india

Microsoft not letting ultra-low-cost Indian OEMs touch Windows Phone

May 11, 2012 | By Surur

The ZDNet IndianIt blog reports on an interview with Microsoft India’s Chairman Bhaskar Pramanik where Pramanik has said Microsoft would not allow smaller Indian OEMs to license Windows Phone for fear they will not be able to deliver the right user experience.

“The Windows Phone requires a specification for the user experience. We want to give the same kind of experience that Apple has. This limits the number of manufacturers who can build a product around that,” Mr Pramanik said.

Local OEMs includes names never heard in the west, including cromax, Spice, Karbon and Lava.

“I think till they (local handset makers) can design and build a product with that level of specification, yes it is a challenge for them,” he added.

“We want to cater to the real smartphone segment of the country,” Mr Pramanik said pointing out that by real smartphones he was referring to the high end category, which he felt was at least 14 million units big and centred around handsets costing around $300.

“We want to give the same user experience (as Apple) but across different platforms. It’s for the user to choose,” he added

Nokia, always a very strong brand in India, has however been suffering massive market share loss due to grey market imports from China and also from smaller OEMS running open source Android. It remains to be seen if the company can sell their Tango handsets and other mid-range Windows Phones as having a value proposition and desirability of an iPhone while still maintaining an accessible price.

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Microsoft slow to pay out to Windows Phone app contest winners

May 10, 2012 | By Surur

I unlock joy windows phone

All the way back in November 2011 Microsoft announced a contest meant to stimulate the Windows Phone 7 app market in India.

The bar to win a Windows Phone was pretty low:

“SUBMIT & RECEIVE” CATEGORY: A registered participant submits THREE qualified Windows Phone Application in the Marketplace and gets a chance to receive a Windows Phone. In this category, the Applications must be distinct and of non-trivial utility value for the Application User. A “Spam” or close replicas of existing Windows Phone Applications are disqualified.
“PORT 2 APPS & RECEIVE” CATEGORY: A registered participant submitting TWO qualified Windows Phone Applications in the Marketplace which are ported from existing Android or iPhone Applications get to receive a Windows Phone.
“WOMEN SPECIAL” CATEGORY: A first of its kind in the developer space, the first 100 registered Woman Developers who submit ONE (1) qualified Windows Phone Application each in the Marketplace qualify to receive a Windows Phone each. The applications can be based on Entertainment, Fashion, Leisure, Sports, Recreation or Travel themes.

The contest ended on March 30, 2012, and since then according to our tipster Microsoft has been very slow at paying out to the winners, apparently delivering a stream of excuses instead.

With apps being the life blood of the smartphone market at present (with Blackberry for example offering $10,000 to those who will write an app for their platform) the least Microsoft could do is deliver what they promised to developers who support their platform.

Have any of our readers been involved in the contest? Let us know your experience below.

Thanks Kunal for the tip.

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Funny Blown Away By Lumia videos featuring former Miss World

April 27, 2012 | By Surur

Nokia India have uploaded some Blown Away by Nokia videos featuring Priyanka Chopra, an Indian actress and former Miss World.

The videos main weakness is that they are obviously staged, but having some-one else besides a Microsoft or Nokia employee doing the blowing away is a good twist.

See two more videos after the break.

Continue reading →

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Windows Phones amongst best sellers in India

April 6, 2012 | By Surur

Windows Phones only recently became officially available in India, but it seems have been receiving a pretty good reception.

91Mobiles.com, an online retailer in India, publishes a pretty transparent weekly top 10 chart where not only the position, but also the price and actual number of units sold can be seen.

For this week the Samsung Omnia W has made it to the top 10, with 616 units sold. It is pretty good performance, considering it is amongst the most expensive handsets handsets on the list, with the top handset, the HTC Mobiles Explorer costing 40% less. Price is obviously a major factor in India.

When the charts are broken down into price segments Windows Phone continues to do well.


Below 15000 Rupees	15-20,000 Rupees	20-25,000 Rupees

Click for larger version

The Samsung Omnia W is the second best phone in the below 15,000 Rupees segment, narrowly beaten out by the cheaper Samsung Galaxy Ace, while in the 15-20,000 Rupees segment the HTC Radar appears in 6th position, ahead of the Apple iPhone 3GS, which sells for less than 10% more.

In the 20-25,000 Rupees segment the Nokia Lumia 800 holds 3rd spot.

Of course despite the good chart performance Windows Phone market share itself is pretty small, being drowned out by the variety of other Android handsets, but it is easy to imagine if a greater variety of Windows Phones were available it would be able to command a larger presence in the charts. With low cost handsets by the liked of Nokia, Acer and ZTE on the way there is no real reason Windows Phone could not gain greater market share in the subcontinent.

Thanks Arun for the tip.

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Samsung India creates Windows Phone themed mobile cricket site to promote Samsung Omnia W

March 28, 2012 | By Surur

In some parts of the world cricket is a religion, and to take advantage of this fervour Samsung India has asked Affle to create a mobile website, The Cricket Hub, to promote the Samsung Omnia W.

Sankalp Mehrotra, regional director, business development, Affle, says, "With the launch of The Cricket Hub, we are confident of creating, nurturing and sustaining an interesting platform for all cricket fans by offering them an inside view of an exciting off-the-field cricket action."

The site is Metro-themed, with what appears to be live tiles, and features trivia, news bites, live score and contests. The site also highlights Samsung Omnia W and Windows Phone features, such as ‘Spotlight’, ‘My hub’, ‘Avatar Stories’, ‘Live Score’ and ‘Leadboard’ and is targeted not just at current Windows Phone owners, but at other smartphone browsers like those using Blackberries, hopefully convincing them to upgrade to a Windows Phone.

Asim Warsi, vice-president, Samsung India, explains, "Mobile has become a key medium of consumption for consumers to meet their information and entertainment needs. Hence, it is an important platform for us to engage with them. Cricket Hub is an appropriate medium to give our unique Window’s Phone experience and exciting cricket content on the user’s mobile."

The site can be found at m.thecrickethub.com .

Nokia India pushing out PR 1.2 update for Lumia 800 and 710 owners

March 22, 2012 | By Surur

In a demonstration of how much simpler things are without carrier intervention, Nokia has just posted a notice on their Facebook page that the PR1.2 firmware update for the Nokia Lumia 710 and 800 has been released, which brings battery life and audio improvements.

Users are advised to either connect their phone to Zune or visit their nearest Nokia Care Center for the download.

Wish things were as easy as this in the west…

Via WPSauce.com

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Nokia Lumia 610 to retail for affordable Rs 11,000 in India

March 12, 2012 | By Surur

The Mobile Indian reports that the Nokia Lumia 610, Nokia’s low-end play running Windows Phone Tango, will be hitting the Indian market in the next few months at a very reasonable price.

Nokia India’s marketing director, Viral Oza told them at Mobile World Congress, "We will be launching Lumia 610 soon in the Indian market and at an affordable price."

The handset is expected to retail at around Rs 11,000 (around $220) which about 1/3 cheaper than the next cheapest Windows Phones, the Samsung Omnia W or the Nokia Lumia 710, which retails for Rs 15,500.

The phone is relatively well specced for the price, featuring a 3.7 inch capacitive screen, 5 megapixel camera and 8 GB storage, making it competitive with Android handsets which retail for close to double the price.

Of course the price of admission also include Nokia apps like Nokia Music, Nokia Maps, Nokia Drive, adding extra value.

Succeeding in India is essential for Nokia. The sub-continent has been one of their strongest markets, but they are rapidly losing market share from competitors like Samsung on the high end and cheap no-name smartphones on the low-end. Hopefully these cheap but relatively capable and well designed Windows Phones will help turn the tide.

Via MobileIndian.com

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Nokia Lumia 800 sees a 20% price cut in India on anticipation of Lumia 900 launch

March 2, 2012 | By Surur

flipkart

There is one way to manage a close succession of handsets, and keeps sales going even when a successor is known to be coming along, and that is of course to drop the price of the current handset.

It seems Nokia is an old hand in the game, and has dropped the price of the Nokia Lumia 800, which is apparently already selling like hotcakes, to Rs. 23590, a 20% drop from the Rs. 29,990 on Flipkart.

While it has not been confirmed, it is expected that the Nokia Lumia 900 will be arriving in India in only a few months.

The news is a reminder that while emerging markets are often seen as the target for low-end handsets, there are often millions of very well to do consumers there who also appreciate the better specified handsets.

Survey finds Nokia the most exciting youth brand in India

February 22, 2012 | By Surur

indiabrands

In a survey the Economic Times of India has found Nokia to be the most exciting youth brand of India.

Nokia has a very strong brand in the country, even as its dominant market share in the subcontinent has been fading.

The brand has been going through trying times across the globe and in India as well, with strong competition by Samsung and Apple. However, a lot of what the brand has been doing on the app and music front is starting to yield results. Nokia has been running campaigns where the brand is seen as an ally or ‘best friend’ of the consumer.

D Shivakumar, Nokia senior vice-president, India, Middle East and Africa said "50% of overall app downloads in India happen on Nokia Ovi store. We have the best music service, the best bands. Music, cricket and entertainment are passions of the youth. In each of these genres we’ve done a lot of work."

On the product side too, Nokia has spruced up its offering with the Lumia Windows Phones. Nokia has recently introduced the Nokia Lumia 800 handset into India, while at the same time offering its Asha Symbian range.

Nokia’s new Tango Windows Phones, expected to be announced at MWC 2012, is intended to transition their Symbian customers in emerging markets to Windows Phone, a move which will frankly rely solely on Nokia’s brand power to pull off, making this news good indeed.

via AllaboutWindowsPhone.com

1

Microsoft and ThinkDigit giving away a free phone for every 3 apps submitted by Indian developers

February 19, 2012 | By Surur

Microsoft and ThinkDigit have been running a contest in which they give Indian developers a free phone for every 3 apps they submit to Marketplace.

Developers still have to pay the $99 registration free, but this will get reimbursed in the form of Rs. 5,000 worth of gift vouchers to all successful developers who submit 3 Apps.

The bad news is that the contest, which has been running since January 2012, will be closing on the 29th February, which hardly leaves any time for those not already aware of the contests.

Porting two apps from Android, BlackBerry, iOS and Symbian will also earn developers a Windows Phone device and the first 100 women developers to submit a single app each will also get Windows Phone devices.

If you have 3 app ideas ready to turn into apps very quickly, and am based in India, read more at ThinkDigit here.

Thanks Arun for the tip.

3

Samsung Omnia W gets 15% price drop in India

February 18, 2012 | By Surur

WithWindows reports that the Samsung Omnia W, which previously retailed in India for more than Rs. 18,299 , is now available on Flipkart for as little as Rs. 15200.

They speculate the reason for the drop is the arrival of the Nokia Lumia 710, which had been undercutting the Samsung Omnia W.

Of course even Rs. 15200 is still a lot of money in India, but rumours of a Tango-powered Nokia Lumia 601 should bring even lower price points within reach of Windows Phone.

Certainly the theme so far this year has been for cheaper and cheaper Windows Phones, and if price has been a barrier to adoption before, it is now less and less of an issue.

The deal is available from flipkart here.

Updated figures via WPSauce.com

2

Three new apps for Indian WP users

January 28, 2012 | By vinodunny

This is just to inform you of three apps we’ve published for WP users in India.

The first app, Delhi Metro, is a fare and route calculator for the Delhi Metro subway system. The app allows you to get the latest stations as well as calculate the exact fare and route on the subway system, including the changeover stations.The app is available here(or scan the QR Code) and there is a trial version available with the only limitation that you cannot expand the detailed list of stations on the route. qrcode

The second app, Flight Status India, lets you view the status of domestic flights in India by airline or airport. We currentlu support 3 major airlines and 4 major cities with more coming up in later versions.You can find the app here(or with the QR Code) and there is a trial version too that has the limitation of being able to select only one airline (Jet Airways) or airport (Delhi). qrcode

The third app, EMI Amortization, is a mortgage calculator meant for both individuals and bank loan agents. The app allows you to enter the details of the loan and it calculates the mortgage amount (EMI) and the entire amortization schedule for you. If you’re a bank loan agent, you can even send these details to your client by way of an SMS or email directly from within the app.EMI Amortization is available at here(or with the QR Code) and the trial version doesn’t save the data or allow sending via SMS/Email. qrcode