Google has recently announced that it has acquired the mobile maker Motorola. This acquisition is valued at $12.5 billion. Google has bought Motorola with an eye towards powering Android. I guess they feel having a mobile manufacturer in their portfolio would make them less reliant on other manufacturers.
Here is a quote from Google’s blog post about the acquisition.
Motorola’s total commitment to Android in mobile devices is one of many reasons that there is a natural fit between our two companies. Together, we will create amazing user experiences that supercharge the entire Android ecosystem for the benefit of consumers, partners and developers everywhere.
What will this mean for competitors?
The problem with Android has been, that it has not managed to get manufacturers with really very successful smart-phones with the exception of Samsung. Also making the phone and the OS, does seem to have obvious profitability. iPhones actually make Apple a lot of money for this reason, that they are not reliant on other manufactures or OS. Owning the complete chain makes sense.
What are your views? Will this be a new chapter in the Android vs iPhone saga? Do drop in your comments.
Mobile internet usage has increased drastically after the introduction of smart phones and that’s why website owners take extra care by modifying their site specially for mobiles.
But how does your website look in their mobile? Enter Mobilizer, an Adobe air app which can preview any website in various smart phones including iPhone, Blackberry, HTC and Palm Pre.
Features of Mobilizer
Preview any website on various smart phones simultaneously.
Right click and select Export PNG to get the image of the mobile (including the site you’re browsing).
Apart from previewing websites, it can also preview image, HTML and flash files, drag the file into the mobile to preview it.
Tip: If you want to preview different websites in different smart phones at once, then right click on a smart phone a untick Synchronized.
Apple’s iPhone 4, has been a big hit in the US and other countries it is available. iPhone 4 is now available in India. Recently, Apple has shown a lot of interest in Indian markets, making iPad 2 available in India a lot faster than expected. With iPhone 4, Apple is probably taking India seriously as a big market for its products.
Apple iPhone 4 is available in India through two telecom operators Airtel and Aircel. Here is a complete guide for you if you are looking to buy one for yourself.
Availability and Price of iPhone 4
iPhone 4 will be available in Airtel Stores, Aircel Stores, Reliance Digital, Croma, Shopper’s Stop and Apple Stores. In case you are looking for an Apple store near by visit this link.
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You can either select a 16GB iPhone which will cost Rs. 34500/- or 32 GB iPhone which will cost Rs. 40,900/-. It is available for prepaid and post-paid tariffs.
iPhone 4 for Airtel Users
In India, we do not have contracts with service providers but Airtel is looking to subsidize the iPhone by allowing you to make savings through it’s tariff and hence retaining the customer.
These offers from Airtel are basically reimbursing you some money against the iPhone 4 purchase.
Prepaid Offers from Airtel with iPhone 4
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Offer Details
Money Saved with iPhone 4 + Airtel
Prepaid – Rs 600 X 24
Local Minutes: 550
Local SMS: 500
3G Data: 300 MB
Total Saving over 24 Months: Rs. 6,528
Total Saving over 24 Months: Rs. 6,528
Prepaid – Rs 1000 X 24
Local Minutes: 950
Local SMS: 1000
3G Data: 600 MB
Total Saving over 24 Months: Rs. 10,896
Prepaid – Rs 1600 X 24
Local Minutes: 1400
Local SMS: 1750
3G Data: 1150 MB
Total Saving over 24 Months: Rs. 17,424
Prepaid – Rs 2000 X 24
Local Minutes: 1900
Local SMS: 2000
3G Data: 1350 MB
Total Saving over 24 Months: Rs. 21,768
Post-paid Offers from Airtel with iPhone 4
Offer Details
Money Saved with iPhone 4 + Airtel
Post Paid – 600 X 24
Local Minutes: 500
Local SMS: 500
3G Data: 300 MB
Total Saving over 24 Months: Rs. 7,200
Post Paid – 800 X 24
Local Minutes: 700
Local SMS: 750
3G Data: 400 MB
Total Saving over 24 Months: Rs. 9,600
Post Paid – 1000 X 24
Local Minutes: 950
Local SMS: 1000
3G Data: 600 MB
Total Saving over 24 Months: Rs. 12,000
Post Paid – 1200 X 24
Local Minutes: 1050
Local SMS: 1250
3G Data: 800 MB
Total Saving over 24 Months: Rs. 14,400
Post Paid – 1400 X 24
Local Minutes: 1250
Local SMS: 1500
3G Data: 950 MB
Total Saving over 24 Months: Rs. 16,800
Post Paid – 1600 X 24
Local Minutes: 1400
Local SMS: 1750
3G Data: 1150 MB
Total Saving over 24 Months: Rs. 19,200
Post Paid – 2000 X 24
Local Minutes: 1900
Local SMS: 2000
3G Data: 1350 MB
Total Saving over 24 Months: Rs. 24,000
iPhone 4 for Aircell Users
Aircel has a different approach to selling iPhone 4. It has different prepaid offers which but no direct discounts like Airtel has.
With post-paid options, Aircel has two offers of which can allow you to basically reimburse the cost of your iPhone 4 by 100%.
Prepaid Offers from Aircel with iPhone 4
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If you are a current Aircel prepaid user and looking to upgrade to iPhone 4, check out the table below which explains the new offer details available.
Offer Details
Monthly Recharge: Rs 299
Local Minutes: 1000
Local SMS: 350
3G Data: 3p/10KB
2G Data: 10p/10KB
Monthly Recharge: Rs 399
Local Minutes: 1250
Local SMS: 350
3G Data: 3p/10KB
2G Data: 10p/10KB
Monthly Recharge: Rs 499
Local Minutes: 1500
Local SMS: 500
3G Data: 3p/10KB
2G Data: 10p/10KB
Monthly Recharge: Rs 599
Local Minutes: 1750
Local SMS: 1000
3G Data: 3p/10KB
2G Data: 10p/10KB
Monthly Recharge: Rs 699
Local Minutes: 2000
Local SMS: 1000
3G Data: 3p/10KB
2G Data: 10p/10KB
Monthly Recharge: Rs 799
Local Minutes: 2250
Local SMS: 1000
3G Data: 3p/10KB
2G Data: 10p/10KB
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Post-paid Offers from Aircel with iPhone 4
Aircel offers mainly two tariff plans for the two different models. It also offer money back schemes which basically means, that if you use Aircel for 2 years, the price of your iPhone 4 is redeemed.
Offer Details
Savings over 24 Months
Monthly Rental: Rs 1,119
Local Minutes: 1250
Local + Natl. SMS: 500
3G Data: 350 MB
Monthly Payment: Rs. 399
iPhone 4 (16 GB): Rs. 17,280
Monthly Rental: Rs 1,359
Local Minutes: 1500
Local + Natl. SMS: 500
3G Data: 500 MB
Monthly Payment: Rs. 499
iPhone 4 (32 GB): Rs. 20,640
Monthly Rental: Rs 2,139
Local Minutes: 2000
Local+ Natl. SMS: 1000
3G Data: 750 MB
Monthly Payment: Rs. 699
iPhone 4 (16 GB): Rs. 34,560
Monthly Rental: Rs 2,510
Local Minutes: 2250
Local + Natl. SMS: 1000
3G Data: 1 GB
Monthly Payment: Rs. 800
iPhone 4 (32 GB): Rs. 41,040
If you are looking to get yourself a new iPhone in India, go through the tables and think about your options and usage patterns. For users without smart phones, do think about the fact that after buying a iPhone, your usage patterns will change.
When it comes to looking up a new mobile phone or a book online, the first thing we look for is how to get the cheapest deal for it. Also rather than looking up individual sites and their listings, it would be really nice to look up and compare prices at one place.
With MySmartPrice we can look up the cheapest and best deals on mobile phones and books. The site looks up the best deals from several Indian online stores.
Searching for Cheapest Mobile Phones
I really liked the search features of this website when it came to looking up mobile phones.
The mobile phones could be searched individually or one can browse through results on a manufacturer.
I found the Android section also quite useful to look up comparative prices.
Searching for the cheapest books
Personally I liked this section a lot because it is very hard to look up good deals for books. Most times a not so popular book is not even available.
I looked up some history related non-fiction books which I have had a hard time looking up and I was not disappointed. I guess this is the advantage of searching across various online stores from a single place.
Do look up MySmartPrice if you are looking to buy a book or cell phone online.
If you have a pre-paid account there is a very good chance that you will be familiar with this situation where you need just Rs.20 more of balance to make or continue that one important call. 🙂
Vodafone has a feature which allows people to transfer Balance from one phone to another.
Just dial the following number. “<phone number>” is the the number to which you want to send balance to. Also *20 is the amount of balance transfered.
*131*20*<phone number>#
If you want to request someone to transfer to you some balance, you can initiate that by dialling the following number.
*132*20*<phone number>#
Here the phone number inserted will be that of the person who you are requesting the transfer from. This will send the person a message about the balance transfer.
I think more than a trick this is a new feature for Vodafone mobile users. Also be aware of balance transfer charges which are Re 1.00 per transfer.
Note: This works only when both the numbers are Vodafone pre-paid account holders.
You might be aware the the latest iPhone 4 have been having a lot of issues with network being lost if held in the hand and the problem is apparently resolved by using the phone in a case. This has been probably Apple’s biggest embarrassment as it has been know to put out products which are vigorously tested.
Apple has made a great deal of advertisements mocking Windows for its buggy software and the fact that it does not get the simple things right. They have recently thanks to the iPhone, invaded into the territory of Nokia.
So what does Nokia do after Apple iPhone 4 woes? It decides to mock Apple with its own instructions on how you can hold a Nokia handset without losing connectivity. 😛
Nokia further mocks iPhone by saying that the key function of its mobile phones is to be able to receive and make calls. 😛
Couple of days ago I came across Mobikwik, a website that allows you to recharge or top-up any mobile phone’s balance in India. It covers all major telecom operators like Airtel, Reliance, Tata Indicom, BSNL and Vodafone along with smaller operators in India. That is almost 300 million potential mobile phone users in India. There may be other websites which allow you to recharge your phone but Mobikwik did catch my attention because it’s user interface is very simple and hence very helpful. Mobikwik also has plans to introduce India’s first open web API for recharging phones.
Recharging Balance
You need to first register at the Mobikwik website and then enter the mobile number of which you want to recharge the balance.
Then you need to enter the amount into Mobikwik balance. The payment options are netbanking/debit card, Credit Card, Cash Card and Cheque payment. The website claims that Paypal will be introduced soon.
This balance from Mobikwik can be transfered to any mobile phone to recharge it’s balance. You can recharge upto 5 phone numbers. 😉
Searching for Plans
Another great feature was searching for best mobile plans based on location or circle which you might live it. For someone looking at getting or changing to a new plan this seems to be a great reference guide. This section has a lot of tweaks which allow you to customize your search for the best plans avaialble from all operators. It takes into account the number of calls you might want to make, validity of plan, number of SMS and many other options can be taken into account before the relevant plans are shown.
Life is soon to become a lot easier for Europeans with universal mobile phone chargers. European Commission and companies like Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Motorola, Apple, Samsung and Research in Motion have struck a deal on developing a charger that fits all.
This means that manufacturers would now start using micro-USB connections for phone chargers used for smartphones and users will not have to worry about looking for the “right” charger for their handsets.
Vice-President Günter Verheugen, responsible for enterprise and industrial policy, said:
“I am very pleased that industry has found an agreement, which will make life much simpler for consumers. They will be able to charge mobile phones anywhere from the new common charger. This also means considerably less electronic waste, because people will no longer have to throw away chargers when buying new phones. I am also very pleased that this solution was found on the basis of self-regulation. As a result, the Commission does not consider it necessary to introduce legislation.”
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Advantages:
This would make life easy for people who often lose their phone chargers, or forget them somewhere.
Cut down waste as people can reuse their old chargers even when they get a new phone. This will lead to a positive environmental impact.
Standardizing on one technology will help reduce costs.
Memorandum of understanding
The MoU will be accompanied by a new EU standard. With the new standard, safe use of new mobile phones as well as avoidance of radio interference problems will be guaranteed.
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It is expected that the first generation of new inter-chargeable mobile phones will reach the EU market from 2010 onwards.
The following companies have signed the MoU:
Apple
LG
Motorola
NEC
Nokia
Qualcomm
Research in Motion (RIM)
Samsung
Sony Ericsson
Texas Instruments
These 10 companies involved at the time in the deal covers approximately 90% of the European mobile market, which means almost 350 – 400 million users across the EU.
It is being said that the MoU will not foreclose innovation in the future by fixing a certain technology forever, and will accommodate charging technologies in the future.
