Spice to launch tablet PCs in July

Spice had earlier announced that it plans to offer affordable Android devices to Indian consumers to surf the net, and Android handsets between Rs 5,000 to Rs 10,000.

To capitalise on the Android and tablet wave, Spice will launch three tablets based on Android 2.3 operating system in India in July this year.

Dilip Modi, managing director of Spice Mobility, told 'The Mobile Indian', "We will launch 7, 9 and 10 inch tablets based on Gingerbread in mid-July and they will be available for less than Rs 20,000."

The upcoming 7 inch tablet, to be called Spice Mi-700, will have dual cameras for video calling and will be powered by a Qualcomm chipset.

Licences of Idea, Spice may be cancelled

NEW DELHI: The telecom ministry has issued a showcause notice to Idea Cellular for the Karnataka circle and Spice for the Andhra Pradesh circle for cancellation of licences on account of a delay in network rollout. "Yes, they have been issued (notices). Idea Cellular for Karnataka and Spice for Andhra Pradesh have been issued showcause notice for cancellation of license on account of delayed roll-out obligations," telecom secretary R Chandrasekhar said.

In 2008, Idea bought Spice, but has not yet received approval from DoT to go ahead with the merger. The notices have been sent recently. The companies have been given 60 days to respond, he said. Idea and Spice Telecom had procured these licences in January, 2008, under the regime of former telecom minister A Raja, who has been arrested on charges of irregularities in distribution of 122 new licences with 2G spectrum.

Spice Mobility to focus on internet ready Android devices

Spice will launch devices in the range of Rs 5,000 to Rs 10,000 so that people from different strata of society can buy them.

At a time when 3G has just taken off and more and more handset players are focusing on internet enabled mobiles, Spice Mobility too has announced that it will focus on internet ready devices.

B.K. Modi, chairman, Spice Mobility, announcing the switch towards internet ready phones, said, "The Indian youth has moved away from the basics of roti, kapda and makaan. They now need mobile internet to be fully productive. It is our duty to support the Indian government in making the country internet literate and remove the digital divide."

Modi further said, "We will be focusing on devices running on Android (operating system) and supported by chipset from Media Tek."

He further elaborated Spice's plans to offer affordable Android devices to Indian consumers to surf the net. At present, around 27 per cent of total mobile users in India use the internet on their handsets and by 2015, the figures will have swollen to around 75 per cent.

However, this will happen only if mobile users have access to affordable internet-ready handsets.

On prices, Modi said, "We will launch devices in the range of Rs 5,000 to Rs 10,000 so that people from different strata of society can buy them."

Currently, Spice has two Android phones, Spice Mi-300 and Spice Mi-310.

Mi-300 is an Android 2.1 phone with an 8 cm capacitive touchscreen. It supports 3.5G and HSPA. The handset has a 5 mega pixel camera, Wifi, GPS and AGPS. It also has Google messaging service with push mail.

Spice Mi-310 is based on Android 2.2 (Froyo) operating system. It is a touchscreen phone with GPS, AGPS and Wifi hotspot functionality that allows users to connect five handsets to share their data connection.

Meanwhile, apart from North India where it has a good market share, Spice also plans to strengthen its position and improve its visibility in other regions of the country. To do so it will also create seven clusters in Delhi, Kolkata, Jaipur, Bhugneshwar, Mumbai, Bangalore and Chennai.