News Digest – Week Ending 25-Apr-10

Devices Another feather in Micromax’s cap – A windows mobile phone with MapMyIndia maps preloaded. QWERTY phones from Intex are now available at Rs. 2200. Latest handset manufacturer in India is Alcatel – They have launched with 3 models with Kangna as the brand ambassador apparently. Next in line is ZTE . The leader meanwhile has launched 4 new models and is also dropping prices . Applications/Services Nokia have answered the criticism that most of Ovi store downloads would be the ringtones & wallpapers – They claim that 75% of downloads are apps! That is certainly interesting & impressive! No data on India alone though! (Photo courtesy: Telecom Talk ) God on Mobile — Airtel has launched “Live Aarti” service – live devotional hymns from popular (& money making) shrines across the country. This link also shows other such services available now, do have a look. Reliance has introduced ‘fables’ on voice portal targeting children. See some innovative location based applications here – winners of Navteq challenge. Google’s voice search in India is either a complete failure or it was done only for some data collection purposes – the plug on it has been pulled . Slowly, apart from operators, other brands like educational services are also getting into mobile based service offerings – ILFS is launching a service for English language learning. Operators Airtel has launched a world SIM that lets you pay less while roaming outside the country – mCarbon has developed it. Airtel’s foreign buys are finding one problem or the other – the Bangladesh buy is to be probed by the parliament there, apparently. Unitech is not participating in 3G auctions – nor is it giving any right signals to succeed in the market. Meanwhile, Videocon is looking for a foreign partner. Regulation 3G auctions continue after 13 days and 76 rounds, prices have almost doubled, with Delhi & Mumbai leading the way. An analysis of the fair price for 3G auctions is available here. Meanwhile, MTNL is launching newer & newer services on its 3G network – IPTV is the latest . Miscellaneous An article on the growth of Chinese smartphones in India is available here . Citibank’s results with ‘Tap & Pay’ trial in India is available here (free subscription needed). No major insights to me – except that a lot of people use it just to get free handsets