Hutch logo will be replaced by Vodafone soon

We had hinted earlier the Hutch might change colors again in What will Vodafone do with Hutch

Looks like Vodafone wants to spread its brand image in India soon. So its going to be the the Battle of the Reds (Vodafone vs Airtel) as Hutch and Airtel are the largest mobile operators in India. Hutch has always been seen as an elite brand in the country as it is present only in a few circles.  Vodafone is known for its Premium services around the world. Vodafone cannot use the same global pricing strategy in India for sure due to the nature of the market here. Lets wait and watch Till then it may may bid good bye to the Hutch Pug

Paypal brings Mobile Checkout

Can’t login to Paypal on your mobile ? Worrying about the loads of time their homepage takes to load on your mobile . There’s some relief.

Paypal has launched a new mobile checkout service that enables users to pay for services over paypal using a website interface tailor made for small screens. There’s verification by means of a Mobile PIN.

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Nice to see some activity on the mobile web arena.

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Hello Moto becomes Hello Samsung as Motorola looses global market share

Samsung has raced past Motorola for the the 2nd spot in the global market share for mobile phones by shipping about  37 Million mobile phones this quarter.The growing list of handsets the Korean company has in its offering might be the reason.

Things are not so good for Motorola and have not managed something as spectacular since the RAZR about a couple of years back. Motorola’s top management might under go a change .It managed only about 35 Million shipments in the quarter  and is seeing huge losses.

Sony Ericsson is till behind with about 25 million shipments.

Samsung’s success can been attributed  to hits Ultra Line of handsets and also a lot of Entry level handsets for the emerging markets.(Both Moto and SE are trying to find an answer for this one )

Nokia is the market leader and is expected to announce its results for the quarter in a months time.

Nokia’s new N-gage gaming platform

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You might have seen the Nokia N-gage and the Ngage-QD . It was not a big hit but it defintely made the mobile gaming experience a enjoyable one.Nokia is currently working on a new N-Gage gaming platform. Details are expected to be announced any time. Unlike the previous version the new n-gage is expected to be compatible with at least all N-Series phones.

The Graphics looks really good.Will the 3D accelerator in the N95 be powerful enough for 3D Gaming ?

Lets wait and watch, for now enjoy the video.

check the video for a preview of what’s in store

Sony Ericsson W960

Sony Ericsson W960

The Sony Ericsson W960 is the successor to the W950i

Its the latest addition to the Walkman phones range  .

Its Sony’s competitor for the Apple Iphone for sure

Specifications

  • 8 GB Memory  for all you iPod fans
  • Wireless Wlan for business users and also Stereo Bluetooh
  • 3.2 Megapixel Camera
  • 2.6 Inch Touch sensitive display
  • TV out
  • Radio
  • SymbianOS

Camera Lens

Price and Availability

Expected to be available before end of 2007

Pricing : no official word  on the price . Expected to cost 750- 800 USD which in the Indian context means that the phone will set you back by

Rs.33000 approximately

Apple iPhone might be available in India soon

Reliance Retail is trying hard to launch India’s first Apple store.

No official confirmation from both sides yet but looks like talks are on.

Recently HCL and Wipro have started in their quest to bring the Iphone to India.

HCL is already a nationwide distributor for Nokia.

So its time to start saving for the iPhone

via [Fin Exp] and [TOI]

Sony Ericsson to set R&D unit for mobile phones in Chennai

After Nokia its Sony Ericsson which is going to be making handsets in this city of Chennai. The Indian mobile market is currently on a upward trend and there are so many handset brands available.

The Chennai research and development unit will be headed by Anders Grynge, who was previously based at the Sony Ericsson R&D centre in Sweden. The new facility will become part of Sony Ericsson’s global network of R&D units which currently comprises sites in China, Japan, Sweden, the Netherlands, the US and the UK.

via [Business Standard]

Press Release

New Delhi, India, 19 June 2007 – Sony Ericsson today announced that it is establishing a research and development unit for mobile phones in Chennai, India. The move follows closely on the company’s January announcement of sourcing local manufacture of phones in Chennai with EMS partners Flextronics and Foxconn; with a production target of 10 million units by 2009. Today’s announcement is part of Sony Ericsson’s global strategy to strengthen its capabilities within the world’s fastest growing telecommunications market and generate the growth required to reach a top three position in the global handset market.

Nokia 8600 Luna announced

nokia-8600-luna-1.jpgThe successor to the Nokia 8800 has finally arrived. Aimed to target the luxury phone market, the 8600 Luna has been named so after the Roman god of Moonlight. The body is made of glass and stainless steel similar to the Nokia 880 and the 8800 Sirocco.

Features

  • 2 Megapixel Camera
  • 16 Million colors QVGA Display
  • FM Radio
  • Stereo Bluetooth
  • microUSB

What’s Missing

  • Memory Card Slot
  • Wi-fi

The expected price of this handset is about Rs.40000-45000 similar to the 8800 and Sirocco (700 EUR)

Mozilla Firefox for mobile phones soon

Looks like Opera software and other mobile broswer vendors might face some stiff competition with the entry of Mozilla Firefox into the mobile arena. APC carries a news story which says

“Mozilla Foundation CEO Mitchell Baker has been thinking about it too, and looking at how Firefox can be ported to mobile platforms. “

A Mini Mozilla based variant is already available for Windows Mobile devices here MiniMo .

Opera Mini works great but it will always be good to see some innovation as Mobile Browsing is a tedious job.

via [apc]