BSNL Doubles Up Validity of SMS Pack

Pan India 3G Mobile Service operator Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) today rationalized its SMS Pack-53 which offers 10,000 FREE Local and National SMS, by increasing it Validity from 30 Days to 60 Days.
 

The SMS Pack-53 comes for Rs. 53 and applicable for BSNL 2G & 3G Prepaid subscribers in Tamilnadu – Chennai and some more telecom circles. The pack offers 10,000 Free Local and National SMS. Earlier the Pack/FREE SMS was Valid for 30 Days but now BSNL increased its Validity period from 30 Days to 60 Days working effect from today i.e. 25th April,2011.

The SMS Pack-53 is also valid while National Roaming. However Free SMS will not be available on 5 Blackout days that is [1] 31 st Dec [2] 1 st Jan [3] Valentine day [4] Diwali & [5] Christmas Day. While SMS black-out days Normal SMS Charge as per concerned plan will be applicable.

BSNL Dial a TV – Watch Live TV Channel Without Data Pack [Video]

India’s National Telecom backbone Pan India 3G Mobile service operator Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) recently launched 3G Value added services as we shared earlier TelecomTalk.

For the first time in India BSNL brings Live TV channels for just Rs. 2 with an exciting assortment of videos on a 3G video call service. The service work without any Internet Access or 3G data usage.

Today We bring complete details of Content and How to use BSNL’s Dial a TV / Dial A Video 3G Service.

With Dial a TV /Dial A Video, BSNL subcribers can then Watch Live TV with popular channels like Aaj Tak, Star News or Videos from different genres like music videos, comedy clips, sports, kids programs, devotional and health & fitness any time anywhere while on Move.

To avail the service, BSNL user doesn’t have to download any application, access any portal, activate any special service and most importantly won’t be paying any data usage or download charges. All that is needed is a handset with video calling facility and a BSNL 3G connection. BSNL subscribers can make a video call to 51010 to watch Live TV and enjoy an exciting assortment of videos at Rs. 2 per minute only.

RIM Launches BlackBerry Style 9670 CDMA Smartphone In India

Research In Motion (RIM) the Makers of BlackBerry Smartphone today announced the launch of the BlackBerry Style 9670 smartphone for CDMA customers in India for Rs. 23400 (MRP Rs. 24900).

The elegant new smartphone comes in a compact flip design with dual high-resolution displays and a full-QWERTY keyboard. It also features the powerful new BlackBerry 6 operating system.

The smartphone features a full-QWERTY BlackBerry keyboard that makes email, messaging and real-time chats with BBM (BlackBerry Messenger) incredibly easy.

It also comes with many advanced features, including a 5MP camera with flash and support for video recording, built-in GPS for location-based apps and geo-tagging, Wi-Fi for faster connectivity and extended data coverage, and an expandable memory slot for up to 32GB of additional storage.

The BlackBerry Style expands RIM’s CDMA product line in India, bringing the unique BlackBerry smartphone experience to consumers in an all new flip design.

The BlackBerry Style smartphone comes with an optical trackpad for fluid navigation and boasts two large displays, an external screen for quickly viewing notifications and messages and a high-resolution internal screen that makes Web browsing and watching videos a pleasure.

The new BlackBerry 6 operating system retains the familiar and trusted features of the BlackBerry brand, while delivering a fresh, approachable and engaging experience that is powerful and easy to use.

In addition to preinstalled applications for accessing YouTube, BBM, Facebook, Twitter and MySpace, the BlackBerry Style offers enhanced multimedia capabilities, including a redesigned media application for a richer experience with music, pictures and videos. It also features a new WebKit-based browser that renders HTML Web pages quickly and beautifully for a great browsing experience.

Key features:

• Full-QWERTY keyboard and two high resolution displays
• Support for 3G-EVDO networks
• BlackBerry 6
• Powerful new Web-Kit browser
• Enhanced media player for music, pictures and videos
• 5 MP camera with autofocus, video recording, scene modes and geotagging
• Built-in GPS and Wi-Fi (802.11 b/g/n)
• Additional Specs:
• Approximately 3.8” x 2.4” x 0.7” (closed)
• Approximately 4.6 oz.
• 512MB Flash memory, plus an 8GB microSD/SDHC memory card included (slot supports up to 32GB memory cards)
• Internal display measuring 2.7” diagonal (360 x 400); external display measuring 2” diagonal (240×320)
• Audio formats supported: MP3, AAC, AAC+, eAAC+, WMA, FLAC, OGG
• Video formats supported: MPEG4, H.263, MPEG4 Simple Profile H.264, WMV
• Talk Time: ~4.5 hrs and Standby Time: ~ 10.5 days
• Network support: Dual Band CDMA/EVDO Rev A: CDMA 800; CDMA 1900
• Operating System: BlackBerry 6

Vodafone 3G – No Video-Call Without Data Packs

It seems that Vodafone has learnt to walk against stream. After burning their hands by providing WAP pack instead of true GPRS pack now they have started providing Untrue 3G Video Calling service.

In various telecom circles , Vodafone 3G services can only be enjoyed when you are subscribed to any of their 3G data packs even if you don’t need 3G data. While MTNL/BSNL and Reliance providing Video Call services by default and other private operators like Airtel, Aircel, Tata Docomo, Idea Cellular allow Video Calls with ‘Pay As You Go 3G plan‘.

The worst part is if you are in need to receive video call from someone staying far away from you, there is No Incoming video call facility those have No 3G data pack recharged on Vodafone.

However few years back, In the initial age of 3G services in India, both the PSU MTNL and BSNL didn’t allow 3G Video Calling without Any activation of 3G Data /Voice plan but they removed all barriers to popularize the 3G Video Calling  in India (Remember BSNL 3G Ad ?) and  now a days the 3G scenario is completely changed and almost all operator providing 3G Video Calls without any 3G data packs Except Vodafone !

In the primary stage of 3G Era, Data-packs are really very costly in all private 3G operators for a big portion of consumers. While 3G video call is comparatively pocket-friendly in PSU MTNL and BSNL for 1p/sec or 30p to 70p/min and bit premium rates in all private 3G operators which costs Rs.3/Min or 5p/Sec is genuinely making people interested towards 3G.

During the time of competition among private operators this type of in-discrimination is really creating a barrier between people and 3G. Vodafone 3G data packs starts from Rs. 103 (for 100MB data) and to make/receive video-call one must have to recharge with it or higher.

Lets have a look on this issue:

Operators	Notes
Aircel /Airtel / Idea Cellular	After activation of 3G you can enjoy 3G services incl. data and video calls. But if you like to use 2G data packs, you have to deactivate 3G.
Reliance GSM	3G come to everyone by default i.e. 3G data services and video calling is activated automatically. But if 2G data pack is recharged, speed will be capped till the validity period of 2G data pack.
BSNL / MTNL	BSNL /MTNL are offering video calls to 2G/3G users by Default with lowest tariff compare to all private operators. While to enjoy 3G data you need to activate 3G.
Vodafone	For video calls (outgoing/incoming) you need to activate any 3G Data Pack with minimum recharge of Rs. 100 per month which comes with 100 MB 3G data. Following the recharge you can access Vodafone HSPA network to make video calls.

In brief 2^nd largest operator in India Vodafone messed up the 3G thing. What do you think about Vodafone 3G?

ACER Launches Liquid Mini – Android Smartphone For Rs. 11990

Laptop and PC Maker Acer today announced the launch of new 3G enabled Android smartphone namely, Liquid Mini in Indian market for Rs. 11990.

Acer Liquid Mini features a 3.2 inch HVGA touchscreen display with 480 x 320 pixels resolution, 5 Mega pixel camera with auto focus, 480p video recording, digital zoom, FM Radio, WiFi, GPRS and 3G.

It supports up to 32GB external memory through microSD card slot. Android 2.2 (FroYo) OS, 600 MHz Qualcomm 7227 processor, HSDPA support and DLNA connectivity.

The device allows you to view and edit popular office files (Word, Excel, Powerpoint and PDF) and send them through your work email with support for Microsoft Exchange.

The Acer Liquid Mini Android Smartphone will be available in 3 vibrant colors – Jet Silver, Royal Blue and Piano Black in Indian market.

Tata Docomo GPRS Plans Revised Again

In View of the competition from the other operator and in view to continue its best offers in industry , Tata Docomo today rationalized its Two 2G Gprs packs, RC33 and RC 48 Effective 22nd April 2011 00:00 hrs.

This is the 3rd GPRS pack, which is revised in the same month, earlier this month it also rationalized its RC 95 2G pack, where the data was reduced from 6GB to 4GB, The changes in the pack of RC 98 was effective 1st April 2011 00:00 hrs.

No changes has been done on the RC 65 & RC 149 which has 2.5GB and 8GB of 2G data usage respectively.

Below is the snapshot of the Current GPRS pack Available in Tata Docomo.

	Current benefit		New Benefit (effective 22nd April Midnight)
Pack Value	Data Benefit	Validity	Data Benefit	Validity
33	1GB (Night pack)	30 days	750MB	7 days
48	1GB	30 days	1GB	21 days
65	2.5 GB	30 days	2.5 GB	30 days
149	8GB	30 days	8GB	30 days
	Current benefit(Before 1st April )		New Benefit (effective 1st April Midnight)
95	6GB	30 days	4GB	30 days

Note: 65 pack is available all over india Except Bihar, where the price point is RC 63.

Micromax Launches M2 – Dual SIM Music Phone

Its again Micromax caught in the move of launching a futuristic multimedia enriched mobile handset which will surely make one stunned and bound to blow head with the beats of music if he/she is so called as music crazy.

Lets come to the point, Micromax, one of the top mobile phone sellers in India is about to launch M2, a music oriented mobile handset supposed to be dedicated for young India.

Priced at Rs. 3499 Micromax M2 is equipped with SRS wow HD, Built-in Yamaha Audio Amplifier and a dedicated dome headset for best music experience in its class. It has a unique touch wheel navigation key side by side it has a internal memory of 2GB.

Its 850mAh Li-ion battery is present with the phone for long time music playback capabilities. It also comes with Sleek body, Stylish look, stereo FM, video recording, Bluetooth, 2MP camera etc. etc.

Let’s have a look on its features:

Specification	Descriptions
Form Factor	Bar Style
Network	Dual GSM Band (900/1800Mhz)
Display	TFT (240*320)
Camera	2.0 MP
Music	Multi format Music Play 3.5 mm Audio Jack
Video Playback	Yes , (3GP/MP4)
Stereo FM Radio	Yes
Bluetooth	Yes With A2DP
GPRS/MMS/WAP	Yes
Memory	Internal memory Upto 2GB Micro SD supported
Battery	Type: Li-ion 850mAh Talk Time:8 Hours(maximum) Standby time:6 Days(maximum)
Special Feautre(s)	Touch wheel, Furnished Metallic Body

Vodafone SUPER WEEK 2 – Download FREE Games on Mobile

Vodafone, one of India’s leading GSM Mobile Service Providers, today launched an exciting “SUPER WEEKS-2” offers wherein its Postpaid and Prepaid subscribers can Download FREE GAMES on their Mobile Phones!

Vodafone ‘SUPER WEEKS’ initiative launched on 16th April which is one ticket to 6 weeks of FUN and Frolic! Last week Vodafone offers “Connect with friends” on entire social networks (Facebook /Twitter/Orkut)  for FREE as earlier we shared on TelecomTalk.

This week all Vodafone customers across all the circles can enjoy FREE Games Downloading from their Mobile phone via Vodafone Live Service. This offer is only valid for one week (7 Days) from 00:00:00 hours Saturday 23rd April To 11:59:59 PM  Friday 29 April 2011 under SUPER WEEK Offers -2 .

To avail the offer subscriber needs to send SMS ‘SUPER’ to 111 (toll free).

Sony Ericsson Announces Their First Android Walkman Series Phone W8

Today Sony Ericsson has announced their first Android Walkman series phone W8.

Looks like it is an XPERIA X8 with a fancy colors and a WALKMAN logo.

The phone will come with a MH410 stereo headset the Sony Ericsson W8 will be available in China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, India, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam starting from Q2 2011 in three different colours (Azur, Metallic Red and the iconic Walkman Orange).

Its Specifications:

Dimensions : 99 x 54 x 15 mm

Weight : 104 g

3-inch capacitive touchscreen with a HVGA resolution (320×480); 16M colors

Four icons in the corners of the home screen for quick access to favourite functions

Android 2.1 Eclair OS with Timescape UI

600MHz processor with 168MB of RAM

3.15 MP Camera, 2048×1536 pixels, VGA@30fps Video Recording

Walkman player with TrackID music recognition and PlayNow technologies

3.5mm headphone jack

microSD Card slot up to 16GB; Phone memory up to 128MB

WiFi, Bluetooth 2.1 with A2DP, A-GPS

SNS integration

Infinite button – press this while listening to a track for more information and content.

Battery 1200 mAh (offers 23 hours and 40 minutes worth of music listening time)

There is no word on the pricing of the phone as of now.

Nokia Completes Microsoft Deal

World leading Mobile Phone maker Nokia and Microsoft today announced the signing of a definitive agreement on a partnership that will result in a new global mobile ecosystem, utilizing the very complementary assets of both companies. Completed ahead of schedule, the definitive agreement is consistent with the joint announcement made on February 11.
 

In addition to agreeing to the terms of their partnership, including joint contributions to the development of the new ecosystem, Nokia and Microsoft also announced significant progress on the development of the first Nokia products incorporating Windows Phone.

With hundreds of personnel already engaged on joint engineering efforts, the companies are collaborating on a portfolio of new Nokia devices. Nokia has also started porting key applications and services to operate on Windows Phone and joint outreach has begun to third party application developers.

“At the highest level, we have entered into a win-win partnership,” said Stephen Elop, President and CEO of Nokia Corporation. “It is the complementary nature of our assets, and the overall competitiveness of that combined offering, that is the foundation of our relationship.”

“Our agreement is good for the industry,” said Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft. “Together, Nokia and Microsoft will innovate with greater speed, and provide enhanced opportunities for consumers and our partners to share in the success of our ecosystem.”

The relationship is structured around four broad areas:

1. A combination of complementary assets, which make the partnership truly unique, including:

- Nokia to deliver mapping, navigation, and certain location-based services to the Windows Phone ecosystem. Nokia will build innovation on top of the Windows Phone platform in areas such as imaging, while contributing expertise on hardware design and language support, and helping to drive the development of the Windows Phone platform. Microsoft will provide Bing search services across the Nokia device portfolio as well as contributing strength in productivity, advertising, gaming, social media and a variety of other services. The combination of navigation with advertising and search will enable better monetization of Nokia’s navigation assets and completely new forms of advertising revenue.

- Joint developer outreach and application sourcing, to support the creation of new local and global applications, including making Windows Phone developer registration free for all Nokia developers.

- Opening a new Nokia-branded global application store that leverages the Windows Marketplace infrastructure. Developers will be able to publish and distribute applications through a single developer portal to hundreds of millions of consumers that use Windows Phone, Symbian and Series 40 devices.

- Contribution of Nokia’s expertise in operator billing to ensure participants in the Windows Phone ecosystem can take advantage of Nokia’s billing agreements with 112 operators in 36 markets.

2. Microsoft will receive a running royalty from Nokia for the Windows Phone platform, starting when the first Nokia products incorporating Windows Phone ship. The royalty payments are competitive and reflect the large volumes that Nokia expects to ship, as well as a variety of other considerations related to engineering work to which both companies are committed. Microsoft delivering the Windows Phone platform to Nokia will enable Nokia to significantly reduce operating expenses.

3. In recognition of the unique nature of Nokia’s agreement with Microsoft and the contributions that Nokia is providing, Nokia will receive payments measured in the billions of dollars.

4. An agreement that recognizes the value of intellectual property and puts in place mechanisms for exchanging rights to intellectual property. Nokia will receive substantial payments under the agreement.

With the definitive agreement now signed, both companies will begin engaging with operators, developers and other partners to help the industry understand the benefits of joining the new ecosystem. At the same time, work will continue on developing Nokia products on the Windows Phone platform, with the aim of securing volume device shipments in 2012. The scale of both companies’ mutual commitment is significant and is in keeping with the intention to build a new ecosystem based on this long-term, strategic partnership.

Idea Cellular Introduces International Roaming offer

Idea Cellular today announced the launch of a special International Roaming Offer for its postpaid subscribers.

Starting April 15th, Idea postpaid subscribers can avail a flat 25% discount on their mobile phone usage while traveling to UAE, USA, Singapore, UK, Thailand, China, Germany, France, Switzerland, Sri Lanka, Hong Kong and Italy.

The offer is valid for three months till July 14th 2011.The ‘special period’ Roaming rates are available on International Roaming services such as Incoming Calls, Outgoing Calls, SMS and GPRS.

The applicable rates during the offer period are as follows:

Country	Outgoing call to India   (Home) (Rs. per minute)	Outgoing call in Visited Country (National) (Rs. per minute)	Outgoing Call International (Rs. per minute)	Incoming Calls(Rs. per minute)	Outgoing SMS	GPRS (Rs. per 10kb)
SINGAPORE	71	26	75	38	11	3.75
THAILAND, SRI LANKA	86	26	94	38	11	3.75
USA, GERMANY	101	53	109	53	11	3.75
CHINA	120	26	128	30	11	3.75
UAE, UK, ITALY HONG KONG	124	34	139	68	11	3.75
FRANCE, SWITZERLAND	180	83	180	83	11	3.75

In addition to the discounted tariffs, Idea subscribers are also eligible for a Cleartrip voucher worth Rs. 4,000 that can be redeemed while booking airline tickets and hotel stay through the Cleartrip website. This travel voucher offers Rs. 2,000 off on international hotel bookings, Rs. 1,500 on international round trip flights, and Rs. 500 on domestic round trip flights.

To avail the voucher, Idea post-paid subscribers need to SMS ‘ACT CLT’ to 12345, in return of which they will get a voucher code. This voucher code can facilitate a subscriber to redeem the discounts while booking flights and hotels through ‘Cleartrip’.

The offer is available for Idea postpaid subscribers between 15th April to 14th July 2011

Tata Docomo Intros Family Plans For Postpaid Subscribers

Post the successful launch of its new campaign ‘Keep It Simple’, Tata Docomo GSM brand of Tata Teleservices Limited (TTSL) today introduced exclusive ‘MyFamily Plans’ pooling offer for its postpay customers.
 

Tata Docomo launched 3 different variants under MyFamily offer which comes with a host of benefits, available in a common “pool” like free airtime that can be used to make local and STD calls, free local and STD SMS and most important data usage that can be utilized for accessing 2G or 3G data services. What’s more! Customers also get a CUG offer of free local calling.

There are 3 unique MyFamily Plans that are currently available namely; Small Family @ 999, Medium Family @ 1999 and Large Family @ 2999. Under these plans, customer can take upto 3 connections in the small family and upto 5 connections in Medium and Large Family. Under MyFamily Small Plan 999, postpay customers get free 3000 mins for local and STD calls, free 1000 CUG minutes to make local calls 500 free local or STD SMS & 512 MB data consumption.

Under MyFamily Medium 1999 plan, postpay customers get free 6000 mins for local and STD calls, free local 1500 CUG minutes, 1000 free local or STD SMS and free 1GB data consumption. Under MyFamily Large 2999 plan, postpay customers get free 10000 mins for local and STD calls, free local 2000 CUG minutes, 1500 free local or STD SMS and free 2GB data consumption.

After consumption of free airtime in MyFamily plans customers will be charged 1p/sec for all local and STD calls. By availing this unique offer customers would get a single bill and thus a one stop solution for all family telecom needs with a single bill for greater convenience

TATA Indicom ‘EK Behtar Zindagi’ For The Rural India Powered By Handygo

Tata Indicom, the CDMA mobile service operator today introduced ‘EK Behtar Zindagi’, the latest bouquet of IVR based VAS offerings for customers in rural areas powered by Handygo, which aims to provide day-to-day information to rural India.
 

Tata Indicom subscribers across all circles can dial 556780 to access information regarding health, education, finance, weather updates, mandi rates, livestocks, agriculture and fisheries.

The operator launched some subscription packs on Daily and Monthly basis for this VAS at a minimal charge of at a minimal charge of Rs. 5/10/20 per month and gets 50/100/200 minutes for 7/15/30 days respectively or can continue using the service at Rs. 2 per minute on 55678. The service is available in all the respective states regional languages along with Hindi and English.

Within this initiative, Tata Teleservices Limited has employed 50 blind people in association with the National Association of the Blind, Mumbai and the Blind Relief Association in Delhi. These employees have specifically been chosen to make calls for the product Behtar Zindagi, and to further incentivize the employees, handgyo provides additional bonuses to the most successful callers on a monthly basis.

For latest and reliable updates, content provider handygo has partnered with various organizations such as Care India, Aviva Life Insurance, Indian Metrological Department, INCOIS, Hariyali Kisan Bazaar, Network for Fish Quality Management and Sustainable Fishing, Transparency International India, Sonalika, EKO India Financial Services and plethora of other organizations.

Few months back, Idea Cellular, Reliance Communications (Rcom), Bharti Airtel, and Uninor have also launched similar services for their rural customers as earlier we shared on TelecomTalk.

MTS Intros RCV120 – Own Net Local Calls 5p/min

It seems that every operator is trying to provide low cost on-net calling. Now it reflects on another operator. MTS the CDMA entrants in ever changing Indian telecom industry is now also providing cheaper on-net calling with some extra benefit on its RCV 120 for the customers of both Kolkata and West Bengal circle with full talk-value.

This RCV of the denomination of Rs. 120 provides full talk value distributed as Rs. 50 on Main a/c and remaining Rs. 70 in dedicated a/c which is applicable for Local and STD calling (Not for SMS) for 30 days. Simultaneously one can also enjoy MTS to MTS local calling at just 5p/min with this voucher for 30 days.

MRP	Benefit(s)	Validity	Remarks
Rs. 120	Full Talk Time(Rs.50 on Main A/C & Rs. 70 on DA)	Main A/C’s Balance Validity Lifetime	Only Through E-Recharge
		DA Balance Validity 30 days
	MTS to MTS Local Call at Rs.0.05/Min for 30 days.

For More details: Call MTS Customer Care @155(toll-free) from your MTS mobile

Reliance Launches ‘Mobile Banking’ Services with SBI

Reliance Communications (RCOM) today launched ‘Mobile Banking Services’, its new VAS service in association with State Bank of India (SBI).

Reliance Consumers (GSM) can use facilities like Balance Inquiry, Mini Statement, Fund transfer, Checkbook issuance, Prepaid Mobile Recharge and Postpaid Bill payment at any time and place through the use of their cell phones.

Reliance GSM Subscribers will not require any special mobile application or GPRS to use the service, but they should have an active current/ savings account with SBI.

The customers will have to register for the services with SBI. The user has to dial *595# to view simple menu choices and key-in your choice. Customers will be able to view account balance, get mini statements, do Fund Transfer, change MPIN or recharge their mobile account. He will also receive confirmation regarding successful transaction over SMS.

Micromax Breaks Into Top 10 Handset Manufacturers – Opera Mini Reports

Looks like Micromax is taking a direct competition with leading manufactures like Nokia in the Indian Market .

Today Opera mini announced its monthly mobile web report in which Micromax Q5 made its presence felt in the top 10 handsets list of Indian Opera Mini users.

Google, Facebook and YouTube continue to be the top 10 favorite domains visited by Indian users.

Nokia 2690 takes the all time lead with Google.com as most preferred mobile and site among Indian Opera mini users.

Opera Mini-Snapshot (India) In Details-:

• – Page-view growth since March 2010: 308.2 %
• – Unique-user growth since March 2010: 231.9 %
• – Data transfer growth since March 2010: 254.1 %
• – Page views per user: 442
• – Data transferred per user (MB): 7
• – Data transferred per page view (KB): 17

Top 10 sites in India(Accessed thtough Opera mini) (Unique users)	Top handsets according to Opera Mini web Browser usage in India
google.com	Nokia 2690
facebook.com	Nokia 5130 XpressMusic
youtube.com	Nokia 2700c
orkut.com	Nokia X2
getjar.com	Nokia 3110c
yahoo.com	Nokia 7210 Supernova
mobile2day.com	Micromax Q5
vuclip.com	Nokia N70
wikipedia.org	Nokia 6300
zedge.net	Nokia 3500c

Reliance – Infotel Plans Ambitious 4G Wireless Broadband Launch

Pan India Broadband Wireless Access (BWA) Spectrum winner Infotel Broadband Ltd geared up to launch Long Term Evolution (LTE) based High Speed 4G Wirelss Broadband service in India.

Mukesh Ambani owned Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) controlled Infotel Broadband Ltd plans to create world class state- of-the-art technology using an asset light strategy. RIL will forge several strategic relations with a host of leading global technology players, service providers, infrastructure providers, application developers, device manufacturers and others to leapfrog India to the 4G revolution.

According to our sources, Reliance – Infotel plans to launch BWA Data service in approx 700 cities in the first phase of its BWA launch with data speeds from 50 Mbps to 100 Mbps. Presently RIL is finalizing vendors who would supply broadband equipment based on the so- long term evolution (LTE) technology so as to roll out wireless broadband services by the end of 2012.

RIL – Infotel is also talking to leading tower companies to lease 26,000 towers across the country for its pan-India launch in the first phase. According to our sources leading tower companies Viom Networks, and GTL Infrastructure Ltd are in process to bids with this mega-conglomerate.

RIL claims that the Broadband opportunity as a new frontier of knowledge economy in which it can take a leadership position and provide India with an opportunity to be in the forefront among the countries providing world-class 4G network and services. A single 20 MHz TDD spectrum when used with LTE (Long Term Evolution) has the potential of providing greater capacity when compared to existing communication infrastructure in the country.

Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) has a 95 per cent stake in Infotel Broadband Services (P) Ltd, which has emerged as a successful bidder in all the 22 circles (Pan India) of the auction for Broadband Wireless Access (BWA) 4G Spectrum conducted by the DoT in June 2010.

INTEX VISION – A Mobile Phone Especially Designed For Visually Impaired

Intex Technologies today announced the launch of INTEX VISION –a mobile phone especially designed for visually impaired.
 

The phone was unveiled by National Association for the Blind amongst its students and faculty. NAB is the largest non-government, voluntary organization in India.

With a very simple user interface, the phone has a robust ‘no-frills’ design with lots of entertainment and utility features like wireless FM radio, audio player, expandable memory up to 2 GB, torch light, auto call record, mobile tracker, dedicated one-touch key for locking the keypad, a phone and SMS memory of 1000 contacts and 250 messages respectively.

Developed at Intex’s Centre for Design & Development, the Dual SIM phone (GSM+GSM) has a large Braile keypad to facilitate recognition of digits. People, who are not conversant with Braile, could switch on the ‘Talking Keypad’ feature which speaks out in English the number they have pressed.

Keeping in mind communication needs in emergency, the phone has a unique SOS feature which allows you to save four emergency numbers. By pressing the SOS button, the call gets automatically directed to the first emergency number.

Priced at Rs. 2600 (street price), INTEX Vision is an example of technological advancement to make life more enjoyable for the differently-abled.

Uninor Launches Apna Group Plan

Cutting through the clutter that the Indian telecom landscape finds itself in—with customers forced to jostle with confusing and complicated products, services and tariff plans. Keeping this thought in mind, Uninor has launched Simple and attractive tariff plan ‘Apna Group’ (STV39) that offers huge benefits to existing customers over Own Net Calls and SMS.

New and existing Uninor prepaid subscribers who form an ‘Apna Group’ can now make calls to each other for as low as Rs. 2 paisa/minute and enjoy 1000 local mins free across the Uninor network in across Mumbai, Maharashtra & Goa. STV 39 also offers a great SMS package as well, enabling users to send 3000 SMSes free across India on the Uninor network.

This offer is available for Uninor subscribers across Mumbai, Maharashtra and Goa for a validity of 30 days.

MRP	BENEFITS	VALIDITY
Rs. 39	Free 1000 Minutes on Uninor Mumbai, Maharashtra and Goa Free 3000 Local and National SMS (only on Uninor Network)	30 Days

Antcor Systems To Empower Massive Rollout of Wi5 Broadband

Antcor today announced that it has been selected by Zylog Systems India Limited to empower the massive rollout of its ‘Wi5 Broadband’ fixed wireless data services across India.
 

Wi5 Broadband is an initiative of Zylog Systems India Limited (ZSIL) a category ‘A’ ISP and subsidiary of Zylog Systems Limited.

Zylog Systems India Limited is headquartered in Chennai and offers Wi5 Broadband services in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Punjab and Gujarat .

Through this partnership, Antcor will enable ‘Wi5 Broadband’ equipment with tailored and state of the art software, which will allow the efficient and reliable operation of the wireless network.

The overall Indian Wi-Fi market is expected to be $744 million by 2012 from the present $41.57 million growing at over 60 per cent every year including wireless local area networking (WLAN) hardware, systems integration and software services, not including embedded devices and laptops.

CNN App Now Available Globally For Free On Android Market

CNN today announced that the CNN App for Android Phones will be available globally for free on Android Market.
 

The CNN App combines intuitive navigation with an immersive news experience, giving users direct access to CNN’s global resources – from live field reporting to user-generated content and a variety of enterprise interviews and podcasts.

Available on Android powered phones running on platforms 2.1 and above, the CNN App showcases news of the day through text, audio and photos, live and on-demand video, and a direct gateway to CNN iReport, the network’s participatory news community. 

By clicking on the menu button, users can seamlessly toggle between U.S. and International editions, each of which includes all of the features of the CNN App.

The CNN App features push-notification breaking news alerts, and a widget that allows a user to view the latest headlines from a variety of categories directly from the phone’s home screen, without even opening the app.

The CNN App for Android Phones is available for free on Android Market. For more information about the CNN App for Android, go to www.cnn.com/android.

Olive Intros OliveFluid Android Smartphone for Rs. 10990Olive Intros OliveFluid Android Smartphone for Rs. 10990

While Olive is still months away to commerically launch India’s first Android 2.3 powered smartphone Olive Smart, it silently introduced OliveFluid V-W1, the second Android smartphone from Olive in India. It is third Android device in India from Olive after OlivePad and OliveSmart.

The OliveFluid (V-W1) has 3.5 inch capacitive touch screen, STE6715, 468MHz Processor, 3 Mega Pixel Camera and it supports high speed 3G HSPA data connectivity up to 7.2 Mbps.

The device supports all popular IMAP, POP3 and Microsoft Exchange email technologies. Its Push mail functionality ensures that you are notified of a new email instantaneously. Combined with an onscreen QWERTY keyboard and a portrait to landscape orientation, the OliveFluid simplifies emails like never before. It comes with 6 months free subscription to ZengaTV.

This entry level Android 2.1 powered (which gives a big thumbs down) OliveFluid is priced at Rs. 10,990. Though Online Olive Store gives Rs. 500 discount and free home delivery.

Specifications

Operating System –  Android OS, v2.1 (Eclair)
Central processing Unit  - STE6715, 468MHz Processor
Weight (Grams) : 117g
Dimensions (mm) : 109 x52 x14.8
Memory  - Flash Memory : 256MB , Expandable : MicroSD, up to 32GB
Display Features  3.5 Inch (HVGA)
Screen : TFT Capacitive TouchScreen
Resolution : 320 x 480
Camera : 3 MegaPixel
Video Player & Recording
Media Format Support – Audio : MP3 ; Video : MP4, 3GP ; Photo : JPEG, PNG, GIF, BMP
Battery  -  1300 mAH, Talk Time : Upto 240 Mins & Standby Time : Upto 192 Hours
Radio Band & Standard – GSM : 900 / 1800 / 1900; 3G HSDPA : 7.2 Mbps (900 / 2100)
GPS/Wi-Fi/ Bluetooth v2.0 with A2DP/ microUSB v2.0
G-Sensor / Proximity Sensor
Email : POP/IMAP/Exchange
Digital Compass
3.5 mm Audio Jack
SMS, MMS, HTML Browser
PC Sync Functionality
Android Apps from Android Market including Google Apps.

Airtel Launches ‘Airtel Photos’

Now Airtel broadband customers anywhere in India can import and store unlimited number of photos on their own personal space on the cloud.

Airtel Photos enables the user to import photo albums from Facebook or upload photos directly from their computer to their account.

Users can store unlimited photos in their Airtel Photos account as storage is free.Airtel Photo Print enables customers to choose from matte, gloss and luminous print finishes.

Photo products available on Airtel Photos range from Rs. 65 to Rs. 595 inclusive of applicable taxes and delivery charges.

The service also enables customers to add a personal touch to gifts such as calendars, t-shirts,mugs, photobooks using photos, themes along with a personal message.

They can choose from a range of themes, funky art clips and designed templates and add captions of their choice.For details on the complete product portfolio, customers can visit www.airtel.Zoomin.com.

MTS Launches MBlaze Unlimited Postpaid Plan For Rs. 899

After a long wait, MTS introduces their popular unlimited MBlazer plan for postpaid users too. Now postpaid users can enjoy Internet with Unlimited usage ( 12 GB FUP applicable) at monthly rental of Rs. 899. This plan confirms no bill shock at the end of the month.

This move by MTS proves their worth in the wireless broadband market. Reliance Netconnect+ and Tata Photon+ offer unlimited with 10GB high speed usage for monthly rental of Rs. 1100. On MTS it is unlimited with 12GB high speed usage for monthly rental of Rs. 899.

Currently MTS Mblaze is available in selected cities of Kerala, Tamilnadu, Andra Pradesh, Karnataka, Mumbai-Maharastra, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Bihar-Jharkhand, Kolkata – West Bengal.

Details of MBlazer Unlimited Postpaid Plan:

Fixed Monthly Rental – Rs. 899 (tax as applicable)

Validity: 1 month as per Bill Cycle Data Usage – Unlimited (12GB on EVDO, and post-12GB speed will be as per 1X services) Download Speed – upto 3.1 Mbps on EVDO, upto 153.6kbps on 1X Applicable for New & existing customer

For more details visit nearest MTS Store or call MBlaze Care 955 (toll free) from your MTS Mobile.

Uninor To Uninor Local Calls Now Just for 2p/min

Proving themselves as one of the most pocket-friendly operator in India Uninor, one of the fastest growing cellular operators recently brings another STV (Special Tariff Voucher) for all over India to continue their trend. This unique STV will provide local on-net calling as low as 2p/Min.
 

The cost of this pack is Rs. 38 (may vary from circle to circle) and it comes with inbuilt 2000 mins/1,20,000 Seconds local on-net talk time. This STV will work for a period of 30 days from the day of recharge. And this will cost approximately 2p/Min which is supposed to be very cost-effective at this current scenario.

Uninor already has STV 31(in some circles it’s STV 32) which gives 1000 Mins/60,000 Secs Local On-Net callings. So it’s clear that new STV is more value for money.

MRP	BENEFITS	VALIDITY
Rs. 38 (denomination may differ from circle to circle)	2000 Minutes /1,20,000 Seconds Local On-Net (Benefits or call rate may differ from circle to circle)	30 Days

According to Uninor,the MRP and benefit (call rate) of the above STVs may differ from circle to circle. So before recharging make sure by calling Uninor Help Line@121(toll-free) from your Uninor Mobile

Vodafone SUPER WEEK – Access Facebook, Twitter and Orkut FREE

In a bid to create awareness and promote its Mobile Internet services, Vodafone, one of India’s leading GSM Mobile service providers, today launched an exciting “SUPER WEEKS” offer
.

This will be one ticket to 6 weeks of FUN and Frolic! Vodaofne’s Super Zoozoo has been getting ready to bring great offers to you every week! This week’s FREE offer is to “Connect with friends” on entire social networks for FREE. 

With the launch of Vodafone SUPER WEEK-1, the operator invites its prepaid and postpaid subscribers to experience Vodafone’s seamless data connectivity with FREE Access to Facebook, Twitter and Orkut – and connect with thier friends on the exciting world of social networking.

All Vodafone customers will be able to enjoy FREE Facebook / Twitter and Orkut access from their Vodafone Mobile till 22 April 2011. To avail the offer subscriber needs to send SMS ‘SUPER’ to 111 (toll free).

In last few days, Vodafone has already built up a lot of hype for its ‘Super Weeks’ campaign on Facebook / Twitter and also on TV to prepare grounds for this first of its kind initiative in Indian market. After a long wait, today Vodafone has Revealed What is Super Week ! Here’s an EXCLUSIVE preview of the New SUPER WEEK-1 ad.

Vodafone Super Week – Terms and Conditions :

(1) The mobile sites mentioned in the communication (FaceBook/Twitter/Orkut) are free when accessed from your Vodafone mobile phone.

(2) Charges could be incurred at your usual tariffs if you visit other websites or due to other issues beyond Vodafone’s control, eg :  clicking through from the free site to other websites/applications; sites fetching ads/sponsored urls from other sources/websites; browsing through certain mobile browsers (like Opera mini); accessing non-mobile versions of the sites; accessing the social networking services through downloaded applications rather than browsing to the websites.

(3) This offer is only valid for one week from 00:00:00 hours Saturday 16th April to 11:59:59 PM Friday 22nd April 2011.

(4) Vodafone has made sites free on the basis of the information provided by the site owners which Vodafone has acted upon in good faith.

India Adds 14.5 Million GSM Subscribers in March – Vodafone Leads

India’s leading Mobile Service operator Vodafone has added a total of 3.68 million GSM subscribers which is the highest number of new mobile subscribers additions in the month of March 2011. Vodafone’s GSM subscriber base now reached 134.5 million, as per the COAI data.
 

Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) today released the GSM subscriber base for March 2011 and, quite expectantly, new additions continue at an average growth rate. The total 14.5 million new GSM subscribers being added in March at a monthly growth rate of 2.61% taking the all-India GSM cellular subscriber base to 559.55 million.

Idea Cellular added 2.7 million new customers, boosting its subscriber base to 89.5 million, while Aircel increased its base by over 1.3 million customers to take its subscriber base to 54.8 million. Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL) added 20,720 new users during the month, boosting its total base to 5.19 million at the end of March, 2011.

Uninor, one of the youngest GSM operators in India has added 1.2mn GSM subscriber while Videocon added 5,41,877 subscribers and STel managed just 1,28,429 new subscribers from 5 circles. Etisalat DB/Cheers Mobile 3,15,709 added subscribers in 13 circles.

GSM Operator	Total Subscriber Base – February 2011	Market Share
Bharti Airtel	162,203,480	28.48%
Vodafone Essar	134,569,706	23.63%
IDEA Cellular	89,503,318	15.71%
BSNL	86,458,165	15.18%
Aircel	54,843,290	9.63%
Uninor	22,792,141	4.00%
Videocon	7,105,960	1.25%
MTNL	5,199,337	0.91%
Loop Mobile	3,094,204	0.54%
STel	2,820,891	0.50%
Etisalat DB (Cheer Mobile)	6,52,370	0.17%
All India (excluding Reliance and Tata)	569,558,571	100%

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

Angry Birds Seasons: Easter Eggs Now In Ovi Store For Symbian^3

The new version of Angry Birds is just released on the Ovi Store.

This Angry Birds update is first reached in Symbian, it is currently not available in other platform but it will available soon in other OS also.

The Easter update will of course bring a new Easter look to the Angry Birds game, including eggs and candy being scattered around the levels to collect and the pigs wearing adorable bunny ears. You will be able to find 15 new Easter levels.

Angry Birds Seasons: Easter Eggs! Spring is upon us and the time is ripe for some chocolate eggs and Easter bunnies! So shed the winter gear and get in – Easter Eggs have never been this delicious! 

If you think St. Patrick’s Day was a blast, well, you ain’t seen nothing yet! This episode will again prove that Angry Birds is the most generous update giver of them all!If you already have Angry Birds Seasons, get the latest update by pressing the update button in the application’s main menu. Otherwise, you can purchase it from the Ovi Store.

It’s available at Ovi Store for Rs. 50.00 click here for download