/xHTML, HTML, Opera Mini Radio: Stereo FM radio with RDS Games  :Yes Colors: Black GPS :Yes, with A-GPS support Java :Yes, via Java MIDP emulator - Digital compass - Live TV _idea Mall - SNS integration - MP4/H.264/H.263 player - MP3/WAV/eAAC+ player - Google Search, Maps, Gmail, FaceBook, Twiiter - YouTube, Google Talk, Picasa integration - Organizer - Voice memo - Predictive text input
Battery	Li-Ion 1250 mAh Stand-by :Up to 192 h Talk time :Up to 4 h
Price (MRP)	Rs. 7992

IDEA id-280 3G Smartphone : Full Specification
OS	Android 2.3
Network	GSM 900 / 1800 / 1900 3G HSDPA 900 / 2100
CPU	600 MHz, ARM1136EJ-S, Qualcomm MSM7227 chipset
Size	Dimensions 60.5 x 116.3 x 11.9 (2.4 x 4.6 x 0.5 inches) 120 grams (battery included)
Display	Display; Type:  color transflective TFT display Display: Color;Depth:   18 bit/pixel (262144 scales) Display; Diagonal: 3.5 ” (89 millimetres) Display Resolution:       320 x 480 (153600 pixels) Viewable + Display: Size 1.94 ” x 2.92 ” (49.37 x 74.05 millimeters ) Pixel density;(dot:pitch): 164.6 pixel/inch (0.15428 millimeter /pixel) Graphical Controller :    Qualcomm Adreno 200 Multi-touch input method
Sound	Alert types : Vibration; MP3, WAV Ring tones Loudspeaker -Yes 3.5mm jack -Yes
Memory	Phonebook       Practically unlimited entries and fields, Photocall Call records      Practically unlimited Internal 150 MB storage, 256 MB RAM, 512 MB ROM Card slot          microSD, up to 32GB, 2GB included,
Data / Connectivity	GPRS /EDGE 3G HSDPA, 7.2 Mbps; HSUPA, 5.76 Mbps WLAN            Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g, Wi-Fi hotspot (Android 2.2) Bluetoot v2.1 with A2DP, EDR USB 2.0 client, Hi-Speed (480Mbit/s) USB Series Micro-B (Micro-USB) connector
Camera	3.15 MP, 2048×1536 pixels, (CMOS sensor) Video-Yes Secondary-No
Features	Messaging :SMS (threaded view), MMS, Email, IM Browser :WAP 2.0/xHTML, HTML, Opera Mini Radio: Stereo FM radio with RDS Games  :Yes Colors: Black GPS :Yes, with A GPS, Geotagging Java :Yes, via Java MIDP emulator - Digital compass - Live TV _idea Mall - MP4/H.264/H.263 player - MP3/WAV/eAAC+ player - Google Search, Maps, Gmail, FaceBook, Twiiter - YouTube, Google Talk, Picasa integration - Organizer - Voice memo
Battery	Li-Ion 1200 mAh Stand-by :Up to 192 h Talk time :Up to 4 h
Price	Rs. 5850

India Adds 7.12 Million GSM Subscribers in October 2011– Uninor Leads

COAI today released India’s ‘GSM Subscriber Figures’ for October 2011. Once again Uninor tops in the new subscriber additions, added a total of 2.67 million GSM subscribers which is the highest number of new mobile subscriber additions followed by IDEA Cellular which has added 1.64 million new subscribers in October 2011.
 

According to the data released by Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) total 7.12 million new subscribers added with 1.15% increase from previous month taking the all-India GSM cellular subscriber base to 625.41 million at the end of October 2011.

Among the leading GSM Mobile Service Operators, Vodafone Essar added 923,940 new customers, boosting its subscriber base 145.91 million. Bharti Airtel notched up 949,819 new subscribers during the month, taking its total base to 173.73 million.

State run Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) manged 51,973 new subscribers boosting its subscriber base 91.58 million while AIRCEL increased its base by over 489481 customers to take its subscriber base to 60.28 million. Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL) added just 34,919 new users during the month, boosting its total base to 5.36 million at the end of Oct, 2011.

Please note : COAI GSM Subscriber base does not include the Reliance Communications and Tata Docomo’s GSM subscriber Base (same not submitted to COAI).

Radio One Launches IndiaONE – Premium Apps For ipad and iphone

Next Mediaworks (Radio One) has announced the launch of music apps for the apple ipad and iphone.

The premium application called “IndiaONE” streams out audio in high quality and consists of distinct channels that include Indian film music.

A huge collection of various genres of Non film music like Ghazals, Religious, folk, Indipop, lounge, News in 3 languages, Live stream radio in Hindi and Tamil, a Mood player that shuffles music for you and a 1000 song karaoke channel (only on ipad version) that includes tracks from the 70s to the latest film songs.

As a special launch feature the app also includes unplugged sessions of the best Indian musicians who have played exclusively at the Radio One studios and Bollywood stars who have presented their favourite songs in their own voices as played out in the Radio One stations across the country.

The ‘KaraokeONE” feature of IndiaONE is also available separately for ipad and iphone and is one of the very few authorized karaoke offerings of Bollywood music in India. One can sing out the latest 1000 Bollywood songs with synchronized lyrics and high quality back up music and support vocals.

With these apps you can stream these out anytime anywhere. Just connect your iphone / ipad to a sound system and hook up your microphone and sing along with the best music created in India. Songs will be updated every 30-45 days at no extra cost for the period of subscription.

Download Links :

IndiaONE for ipad : http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/indiaone-ipad-edition/id465930088?mt=8

IndiaONE iphone :http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/indiaone-iphone-edition/id465889493?mt=8

KaraokeONE : http://itunes.apple.com/in/app/karaokeone/id477124393?mt=8

iPhone 4S Coming India Tomorrow, But Next Best Thing Is Already Here

Apple fanboys in India! iPhone 4S is coming tomorrow with Airtel and Aircel. iPhone 4S is the latest version of Apple’s flagship smartphone running on iOS v5.

The phone is much-hyped, as it was announced a day before Steve Job’s death on October 5, 2011.

Indian operators started pre-ordering of the iPhone some days back. Both operators priced same for the latest version of Apple’s iconic phone. 16GB version comes at Rs. 44,500 and 32GB one is at Rs. 50,900 as iPhone 4S is one of the most expensive mobiles in Indian market right now.

There is no official information regarding 64GB version of the phone from Aircel, but Airtel offering 64GB variant at Rs. 57,500. Earlier releases of the phone – 3GS and 4 are also on sale. iPhone 4S will reach to Aircel and Airtel Stores from November 25, 2011

.

Apple iPhone 4S comes with A5 processor, CDMA+GSM Global phone chipset, 1080p video playback, faster download speeds, 8 MP camera, Retina Display and many more. But there is no 4G connectivity. Oh yeah it has SIRI to use iPhone by talking.

Today Airtel and Aircel both reveal the tariff plans and recharge options for iPhone 4S.

Aircel 4S Tariff

Aircel offers two plans for 16GB and 32GB variants under 50% Money back offer with iPhone 4S. Both plans include 3G data of just 650 MB and 1GB data on Aircel’s WiFi hotspots.

Details of Aircel’s iPhone 4S Tariff:

	50% Money Back Plans
Device	iPhone 4S 16GB	iPhone 4S 32GB
MRP	Rs. 44,500	Rs. 50,900
Monthly Rental	Rs. 1880	Rs. 2210
Monthly Discounts	Rs. 930	Rs. 1060
You have to pay for rental	Rs. 950	Rs. 1150
2 yr savings	Rs. 22,320	Rs. 25440
Local + STD min/month	3,000	3,500
Local+STD SMS/month	350	450
3G Data/month	650 MB	650 MB
WiFi Data/month	1 GB	1 GB

Airtel iPhone 4S Tariff

Airtel sells all the three variants of the new iPhone. Buy any of three variant and can choose any plan starting with Rs. 300 (after discount).

	Plan A	Plan B	Plan C	Plan D
Monthly rental	Rs. 2000	Rs. 1600	Rs. 1000	Rs. 600
Local minutes/month	1500	1400	900	500
Local + STD SMS/month	600	500	400	300
Data/month	3072MB	1200MB	500MB	200MB
What you pay/month	Rs. 1000	Rs. 800	Rs. 500	Rs. 300

For more details of Airtel offers with iPhone 4S, 4 and 3GS visit:  airtel.in/iphone-files/special-offers.html

There is no direct discount on iPhone 4S price, you have to opt plans offered by the operators, and you will get discounts on the recharges or on the monthly rentals.Airtel tariffs are more competitive as you can offer one from total of 4 plans. But no bundled STD minutes with any plans.

But Aircel offers less 3G data and adds WiFi hotspot data with its plans. If you are buying an iPhone 4S, choose operator and plans as per your requirements.

There is no direct discount on iPhone 4S price, you have to opt plans offered by the operators, and you will get discounts on the recharges or on the monthly rentals.Airtel tariffs are more competitive as you can offer one from total of 4 plans. But no bundled STD minutes with any plans. But Aircel offers less 3G data and adds WiFi hotspot data with its plans. If you are buying an iPhone 4S, choose operator and plans as per your requirements.

Do you think iPhone 4S is the best smartphone available in the market? Frankly I am no Apple fan boy staying in India and I say better look at the Android offerings – wide offerings from many brands! Even you are in tight budget, Android is always there.

Benchmarking by different experts shows iPhone 4S lags behind Google Nexus S, Motorola RAZR or Galaxy S II. With Android 4.0 is going to make available for most of the Android phone in future, Android has the potential to be the future.

At this moment I cannot resist myself to add this video with this story.

The Next Best Thing is Already Here, Samsung USA

Samsung says: ‘The Next Big Thing is Already Here’. It is Galaxy S II. Android lovers you must watch out this video. There are some other versions of this ad which is ‘clever to a punch and already is viral.’

This ad is one of best tech ads in recent times.
60 second spot: http://youtu.be/cuzlQ7sv-bY
30 second edit: http://youtu.be/c2lRRBbu2LU
15 second ad: http://youtu.be/kO5Il_rvZj8

Note Galaxy S II is available in India for Rs. 28,000 around.

Blackberry Bold 9790, Curve 9380 and Curve 9350 CDMA Launched in India

BlackBerry Smartphone maker Research In Motion (RIM) today announced the launch of three new smartphones the BlackBerry Bold 9790 and BlackBerry Curve 9380 (3G) and BlackBerry Curve 9350 (CDMA – EVDO) each based on the BlackBerry 7 operating system (OS) in Indian market for Rs. 27490 (Bold) and Rs. 20990 (Curve).

The BlackBerry Bold 9790 is both powerful and compact, offering users a fully loaded, high performance smartphone with the dual benefits of a high resolution touch display and a highly tactile keyboard. The BlackBerry Curve 9380 and 9350 is the first-ever BlackBerry Curve smartphone with a touch display.

BlackBerry Bold 9790 Smartphone with Touch Display and Keyboard :

True to the BlackBerry Bold brand, the new BlackBerry Bold 9790 smartphone is powerful, full-featured and built with premium materials and finishes. It combines a high-resolution and highly responsive touch display with a highly tactile keyboard and a precise optical trackpad, but comes in a narrow design that is easy to carry and exceptionally comfortable to hold.

With the BlackBerry 7 OS and powerful 1 GHz processor, the BlackBerry Bold 9790 delivers fast, smooth performance for browsing the web, running apps, working with documents, and enjoying multimedia. It includes 8GB of onboard memory and an expandable memory card slot that supports up to 32 GB of additional storage.

All-Touch BlackBerry Curve 9380 (GSM 3G) and Curve 9350 (CDMA – EVDO) Smartphone :

The finely crafted BlackBerry Curve 9380 (GSM 3G) is the first all-touch smartphone in the BlackBerry Curve family and and Curve 9350 (CDMA EVDO) comes with touch and type facility. Curve 9380 features a highly responsive and brilliant 3.2” high resolution display while Curve 9350 (CDMA) has 2.4-inch (480 x 360 pixels) with 246 ppi and 24-bit color TFT LCD display. Both device comes with preinstalled social networking apps, including BBM (BlackBerry Messenger), Facebook, Twitter and Social Feeds apps, that offer a fun, easy and smoothly integrated mobile experience.

This compact and stylish handsets also features a 5MP camera with flash and video recording, allowing users to easily capture and share their favorite moments with family, friends and colleagues.

All 3 device will be available from December 1st in stores across India.

IDEA To Launch 3G Android Phone Today, Might Be Huawei Idoes X1 Gaga

IDEA Cellular, one of the leading mobile service operator with more than 100 million GSM subscribers will be launch their own-brand Android 3G smartphone in the Indian market today.

IDEA Cellular holding press conference in Mumbai by evening and their official invites mentioned “The national launch of Idea’s new initiative to drive 3G services.” We believe that IDEA is going to launch own branded 3G phone in Indian market today.

However the things are officially not yet confirmed by IDEA but we can summarize that new phone would be a re-branded or customized version of Huawei’s Ideos X1 Gaga run on Android 2.2 Froyo Operating System.

Huawei’s Ideos X1 Gaga features a 528 MHz processor and have 265 MB RAM. Having an inbuilt storage capacity of 152 MB, a micorSD card support up to 16GB. It has 2.8 inch capacitive display with 240 x 320 pixels resolution, 3.2 Mega Pixel camera Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth 2.1. It has a powerful Li-on 1200 mAh battery.

The device will be priced at Rs. 4990 (approx) and can expect that IDEA Cellular would come up with a much appropriate, low-cost 3G data plans for their new phone.

With the launch of low cost own branded 3G smartphone, IDEA Cellular focus on growth from semi-urban heartlands and rural India, as the company has experienced huge growth in next generation 3G data traffic in the largely semi-urban market.

RIM To Launch BlackBerry Curve 9380 In India For Rs. 19990

BlackBerry Smartphone maker Research In Motion (RIM) all set to launch BlackBerry Curve 9380 – first full touch smartphone under its Curve series for Rs. 19990 in India.

The finely crafted BlackBerry Curve 9380 was globally announced on 15 November and it is the first all-touch smartphone in the Curve family running BlackBerry OS 7.

The device has a 806 MHz processor, 5 Mega Pixel camera flash and video recording, highly responsive and brilliant 3.2” high resolution display. The responsive all-touch screen, optical trackpad, navigation keys and virtual keyboard make using the BlackBerry Curve 9380 effortless.

BlackBerry Curve 9380 comes with 512 MB RAM and preinstalled social networking apps, including BBM (BlackBerry Messenger), Facebook, Twitter apps that offer a fun, easy and smoothly integrated mobile experience.

The new BlackBerry Curve 9380 smartphone also features our Social Feeds application same is its BOLD series new phones, which ties all of your social networks together into one place. With Social Feeds you can update each of your social networks at once, and new messages from your friends pop up at the top of the screen so you can check them quickly and easily.

MTNL Launches Dolphin Unlimited Plan 198 For Postpaid Subscribers

Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL) has launched new “Dolphin Unlimited Plan 198″ for its 3G Postpaid subscribers in Mumbai circle. Earlier the similar plan was available at monthly rental of Rs. 399.

MTNL’s New “Unlimited Dolphin Plan 198 will comes at monthly rental of Rs. 198 which offers Unlimited Free outgoing calls (Voice and 3G Video) to Local MTNL (Mumbai) Network (Mobile/Land-line). While other network Local and STD calls to any network will be charged for 70p/minute (Voice and 3G Video).

In August 2011, similar plan was introduced for Prepaid subscribers by MTNL, dubbed as Unlimited Local Call Pack-198 as earlier we shared on TelecomTalk. Now postpaid subscriber can enjoy the same tariff benefits at Rs. 198/month.

For more details dial 1503/ 022-22221503 or 9869012345 (toll free from MTNL).

MTNL Delhi Introduces Online Recharge for Trump Prepaid 2G and 3G

India’s first 3G Mobile service operator Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL), finally brings online recharge facility for its users in Delhi telecom circle in association with Paytm.
 

Now all MTNL’s Trump Prepaid and 3G Jadoo customers in Delhi circle can recharge their prepaid mobile accounts, STVs or 3G Data & by clicking over Internet.

MTNL Delhi’s prepaid subscribers can recharge online and pay through multiple payment methods like Credit Cards, Debit Cards, Bank Account, Prepaid Cash Cards, etc. in a secure and easy manner. To use the online recharge service; MTNL Delhi’s prepaid customer (2G / 3G) needs to visit its website (http://mtnldelhi.in/dolphin/) and click on Online Recharge option from the upper right dock’s ‘ Under “3G & GSM Services”.

Direct web link for MTNL Delhi’s online recharge portal -: http://mtnldelhi.in/dolphin/index.php/online-mobile-recharge .

Online recharges are available for MTNL mobile prepaid from 3G Data Recharges, Top-up, Special Tariff vouchers like SMS packs STD Pack, Trump-185, Vidyrthi etc.

Tata Docomo Introduces Rent Free Plans For Postpaid Customers

Tata Docomo has launched a new concept “Rent-free Plan” for postpaid customers in selected Cities.

Tata is the first telecom to launch the plan for customers based on the concept of “PAY AS YOU USE”.

Under the rent-free plan.

A new customer will be acquired under a rental plan of Rs. 149 ,based on his outgoing usage (OG calls+SMS+VAS+Data+net of FAT) the customer will be eligible for Zero rental as below:

If customer Usage is more than>499, Rental of Rs. 149 will be discounted from his bill.

If Usage is  <500 rental will be charged

The Unique point in the newly launched Rent-Free Plan are

a. No rental (Depending on Usage ARPU > 499).

b. Local calls at 1p/2sec. STD calls @ 5ps/6secs.

c. 100 Local+ 100 STD mins free per month.

d. SMS Charges (Local/National/International) – 60p/120p/500p

e. ISD – Standard rate apply

f. Roaming – incoming-Re 1/min, Outgoing Local-Re 1/min, Outgoing STD-Rs 1.5/min

This plan is available for both new customers and existing customers and is currently available on GSM customers & will be available very shortly for CDMA customers also.

If any other customer who is ported in from other operator can also choose this tariff plan. Customers can choose various add on packs as per the usage.Fore more details customers can call on 1800-266-0000 for the details on the Rent Free plans.

Visa Prepaid Accounts Now On Mobile Phones

Visa today announced a new product which will serve the needs of unbanked and under banked consumers.

Visa seems to be targeting developing countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America for its new mobile based prepaid product.

The new product a Visa prepaid account that can be accessed through a mobile phone, offers consumers in developing countries a secure, reliable, globally interoperable electronic payment account.

Visa’s new product enhance the security and extend the payment functionality by enabling account holders to send funds to each other, send and receive international remittances, make purchases at merchants or online where Visa is accepted or withdraw funds at a Visa ATM.

How it works :

Visa’s will offer consumers a new payment account that enhances the payment functionality of their existing mobile money service.In markets with Visa acceptance locations, consumers may also have the option to receive a Visa prepaid companion card that can be used at ATMs and merchants where Visa is accepted.

Exclusive: BSNL Launches New SMS Packs

India’s National Telecom Backbone and Pan India 3G Mobile Service operator Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) today announced the new ‘attractive’ SMS Packs for its prepaid mobile subscribers (2G and 3G) across all circles.
 

BSNL has withdrawn its existing SMS pack of Rs. 53 Rs. 32 and introduced NEW attractive SMS packs at Rs. 36, Rs. 46 and Rs. 56 with more free sms and longer validity period. The New SMS STVs will be available via Ctopup and through SMS based activation from 17th November 2011.

BSNL’s New SMS Pack of Rs. 36 will offers 3000 Local/National/Roaming SMS FREE valid for 30 Days. While Subscriber can send 4500 Local/National/Roaming SMS FREE (200 SMS per Day) at Rs. 46 valid for 45 days.

With new SMS Pack of Rs. 56 subscriber will get the benefits of 6000 Local/National/Roaming SMS valid for 60 days from the date of activation. All new SMS Pack comes with the cap of 200 SMS/day  as per TRAI regulation and will be available from 17th November 2011.

Please Note : Presently all new SMS pack are available for subscriber in Tamilnadu and Chennai TDM.These plan will be implemented in other circle soon.

All SMS Packs are applicable while in HOME LSA as well as National Roaming across India. The SMS STVs under 2G & 3G Prepaid mobile services will not be applicable on “Blackout days”.  Normal SMS charges as per plan will be applicable on “Blackout Days.

Airtel Raises Prepaid Mobile Tariff

India’s largest Mobile Service operator Bharti Airtel surprisingly once again hikes its prepaid tariff by decreasing the validity period and offerings under certain STVs in all telecom circles across India.

Airtel increased the 2G GPRS Data rates by reducing the data benefit offered under its most popular monthly GPRS Pack of Rs. 98 which is now giving only 1 GB data download instead of 2 GB offered earlier.

The operator also has also reduced the tariff validity of some special tariff vouchers (STV) and Reduced Call Rate benefits by 50%  like 180 days from the existing 365 days.

Airtel also announced one small revision of its prepaid ISD tariff. Now ISD call rates are increased by up to 10 per cent  for some destinations.

In July-2011, Airtel had hike 20% in prepaid tariff as earlier we shared on TelecomTalk. Later, other leading mobile service providers live Vodafone, IDEA and BSNL also increased rates of their prepaid mobile services.