DoT Rules 3G Roaming Illegal

The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has asked mobile operators to stop providing 3G roaming services or risk the termination of their roaming agreements. The telecom regulatory body has stated that this is in violation of licence norms. Mobile operators are definitely going to feel the pinch of this new ruling because they stand to lose a lot of revenue.

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) had earlier made similar inference following which, the Law Ministry, Communications, and IT Minister Kapil Sibal had asked Telecom Secretary R Chandrasekhar to notify all 3G operators operating in this "illegal" manner about the diktat. The DoT plans to penalise operators not abiding by this new ruling.

Earlier this year, no one operator was able to bag a pan-India 3G licence. Therefore, they had no choice but to enter into roaming agreements with each other to provide the service across the country. Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Essar, and Idea Cellular entered into such a roaming agreement, while Tata Teleservices and Aircel, who had initially agreed to such an arrangement, later terminated it.

The DoT received complaints regarding the illegal nature of such agreements. After seeking legal opinion, it decided to issue notices to these firms to terminate these agreements immediately, failing which they are liable to face legal action. The three operators to whom the notices have been served have written to the PM demanding refund of the spectrum auction payment if 3G roaming is not allowed.

Source : DoT Rules 3G Roaming Illegal

First Android Honeycomb 3.2 Tablet By Huawei

Manufacturer Huawei claims the title for the first Android Honeycomb 3.2 tablet, with its 7-inch MediaPad announced on Monday.The tablet runs version 3.2 of Google's Android operating system for tablets, which is essentially the same version found on Motorola's 10-inch tablet, but tailored to the 7-inch screen of the MediaPad.

The MediaPad is expected to ship in Q3 in the U.S., but Huaweit offers no availability date or pricing. The tablet runs on a 1.2GHz processor and Huawei claims you can squeeze out six hours of battery life, which is still around four hours less than market leader, Apple's iPad. Huawei's tablet will be more in line with HTC's Flyer tablet, which runs on non-tablet optimized version of Android.

The MediaPad is lighter than an iPad, coming in at 0.86 pounds, but it's slightly thicker at 0.4 inches, versus the iPad's 0.34-inches. Huawei's tablet also features dual cameras, one 5MP lens at the rear, which can record HD video (but no mention on whether it's 720p or 1080p), and a 1.3MP sensor on the front for self-portraits and video calls.

Along with 3G (HSPA+) and Wi-Fi support, the MediaPad can play 1080p videos and offers 8GB of internal storage, as well as microSD (up to 32GB) and HDMI slots. Huawei promises Flash Player 10.3 will be on board at launch, together with preloaded Facebook, Twitter, and Documents To Go apps, and the Let's Golf game.

When the MediaPad hits the U.S. shores this fall, the tablet will be likely sold though carriers at a subsidized price (but tied to a monthly data contract), as Engadget reports Huawei has no plans to release a Wi-Fi-only model of its Honeycomb 3.2 tablet.

Source : First Android Honeycomb 3.2 Tablet By Huawei

HTC Salsa Launched

Running Android Gingerbread covered by HTC's polished Sense UI, the Salsa sports a 3.4-inch capacitive touchscreen with pixel dimensions of 320x480. A 800 MHz processor powers the device with 512 MB RAM and 512 MB internal storage. A 5 Megapixel rear camera with auto-focus, face detection, geo-tagging and LED flash lets you snap photos even in insufficient lighting conditions, while a VGA front camera takes care of video calling. You can plug in a standard headphone with 3.5 mm jack to listen to music, while the 512 MB internal storage is augmented by a microSD memory card slot supporting up to 32 GB.

3G is supported with GPRS, EDGE, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 3.0 and GPS with A-GPS. This phone can be used anywhere in the world, thanks to quad-band GSM (850/900/1800/1900 MHz) and HSDPA/WCDMA (900/2100 MHz) network support. With the 1520 mAh battery, talk time for GSM is specified as up to 585 minutes, while standby time can be up to 465 hours. Weighing just 120 grams with battery, the Salsa measures a rather compact 5.89x1.23x10.91 cm.

This is one of the first HTC phones with a dedicated Facebook button first seen at the MWC 2011, as we had reported earlier. The other such phone was more affordable HTC ChaCha, which may also be released soon. The Facebook button (though HTC prefers to call it widget) grants you one-touch access to the social network, eliminating the need to dig deep inside to do the same. You can then easily post a text message, or even a photo or video made using the front-facing camera without any hassle. This phone will surely strike the right chord in the hearts of Facebook users.

Source : HTC Salsa Launched

fring Announces Group Video Chat for Android and iPhone

Mobile communication service provider, fring announced today, the world’s first mobile group video calls for iPhone & Android devices. The app once installed on your device allows for up to four friends to engage in voice and video calls via Wi-Fi, 3G or 4G. fring uses proprietary DVQ technology, that delivers the highest quality video for all four participants.

According to Avi Shechter, Co-Founder & CEO of fring, ‘fring leap-frogs sluggish, expensive PC Group Video Calling solutions by giving users the world’s 1st mobile Group Video service, free. There is no reason why users need to run home to their PC in order to have a ‘spontaneous’ video call with their friends and family. Users love seeing all their friends at the same time, on one screen, but want to be able to do it, when and where they want. Just as fring was the 1st to liberate video calls from the PC back in 2009, we are the 1st to give users the ability to see all their friends on their phone at the same time, anywhere. This video call revolution lets fringsters be free to get together, wherever.

Source : fring Announces Group Video Chat for Android and iPhone

HTC Incredible S launched in India with Super LCD screen

HTC has unexpectedly launched the Incredible S smartphone in India, a little over a month after its international debut at MWC 2011. Pricing the Android 2.2 Froyo-based smartphone at Rs. 28,990 (MOP), HTC has already promised a Gingerbread update for the phone soon, in the second quarter of 2011. We expect an Android 2.4 update to follow soon after, if the company sticks to its word.

The HTC Incredible S is the updated version of the company's popular Incredible model, and has a large 4-inch display, which has surprisingly remained a Super LCD screen on its journey to India, unlike the Desire HD and Desire Z. It is based on the Qualcomm MSM8255 chipset, featuring a 1GHz Scorpion processor, and the Adreno 205 GPU. It operates on 768MB of RAM, and 1.1GB of ROM. It has an 8MP autofocus camera onboard, equipped with dual-LED flash and image stabilization, which is also capable of recording 720p HD video at 30 frames per second. It also has a secondary front-facing 1.3MP camera for video calls.

 
A 3G-capable phone (HSDPA, 14.4 Mbps; HSUPA, 5.76 Mbps), the HTC Incredible S also supports Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n with DLNA, and Bluetooth v2.1 with A2DP and EDR. Surprisingly, at its price, the phone comes without a document editor bundled onboard, though a document viewer is provided. It has a 1450 mAh Li-ion battery that is rated to deliver up to 370 hours of standby time (3G), and 9 hours 40 minutes of talk time (2G).

According to the press release, the Incredible S also features stereo surround sound, as well as dual microphones for active noise cancellation. HTC also proudly introduced the special UI auto-rotate feature of the Incredible S – its touch-sensitive controls for the default Android keys (home, menu, back and search) automatically rotate themselves based on the phone’s orientation.

Source : HTC Incredible S launched in India with Super LCD screen