their blog they say “We are phasing out Sony Ericsson Sync service since it was meant for old generation phones and our aim is to create a more enhanced and integrated smartphone experience for you. As an alternative to Sony Ericsson Sync service, we recommend you to use the Google Sync service for a more integrated experience in line with the favorite range of Google Mobile Services like Google Voice Search, Google Maps and YouTube.”
Sony suggests third party sync services like Google Sync, Plaxo and UNYK as a replacement for their own sync services.

Read more about Sony Ericsson Phones at PhoneDekho.com

Reported at Hindustan Times

management software in the first quarter, allowing corporate IT staff to set and monitor rules for passwords, apps and software on a range of devices, including Apple’s iPad and iPhone, and smartphones using Google’s Android operating system.
A company can remotely lock or wipe a lost or stolen device, a key selling point for security-conscious corporations who may have been wary of shifting away from the BlackBerry.

“What our enterprise customers are looking for, and the opportunity for us, is to become the de facto platform,” RIM’s vice-president for enterprise product management, Alan Panezic, told Reuters in an interview ahead of the announcement.

“We will take full advantage of whatever security capabilities are provided by the core operating system. We’re not going to hold that back in any way, shape or form.”

RIM’s BlackBerry was for years the preferred device for businesses and government agencies, who treasured its encrypted data and distributed the device to millions of workers needing secure, round-the-clock email access.

But many workers now prefer using their own Apple and Android-powered devices to access corporate emails, raising security questions for corporations that RIM hopes to address with the new software.

Mobile Fusion will sit next to existing BlackBerry Enterprise Servers (BES) behind corporate firewalls.

Panezic said the software will manage RIM’s PlayBook independently from a BlackBerry after the tablet – which has yet to gain traction with either business or consumer clients – receives a long-awaiting software upgrade, due in February.

He declined to give any pricing details for the Fusion service, but said it would be “competitive” with rivals.

“It will help stem the tide of those companies that may have considered eliminating their BES but it won’t help sell more phones,” said Gartner analyst Phillip Redman. “That’s what they really need to do.”

The new software follows on from RIM’s May acquisition of device management company Ubitexx, which RIM announced in May.

Smaller companies such as Good Technology, MobileIron and BoxTone already offer device management as companies fret about leakage of sensitive commercial information.

“This will definitely rattle some cages” among smaller companies, filling a niche by securing and managing iPhones and other non-BlackBerry devices for corporations, Forrester analyst Christian Kane said.

Panezic said customers had requested a solution to handle Apple and Android devices, but RIM would consider adding support for other systems, such as Microsoft’s Windows Phone, if there was enough demand.

RIM shares closed 3 percent higher at $16.48 on Nasdaq on Monday. They have fallen more than 70 percent this year.

Read more about iPhones at PhoneDekho.com

Reported at Hindustan Times

The company said on Tuesday that it will launch its new Mobile Fusion device management software in the first quarter, allowing corporate IT staff to set and monitor rules for passwords, apps and software on a range of devices, including Apple’s iPad and iPhone, and smartphones using Google’s Android operating system.

A company can remotely lock or wipe a lost or stolen device, a key selling point for security-conscious corporations who may have been wary of shifting away from the BlackBerry.

“What our enterprise customers are looking for, and the opportunity for us, is to become the de facto platform,” RIM’s vice-president for enterprise product management, Alan Panezic, told Reuters in an interview ahead of the announcement.

“We will take full advantage of whatever security capabilities are provided by the core operating system. We’re not going to hold that back in any way, shape or form.”

RIM’s BlackBerry was for years the preferred device for businesses and government agencies, who treasured its encrypted data and distributed the device to millions of workers needing secure, round-the-clock email access.

But many workers now prefer using their own Apple and Android-powered devices to access corporate emails, raising security questions for corporations that RIM hopes to address with the new software.

Mobile Fusion will sit next to existing BlackBerry Enterprise Servers (BES) behind corporate firewalls.

Panezic said the software will manage RIM’s PlayBook independently from a BlackBerry after the tablet – which has yet to gain traction with either business or consumer clients – receives a long-awaiting software upgrade, due in February.

He declined to give any pricing details for the Fusion service, but said it would be “competitive” with rivals.

“It will help stem the tide of those companies that may have considered eliminating their BES but it won’t help sell more phones,” said Gartner analyst Phillip Redman. “That’s what they really need to do.”

The new software follows on from RIM’s May acquisition of device management company Ubitexx, which RIM announced in May.

Smaller companies such as Good Technology, MobileIron and BoxTone already offer device management as companies fret about leakage of sensitive commercial information.

“This will definitely rattle some cages” among smaller companies, filling a niche by securing and managing iPhones and other non-BlackBerry devices for corporations, Forrester analyst Christian Kane said.

Panezic said customers had requested a solution to handle Apple and Android devices, but RIM would consider adding support for other systems, such as Microsoft’s Windows Phone, if there was enough demand.

RIM shares closed 3 per cent higher at $16.48 on Nasdaq on Monday. They have fallen more than 70 per cent this year.

Read more about Apple, Android phones at PhoneDekho.com

Reported at Times Of India

The company gave no timeframe for the forecast sales of the Note, which is already available in other countries.

The Note, with a 5.3-inch (13.5 centimetre) screen, is positioned between the firm’s flagship Android-equipped Galaxy smartphone and its Galaxy Tab.

The Note, with a larger screen than the smartphone but smaller the than tablet, suggests the company is seeking a head start in the market for a model combining both functions.

Samsung said the device combines the portability of a smartphone with the larger screen of a tablet.

“Galaxy Note is a revolutionary product opening a new category in the market,” said JK Shin, head of the mobile communications business, in a statement.

The firm also launched the Galaxy Nexus, the first smartphone to run on Google’s newest Android operating system which has been dubbed the ” Ice Cream Sandwich”.

Read more about Samsung Phones at PhoneDekho.com

Reported at Times Of India

HTC has become the worst performer among global smartphone shares this year, falling over 30 per cent in the last eight sessions alone, as investors worried it may have lost the innovative touch that propelled it from contract maker to must-have brand in only a few years.

Those concerns heightened last week when HTC surprisingly cut its revenue forecast for the fourth quarter to no growth, shocking a market used to double-digit growth rates from the maker of the Desire, Sensation and Wildfire models.

But the company says it is not another Nokia, the Finnish mobile maker which has experienced a rapid fall from market dominance.

“I don’t think it’s so serious,” Chief Financial Officer Winston Yung told Reuters on Monday. “We have six quarters of improvement, the most conservative guidance is 45 million units of shipments this year, a lot higher than 25 million last year,” he said.

“We will focus on the product next year, better and more competitive. Other than new LTE phones for the US market, we also have phones for the global market. We will launch some worldwide flagship products. We’re confident in them.”

On Monday, HTC shares opened down 1.3 per cent before rising as much as 1 per cent and then falling again as much 5 per cent. At 0251 GMT, they were down 2.35 per cent at T$478.

That is still way off their high for the year of T$1,238.1 in April, a figure that helped founder Cher Wang top the Forbes rich list for Taiwan this year.

“More foreign investors are still selling HTC as the company doesn’t have many bets in hand,” said Masterlink Investment Advisory vice president Tom Tang. “And unlike last time (when shares plunged), HTC didn’t make a share buyback plan this time,” he said.

Aside from stiff competition from Apple Inc’s iPhones and Samsung Electronics’ Galaxy line-up, HTC also faces legal challenges over patents from Apple and others.

German patent firm IPCom said on Friday it plans to halt as quickly as possible the sale of all HTC smartphones in Germany, after HTC pulled an appeal against the ruling.

HTC withdrew the appeal because the German Federal Patent Court had previously held the relevant claim of the patent in question to be invalid, the Taiwan firm said in a statement.

It added that the technology in question was old and no longer used by HTC, so that any move by IPCom would not affect sales.

Read more about HTC and Nokia phones at PhoneDekho.com

Reported at Times Of India

Idea, part of India’s Aditya Birla conglomerate, will sell the smartphones at 5,850 rupees ($110) and 7,992 rupees, respectively. Idea will also bundle free data services as an introductory offer, it said in a statement.

The touchscreen smartphones, based on the Android operating system, are being sourced from Chinese firms Huawei and ZTE, Idea’s managing director Himanshu Kapania told reporters in Mumbai, adding that the company was also studying if it could enter the tablet PC market.

“We are not competing with handset makers. We want to provide customers a low entry-point for smartphones,” he said.

Smartphones accounted for 6 per cent of the total mobile device sales during the three months to September, said technology researcher Gartner, which expects the share to increase to 8 per cent by next year.

With more than 870 million mobile connections, India is the world’s second-biggest wireless services market after China.

Indian mobile carriers including Idea launched 3G networks this year after paying a total of more than $20 billion to buy 3G radio airwaves in a state auction last year. The companies are betting on the pick up of the premium services to increase margins although initial uptake has been slower than expected.

Read more about new mobile phones at PhoneDekho.com

Reported at Times Of India

This is 0.7% more than what Microsoft, with its Windows mobile, has. So, how Bada has become so big barely a year after it was introduced in the market? The answer lies in countries like India and some clever market strategy by Samsung.

The Korean company makes smartphones using Android and Windows Phone 7 but there are occasions when it showers some extra love on its own child, Bada. This means it offers Bada phones that pack cutting-edge hardware, yet cost less than Android or Windows phones with similar configuration. In a country like India where market is price-sensitive and where bundled content and apps may not play that big a role in influencing choice of phone buyers, this strategy has worked well. At least so far.

It’s the same strategy that Samsung is pushing ahead with Wave III, the latest and greatest smartphone to run on the Bada. On paper it’s a handsomely-designed and well-equipped handset. But can it hold its own against the similarly priced Android and Windows Phone 7 handsets? We check out.

Plastic & aluminum

Unlike most of mid-range Android phones from Samsung, Wave III is not all plastic. It has an Aluminum back cover with brushed metal finish, giving it a premium look. Edges are nicely rounded and the physical home button is accompanied by two touch-sensitive — ‘back’ and ‘option’ — buttons. Unlike other phones, the back cover doesn’t come off Wave III. Instead, it slides halfway so that users can access slots for SIM and micro SD card. Though the sliding mechanism gives the handset a degree of sophistication, it is an inconvenient design for users because it makes taking out SIM card very difficult.

Overall, the phone is very compact and feels great in hand despite its large size and 4-inch screen.

Wave III is powered by a single core processor running at 1.4Ghz. It has 512 RAM and 4GB internal storage. There is provision for a micro SD card with size of up to 32GB. The screen uses SuperAMOLED panel and has a resolution of 480×800 pixels. Five mega-pixel rear camera is accompanied by a single LED flash. The front camera supports VGA resolution.

Bada: Mixed bag

Wave III is the first phone to be powered by Bada 2.0. It is a big update to the Samsung’s mobile operating software and it shows in the phone. The lockscreen is much improved, multitasking is supported and overall feel of the OS is more polished. The user interface in Bada 2.0 has many similarities with the TouchWiz found on Galaxy S II. There is option to put apps in folders. Apps for calendar, music, video and task are similar to what is found in Samsung’s high-end Android phones.

Wave III works fantastically well as a phone. Its screen – in SuperAMOLED fashion – produces bright and punchy colours. Touch response is very good. Call quality is top notch. And a powerful CPU makes sure that there is no lag while navigating across the device. Same is true for Web browsing. Samsung has bundled a customized Dolphin browser with the phone and it works very well. Apps like PolarisOffice, ChatOn, AllShare, Voice Recorder and GTalk are also bundled, saving the user hassle of looking for them.

But at the same time Wave III falls short in some crucial smartphone functions. For example, the mail client is average. Availability of apps, despite Samsung’s big claims regarding the number of Bada apps, is dismal. For example, the bundled YouTube is just a shortcut for the mobile version of the website. There are few good games in the Samsung’s app store. In the absence of relevant maps, location services are virtually non-existent.

The performance of camera is above average on Wave III. Pictures are detailed and have balanced colours. Macros and portraits especially come out very well but landscape photographs are slightly soft. Wave III records videos in up to 720P resolution but quality is average with grain visible in the clips shot indoors. In terms of video playback, Wave III is restricted to 720P resolution. The support for codecs is above average. The phone handled MP4, AVI and MKV files very well but could not play WMV and Xvid clips.

Wave III has a good battery life for a smartphone. Our unit easily lasted around 11 hours on single charge when used with 3G with usage mostly comprising Web browsing, calls, and casual gaming.

Worth its price?

Wave III is a good looking phone but unlike its predecessors, which had it easy in absence of good mid-range Android phones, it faces a bigger challenge in the market. Bada 2.0, along with good looking design and decent hardware, puts Wave III ahead of similarly priced Symbian and Blackberry smartphones. But when compared to Android or Windows Phone 7 devices, it falls short.

The biggest problem with Wave III is lack of apps. One year ago when decent Android smartphones used to cost above Rs 25,000, Wave phones managed to make a splash with their low prices and decent set of features. However, given the current state of the market, Wave III with an MRP of Rs 19,600 will appeal only to those who put design over the functionality and don’t care much for apps. For others, better options exist in the market.

Read more about Samsung Phones at PhoneDekho.com

Reported at Times Of India

Bold 9790 updates the classic Bold QWERTY form factor with a curvier look. It boasts of a 2.44-inch touchscreen display with 360 x 480 resolution, and is powered by a 1GHz CPU. The handset packs 8GB of onboard memory and features a microSD slot that offers up to 32GB of additional space.

BlackBerry Curve 9380 jettisons the physical keyboard in favor of a 3.2-inch, 480 x 360 touchscreen and 5-megapixel camera. It is expected to run on 800MHz processor with 1GB of storage.

The BlackBerry Curve 9350 sports the typical BlackBerry keyboard. GPS and Wi-Fi support are included. It has a 5 megapixel camera with flash and video recording.

All three devices will come preloaded with BlackBerry Messenger, Documents To Go Premium, BlackBerry Protect for backup and BlackBerry Balance.

As for pricing, Bold 9790 is priced at Rs 27,490. BlackBerry Curve 9380 and Curve 9350 have an MRP of Rs 20,990.

Read more about BlackBerry phones at PhoneDekho.com

Reported at Times Of India

The phone was announced by Apple on October 4 and has been available for preorder in India since 18th November.

The phone’s steep price tag has made headlines the last few days – the 16GB version costs Rs 44,500 while the 32GB version costs Rs 50,900. In comparison, the phones retail in USA at Rs 33,740 and Rs 38,940.

For those of you who have the phone on your list, here’s a list of the tariff plans offered by Airtel and Aircel.  See Below

To Know More about Apple iPhone 4S Review and Specifications Click Here

Lastly, if you’re wondering if Siri, the voice controlled personal assistant, will respond to Indian accents – YES it Will!!

Tariff Plans

For Airtel:

There are four plans to choose from. Rs. 600, Rs. 1000, Rs. 1600 and Rs. 2000.

The cheapest plan of Rs. 600 per month gives you 500 min of talk time 300 SMS’ (local + national) and 3G data of 200MB.

Rs. 2000 per month offers you 1500 local minutes of talk time, 600 SMS’ (local + national) and 3072MB of 3G data.

Each plan is currently being offered at 50% discount (that means you pay Rs. 300 for the Rs 600 plan, Rs. 500 for the Rs. 1000 plan, so on and so forth).

For Aircel:

The monthly rental is Rs. 950 for the iPhone 4S 16GB and Rs. 1150 for the 32GB version.

For Rs 950 you get 3000 local + STD minutes, 350 local + National SMS and 650 MB of 3G data.

For Rs1150 per month you get 3500 local + STD minutes, 450 local + National SMS and 650 MB of 3G data.

There are more than 870 million mobile users in India and the country is one of the world’s fastest-growing cellular markets in subscriber additions.

The market, however, is very price-sensitive, with low-cost phones dominating sales.

Handset sales in India are set to reach 213 million this year, Gartner said in a statement, adding annual sales could top 322 million by 2015.

Nokia and Samsung Electronics that lead the Indian mobile handset market are facing the heat from Chinese and local brands such as G’Five, Karbonn Mobile and Micromax who have gained market share through cheaper offerings.

“The big global brands will continue to face competition from local and Chinese brands as some of these brands are building capabilities to compete at a larger level covering broader consumer segments,” Anshul Gupta, principal research analyst at Gartner, said in the statement.

For the three months to September, smartphone sales were 6 per cent of the total device sales, Gartner said, and expected the share to go up to 8 per cent in 2012.

The average selling price for a mobile device sold in India is about $45, with three quarters of the devices sold costing below $75, it said.

Read more about different mobile phones at PhoneDekho.com

Reported at Times Of India