HTC Corporation, one of the fastest growing companies in the mobile industry and Tata DOCOMO, the GSM arm of Tata Teleservices Limited has announced the launch of the HTC ChaCha in India. The HTC ChaCha powered by the latest Android operating system features a dedicated Facebook button integrated throughout the HTC Sense experience that allows you to share anything at a single touch.
Tata DOCOMO is providing this smartphone Under the bundle offer in which 3G prepaid customers can avail 3GB free data valid for a period of 90 days whereas 1GB free data is offered free each month to postpaid customers across all 3G circles valid for 90 days. All 3G customers will also get 3 hour of free Mobile TV that includes data access charges valid for 90 days.

While Tata DOCOMO 2G prepaid customers can avail 3GB free data and 300 Tata to Tata local calling valid for a period of 90 days whereas 1GB free data and 100 minutes Tata to Tata calling is offered free each month for 3 months to postpaid customers across all 2G circles
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Introducing new smart device for Tata DOCOCMO customers, Mr Sunil Tandon, Head – Mobility Services & Devices Management, Tata Teleservices Limited, said “Devices are an important element of the entire 3G ecosystem to drive penetration and increase the adoption of 3G services. Tata DOCOMO partners with various smart phone handset makers and is taking a conscious leap in co-promotion that is not only affordable but in-built with rich features and capabilities. In the recent past we launched HTC Desire & HTC Mozart for Tata DOCOMO customers across our circles of operation and going forward will continue to work together to bring innovative valued based products and services on GSM platform.”

Features of HTC ChaCha:
This HTC smartphone is designed to provide a seamless, social experience by enabling you to stay in touch with your friends anytime, anywhere. The unique tilt design shapes the display and physical QWERTY keyboard so it is easy to view and comfortable to type. Capture special moments in crisp details, using the 5-megapixel color camera with auto focus and LED flash. The phone is also equipped with a VGA front-facing camera. The ChaCha smartphone brings the Internet to your fingertips with a 2.6-inch, 480 x 320 resolution landscape touch screen.

The new HTC ChaCha will be available at a Market Operating Price of Rs. 15, 990 at all authorized HTC resellers across the country. (Prices may vary according to the local applicable taxes)

Bharti Airtel, a leading global telecommunications company has announced the launch of its 3G services in three more cities of Rajasthan making wider reach of its 3G services. Airtel customers in Jaisalmer, Barmer and Balotra can now experience the Airtel 3G advantage and enjoy a host of exciting services including high speed mobile Internet, video calls, Mobile TV and much more
A wide range of LIVE and on-demand TV channels as well as shows are now available on Airtel 3G Mobile TV. To subscribe – customers can use their mobile phones to visit the ‘3G Zone’ on Airtel LIVE, select Mobile TV, simply download and install the application, select their favourite TV content – and start viewing.
Apart from Mobile TV, Airtel 3G will allow customers to enjoy various other exciting service offerings including video calls, high speed internet and video capabilities on social networks. Enabling fast internet access on-the-go, Airtel 3G dongles are also now available for laptop users.


All these services can be enjoyed seamlessly as Airtel provides its customers with timely updates and alerts on their data usage – helping them control their expenditure. The company has also introduced a first of its kind ‘internet usage calculator’ available online to help customers analyse their current internet data usage and choose an Airtel 3G plan accordingly.

To know more or join Airtel 3G services – customers can visit http://www.airtel.in/Airtel3G , call 12134 (toll free) or SMS ‘3G HELP’ to 121.

Vodafone Essar, one of India’s leading cellular service providers, announced the launch of its mobile newspaper – Newswrap for its customers across Tamil Nadu. Vodafone Newswrap will include different genres of news like national, international, business, current affairs, entertainment and sports.
In addition to regular morning and evening alerts, any Breaking News will be available at the subscribers’ fingertips. Newswrap provides the reader with a brief synopsis of the news bulletin along with pictures and makes the reading experience more informative. A customer can subscribe to the daily alert priced at Rs 1, weekly alerts at Rs 5 or the monthly alerts at Rs 20.

Steps to activate Vodafone Mobile Newspaper :

• Vodafone customers send MN as an SMS to 111( toll free )

• They will receive the link for Vodafone Newswrap WAP page which users have to click

• The page consists of different price options which users can click subscribe from – daily/weekly/monthly basis

• Customers will start receiving the news alerts

• The link can also be accessed from Vodafone Live subscribing to this service can read the news as an MMS and will be updated with the latest happenings around the world.

The Telia branded mobile payment service is a solution delivered by leading payment service provider ‘PayEx’. Accumulate’s mobile security platform Mobile Everywhere (ME) is used for securing all mobile transactions and for the enabling of mobile services as a integrated part of the PayEx mobile payment solutions. With the platform all mobile financial services can be served using one platform; mobile payment, mobile banking and mobile security.

“We have been working with Accumulate and their Mobile Everywhere platform for a long time and we are convinced that it is the right solution for enabling secure and easy to use mobile payments”, says Raymond Klavestad, CEO of PayEx Solutions.

First out is SMS Premium payments like for ticketing, music and purchase of goods in vending machines and person-to-person money transfer. The solution provided by Accumulate can easily enable more payment options and other mobile services, and this without having the end user to re-download, re-install and reactivate their mobile application. The service is from start available on all major mobile platforms.

Organizations that want to offer mobile financial services to its customers can with the mobile security platform from Accumulate enable secure and easy to use services like:

• Mobile payments – POS (incl. NFC payments), person-to-person, online, vending machines, remittance, etc.
• Mobile banking – full mobile channel to all informational and transactional services.
• Other services – examples; ticketing, coupons, loyalty and membership points
• Online card transactions – example is using the mobile for 3D Secure.

Accumulate is a leading provider of secure online solutions for mobile. The company’s patented technology offers solutions such as mobile financial services and security services using your mobile for secure authentication, login and electronic signing.

Mobile Number Portability (MNP) has become successful since it was launched in January. So far over 8.5 million mobile users has decided to change their service provider over the three months since the availability of the service. According to Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) by April-end, more than 8.54 million requests for MNP had come in from across the country.


Mobile phone users in Gujarat, Rajasthan and Karnataka seem to be most unhappy with their current service providers as more than 2.2 million requests for MNP originated from these states, TRAI said.

According to TRAI, the maximum number of requests, 8,33,672, were received from Gujarat followed by Rajasthan with 710,767 requests, whereas in southern and eastern India the maximum number of requests were received from Karnataka, 663,151 followed by Tamil Nadu Service with 641,437 requests. Some certain requests were rejected by telcos for non-payment of outstanding bills and non-completion of 90 days from the date of activation of mobile number.

Videocon, the GSM Mobile Service providers which is known for unbelievable cheapest packs and plans has slashed its ISD call rates to some popular destinations making an international call even be cheaper than making a local call.

According to Mr. Arvind Bali, Director, Videocon India Ltd, “Videocon Mobile Services with its first-of-its-kind ISD Pack, both for existing and new subscribers, will provide international connectivity at 30 paise a minute. This is cheaper than making a local call.”


He said the Videocon Mobile Services has launched special package to facilitate their constant connectivity through mobile phones. Bali added: “The milestone is a reflection of Videocon’s commitment to provide customer-focused solutions.”

Nokia, Leading handset manufacturer has officially launched two new mobile phones Nokia X1-01 and Nokia C2-00 in dual-SIM handset category. The company has announced the arrival of Nokia X1-01 and Nokia C2-00 atits ‘A Twin’s Day Out‘ event in Delhi

Nokia’s new dual-SIM handsets – C2-00 and X1-01 – are priced at about Rs 3,000 and Rs 2,000 respectively. Nokia C2-00 has expandable memory up to 32 GB and allows users to browse the Internet, while Nokia X1-01 offers up to 36 hours of continued music playback. Nokia X1-01 mobile phone also offers Nokia Money service that provides financial independence to the consumers.

According to Mr Prakash Katama, Director, Chennai Factory, Nokia India, these latest entry-level variants from Nokia are C2-00 will be priced around Rs 3,000, however the other model Nokia X1-01 will be priced under Rs 2,000. Although, the exact price of these dual SIM devices is not yet confirmed and they are expected to hit the market in some days.Katama, told to the reporters on the launch of its dual SIM phones, which are made in India, Yes, we are a late entrant in the dual-SIM segment but with our affordable price point we can achieve leadership position quickly.

The dual SIM mobiles are the need of the day, as most of the mobile users are searching for dual SIM phones in India. Both these handsets are offering services like Nokia Life Tools that provide users a wide arena of information including agriculture, healthcare, education and entertainment.

Bharti Airtel, India’s leading Telecom services provider has commenced the rollout of Airtel 3G services in Jammu & Kashmir starting with the capital city of Srinagar. Powered by 160 sites in Srinagar alone, Airtel 3G services will gradually be launched across the state of Jammu & Kashmir in coming weeks.

Aimed at empowering customers in Kashmir with the ability to get a first-hand experience of the exciting capabilities that Airtel 3G services can deliver (such as fast Airtel mobile internet access, Mobile TV, video calls, social networking on-the-go, video streaming and Multi- player gaming),- eight Airtel 3G experience zones have been positioned across all major locations in Srinagar. With this, customers in Kashmir will now be able to join 3 million plus Airtel customers across India, that are already enjoying a host of unique services that 3G enables.

With Airtel 3G services, customers can now access a wide array of capabilities at speeds never experienced before – thereby bringing them closer to all that they love. Airtel 3G customers can enjoy the benefits of 3G speeds on the device of their choice – be it their mobile handsets, laptops, dongles or tablets.

Hostgator India has launched hosting operation on Indian servers, and promises the same world class hosting services as its US operations. HostGator is one of the 10 largest hosting companies in the world and HostGator India accounts can now be bought at hostgator.in.

This is a big step as big hosting companies recognize the importance of millions of India based sites and the need to diversify their hosting business into India. We got an email from Hostgator offering a free 7 day test / trial account of their shared HostGator India accounts. You can email them to get a beta testing account. This was possibly sent out to current HostGator clients with a billing address in India only.




India Site Owners Advantage
  
HostGator India will now host your site on servers in India. They have already started an India office at Nashik, Maharashtra which provides 24×7 technical hosting and billing support. This will benefit Indian webmasters and small hosting resellers as their primary working hours will be in India time and you can physically visit the office if needed.
Additionally the latency to the Indian servers from within India and Asia is very low, so you get quick access times leading to quick loading admin/cpanel, faster loading sites with quicker site response time for visitors, without the need for a CDN for your primary Asian traffic.
 
Hostgator India Plans

The hosting plans and server pricing on hostgator.in are exactly same as US site hostgator.com. However, you will have to pay service tax @ 10.30% extra as required by Indian tax laws.

Right now don’t be surprised to see hosting plans in USD or lack of payment mode by local banks and credit cards, as they will all be integrated soon enough. The wait is over for Hostgator customers in India.
 

India is all set to move on from 3G to 4G, technically known as Long Term Evolution in mobile broadband, leading industry and technology experts said at LTE India 2011 international conference organized by Bharat Exhibitions today.

“With mass adoption, lowest cost per bit, highest capacity, best user experience and a true global standard, the world is stepping into 4G expecting 380 million LTE subscribers and 80 plus LTE networks by 2015” said Mr. Sujit Bakre, Nokia Siemens Networks head of 4G business development.

“India could lead LTE-TD broadband technology developments” Mr. Mallikarjuna Rao, chief technology officer of Aircel said at the conference. The reason: “lot of competence in this area is returning to India from outside”. DOT, Ministry of Communications & IT, advisor (technology) Shri J. Gopal was guest of honour at the international conference, second one in the last two years on this latest development in mobile phone broadband technology.

Bharti Airtel VP for networks Mr. Puneet Garg put 2012 as the year of “next step towards a broadband wireless revolution using LTE” that “will change the way people connect to communicate” Bharti Airtel was ready for this change over, he said.

LTE or 4G would be a smooth transition using core set up of the 2G/3G networks, several experts emphasized at the conference, a transition “dramatically matured”. Already with globally 18 launches with 208 network commitments, the 100 Megabits per second LTE service was described by several experts and operator executives as providing a “unique consumer experience”. Worldwide trials had already started in 2010.

In China large scale trials had been started by China Mobile. In India Qualcomm and Huawei had set up a trial network in Hyderabad. “It is an opportunity for India to telescope change but the technology would support only four or five operators provided they have a pan India reach” according to Mr. Mallikarjuna Rao.

Making it truly global platform to conduct business, global majors engaged in wireless broadband technology – Nokia Siemens Networks, Qualcomm, ZTE, Huawei, Samsung, Alcatel-Lucent, Tekelec, Verint Systems, DragonWave HFCL & Tellabs participated in the event & shared their plans for India

Key executives from telecom operators like Airtel, Vodafone, Idea, Aircel, BSNL, MTNL, Reliance Communications, TATA Teleservices, Sistema Shyam, Etisalat, Videocon Telecommunications and Uninor had attended the conference. 

Tata Teleservices, India’s fastest-growing dual technology pan-India telecom service provider, has today launched Tata Photon Music, an exclusive website www.tataphotonmusic.com for Tata Photon Plus postpaid customers where they can view, play, download from the range of latest music, videos, ring tones, wallpapers, etc.

A first of its kind initiative in the industry, Tata Photon Music will add rhythm to life with entertaining content on the go! The content available on the website ranges from ringtones to wallpapers, bollywood songs to devotional music, regional songs to International numbers and Indian classical to

To download the content, customer has to visit www.tataphotonmusic.com and select their favorite music, video, ringtone or wallpaper. For all the Tata Photon Plus customers, unlimited download pack for Rs 99/month is available under which they can download tracks, listen to preview of tracks, download music videos, ringtones and wallpaper. This pack will be auto-renewed at the end of the user’s 30 day subscription period. Customers can access this service both from their laptop/desktop PC.

To participate in the Ultimate Playlist Contest, users have to create a playlist of 10 songs and share them on facebook. The playlist with the most number of votes stands to win weekly Ipods as prizes and a grand prize comprising of the Bose Lifestyle 18 Home Entertainment System!

“Passing on the core benefits like speed, superior technology and network strength and now music surely sets us apart from other dongle business in the market-place. Tata Photon Plus is by far the market leader in wireless mobile broadband space offering high speed data services on the go. Now adding entertainment and fun along with core internet services will surely spice up and entice consumers to download latest music and listen to their favorite tracks, all at a single click! With the launch of Tata Photon Music, we aim at changing the way infotainment services are consumed and reinvent the ways through which our customer can experience entertainment – anytime, anywhere!” Mr Sanjeev Khera Regional Head- South Hub & Chief Operating Officer for Karnataka Circle, Tata Indicom, said.

Idea Cellular, India’s 3rd largest mobile operator brings a chance to vote for your favourite star in the country’s first online reality show! Those who have been following the contest closely, over the last few months, now have a chance to make their views and comments count, as the 4 finalists – Gavin, Deepak, Sameer and Nisarg – fight it out for the top spot.

Idea launched the first ever ‘online reality show’ using various social media platforms across the web. The four participants have come through a grueling competition! The contestants were sent to different cities to perform their set of tasks for which they could take help from over 3,40,000 Idea fans on Facebook, by posting their queries basis the task given to him and trying to finish it in the minimal possible time span.

Facebook users can log on to www.facebook.com/idea and watch the videos of the contestants’ on-ground tasks that were assigned to them in 4 different cities. Fans can cast their vote by putting their comments on the uploaded videos. Voting lines will be open till midnight May 31. The online support that the contenders got, along with the successful completion of their on-ground tasks and the number of votes they receive in the form of ‘comments’ on the Idea Facebook Page, will determine the final winner.

In the final leg of the online reality show, the final 4 contestants Gavin, Deepak, Sameer and Nisarg were sent to Kochi, Ahmedabad, Kolkata and Delhi, respectively, and given different tasks. The video footage from each day, posted on the Idea Facebook page captures their on-ground journey.

Idea is also acknowledging all its fans who help these contestants with their valuable comments and suggestions by giving them free Cleartrip travel vouchers worth Rs. 1,000, every time they support the contestants to perform their tasks better.

Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited ( BSNL ), has launched Special Tariff Plans for Paramilitary Forces serving the nation. The two plans launched are the Paramilitary Plan and the Officer Plan for the jawans & officers respectively. With these special tariff plans, BSNL endeavors to benefit over 9 lakh Paramilitary jawans.

Under the Paramilitary Plan jawans will get daily free talk time for 20 minutes on any two BSNL numbers anywhere in country. The facility is also free of cost while on roaming. Other than that the Paramilitary Plan offers Reduced Calling charges @ 0.20 P/ min on any two BSNL numbers; be it mobile or landline. Another plan in the offing is Reduced Calling charges @ 0.30 P/ min on any one BSNL number to talk with a relative, anywhere in the country. The Paramilitary Plan is available both on 2G and 3G along with reduced video calling charges @ 0.70 P/ min

Under the Officers Plan, serving officers can avail unlimited free calls to any BSNL numbers within a circle and 500 free SMS, both local & national. Besides this, they can avail 1500 minutes / month free STD calls on any BSNL numbers. This also includes 300 minutes of free I/C roaming call and 200 minutes of free O/G roaming call. The other features of the plan include per minute pulse, free night calling on one’s own network, unlimited free GPRS in Home LSA, STD calls @ 0.40 P / min, video calls @ 0.70 P / min. All this comes at a fixed monthly charge of Rs.425 + Taxes.

Apart from this, an economical plan has been launched with Fixed Monthly Charges of Rs.99 (Tax Inclusive), where one can enjoy Per Second Pulse and tariff beyond freebies @ 1 Paisa / Sec. Out of Rs.99 of Fixed Monthly Charges, apart from facilities mentioned above, the jawans can also avail additional talk time worth Rs.75/- per month. For control on expenditure, BSNL has also launched a pre-paid plan, whereby jawans can recharge their mobiles using by vouchers.

Idea Cellular organized a ‘Meet and Greet’ event to felicitate its subscribers to recognize their support and faith on the Idea network at a fun filled event in the capital today. The event provided an opportunity to Idea Subscribers to meet and greet their favorite Delhi Daredevil team.

The ‘Meet and Greet the Daredevils’ event saw shortlisted Idea subscribers, bat, bowl and Enjoy with the Delhi Daredevils team members. The subscribers were also quizzed on their knowledge on the Daredevils Team. 4 teams were formed comprising of Idea subscribers and 5 Daredevils team members each, who played against each other in friendly matches.
As part of the its ‘Meet and Greet the Delhi Daredevils’ offer, Idea Cellular, provided its subscribers with this splendid opportunity through its association with the Daredevils team.  Being the principal sponsored of the Delhi Daredevils team, the company offered cricket enthusiasts in Delhi a chance to meet the Delhi Daredevils, get match tickets and win an exclusive opportunity to be present at the Toss.

As part of this contest, Idea subscribers who availed ‘My Card’ voucher till 15th May 2011 stood a chance to win Tickets to Delhi Daredevils match and an exclusive opportunity to be present at the Toss, and Meet & Greet their favorite Delhi Daredevil players.

If you used to miss keeping in touch with family and friends on Facebook, because you don’t access internet on your mobile phone Then India’s leading telecommunications company, Bharti Airtel announced  unique service for you.  To deliver this, Airtel has launched the world’s first USSD-based service innovation that will allow its mobile customers to update their Facebook status messages, view / comment on / ‘Like’ news feed, post on friends’ walls, find / add friends, confirm friend requests, view notifications and much more without using the internet or activating GPRS capabilities.

Based on Fonetwish developed by U2opia Mobile, a social and mobile applications provider, this unique and affordable service is available first exclusively for Airtel customers in India and is set to empower more and more people across the country to stay connected with their loved ones through Facebook. Airtel customers have to dial *325# ( “*fbk#” ) to access Facebook – without subscribing to data plans.


What can Airtel customers do using USSD-based Facebook® access service?

• Update Facebook status for free
• Rs. 1/day will be applicable for accessing the full feature application that includes viewing news feeds, commenting on or liking news feed stories, posting on friends’ walls, confirming friend requests, viewing notifications, and finding as well as adding friends.

“At Facebook, we are always exploring ways to enable people to easily connect and share with friends on Facebook wherever they are, whenever they want,” said Mr. Henri Moissinac, Head of Mobile Business, Facebook. “This innovative USSD-based Facebook access service that will be offered by Airtel is another affordable and easy way for people to stay connected with their friends and family through Facebook.”

Bharti Airtel, India’s leading mobile operator, today introduced the name for Airtel’s New symbol as “Wave“. Crowd sourced through a six month long on line contest, this truly brought the winner “closer to his dream’ thereby bringing alive the brand promise of ‘dil jo chahey paas laye’. The name game online contest was initiated by Airtel in November 2010, inviting customers to recommend a name for the company’s new logo.

The name Wave, refers to the sweeping changes that Airtel strives to bring towards enriching the lives of its 200 million plus customers in 19 countries across Asia and Africa. It is also symbolic of ‘wave’ of progress and prosperity that brand Airtel continues to bring in the lives of its customers everyday, through its exciting products and services.

The winning entry was by Mukesh Chauhan. He is an engineer from Noida, Delhi NCR – whose dream of a vacation in Thailand is now coming true. 5 lucky voters have also won a Samsung Galaxy Tab each.

Tata Indicom, the CDMA brand of Tata Teleservices Limited (TTL), has launched a new avatar of ‘Pay Per Call’ (PPC) for its pre-paid customers in all circles. Now customers can enjoy multiple benefits such as reduced overall cost of the tariff without any daily rental and standard calling rates. Migrating to this PPC Plan is is extremely easy and is without any additional fee or charges,

Under this new pay per call offer, customers can make local calls at Re 1 for 5 minutes and STD calls at Rs 2 for a standard duration of 5 minutes without paying for any daily rental. Additionally, both local and national SMSes would be charged at 50 paise/SMS. This new offer is valid on all the calls made by Tata Indicom pre-paid customers to any mobile or land line connection, on any network. To avail new PPC plan, customers have to SMS ‘PPC’ to 12524 and they can migrate to the plan without incurring any


The new PPC plan offers a tariff validity of 365 days and incoming validity depends on the customer’s First Recharge Voucher (FRC). The offer is applicable for all the new customers whose FRC date is less than 90 days.

“Our pay-per-call plan received a phenomenal response from the customers across the circles. As a concept, it removed the clutter and confusion around a host of complex rate plans and offered customers the freedom to talk at a highly cost effective “flat” rate without any intricacy. However, it was time for us to further innovate and offer a more lucrative plan that effectively reduces the overall cost incurred by the customers. Therefore, this new plan without any daily rental offers more value without burning a hole in their pockets,” Mr Sanjeev Khera Regional Head- South Hub & Chief Operating Officer for Karnataka Circle, Tata Indicom said.

MTNL, Public sector telecom services provider in NCR has launched its push mail service. MTNL has entered into an alliance with Bharat Berry Technologies to provide push email services for both the pre-paid and post-paid Dolphin subscribers. The subscriber must have GPRS data plan enabled on its device before subscribing this service.

This service will provide existing users to stay connected to their e-mails, calendar and contacts through the servers hosted in India. In addition company is providing over-the-air (OTA) synchronisation of calendar and contacts for multiple mail accounts.

Bharat Berry is a mobile communication service that works with most of the mobile phones and provides more advanced push mail with over the air backup of your contact, task, calendar and notes along with sync to your outlook.

For enabling access to all services including e-mails and Personal Information Manager (PIM) sync users will be charged Rs 80 per month for the combo pack, while the individual services will be available for Rs 50 each per month.

“This partnership will provide its customers with an easy to use, cost effective solution for their mobile push e-mail requirements. While the service is available for 2G also, user experience on 3G will make the service more pleasurable,” Said, MTNL ED WS, AK Bhargava.