Samsung Galaxy SII touches 1 million mark in one month

Samsung Galaxy S II sales are attributed to good hardware, though even small improvements like being able to access missed calls and SMSs without unlocking the screen add to user experience.

In record breaking sales figures Samsung Galaxy SII reached the magical one million mark within only a month of its launch. Its previous version, the Samsung Galaxy S had reached the same figure in 70 days. 

The Android handset, which runs on a dual core system on a chip (SOC), hit Korean stores in April and received a rousing welcome perhaps for its good hardware.

No 3G video calling on iPhone 4

Users in India can make video calls using WiFi, but not over 3G as the application that enables the service has been locked by Apple.

The Apple iPhone 4, which is being regarded as the most unique device, is not capable of making video calls over a 3G mobile network despite being a 4th generation smartphone.

Users in India can make video calls using WiFi networks, but not over 3G as the application which enables the service is locked by Apple.

The Apple spokesperson in India said, "FaceTime, the application that allows video calling on the Apple iPhone 4, is a closed user application that allows people having iPhone or compatible Apple hardware like the iPad 2 and forth generation iPod touch running FaceTime application to have video calling."

Vodafone rolls out 3G services in Kolkata

With internet speeds upto 21.1 Mbps, Vodafone 3G users can enjoy a host of services like video calling, fast internet, and mobile TV.

Vodafone Essar Ltd has rolled out its 3G services in Kolkata. 

With internet speeds upto 21.1 Mbps, Vodafone 3G users can enjoy a host of services like video calling, fast internet, and mobile TV.

Speaking on the occasion, Sridhar Rao, chief executive officer, Vodafone Essar East limited, said, "There are numerous avenues for the consumer to have faster access to entertainment, better fulfillment of their information needs and a smarter way to communicate, while on the go. We expect a strong uptake and high demand for these 3G Services and we welcome all our subscribers to faster, smarter, better world of Vodafone 3G."

Top five 3G service providers in India

Although the race is far from over, current subscriber numbers indicate close competition among 3G service providers. Current standings are: BSNL, Airtel, Reliance, Docomo and Idea, in that order.

It has been just six months since 3G services were launched by private players in the country and the installation process is not even complete with many major towns yet to be covered by 3G networks. Yet, subscriber numbers already show decent uptake with more than 13 million people already using third generation telephony services. 

Public sector units like BSNL and MTNL, which got 3G spectrum licenses a year ahead of private players and have been offering services for as long, failed to get many takers, which raised doubts as to whether 3G would be accepted by the masses. 

Now an ad supported Kindle 3G

Amazon makes it a point to make a statement that the Wi-Fi version of Kindle with Special Offers has done exceedingly well and that the user were actually asking for the 3G version as well, which the company has released now.

Amazon, the online retail giant, has now come up with a 3G capable Kindle e-book reader for a special price of $164 (about Rs 7,500). Just like the earlier WiFi model, the 3G ad supported Kindle is also $25 cheaper than the one which comes without ads. 

"Kindle is the bestselling e-reader in the world. It's been just six weeks since we introduced the new $114 Kindle with special offers, and already customers have made it the bestselling member of the Kindle family," said Jay Marine, director, Amazon Kindle. 

Idea extends 3G services in Himachal

Idea's 3G services now extend to Dharamshala, Mandi, Sunder Nagar and Mcleodganj in HP.

Idea Cellular has expanded its 3G services to four more towns of Himachal Pradesh namely Dharamshala, Mcleodganj, Mandi and Sunder Nagar. 

The teleco launched 3G services on its network in Himachal Pradesh, starting with the two major towns, Shimla and Baddi, in March this year.

3G needs more time, say experts

Mumbai: Although 3G services launched by private telecom companies have seen a good traction so far, it will take about six months to a year for the network to mature and be robust, feel officials with telcos and analysts.

Operators are not only focused on getting a blanket 3G coverage in circles where they have won spectrum, but also on getting a pan-India 3G footprint. While they have invested heavily in getting 3G licenses, they are also devising small sachet plans to get low average revenue per user (arpu) subscribers to use these services.

3G Attracts 9 Million Users In 4 Months

The third generation (3G) has created a rage since its launch four months ago, garnering at least 9 million active users ever since. This number holds special significance taken into consideration that till date, there are only 11 million wireline broadband customers.

Bharti Airtel leads the 3G race with with 3 million active subscribers closely followed by Tata DoCoMo with 1.5 million subscribers. BSNL, Idea Cellular and Vodafone have about a million 3G subscribers each. Reliance communications was reluctant to disclose the numbers, but reliable sources revealed that it also had close to a million subscribers.

iPhone 4 Indian Launch On 27th May At An Unbelievably Low Price ?

As cellular providers – Aircel & Airtel already confirmed the launch of iPhone in India very soon, we are still predicting about the launch date which could match with these words. Some of the solid sources have already inquired us that the iPhone 4 will land in India at an unbelievably low price. Does that mean sub 30k ? We already know that iPhone 3G S and 3G hit the Indian market with a price tag of above 30k and people really astonished when it crossed their expectations due to low prices in US. However, the doubts were cleared after the concept of contract from AT&T came into existence. 

Mobile expected to pace India's broadband penetration

Mobile broadband subscriptions using 3G technologies in India are expected to reach 41 million connections by the end of the year, far outpacing the 11 million connections using wired technologies, according to Maravedis.

The report predicts Bharti Airtel will lead the charge in 3G connections as it moves forward with its network build, while those operators looking to deploy either WiMAX or TD-LTE using their BWA licenses are expected to lag in the near term. Bharti Airtel was the country’s largest operator with more than 146 million subscribers near the end of last year.

Nokia to introduce 'Search' feature on phones

CHENNAI: Finnish handset maker Nokia plans to introduce a new feature on its mobile phones, 'Search', which will enable users to identify a particular locality at the click of a button. 

The new feature helps customers to identify a place or a shopping mall or a food joint from their mobile phones, Nokia India Director - Operator Channel V Ramnath said. 

"We are planning to introduce the 'Search' option that gives out details about a particular locality or anything you want to know. For example, if you want to know a food joint in Nungambakkam (in Chennai), it will give out the details of food joints present nearby," he told reporters here. 

Aircel promotes Hindi film ZNMD through mobile

Aircel subscribers will be able to access two-three minute promos of the Hindi movie Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara (ZNMD) on their mobile devices.

Excel Productions' Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara (ZNMD), starring Hrithik Roshan, Katrina Kaif, Farhan Akhtar, Abhay Deol and Kalki Koechlin, had its first promo (film's teaser) on Aircel networks and online. Subscribers of Aircel will be able to access two-three minute promos of the film on their mobile devices.

Till now first promos are held in film theatres or TV but given the fact that there are 800 million mobile users in the country, mobile is becoming a medium of choice for consuming entertainment services, and so also a choice for its distribution.

Ritesh Sidhwani of Excel Entertainment, which is co-producing the film with Farhan Akhtar, is confident of generating viewer interest. 

"We are breaking the rules by prioritising our theatrical launch on a medium like web and mobile, which is where people consume content nowadays," he adds.

While internet has become a medium of choice for some time now, with producers of films like Dev-D, Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na and Emotional Attyachar spending a lot of effort on the internet as a medium. For mobile, it's the first and this trend is likely to catch on.

Aircel rolls out 3G in Jammu

After a successfully launching its 3G Services in Srinagar, Aircel Thursday rolled out the services in Jammu.Hub Business Head Gurmeet Makkar and Circle Operations Head Harvinder Pal Singh kicked off the much awaited services at an impressive function in Jammu.

Hub business head said that 3G is going to propel the internet penetration in the state and this facility can be used by people belonging to various shades of life.

“3G tariffs would be quite economical and these can up go up with the class of people. Fast internet, high-speed data transfer, multiplayer gaming, entertainment, Live TV, Video Calling and maximum download facility are some of the key features of our 3G service. All this would be available to our subscribers in Jammu. We have got license to run the 2G service in 22 circles and broadband wireless access in 8 circles,” said Makkar.

DoT to invite bids for National Wireless Broadband in June

KOLKATA: In June, the telecom department will invite bids from mobile phone companies, fixed-line operators and ISPs to kick off its countrywide wireless broadband push aimed at bridging the digital divide. However, the telecom department has decided to put up only one slot for bidding in each of the 22 circles. This means, only one private telecom player will be allowed to roll out a wireless broadband network in each telecom zone. The second slot has been reserved for state-owned BSNL. The project will be subsidised by the Universal Service Obligation Fund , or USOF. 

 "BSNL will be asked to match the L1 price quoted by the successful private sector bidder in each circle after we conclude the tendering exercise that is likely to start next month. The objective is to expand pan-India wireless broadband coverage by leveraging the existing passive infrastructure created for mobile telephony in rural and remote locations," said a senior official in the telecom department. "If no private telco bids in a particular circle, BSNL will be asked to go it alone there," added an official in the telecom department. 

 While potential bidders will be free to choose any appropriate technology platform, the telecom department is likely to give preference to companies that bagged 3G and BWA airwaves. 

 Since the rural wireless broadband rollout will be largely funded with subsidy from the USOF, the telecom department is about to finalise the specific subsidy component for all 22 circles based on the revenue potential and business viability of rolling out wireless broadband networks in each service area.

State Wise 3G Licenses in India

India is now 3G..Switch to 3G..get Super-fast Speed, Be Super, Start 3G Life and Many more are now each home via digital Media as print and News media are full of 3G Buzz now days to attract customers to own network and subscribe for 3G Services. But before getting 3G Services lets explore the 3G World that what are possibilities of 3G services with your operators and where they offer services as none of them have 3G Licenses to more than 13 except BSNL. 3G GSM Service licence bid touches Rs. 16,751 crore which ensures the Government of India a revenue of Rs. 67,719 crore. No single bidder bid for a pan-India 3G license so state operator BSNL would be remain the biggest 3G operator in India. Here are state wise operators having 3G Licenses in India.

Network crash points to Airtel system loopholes

The failure of Bharti Airtel’s network on Thursday— it crashed for several hours without notice leaving 8 million consumers helpless — has raised two fundamental issues. One, whether the launch of 3G value-added services is adversely affecting primary services. And two, whether India’s largest telecom company has over-outsourced its equipment and management to vendors.

The company did not give any reason for failure of its network. “An unforeseen technical outage had affected services on some of our circuits,” a Bharti spokesperson said. “As a result some of Airtel Delhi mobile subscribers have experienced connectivity issues.”

But the issues could be larger. “The network architecture has become very complex after the launch of 3G services,” said a former CTO of a large telecom company. “That’s why calls drop frequently on networks that are offering 3G services.

The 3G network is overlayed over the existing 2G network and use the same core network.

“There are about 15 to 20 main switching centres (MSC) of Airtel in Delhi,” said the head of another telecom company. “Possibility is that due to some software glitch a few MSCs may have stopped working.

It could also be the firm’s aggressive outsourcing model. When a company outsources its entire technology to outside vendors, it does not have control over it in crisis situations.

While Bharti was the first company to outsource its network management and IT to vendors, other private operators have followed suit.

Citing that all its officials were busy in internal meetings, the company refused to comment.

“The problem is that the Indian companies do not have enough technical expertise to monitor the outsource activities,” said a former CMD of a government-owned telecom service provider.

RCom Introduces India's first user generated caller tune service

RCom users can activate the service by calling 56694400 or can avail it by logging into the operator's website.

Reliance Communications has introduced India's first user generated caller tune service that allows customers to record content via the 'Tune Maker' platform and then set it as their own caller tune. Subscribers can also post their creations on RCom's website for other subscribers' use.

RCom has partnered with Hyderabad based Altruist Technologies to create pan-India infrastructure for the new services.

According to Anil Pande, head, VAS, Reliance Communications, "UGC (user generated content) has seen exponential growth over the last few years. India being a multilingual country, voice is an important part of UGC."

Adding further, he said, "The service allows voice based content of users' choice to be shared and set as their caller tune. The technology support offered by Altruist enables to edit, link, and create content posted by customer, besides activating it as caller tune."

Improved mobile positioning services now available for Indian 2G and 3G subscribers

Subscribers of the Indian operator Aircel are now able to use real time tracking, navigation information and information services while on the move. The operator selected Ericsson to provide mobile positioning systems for its 2G and 3G customers, marking the Swedish vendor’s first contract managing the location-based services platform in a multi-vendor core network environment.

Ericsson Mobile Positioning Systems (MPS) will offer advanced Location Based Services (LBS) to Aircel subscribers and can support several positioning alternatives for GSM and WCDMA. These range from network-based methods with cell accuracy aimed for all terminals to more accurate terminal-based methods using GPS positioning.

The WCDMA positioning method - Cell ID with round-trip time measurement – enables improved positioning accuracy for 3G and 2G phones, and the solution can be easily upgraded. A web-based survey conducted by Ericsson Consumer Lab in India revealed that the services most in demand are Family Finder (48%) and Navigation (52%).

Mallikarjun Rao, Chief Technology Officer Aircel, said: "There is huge potential in offering this value-added service to our consumers. Most Indians spend on average 90 minutes per day on the roads; location-based services will definitely increase efficiency and enhance the quality of their life.”

Amarjeet Singh, Vice President & Customer Unit Head for Aircel, Ericsson India, says: "The advanced location based intelligent service will not only provide information pertaining to a particular area but also be an invaluable analytical tool for addressing issues such as public safety and security, health care, emergency services, and so on."

As part of this three-year contract for supply and support, Ericsson will supply its Mobile Positioning Centre (GMPC and SMPC) and features that support various applications to Aircel.

WiFi Only Galaxy Tab 7″ hardware differs from 3G model

This looks like nothing but bad news, according to some pretty unhappy users over at the XDA forums it looks like the WiFi-Only Samsung Galaxy Tab (original 7″ model) has been downgraded on more than just a few things. It is much less than just a Galaxy Tab with no 3G radio inside. This has nothing to do with the upcoming 8.9″ or 10″ but it is disturbing news either way. Users are reporting it to have different hardware inside all together, with Samsung never mentioning this that is not cool. Weaker GPU that performs much worse in gaming, video playback taking a huge hit with that as well, even lack of HDMI features and more.

If you look at that 3rd line from the bottom in the picture above you will see PowerVR SGX530 listed as the graphics processor. The original Galaxy Tab and all Galaxy S phones came with the Samsung Hummingbird CPU that had a PowerVR SGX540 GPU. Why does this matter, the SGX530 is much, much weaker. You will have slower, and worse gaming performance as well as video playback suffering. YouTube content in HD struggles, but was smooth before. This is all because the weaker GPU. All Galaxy S phones have a lower resolution with a better CPU/GPU so video playback and games rock, but the Galaxy Tab resolution is 1024×600, much larger with a weaker GPU. Some users reported anything in YouTube above 480p struggled.

Idea rings in the 'Power of 3G' in Goa

Goans & Tourists can now experience Gold Standard 3G services in Panaji, Mapusa, Margao, Vasco and Ponda

• Enjoy Video Conferencing, Video on Demand, Mobile TV, IdeaMall and high-speed Internet
• Easy & Convenient Time based Billing plans for 3G services
• Visit www.ideacellular.com/3g or 3G Experience Kiosks at select Idea stores in Goa

IDEA Cellular, India’s third largest mobile operator and the leader in Maharashtra & Goa announced the launch of its ‘Gold Standard’ 3G services in the hot tourist destination of Goa, today. Idea’s 3G services are now available in 9 circles - MP, Gujarat, HP, UP West, UP East, AP, Kerala and Haryana, besides Maharashtra, and has already enrolled over 1 million users in the first of month of launch.

Idea’s 3G services will be available in Panaji, Mapusa, Margao, Vasco and Ponda in Goa. Idea’s 3G services now cover 4 major cities in Maharashtra & Goa, and will progressively grow to cover 400 towns by mid year, and over 750 towns by the end of FY12. Idea has traditionally focused on growth from semi-urban heartlands of India and will continue to drive its 3G services from these industrial, agricultural and educational regions.