Nokia to frequently refresh Windows Phone portfolio

Unlike other companies which treat Windows Phone 7 as the secondary operating system, Nokia is betting big on it. That's why it needs to keep its product portfolio fresh to keep the enthusiasm alive in the market.

Nokia, which may come out with its first Windows Phone probably in September or October this year, is likely to launch newer models on the same platform every few months after that.

"We should be launching new devices in a rhythm that might be every couple of months, every three months, something like that," said Jo Harlow, Nokia's executive vice president of smart devices, to PCMag.

India's GSM subscriber base crosses 580 million customers in April

The Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) has released some interesting data about the Indian GSM mobile subscriber base, and how various operators are faring. The total GSM subscriber base increased by 1.95 per cent in the month of April with 11.11 million new subscribers – taking the total up to a nice and massive 580.67 million. April’s growth figures are much lower than the first three months of 2011, which saw 13-15 million new subscribers each, and, quite a bit lower than monthly figures over the past year.

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."

Ericsson to offer location based service to Aircel

NEW DELHI, INDIA: Networking solutions vendor Ericsson will provide mobile positioning systems for telecom service provider Aircel's 2G and 3G subscribers.

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.  

Ericsson Mobile Positioning Systems (MPS) will offer location based services (LBS) to Aircel subscribers and can support several positioning alternatives for GSM and WCDMA.

That ranges 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 -  will improve the positioning accuracy for 3G and 2G phones.

Mallikarjun Rao, CTO 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.  Our belief in Ericsson technological superiority and their unparallel support gives us the confidence to provide superior services to our customers.”

Amarjeet Singh, VP & 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.”

Starting this July, Aircel subscribers will be able to use the service.

Win exciting gifts daily with TATA DOCOMO Summer Carnival Contest

TATA DOCOMO, the GSM brand of Tata Teleservices Limited, has announced ‘Summer Carnival Contest’ for both prepay and postpay customers. Under the contest, 5 lucky winners from each circle will get a chance to avail Scratch & Win vouchers carrying prizes worth up to Rs 5000/- daily by answering simple questions based on cricket, Bollywood, general knowledge etc. For each correct answer, the customer will score 10 points, amongst which top 5 highest scorers at the end of the day will get a ‘Scratch and Win’ voucher carrying prizes worth up to Rs 5,000/- each. The contest is valid till 28th May, 2011.

Scratch & Win vouchers offer 8 branded gifts including Wrist watch, Digital Camera, Travel Bag, iPod, Sunglasses, Cash Back, Home theater & holiday package. The winners can redeem their vouchers by entering their Scratch Card No. on http://Click2Redeem.com

To participate in the contest, customers have to send SMS ‘SUB DAYCRI’ to 54321 or Dial *654*1# chargeable at Rs 5/- daily. Post the subscription, customers will get cricket score updates along with a chance of participating in the contest by answering simple questions. Customers can respond to the questions by replying A or B to 54321 at Rs 1/-.