Thursday, June 30, 2022

Will 4G hit India in 2012? [Analysis] |

Will 4G hit India in 2012? [Analysis] |

It has been more than year that mobile subscribers in India are offering 3G services to their customers. Its not yet so famous as more than 70% of Mobile Users don’t even know about it. Coming directly to the point, I want to say that 3G results have not been upto the mark as yet there are less than 10% users who’ve shifted to 3G.

A report says that if everything goes well, we will be having 4G bidding in India next year. First of all, let me tell you a bit about 4G. It is the newest generation of Mobile Technology and will take up the speed constraints from ~4Mbps in 3G network to nearly 100Mbps in fast moving vehicles such as Cars and even better i.e. upto 1Gbps speed for Stationary users. The figure might look a bit amazing but coming to ground reality, this speed is not there for even the Wired Broadband users in India.

However, what I am concerned about is that top mobile service providers have invested more than 50,000 Crore rupees in the 3G spectrum bidding already and for getting on the profit side, they need a tenure of atleast 6-7 years to get going. And, with 4G bidding to follow next year, I guess most of them would have to stay away from bidding  as they won’t be having an amount which will be even more than the 3G bidding to spend. Keeping all this in Mind, TRAI and the Govt. of India are planning to postpone it for a while, but that will again make us lagging in terms of technology as many countries including China and Japan have already launched 4G.

However, there are mobile operators in India such as Etisalat DB (largest Provider in Middle-East Asia) who to protect themselves from such a situation and have therefore kept themselves away from the bidding. So they will be eyeing to get the most out of it.

Tuesday, June 28, 2022

Nokia Partners With EdServ to Dish Out Educational Content on SmartPhones |

Nokia Partners With EdServ to Dish Out Educational Content on SmartPhones |

Nokia Smart Phones all over the world will have new educational apps, powered by Chennai-based company EdServ. India’s largest mobile-based educational company has entered into an agreement with Nokia. The Chairman and CEO of EdServ, Mr. S Giridharan was quoted saying:

Nokia has approved our HumThum Apps for hosting the apps in Nokia Ovi Apps Store and the apps is now available to run inside all Nokia smart phones.

How Will Students Gain?

  • Students will be able to use EdServ’s wide-range of educational content on their mobile phones through HumThum Apps. The content is not only aimed at school students, but specific content for undergraduate and post-graduate students is also available. Since, these apps will be dished out in phones all over the world, it is till unclear whether the content will be modified as per region or not.
  • HumThum Apps has a PDF Converter. Students can also use their phones as a mobile scanner or a photocopier then.
  • A talking dictionary might not be one of the most powerful features of HumThum Apps, but its presence their still adds value to the package.
  • HumThum helps users design and host websites from their mobile phones itself. I don’t think this is an asset to the students as such. If they had to host a website, they’d use teir computers rather than using their phones. At least that’s what I’ll do.

EdServ which is also listed on BSE and NSE has been doing very good recently. Mr Giridharan’s words echoed this as he said:

EdServ has already garnered over 2.5lakh users on lampsglow.com, out of which over 50 per cent was from mobile segment. EdServ is targeting a subscribed user base of 1crore for its mobile apps by end of next year.

With this new deal, EdServ is surely going to gain advantage as far as the mobile education domain is considered. Who knows – it may be looking to strike deals with other biggies in the mobile handset industry pretty soon.

By the way, I had a look at lampsglow.com, one of EdServ’s website. The content there can be accessed only after payment. So, I am not sure how many students will pay to access this content on their mobile phones. Whatever be the number, this deal will surely bring new customers to EdServ. The financial figures of the deal are still unknown. We have sent a mail to the EdServ team to know more.

Abhineet Kumar is the co-founder of Hungry N Foolish. A student of Business Administration, he is passionate about entrepreneurship and blogging. Abhineet urges you to do your bit in making this world a better place to live in, in your own small ways. Catch him on Twitter @abhineetsays.

Wednesday, June 8, 2022

How to Land a Job in Facebook, Google and Apple? [Infographic] |

How to Land a Job in Facebook, Google and Apple? [Infographic] |

All of us must be aware that recession has slapped companies on its face. But instead of going slow, the technology industry seems to be doing good. Apple, Facebook and Google all of them have come up with new products. While Apple has launched the new iPhone 4S, Facebook also came with it’s new Timeline feature integrated with music services from Spotify. Google as always seems unaffected from the word recession as it continues to launch new products and rope in new celebrities like Shah Rukh Khan to promote them.

So guys – what could be better than a day when you could work for your very own Facebook or Google – whose products you use daily. Not many get a chance to work with the global internet giants. Although you might find many Indians working for Google and a few for Facebook now as they’ve hired a lot of tech students from India, still getting into these biggies is a big thing. I for one haven’t met any Indian from either of the IITs or any other college in India who went off to work for Apple though. Possibly because Apple is yet to set its foot in the Indian market.

Okay, now to what we are here for. How do we get a job in Facebook, Google or Apple?

Just go here and apply for jobs at Facebook, Google, and Apple:

  • Facebook jobs
  • Google jobs
  • Apple jobs

Btw, if you are not interested in joining Facebook, Google, and Apple, and aim to replicate their success, you could always check out our startup related articles.

Or else:

Here’s what I’ve got for you – a cool info-graphic from the guys at Masterdegree.net making your way easy through such companies.

Sunday, June 5, 2022

Why Apple iPhone is Still Lagging in the Indian SmartPhone Market |

Why Apple iPhone is Still Lagging in the Indian SmartPhone Market |

A budget iPhone! Too good to be true? Well, the rumour mill has been predicting something similar for quite some time and going by recent reports on how iPhone market hasn’t really picked up in India as yet, it sure would not come as a surprise if we see Apple announcing the same sooner than later.

A Bloomberg report says:

Smartphone shipments in India are slated to rise by 70% by 2015. Considering this, if we go by the report suggesting that Apple ships fewer handsets to India, the world’s second-largest mobile-phone market, than it does to Norway, is alarming indeed.

Going by Bloomberg’s numbers, Apple sure has to do a lot of stuff and act fast in order to level with the likes of Nokia, Samsung and Blackberry in the Indian market.

But iPhones have been touted as the most promising technology developed recently. With its revolutionary iOS, high quality video calling web browsing features and easy synchronisation abilities, does it’s slow growth in the Indian market sure come as a surprise to you?

Also, if Apple lowers the price, then it will have to scrap some of the promising features. Is lowering the price the only option Apple has for surging ahead in the booming Indian mobile market?

Here we discuss some fronts in India on which Apple needs to do more work. Actually, the issues with the popularity and sales of iPhones in Asia in general are much the same:

  • The price : The first and foremost and probably the most obvious reason for iPhones lower success rate in Asia and in India to be specific is it’s cost ceiling. As a developing nation, the majority of the population still can’t afford to pay $750 for the 16Gb iPhone.
  • Competition: The smartphone user base in India still prefers a BlackBerry, Nokia and an Android over an iPhone. These companies provide similar features as an iPhone at nearly a fraction of its price.
    • RIM’s BlackBerry Messenger : BBM has a dominance over the Indian app market with its excellent marketing and performance since its launch in 2008. The messenger works with majorly all operators in India and provides instant messaging on networks with speeds incomparable to those provided in the US. People who want to buy a smartphone prefer BB simply because their friends have one too and choosing the same would offer better connectivity through the messenger.
    • Android OS : Being open-source offering easy app integration and installation features, inclusion of Flash and a better notification system than iPhone and of course being cheaper, Android smartphones provide a stiff competition to the Apple product.
  • Poor Networks : India has recently started the third generation networks. The networks are yet to provide the services fast enough for an iPhone to function properly and to it’s full capability. Majority of iPhone apps and functionality relies on wi-fi which is yet to fully kick start in the Indian networks. 2G services are simply incapable of providing an experience that an iPhone promises to offer.
  • Poor Marketing : People in the country know more about Samsung Galaxy Tab than they know about the iPad. The other companies seem to have spent a lot of money on advertising and marketing in India. Apple, on the other hand has not done any kind of marketing. I agree that people have started identifying Apple products, but I am not too sure if they realise what value it has when compared to a BlackBerry, Nokia or a Samsung product. For many of them it is something expensive with the same features as an Android phone.

Also, Apple does not sell its products through private retailers – thus deterring many buyers. One should notice that quite a number of rich Indians are in small towns where Apple products are not sold. And, since Indians cannot buy Apple products online as well – the only way to buy an iPhone is to go to a Reliance Digital store (which might not have what you need) or a Tata Croma store in a metro. A few private stores have started selling Apple products (again in metros), but they remain few in number. A better distribution channel will surely dish out brighter fortunes for the Cupertino-based giant.

Considering the above stated issues, if Apple does come up with something like a budget iPhone on 5th October (proposed date for the launch of iPhone 5) or in the near future, it will definitely be an event which will change the current Smartphone market on its head.

The thing to watch out for here would be how Apple would go about achieving this without compromising with the quality and performance that it boasts of. Reducing some specifications or features could be one way of approaching this. However nothing can be said as yet since no official announcement has been made by Apple, until then, speculations would continue.

If Apple comes comes out with something to cater to the Indian market it shouldn’t forget the youth. Microsoft, to lure the college students attention recently came out with an app development competition and another video-making contest. Apple could come out with similar campaigns as well. Plus, the Apple social media team needs to work the hard way in India. Facebook and Twitter are turning out to be marketers’ battlegrounds in India as in other nations, and Apple needs to concentrate here – the Indian public till now has not interacted much with Apple on social media.

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