Honest

@Ram MY dear friend, just check before you buy as their are a lot of duplcate stuffs available in the market in brand name of Sandisk. So, go only for the original from a reliable store. Regards.

@Ravi My dear friend, you will get all the features you asked only in GSM+CDMA Dual Chinese handsets only. But in chinese handsets the Web Browser is not that good as in other brands. Moreover you can't install any Java Applications / Games on Chinese Mobiles. And Web Browser in Chinese Mobiles can support only those web pages which are lighter means heavy web pages with load of Images can't be supported by Web Browsers in Chinese handsets. But all other features will be good enough for your requirement in Chinese Handset. Regards.

Well, my dear friends, I love Vista and prefer Vista only. Never thought to revert back to XP for any reason. Regards.

^^^ My dear friend, just try to install the Rconnect software in compatibility mode of Windows XP SP2 on your Vista computer and you will be able to use it on Vista. Just right click the *.exe file of rconnect software and select properties. In properties, you will find an option of "Run in Compatibility Mode", their you have to select "Windows XP SP2" and also select the option of "Run as Administrator". Thats it. After completing the above procedure, you will be able to Rconnect with Vista also. Regards.

3G spectrum auction for CDMA players 26 Aug, 2008, 0103 hrs IST, ET NEW DELHI: The Telecom Commission has modified its policy on allocation of spectrum for third generation (3G) mobile communications using the CDMA technology platform. The Telecom Commission has decided to auction 3G radio frequencies for CDMA players in the 800 MHz band. This would deny Reliance Communications (RCOM) automatic entry into CDMA 3G on the strength of its subscriber base, as envisaged in the policy earlier. The decision was taken during Telecom Commission’s meeting on August 21 and incorporates telecom regulator Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s (TRAI) recommendation. The government, in its 3G policy announced earlier this month, had decided to allot 3G spectrum in the 800 MHz to the CDMA player with the highest subscriber base, without taking resort to auction as mandated for GSM players, provided it was willing to pay the same price that the highest GSM operator was paying in that particular circle. This gave RCOM, which has the largest subscriber base in all circles, except Delhi and Maharashtra, the right of first refusal (RoFR) for offering 3G services in the 800 MHz band. This band is the most efficient and cost-effective frequency for CDMA players to offer high-end services. However, Telecom Commission’s move to have an auction now implies that other CDMA players such as Tata Teleservices, Shyam, BSNL and MTNL as well as new players who want to enter India on the CDMA platform now stand a chance to get radio frequencies in the coveted 800 MHz band. Currently, only one operator can be accommodated in this band, as the rest of the band is occupied by the defence services, which will take at least one year to vacate it. As and when the defence forces vacate more spectrum in this band, more operators would be able to bid for and acquire spectrum to offer 3G services. The Telecom Commission, which is the apex decision-making body of the Department of Telecom (DoT), has also said that the base price for 3G frequencies in the 800 MHz will be Rs 40 crore for metros and category A circles, Rs 20 crore for category B circles and Rs 7.5 crore for category C circles. The base price has been fixed at a fourth of what GSM operators will pay for 3G frequencies. This is because CDMA players can bid only for 1.25 MHz of radio frequencies in the 800 MHz band while GSM players will bid for 5 MHz of 3G spectrum in the 2.1 GHz band. The DoT was forced to review the 3G policy after TRAI pointed out that the government’s decision to allot 3G spectrum to CDMA players without an auction is against the principles of equality. TRAI chairman Nripendra Misra, in a communication to DoT secretary S Behura on August 8, 2008, had said: “Since various service providers have been given licences in different service areas at different time periods, TRAI believes that keeping the subscriber base as the criterion for deciding the priority of spectrum allotment will go against the level-playing field and the principle of equity.” Mr Misra had also demanded that CDMA players too be subject to an auction. “Spectrum in the 800 MHz should be auctioned among applicants with the highest-bid price received for the auction of 2.1 GHz spectrum as the reserve price. The subscriber base of the CDMA network of a service provider in any service area is a result of different environments, and cannot muster the test of fairness if it was to become the basis of priority,” he had added.

Indian VAS cos betting big on iPhone applications 26 Aug, 2008, 0039 hrs IST, ET KOLKATA: Indian mobile phone application developers are trying to come up with unique applications for the iPhone 3G, which was launched in the country on August 22. The likes of Bharti Telesoft, CanvasM, OnMobile, Mauj Mobile and ADAG’s JumpGames have initiated work to develop business, entertainment and utility applications for Apple’s iconic device. The VAS players plan to bundle and sell these applications through both the operators and Apple’s application platform. The move has been triggered by the fact that iPhone subscribers are usually heavy users of data applications due to the gadget’s features like the multi-touch interface, accelerometer, motion sensor and 3-D graphics. “Since iPhone application development has started recently, there are scarcely any developers available worldwide. We are developing applications that are customised for Indian subscribers and newer ones for enabling financial transactions, mobile entertainment and games,” said Jagdish Mitra, CEO at CanvasM Technologies. CanvasM is in talks with major financial institutions from France for replicating the mobile commerce application suite for the iPhone. Applications are also aimed at adding newer functions. “Since iPhone doesn’t support MMS, we are going to release a MMS client for the device by December. The operators too are planning to offer unique applications,” said Bharti Telesoft CEO Manoranjan Mohapatra. Analysts feel applications tend to improve the operator’s margin and ARPU. “However, a lot of these are also available free. Indian developers will have to also create such an eco-system in India,” feels IDC Asia Pacific research manager Aloysius Choong. The major focus seems to be on games, since iPhone’s technology supports them best. Gameloft has launched six iPhone games and plans to add eight more by December. “We will release 2-3 games for the iPhone. And once 3G arrives in India, the market for iPhone applications is expected to explode,” said Salil Bhargava, CEO, Jump Games, a Reliance ADAG venture. Developers plan to monetise their iPhone applications by making them compatible with other phones. “An integral part of creating any mobile application is to render it compatible with most of the handsets,” said Mauj Mobile CEO Manoj Dawane. The companies also plan to sell such iPhone applications across the globe by developing them as per iPhone’s developer programme.

HTC Dream -- Smaller Than iPhone 3G Even after confidentiality request HTC filled with FCC, the word is out... HTC Dream -- world's first android phone -- is smaller than the iPhone 3G. HTC Dream measures 115 x 55 mm whereas the iPhone 3G is 115.2 x 62.1-mm. Besides this not much information is available. So, let's wait and watch what HTC has in store for us. Courtesy : Techtree

July sees highest ever mobile user addition at 9.22 mn 25 Aug, 2008, 1700 hrs IST, PTI NEW DELHI: India, the world's fastest- growing mobile services market, added a record 9.22 million wireless subscribers in July as against 8.94 million in June. The total user base now stands at 296.08 million in the country, said Telecom Regulatory Authority of India. However, wireline or fixed line connections fell by 0.16 million, pulling down the overall increase in telephone connections to 9.06 million in the month under review, according to data released by telecom regulator TRAI. The prospect of 10-million mobile user addition is a good possibility, said a private player. The overall tele-density was 29.08 per cent in July 2008 as against 28.33 per cent in June. Though there has been an increase in the addition of wireless subscribers, fixed-line users continued to dwindle with the subscribers base declining to 38.76 million in July from 38.92 in June, 2008. The total number of telephone connections reached 334.84 million at the end of July 2008, as compared with 325.78 million in June 2008, the statement added. The total wireless subscribers {GSM, CDMA and WLL(F)}, base stood at 296.08 million in July as against 286.86 in June, it noted. The broadband subscribers reached 4.57 million mark in July as compared with 4.38 million in June. Top mobile operator Bharti Airtel added about 2.67 million new customers. The company had 72.07 million mobile users at the end of July. Reliance Communications added about 1.74 million wireless users to have 52.53 million subscribers and Vodafone Essar added 1.75 million mobile customers in July, taking its total to 50.95 million.

TDSAT impleads COAI in BSNL petition 25 Aug, 2008, 1853 hrs IST, PTI Accepting the request of GSM operators' body COAI, the telecom tribunal TDSAT on Monday impleaded it in the petition filed by state-run BSNL challenging removal of Access Deficit Charge (ADC). NEW DELHI: Accepting the request of GSM operators' body COAI, the telecom tribunal TDSAT on Monday impleaded it in the petition filed by state-run BSNL challenging removal of Access Deficit Charge (ADC). During the proceedings, a bench headed By Justice Arun Kumar admitted the application filed by the Cellular Operators Association of India. BSNL, in its petition filed in May, had challenged TRAI's decision to abolish ADC from 2008-09. For the financial year 2007-08, TRAI had reduced ADC by 37 per cent to Rs 2,000 crore from Rs 3,200 crore. ADC is a levy paid by private telecom operators to BSNL for meeting the cost of its unprofitable operations in rural areas. On July 9, 2007, TDSAT had not admitted COAI's application in absence of some documents and had directed the association to file application along with the reply of main petition filed by BSNL. In this matter, COAI rival CDMA lobby group AUSPI and Telecom Regulatory Authority of India had already submitted its reply. The Telecom Disputes and Settlement and Appellate Tribunal also granted BSNL three weeks time to file rejoinder over the reply filed by them. The tribunal has directed to list this matter on October 22 along with two other similar petition filed by BSNL challenging reduction ADC for 2006-07 and 2007-08.

Great collection my dear Asit.

^^^ My dear friend, actually one of my friend has recently purchased Acer 4720 @ Rs.31,000/- without Vista. If you want to know the price of any particular model of Acer Lapton then just tell the model number and I will confirm the price here. Regards.

Telcos to mutually settle linking issues 25 Aug, 2008, 0140 hrs IST, ET Bureau NEW DELHI: Following the resolution of the interconnect issue between GSM operators and Reliance Communications (RCOM), all telcos have now signed an agreement to resolve all other pending issues related to linking their networks. The agreement was signed in the presence of telecom regulator TRAI over the weekend. The agreement envisages that telcos mutually settle all other interconnect requests (outside the recent controversy) by October 15. It also envisages that telcos settle pending payments for existing interconnect agreements within the next seven days. Besides, all operators have also agreed to renew all interconnect agreements that have expired. More importantly, operators have also agreed that in case of similar disputes in their future they will adhere by Trai’s decisions on the issue. Last week, the interconnection row between RCOM and GSM players was settled in closed door meetings in the presence of TRAI officials . Interconnection is the life line of telcos as without it the subscribers of one operator cannot make or receive calls from customers of another telco. Traffic from one operator passes on to that of another at specific junctions called Points of Interconnect (PoI). The number of PoIs between operators depends on the volume of traffic flowing between their networks. The larger the number of PoIs, the lesser the congestion in the networks. Call drops, failure to connect on the first attempt and poor voice reception of calls happen when the traffic flowing between the networks of two operators is larger than what the PoIs can handle. “When we resolved the interconnect row between GSM operators and RCOM, we came to know that there were several other outstanding issues related to interconnection. Several requests for interconnect have been pending for the last 18-24 months. We have got them to sign a comprehensive agreement where all pending requests will be completed before October 15,” a top Trai official told ET. “As per this agreement, all operators have agreed to cooperate with each other on interconnection under the overall supervision and control of TRAI,” the official added. However, if operators fail to settle pending payments for interconnection within the next one week, or cannot settle issues bilaterally, Trai will step in again. In such a scenario, telcos will have to abide by TRAI’S settlement. With telcos such as RCOM, the Tatas and others gearing up to offer mobile services on both platforms, TRAI has also a constituted a committee to determine the methodology to calculate the total revenues.

COAI in dilemma, whether to challenge HC verdict 24 Aug, 2008, 1720 hrs IST, PTI NEW DELHI: Stung by outright rejection of GSM operators' petition challenging government's policy on dual technology and revised spectrum allocation norms, the COAI is in dilemma whether to challenge the Delhi High Court's verdict to larger Bench or wait for telecom tribunal TDSAT's verdict. The members of the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) are examining the Delhi High Court's judgement and a decision would be taken in a day or two, sources close the development said. COAI had questioned the events of October 18 and 19, 2007, and said that the Department of Telecom had shown undue haste and hurry in which an in-principle approval was given to Reliance Communications for offering GSM services. This was, however, rejected by the Delhi High Court in its judgement last week. "Prima facie, it cannot be held that the decision of the government confers any unfair advantage to any particular person and consequently the submission that the government has disturbed the level playing field has to be rejected," Justice Gita Mittal had said in the judgement. A senior official in the DoT said that it was strange on part of the GSM lobby to question government's act as the spectrum was first allocated to the existing GSM operators in various circles and this was also presented in the TDSAT last week. DoT counsel had said that spectrum was allocated in orderly manner and existing players have been beneficiary of this

Bharti seeks DoT nod to launch local dialling, mix tariff plan 24 Aug, 2008, 1519 hrs IST, PTI NEW DELHI: Bharti Airtel has sought government's nod to re-introduce two of its services -- subscriber local dialling and Airtel-2-in-1 plan which the operator was earlier asked to withdraw for failing to meet the licence conditions and pay penalty. Airtel 2-in-1 launched in Delhi was useful for users who want to control their STD/ISD spend by tying it with a prepaid account. This allowed them to make long distance calls without paying any security deposits. The violation was that dialling # (hash) and 'X' distorts the monitoring process carried out by the government as such numbers are difficult to be recorded. Hutch was also penalised for starting a similar service, TalkOn. The Airtel 2-in-1 service and Hutch's TalkOn entailed prefixing of '# X' by a post-paid subscriber to use a separate pre-paid account for making STD/ISD calls from the same number. Though the usage of special characters such as *, #, $ etc was permitted from subscriber's terminals within the network of access providers for provisioning of intra-network value added services or accessing of high speed data services since May 23, 2006, DoT noted that the violation by the companies was prior to the date. DoT noted that these companies did not stop the services immediately after they had been issued a letter to stop in November 2005.

New telcos may get spectrum in Mumbai, Maharashtra, MP,Kolkata 24 Aug, 2008, 1548 hrs IST, PTI NEW DELHI: Within days of Delhi High Court giving clean chit to the government, the Department of Telecom is all set to allocate start-up spectrum to new players in four more circles of Maharashtra, Mumbai, Kolkata and Madhya Pradesh. The new players include Datacom promoted by Mahendra Nahata of HFCL, realty major Unitech, BPL led Loop Telecom, Swan Telecom and Tata Teleservice under the dual technology clause and others. The DoT has already alloted start-up spectrum in five circles of Tamil Nadu, including Chennai, Karnataka, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Orissa. Spectrum refers to the radio frequency that enables wireless communications and has been the sources of considerable controversy over the past one year due to differences between the existing players and the policy makers over the dual technology and revised norms of spectrum allocation. The association of existing GSM players, Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), had strongly opposed the move to give new licences saying there was not enough spectrum. The DoT had earlier said that enough spectrum was available to meet the demands by the existing players as well as new players. Shyam Telecom, which has opted to adopt CDMA technology for the mobile services has already got spectrum in most of the circles, except in two major circles of Delhi and Mumbai.

COAI fined twice in six months 24 Aug, 2008, 1149 hrs IST, PTI NEW DELHI: They went with the good intention of protecting their businesses but were sent back twice by the courts that branded their motive as "ulterior" and slapped a huge cost on them. Within a span of six months, GSM operators' lobby group COAI has been slapped with cost of proceedings by courts twice for filing a petition and an application on the issue of dual technology and allotment of additional spectrum. The Delhi High Court on Friday directed Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) along with Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Essar, Idea Cellular BPL Mobile and Spice Communication, to pay Rs 50,000 each as costs of proceedings. The Court's direction to COAI to deposit the money with Delhi High Court Legal Service Committee came in a judgement which dismissed GSM lobby group's plea to quash Department of Telecom's decision to allow use of dual technology. Aitel, Vodafone, Idea, BPL and Spice were part of the petition. Earlier on March 3 this year, the sectoral tribunal TDSAT, which is also hearing the same issue, had imposed a cost of Rs 10,000 on GSM operators' association for filing an application with an "ulterior objective". "The application which has been moved almost two weeks after the date of the order suggests to me that it is an after thought and has been moved with some ulterior objective and is not bonafide," TDSAT Chairman Justice Arun Kumar had said while dismissing COAI's application. TDSAT would commence its final hearing over COAI's petition challenging DoT's policy over crossover spectrum fom September 4 next.

^^^ I think 5 hour talktime is sufficient for a normal user my dear friend. Even for high usage customers the 5 hr talktime is good enough. And battery backup depends on network quality also. Regards.

Yes my dear friends, its a quite old stuff which is popularly known as GDRIVE. Regards.

Really a great collection my dear Ali. Keep it up buddy. Regards.

Petition for 'reasonable restrictions' on use of mobile phones 18 Aug, 2008, 1610 hrs IST, PTI NEW DELHI : The menace caused by cellphones has resulted in a petition to Parliament with pleas for a series of measures including making use of mobiles during driving a "non-bailable and a non-compoundable offence". The Committee on Petitions headed by senior BJP MP M Venkaiah Naidu is considering the petition seeking imposition of "reasonable restrictions" on the use of mobiles. The petitioner, whose name has not been given, wanted enactment of a law prohibiting use of such phones or carrying them to places of worship, cremation ground and burial places. The panel has decided to undertake consultations with a wide cross-section of the society inviting written memoranda. The petitioner is also seeking ban on use of mobile phones or carrying them in public offices. "Making or receiving private or personal calls during office hours should be an offence punishable with imprisonment and fine," the petition said. Besides, it called for ban on mobile phones fitted with cameras for the safety of women with relaxation only for professional needs. In order to ensure that mobile phones are not used while driving, the petitioner wanted cellular phone companies to instal apparatus which would not allow the handsets to function on the roads or while driving. Jammers and decoders should be installed in educational institutions so that calls on mobile phones could be restricted, it said.

^^^ And the battery should be Nokia BL-5C my dear Ashok.

^^^ @Santhosh My dear friend, I'm still waiting for the full review of this handset. As soon as I get it, I will post the same here. And about the cost of the handset, its Rs.7200/-. Can't say whether it is better then Spice D88n or not. ^^^ @srk My dear friend, Dual Speakers here meant it has double speakers which can produce Stereophonic optimal sound. Regards.

^^^ Now thats some great news my dear friends. Actually this is the need, as now a days everyone's schedule is too busy that many a times people miss their favourite programmes. But after the above been implemented they will have a relief. Regards.

^^^ Yes my dear friends, I think very soon we will see the Iphone prices down to earth. Regards.

High bidding for 3G licences may inflate consumers' bill 24 Aug, 2008, 0000 hrs IST, ET NEW DELHI: The next generation telecom services, or 3G, may not come cheap at all. Customers opting for 3G services may have to shell out double their current mobile bills if the forthcoming auction battle results into unreasonably high price for 3G licences. According to international experience, customers should not pay more than 40% of their current bill if they opt for 3G services. The department of telecom (DoT), which doubled the reserve price for 3G licences from what telecom regulator Trai had recommended earlier, fears that intense auctioning process for 3G may finally burden the customers, or even hinder the smooth roll-out of 3G services in India. What’s more, if the finance ministry asks DoT to raise the reserve prices of spectrum, it may further put pressure on the final auction amount, and thereby on the billing of the end users. Telecom secretary Siddharth Behura told SundayET that too much emphasis on revenue could spell doom for the roll-out itself. “I have no estimate of what could be the total revenue generated by this auction, but we should not be too revenue-centric either. Good, if we can raise a huge amount for the country, but if the 3G service providers are burdened with a heavy price for spectrum, they will pass that over to the consumers. There are some international examples where only technical capabilities of the service providers were weighed in for starting 3G. After all, rolling out the services is more important than anything else,” he argued. Though the finance ministry has not asked DoT to raise the reserve prices so far, it may question the methodology to derive at the reserve price, SundayET has learnt. A senior finmin official said; “We are not happy with the content of the DoT’s reply after we had objected to the issuing of 3G guidelines without consulting us. Anyway, as spectrum is a scare commodity, we have every reason to know how they have derived at the reserve price. We are writing a letter to the telecom ministry asking the economic rationale behind fixing the reserve price for spectrums,” he said. Significantly, the UK government in the 3G auction in 2000 gained a whopping £22.5 billion (Rs 182,500 cr), one of the highest amounts raised from such license sales globally. But it hurt the telecom companies and the roll-out was delayed by several years. Mr Behura said: “In the UK, the companies bought spectrum at such a high price that it became difficult for them to roll out the services. At times, companies bid for the sake of bidding and later find it impossible to execute the plans.” KPMG director (telecom) Romal Shetty said India must learn a few lessons from UK. “India will have to make sure that it does not go the UK way where it took six years to launch the services. In India, I feel, the main market could be the metros, but the companies will have to struggle hard to get people interested in 3G. So far as the pricing is concerned, the customers have to be prepared to shell out at least 40% more of their current mobile bills after they opt for 3G services,” he said.