KumaarShah

It is only an introductory offer, which will definitely change with time. Lets wait and watch..... They have done it earlier also.... And then they went back.... History may repeat or get rewritten....hope its the latter.....

Wow!!!! Some very innovative and flexible add-on plans / toppings from TATA DoCoMo!!!! Someting the industry has not so far seen or heard of.... How did the company manage to keep it under wraps for so long??? Normally in many companies, these information leaks out some way or the other. Whatever it may be, way to go, TATA.... BTW, Any idea how the free minutes in the toppings will be utilised (as the pulse rate is 1 sec) and can we change the topping combination every month or is it locked once and for all? I think they will be flexible here also. EDIT: I think after the initial euphoria dies down, people will start calculating and then come to know that RCOM is still the cheapest.. For eg.: in Plan 299, you get any 3 toppings - asuming you take all 3 local, you get 450 local minutes which works out to Rs 225 at 50ps/mt and Rs 270 at 60 ps/mt or if one takes Plat225RGSM, then it costs just Rs 135 at 30ps/mt. So after the initial euphoria dies down, people will once again realise the real value for money that RCOM gives. The only saving grace for TATA DoCoMo is the per second pulse by which one can benefit maybe only maximum 20 or 30 or maximum 50 minutes in a month under Plan 299 or in prepaid. Nothing more, I hope. My calculations may be wrong, please correct me, if so.

^^^ I too agree with Sonamkumar on this.... If you are introducing a product/service for the world, this is not an acceptable spelling at all.... It looks like Luks soap or Taiger Biscuits or Kolgate toothpaste etc!!!!! Can any of these be branded internationally??? It may be acceptable for us Indians but worldwide - a big no-no... I also seem to agree with Sadikk's views that this may not equal BB services but a cheaper alternative like Seven or similar... And thats why I said "lets wait and watch" It may turn out to be good for all that we know....

I have a strong feeling that this time, TATA has got their priorities right and will succeed very well. The plans are reasonable and also cheap and the services also are good, the tie-up with DoCoMo also augurs well for them. Hope they do not screw it up later on a la RCOM. They seem to have done their pre-launch home work very well. And the 1ps per second tariff nationally will blow away the competition. RCOM will have to improvise their plans and services or else people will say TATA to them forever.

^^^ Only if it is a local within state number will one get wrong calls. Because for interstate numbers, '095' cannot have been used... The better idea for DOT (or whoever is responsible) would have been to allot numbers which did not match the earlier 95 series numbers within the particular state For eg 9544 or 95413 or 95422 or 95425 or 95431 or 95452 etc series should not be allotted to TN or else it will lead to wrong calls as rightly said above.... The RGSM customers who have 95431 numbers will get wrong calls intended for the erstwhile Trichy LLs... 9551x is the Airtel new series, Similarly 95001 is Aircel new series - I do not know if these series are for any erstwhile TN LLs.

^^^ Is the website address redchery.com or should it be redcherry.com? For the 1st address, I get a page load error and for the 2nd one, I get a 3rd party website selling domains... EDIT: I got through after some retries... The correct address is the one with a single R....

^^^ Thanks Mr. Bhargava Chandra for the info. It will be helpful for many.... Definitely RGSM needs to learn a lot from Tata DoCoMo.....

^^^ Lets wait and watch....

^^^ What about 'Walky' and their wire line? Are they also onnet or offnet just like our own RGSM? And BTW, RGSM considers RCDMA mobiles as Onnet already, if I am not wrong. Only RCDMA FWPs and RCOM LLs are offnet in RGSM.

^^^ No doubt at all about this.... Data was always the best in CDMA and will remain also in future... Correct me if wrong.... Its just that its a very closed technology with the operators also taking the users for a good ride.... I wonder many times, why RCOM and TCOM are not using this data USP to sell their technology.... See how AIrcel is advertising their ordinary GPRS services when in fact on RCOM/TCOM, the very same services can be provided at rocking speeds... Techies amy please answer this in detail if possible... Surely there seems to be something much much more than what meets the eye, here

Courtesy: ET From the outside, nearly everything about Apple's iPhone 3GS seems nearly identical to the iPhone 3G released last year. Even Apple's TV ads make light of this fact: The phone looks the same as before, the company says, but it does so much more. Still, all the new features in Apple's million-selling new phone have to come from somewhere, and there have been some important changes inside the new iPhone, according to an Apple iPhone 3GS teardown analysis by the market research firm iSuppli. The company routinely takes apart popular consumer-electronic devices in order to determine the identities of key suppliers and also to estimate the costs of components. Last year a preliminary iSuppli analysis pegged the cost of the previous iPhone, the 3G, at $174.33. These estimates help financial analysts make better-educated guesses about the profit margins manufacturers make on each unit sold, though there are many costs that a teardown doesn't address, such as software, research and development, and patent licensing costs. Often the cost to assemble a new generation of a product is lower than it was for the previous generation. However, the 16-gigabyte iPhone 3GS actually costs slightly more to build than last year's iPhone 3G—$178.96, a difference of $4.63. However, that is much lower than estimates for the first-generation iPhone, which pegged the cost at $220. Chip Prices on the Rise The main reason that costs may have gone up is that the price of NAND flash memory—the chips used to store music, video, and applications on the iPhone—have, after years of falling, started to go up just when Apple started packing more memory inside the phone. The 3GS comes in 16- and 32-gigabyte varieties, whereas the prior model topped out at 16 gigabytes. "It used to be that Apple could plan on doubling the amount of memory each year for the same cost," says Andrew Rassweiler, iSuppli's teardown manager. In the 16-gigabyte model of the 3GS, the cost of the NAND chips is $24, he says, and $46 in the 32-gigabyte version. Apple (AAPL) is one of the world's biggest consumers of NAND flash memory, and has cut strategic supply deals since 2005 with chipmakers like Samsung and Hynix, among others, though in the unit used for the teardown the flash supplier was Toshiba (6502.T). "Apple has been one of the key players in driving the cost of flash memory down," Rassweiler says. "In doing so, they've also benefited from the price erosion over time." But with demand for flash declining amid a recession, manufacturers have cut back production to the point that prices have started to rise, though demand has yet to pick up. ISuppli is forecasting that overall the market for NAND flash memory will contract to $11.5 billion from $11.7 billion in 2008, before growing again in 2010. Some components of the new iPhone are cheaper, even though they've gotten better. Take the multitouch display. While Apple has improved on the screen by adding an oleophobic coating that doesn't attract fingerprints and cleans more easily, the cost of the screen and related components have over the past year come down by $1, Rassweiler says, to $16. No FM Radio Reception Some parts have disappeared completely from the 3GS. A $1.60 Broadcom (BRMC) controller chip connected to the display found in the second-generation iPhone is missing, Rassweiler says, and seems not to have been replaced by anything else. Its function may have been integrated into another chip, either the main applications processor, or a chip from Texas Instruments (TXN) whose precise function in the 3GS hasn't yet been determined. Broadcom, having lost one slot, however scored an important win: a $6 chip that handles the iPhone's WiFi and Bluetooth connections. The same chip, interestingly enough, also includes a tiny FM radio receiver on board, though the iPhone has no FM-receiving features. The chip is used in the Renoir wireless phone from LG Electronics, which does support FM radio. But before you get excited about your iPhone becoming an FM radio, Rassweiler says there's no evidence that the FM portion of the chip has been enabled or that it even can be enabled, say, by a new application. However, it's not uncommon for chipmakers to sell a single chip with several functions and then charge their customer only for the functions that are enabled. Apple had no comment on the chip nor on iSuppli's estimate. New Compass Feature The main chip that drives all the applications bears an Apple label, Rassweiler says, but was probably made by Samsung. At $14.46, it costs a dollar more than the Samsung chip used in the iPhone 3G, Rassweiler says, in part because it's made on a more advanced 65-nanometer manufacturing process than the one used in the 3G. But like the other chip, its core—the chip's central brain—is based on technology designed by ARM Holdings (ARMH), a British chip design company in which Apple used to be an investor. More recently, Apple has bought its own chip company, PA Semi, which is working on chips for use in future versions of the iPhone. Meanwhile, German chipmaker Infineon (IFX) retained its position as an important supplier to the iPhone, selling Apple the $13 chip that handles the connection to AT&T's (T) wireless phone network, as well as two others, one that receives signals from GPS satellites and costs $2.25, and another priced at $1.25 that handles power management. Other suppliers include Cirrus Logic (CRUS), which supplied an audio chip, and Dialog Semiconductor, which provided a power management chip that works with the Samsung applications chip. STMicroelectronics (STM) supplied the accelerometers that detect when the iPhone has been rotated, and they work closely with a silicon compass supplied by AKM Semiconductor, that drives the new compass feature. Landing a component, even a small one, in the iPhone is important for chip companies because it helps them with marketing to other device manufacturers, Rassweiler says. That often means that Apple gets the best price possible. "When you get a part in the iPhone, there's a recognition that goes with it, and that can be good for business with others down the road," he says. Hesseldahl is a reporter for BusinessWeek.com.

@ankitbhargava, I returned my LG 6230 almost 3 years back and also got a full refund. Email to CMO etc and complain that you are very unhappy with the handset quality. They will try to replace with 1 or more handsets and if you still feel that you are shortchanged, you can ask for a full refund of your money. Try your luck, I was very lucky and I got an extra Rs 750 also for my efforts.

^^^ Saket posted earlier, he is 2 topics earlier than savramesh....

@Dkaile, "One man's food is another man's poison" So let Sachinrocks post his views and let us post our views. From his experience with various operators in Delhi, he is most satisfied with RCOM, so his views are based on his own experience. And he has also posted to that effect. We (most of us on the forum here) are posting based on our experience plus on the various topics/posts by other members' problems with RCOM - overcharging, unauthorised activation of unwanted VAS, network issues, lack of data services etc etc. The list can go really long and long and long.... So finally, neither sachinrocks is wrong, nor you, and nor me. All are right in their very own way. Let the readers decide on their own who is right and who is wrong. All are educated enough to distinguish the facts from the fiction. EDIT: No offence meant to anyone here....

So, will RCOM sell off RCDMA in order to finance its foray into 3G-GSM?

^^^ The night time is a pain in the you-know-where.... One cannot connect any onnet call between 11pm to 7am.....This is my experience....

I think the 2 operators must be Airtel and Voda. RCOM may not have dropped calls to the extent of the TRAI figures... But then, one never knows with RCOM - anything is possible...

I too feel the same as KShah... 3g will not see the light of the day for min 1 year. And 12 operators for each circle? Where are the numbers? All data users form a very miniscule minority here. And even expecting the market to add more subscribers in the next 2 to 3 years is just wishful thinking. Because if numbers are not there, cellcos will not bring down tariffs. So its a vicious circle. Rcom has lost all goodwill by their foolishness in changing tariffs every now and then. Just ask 10 of your friends, you will get the feeling that rcom is a chor company and does not represent their name in their dealings. 3g if introduced, will benefit mostly airtel and voda the highest. It is not as if the others are holier than rcom, but the general feeling is that rcom is the biggest chor. Moreover their cc has reinforced this feeling among customers and the top is not bothered about it or are coolly not lending their ears to the goings on in cc. I myself am a victim many times, and the feeling now is inspite of their lowest tariffs, customers feel cheated by wrong charges. I have 2 rgsm and in both gprs does not work despite so many calls and emails to cmo. If this is my experience, will the aam admi trust them? They will just in to airtel or voda.... Mnp will hit rcom very hard if at all, it comes...

I thought that all new 2G spectrum allocation was banned

^^^ Works fine for me....Just logged out and the new page showed "Welcome Guest (Log In | Register)"

^^^ Thanks, but I am in a altogether different line, so this is a big no-no for me. I do not know why and how they contacted me in the 1st place. Even Idea had contacted me earlier....

@arun, Sales Tax??? He is not selling goods, he is offering services, so Service Tax will be applicable.... Correct me if wrong.... Maybe if he packages the softwares and sells it, it becomes goods.... @ABC For Service Tax registration also, you should contact your local consultants who offer services such as PAN number, ST/IT filing work, etc... They will help you out... Most of the superintendents in the Excise can also help you out, if you understand what I am trying to say....

^^^ Which operator has tied up with Etisalat? I received some time back an offer from Etisalat for a Distributorship for Chennai/TN.....

Seems he has paid off ET also......

^^^ Thanks