The movie hype is on an all-time high, with some great movies releasing in the upcoming months. Movie fanatics are calling 2019 a huge year for movie releases, simply because a lot of big titles are on the line. Given below is a list of the top five recent trailers, which will leave fans wanting for more.
Joker
Warner Brothers has finally released the first trailer of the upcoming DC movie, Joker. As expected, the trailer confirms that the movie will provide a deeper insight into the early life of the popular “Batman” arch rival. Played by Joaquin Phoenix and directed by Todd Philips, Joker will uncover another dark aspect of the DC universe. The movie focuses on Arthur, a comedian in Gotham City who has fallen prey to hard times and bullying. Eventually, he attains a certain degree of madness before transforming into the Joker, shown at the end of the trailer.
The movie will hit the theatres on October 4, so mark your calendars.
Annabelle Comes Home
From producer James Wan, who worked on terrifying movies like Insidious and the Saw series, comes another horror flick, which is bound to incite screams from the audience. Annabelle Comes Home continues the story of the famous Annabelle doll after it was brought to its Christian home. A series of events leads to the evil spirit being on the loose again, and wreaking havoc in the lives of the owners. With a boatload of jumpscares, this movie will have you clutching at your breaths.
Annabelle will be there to haunt theatres near you on June 28.
Avengers Endgame Special Look
Avengers in a name that needs no introduction. Avengers Infinity War was released in April 2018, and it broke the records by being the highest grossing opening weekend movie of all time. In a series of records, the sequel to Avengers Infinity War recently broke the records by becoming one of the fastest movies to sell out an entire batch of tickets. Avengers Endgame is scheduled to release soon, and it will bring Thanos against the Avengers for one last showdown to decide the fate of the universe. Over time, actors who have played various Marvel Characters have been loved by the audience and fans like, and this movie may be the last chance for them to see their favourites on the big screen one last time.
Avengers Endgame is scheduled to release on April 26 in India. Tickets will be available for booking very soon
The Dead Don’t Die
If you enjoyed Zombieland and Shaun of the dead, chances are you will enjoy this American Zombie horror comedy which stars Adam Driver, Bill Murray, Selena Gomez, Chloë Sevigny, Steve Buscemi, Austin Butler, RZA, Tilda Swinton, Tom Waits, Danny Glover, Caleb Landry Jones, Rosie Perez and Carol Kane. Yes, the movie has a star-studded cast. Adam Driver and Bill Murray can be seen combating zombies amidst hilarious one-liners. And apparently, zombies can be spotted asking for coffee.
The Dead don’t die will arrive in theatres on June 14, 2019.
Dora And The Last City Of Gold
Most 90s kids would remember growing up with Dora The Explorer. Dora would ask questions, wait for a good 5 seconds and then speak the correct answer before moving on. But the live-action version of Dora featured in Dora and the Last City of Gold is not a bit like the animated cartoon version. Dora can be seen guiding her friends through a series of adventures through forests and unknown lands. Dora’s faithful monkey, Boots also makes appearances throughout the trailer.
Dora and the Last City of Gold is coming to theatres on August 2, 2019.
The movie hype is on an all time high, with some great movies releasing in the upcoming months. The first few months of 2019 gave way to some amazing trailers for movies like the Avengers: Endgame and Spider-Man: Far From Home. Movie critics are calling 2019 a huge year for movie releases, simply because a lot of big titles are on the line. Given below is a list of the top five recent trailers, which will leave movie fanatics wanting for more.
1. Detective Pikachu
Pokemon fans will know what it’s like to witness a live action Pokemon movie, and that too, a movie with the majority of attention directed at the all time favourite character, Pikachu. The trailer was faced with mixed reviews, where some people disliked the fact that the ‘cute’ voice of the Pokemon was replaced with a human’s voice. But when most of those fans realized that the “human” is none other than the beloved actor Ryan Reynolds, all griefs were put to rest. Warner Brothers just dropped the second trailer for the movie, showing a “caffeine addicted” Pikachu and Justice Smith as Tim. To fans amazement, the trailer also features the legendary Pokemon, Mewtwo in all its glory.
The movie is scheduled for release on May 10, 2019.
2. Dark Phoenix
The last X-Men movie came out in 2016, titled X-Men Apocalypse. The climax of the movie showed Sophie Turner unleash her full potential, and eventually put a stop to the impending apocalypse. Dark Phoenix will reveal the (obvious) dark side of the most powerful mutant in the team. The trailer shows all the X-Men grouping together to save their own teammate. The movie features James McAvoy, Sophie Turner, Jennifer Lawrence, Michael Fassbender and Jessica Chastain (who’s playing the negative side).
Dark Phoenix will hit the theatres on June 7, 2019.
3. Hellboy (2019)
The Hellboy franchise saw Ron Perlman playing the “good demon” and fans were instantly hooked to the series. After the release of Hellboy: The Golden Army in 2008, Lionsgate Movies announced the Hellboy reboot trailer on December 19, 2018. The follow up trailer was released on February 28, 2019 and promises much more than the previous movies – quirky jokes, monsters fighting monsters and huge swords. It can’t get better than this.
Hellboy is releasing on April 12, 2019
4. Spider-Man: Far From Home
A lot of fans were disheartened when they saw (SPOILER!) Peter Parker crumble away to dust in the wake of the Avengers: Infinity war. However, when they saw their favourite character come back to life in the new Spider-Man: Far From Home teaser Trailer, the hype was back on the track. And the fact that Tom Holland will get to play Spiderman in another movie is an indication that (SPOILER – 2) the dead Avengers will eventually be resurrected in the upcoming Avengers movie.
Watch Spiderman: Far From Home swing to theatres on July 5, 2019.
Disney’s Frozen was an animated musical-fantasy movie, and it earned over $1.27 billion in box office revenue post release. Walt Disney Animation Studios dropped the trailer for the sequel to Frozen on February 13, 2019, and the new teaser trailer is exactly opposite to Frozen 1 so far. It’s dark, broody and all the things that a Disney movie shouldn’t be, but it manages to pull it off equally magnificently. Not a lot was revealed in the trailer, but it was every bit as “intriguing” as a teaser could be. With some amazing music scores similar to “Let it Go”, the movie may provide a dark turn to events from the first movie.
Frozen 2 will debut in Theatres on November 22, 2019.
An Indian Air Force(IAF) Jaguar Fighter plane has crashed in UP’s Kushinagar area on Monday morning at 11:30am. Both the pilots managed to eject safely. No casuality has been reported yet as the plane crashed in the non residential area of Kushinagar. According to reports, the aircraft was on a routine mission from Gorakhpur Air Force station.
According to the statement by IAF given to ANI, “Today (Monday) morning, a Jaguar aircraft while on a routine mission from Gorakhpur, crashed. Pilot ejected safely. A court of Inquiry has been ordered to investigate the accident,”
The police and administration officials have rushed to the accident site. The IAF Fighter Plane had taken off from the Gorakhpur Air Base.
Similar incidents like these:
The news of crashing aircrafts of the defence force is not anything new, last year a similar incident happened in June 2018 when a Jaguar crashed in Gujarat’s Kutch soon after taking off. The pilot, Air Commodore Sanjay Chauhan passed away in the incident. A Sukhoi 30 MKI fighter jet has crashed near Nashik in Maharashtra on June 27, 2018. A MiG 27 also crashed near Jodhpur’s Banad area on September 4, 2018.
Netflix brought its streaming service platform to India in January 2016. Ever since its release, many people have switched over to online TV streaming services instead of the conventional satellite television. Following Netflix, Amazon also released their streaming service called the Prime Video which comes bundled with the Amazon Prime membership. A Netflix membership starts from Rs. 500 for a single screen and goes all the way to Rs. 800 for a total of four screens sharing a single account simultaneously. In this rainy season, it is rather difficult to make weekend plans with friends to go outside. For this very reason, we have compiled a list of Top 5 Netflix shows anyone can binge watch this week.
This American Sci-Fi animated show which was created by Justin Roiland and Dan Harmon. The show aired in The US on Cartoon Network for their late night program block called the Adult Swim. This dark humoured show is also available on Netflix in India. We decided to put in the list of Top 5 Netflix shows because it has all the elements expected from a good show. To start with, the art direction for the show contains blood and gore which is depicted in a way which is quite unique to the show. The show also does not shy away from playing with colours and character variations. While we the two protagonists of the show get the most screen time, the show also gives other characters a proper background. Justin Roiland, who is also one of the creators of the show, is the voice behind both Rick and Morty. What is worth noting here is that while Rick is a drunk super genius scientist, Morty is a timid schoolboy and Rick’s grandson. Justin manages to pull off both of these voices exceptionally well.
2. Final Space
This is again an animated, dark humoured, Sci-Fi show which launched recently. Final Space is about a character named Gary imprisoned on a spaceship. Gary also has a side-kick named Mooncake, these characters take us through a journey filled with intergalactic adventures. The show has a unique way of storytelling which caught our attention. Going back and forth in time, we see all the events which transpired to lead to the current situation which the protagonist finds himself in. Again, the art direction here also has a colourful vibe and a lot of gruesome shots. While an animated show, we definitely do not recommend this for kids.
3. Stranger Things
While Stranger Things tells a story about many characters, the main focus is on a female protagonist, Eleven (Millie Bobbie Brown). This show has a very rusty vibe which is very well depicted through its cinematography. The way that the plot thickens with each episode is one of the reasons why this is on our list of Top 5 Netflix shows. This Sci-Fi show has it all, alternate dimension, giant scary aliens, telepathy. While the show has a lot of funny moments, the overall tone is quite serious. Anything more about the show and it will be a borderline spoiler. If you for some reason already haven’t watched this show, you should start ASAP.
4. The Ranch
In our list of Top 5 Netflix shows, the Ranch has some of the most critically acclaimed actors. Known for movies like The Big Lebowski, and his moustache, Sam Elliot plays the role of a rancher, Beau Bennett. Beau is a father of two sons, Colt (played by Ashton Kutcher) and Rooster Bennett (Danny Masterson). The show also casts Elisha Cuthbert known for her role in The Girl Next Door. This is a family-friendly show about how these characters try to run a ranch while facing all the hardships life throws their way.
5. Sacred Games
This Netflix original show has the potential to change the way we think about the Indian television. The show breaks free from the “Saas-bahu” genre and offers a very interesting story about a police inspector, Sartaj Singh. Sacred Games tells the story of how Sartaj Singh (played by Saif Ali Khan) who is working on a case of a popular Mumbai gangster, Ganesh Gaitonde (Nawazuddin Siddiqui). The show also has a soundtrack by the artist DIVINE known for his unique rapping style and lyrics.
While Netflix has a lot of shows worth binge-watching, the above mentioned are some of the shows we feel are worth starting your weekend with. The shows are not listed in any particular order since each targets a very different story arch and audience. We will be bringing more of these Top lists so stay tuned.
Undoubtedly, Marvel Cinematic Universe has been cashing a lot of cheques with movies like Avengers: Infinity War and Black Panther. The recently released Ant-Man & The Wasp made the franchise US$76 million in its opening weekend. Also, the Tom Cruise-starring Mission Impossible: Fallout which released on 25th July made US$153.5 million at the box office. However, those who missed the above-mentioned movies should not fret as the year 2018 still has a lot of good movies up its sleeves. Here is a list of the top 10 upcoming movies in 2018, in a chronological order.
1. Venom (Release Date: 4th October 2018)
With the third trailer already viewed more than 2.5 million times on YouTube, Venom is on the top of the list of top 10 upcoming movies in 2018. Tom Hardy, previously starred as the antagonist in the Christopher Nolan-directed Batman movie, The Dark Knight Rises. In Venom, Tom plays the role of Eddie Brock, a news journalist who gets possed by an alien parasite called the Symbiote. The parasite provides the hosts with superhuman abilities while making their hosts more violent and capable of killing someone. The Venom releases on 4th October, here’s the latest trailer.
2. Bohemian Rhapsody (Release Date: 24th October 2018)
Critically acclaimed for his role in the TV series, Mr. Robot, Rami Malek will star as the iconic lead singer of the rock band Queen, Freddie Mercury. The movie will take us through the journey of the British band’s fame and how Freddie tries to move away from Queen in pursuit of a solo career. This is definitely one of the top 10 upcoming movies in 2018, releasing on 24th October.
3. The Girl in the Spider’s Web (Release Date: 9th November 2018)
This is a sequel to the 2011 released movie, The Girl With The Dragon Tatoo. The Girl in the Spider’s Web is the second instalment in the movie adaptation of the novel. From cybercrime to government corruption, this movie has it all. The movie releases on 9th November in the US and would hit the theatres in India soon after.
4. Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald (Release Date: 16 November 2018)
When the first instalment of the movie released in 2016, it earned US$ 81.25 crores at the box office. Now the sequel, which revolves around how the Magizoologist, Newt Scamander teams up with a young Albus Dumbledore in order to stop Gellert Grindelwald (played by Johnny Depp) from unleashing utter chaos on non-magical beings (or No-maj). Watch the trailer as the movie releases on 16 November 2018 in the United Kingdom.
5. Creed II
The Creed franchise is a spin-off of the Rocky series which had Sylvester Stallone in the lead role as an underdog boxer. In the Creed series, Michael B. Jordan plays the son of the athlete Apollo Creed whom Rocky defeated in his boxing days. Michael B. Jordan was critically acclaimed for his role as the antagonist, Kill Monger in Black Panther. Creed II is definitely one of the top 10 upcoming movies in 2018.
6. Robin Hood (Release Date: 21 November 2018)
Taron Egerton who plays the lead role in this movie previously starred as a young spy in the Kingsman franchise. Robin Hood is a story about two war-hardened men, Robin of Loxley (Taron Egerton) and Petit Jean (Jamie Foxx) who start a revolt against the rich and corrupt people of England. The trailer for the movie shows a lot of action-packed sequences and the rustic vibe of the movie. Robin Hood will release on 21 November 2018 in the USA.
7. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (Release Date: 13th December 2018)
The Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is an upcoming Marvel animated movie which is based on the Miles Morales comic book. This is a story about a young boy from New York who must deal with his high school life and his superhero alter ego when one he realizes there are more than one Spider-Man. The movie will release on 13th December 2018 in Singapore.
8. Aquaman (Release Date: 14th December 2018)
Jason Momoa, better known for playing the chief of the Dothraki tribe, Khal Drogo, first debuted as the Aquaman in the Zack Snyder-directed Batman Vs Superman in 2016. After almost two years, the king of the underwater is getting his standalone movie. In this movie Arthur Curry (Aquaman) finds himself dealing with the chose above the sea-level and the underwater Atlanteans who are ready to revolt. Watch the movie as it releases on 14th December 2018.
9. Bumblebee (21st December 2018)
When Micheal Bay released the first Transformer movie in 2007, Bumblee instantly became a fan favourite character. Nearly 11 years after the first movie, Bumblee has recived his standalone screen time in this Travis Knight directed movie. Watch the trailer below as the movie hits the theatres on 21st December 2018.
10. Alita: Battle Angel (Release Date: 21st December 2018)
With a budget of US$ 20 crores Alita: Battle Angel is a James Cameron produced a movie about a cyborg named Alita who has no memory of who she is, neither any recollection of her whereabouts. Watch as Alita explores the streets of Iron City, Ido while also trying to discover her mysterious past. The movie will release on 21st December 2018 in the US.
In a move that goes against all norms of public privacy and modern moral sense, the Government of India is making plans to ask intermediary services like Gmail, WhatsApp, Snapchat and even Flipkart and Amazon to not only retain sensitive and private user information but also to share with the Government as per requests raised.
This amendment will be made into the Section 67C of the Information Technology Act of India by a committee that has been working on this for a while. According to this new rule, put initially into motion in 2008, all electronic companies operating in India will require to follow the govt. rules which will spell out what type of data has to be stored, in which format, and for how long. Meaning it should be stored in a specific archaic format set by the Government in 2008.
Not only will this be an invasion of privacy, but should this data leak or get hacked, it will be a huge social, private, public and central Government security risk, also a major risk to high profile individuals and companies who use these services daily.
Using Apple’s example, the committee stated on the matter:
Even if it is for national security reasons, how much are these companies answerable to the Indian security establishment? And we do know how Apple refused to unlock the phone even for FBI.
The implementation of such services may not technically be possible in certain cases, where WhatsApp encrypts chats with 256 bit hex while Snapchat never stores informations beyond seconds. This may either lead to huge resistance of the bill or general shutdown of services used by modern India.
While the Government is still mixed on how and why the data needs to be stored, the problem for how long is what may take more of a biting, the Department of Telecommunications required data to be stored for 6 months, the Registrar of Companies mandates for one year and income-tax for seven years.
Security is important, however, privacy and freedom of citizens is important too
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Either way, we all should be aware of the consequences of government data storage, a bill that is nearly a decade old, and policies that could send the growth trajectory of Modern India spiralling down. While national security is important, privacy and freedom of citizens is important too. At the end how much policing, is too much ?
While Apple has launched the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, and globally pre-orders are off the charts. Enough that, deliveries for phones have been pushed back into November in some cases.
Here are somethings you should know.
1. Price
Apple has launched the iPhone 7 in the United States for a price of $ 649 which roughly translates to Rs. 43000. While Apple has not officially announced the price of the iPhone in India the phone will launch for a price between Rs. 49000 and Rs. 53000 according to our sources close to launch.
2. Launch
While in most countries Apple is launching the iPhone on the 16th of September, and like mentioned above pre-orders that started on the 9th are off the charts. The iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus will launch in India on the 7th of October. Will they be available immediately? We are unclear on that as for the moment.
3. Variants
Apple will launch all variants of the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus in India, however it is likely that the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus will not be available in the Jet Black Color at the time of India launch.
Jet Black
4. CDMA or GSM
India will get the GSM only variant which does support VoLTE and all 4G networks in India. However, there is a CDMA variant of the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus, which works on both CDMA and GSM Networks. If you want that you either need to get the US : Verizon and Sprint variant (unlocked) or buy the iPhone 7 / iPhone 7 Plus in Puerto Rico, Hong Kong or China.
5. Hardware and Cameras
Apple’s A10 fusion chipset brings some promise in terms of hardware boost. The iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus automatically become the most powerful iPhones, however, the two little cores that will help save up battery will help a great deal to extend usage time of these phones.
The iPhone 7 gets some improvements to the camera and the ability to read wide color. The iPhone 7 Plus on the other hand, gets a dual sensor camera setup. This will allow live zoom without the need of motors. Interesting take on the dual camera setup, especially since Huawei made a dual lens camera for the P9 where one shoots Monochrome, while LG made a camera setup with dual resolution cameras an 8MP and 16 MP on the LG V20
6. RAM
The iPhone 7 packs 2 GB of RAM whereas the bigger iPhone 7 plus has 3 GB of ram according to a listing on benchmarking site Geekbench. The listing also shows that the performance of the Single core is almost double that of the Galaxy Note 7.
7. Display
While the world was expecting this, Apple has not upped the display on the iPhone 7 or iPhone 7 plus and seem to be saving that upgrade for the iPhone 7s. The new iPhones do support a wide color format seen on cinema displays. So a little improvement, but a big disappointment on the resolution.
8. Batteries
It is expected that Apple has not improved or changed the batteries in the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus when compared to the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus, however changes in the other hardware like power saving chipsets and efficient speakers and displays, should match the performance if not improve the battery life.
9. Audio and Speakers
For the fist timer Apple, the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus feature stereo speakers. The combination although a little strange is similar to what we saw with the HTC 10. One speaker points down in the traditional format whereas the other other sits in the earpiece. Apple claims it boosts the sound by more than double. Either way, louder speakers on the iPhones are a huge welcome.
By removing the headphone jack there are certain issues that will need to be faced by consumers. Wireless earphone/headphones are not the best companions for long haul journeys. While travelling over 15 hours, you will need to not only charge your phone multiple times but also the headphones/earphones. Typically, Beats Studio 2.0 wireless run 10-14 hours on battery but over 20 hours when connected with the 3.5 mm audio cable.
Possible the best solution would have been to include two Lightning connectors, but that wouldn’t work for design. So for now mostly everyone who buys the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus is stuck on this compromise.
10. iOS 10
iOS 10 is one of the major factors of performance improvements on the iPhone. With iOS 10 running on the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus we are already seeing more performance and battery life improvements, the “Back to” button is more refined and does not cover up the WiFi Or Signal bars. The new design features are excellent, including the new Apple Music app. The control centre is cleaner and easy to use and since the music sits separately.
iOS 10 is not limited to the iPhone 7 or iPhone 7 Plus, iPhone all the way back to iPhone 5 will get the iOS 10 update.
Should you hold off buying ?
The question that most iPhone users will ask is whether they should hold of buying the iPhone 7 and wait for the iPhone 7s. In its usual cycle Apple keeps the hardware improvements for the iPhones in the “s” variants, like the iPhone 6s. However, this time around the iPhone 7 is a balanced upgrade, a bit of design change and a lot of hardware change. The problem with waiting is that technology is forever evolving and next year your question might change to “Should i wait for the iPhone 8”.
So if you want it buy one now, else, you can always opt for more options from the Android world.
iPhone 7
iPhone 7 Plus
Display
4.7-inch
5.5-inch
Resolution
1334 x 750
1920 x 1080
Processor
A10 Fusion
A10 Fusion
RAM
2 GB
Not provided
Storage
32GB, 128GB, 256GB
32GB, 128GB, 256GB
Rear camera
12 megapixel
12 megapixel, 12 megapixel (wide)
Front camera
7 megapixel
7 megapixel
Battery
12 hours estimated
13 hours estimated
Weight
138 gm
188 gm
Dimensions (in.)
138.3 x 67.1 x 7.1 mm
158.2 x 77.9 x 7.3 mm
Starting price
$649
Rs. 49,900 (expected)
$769
Rs. 57999 (expected)
Misc.
IP67 water resistance, “Force Touch” home button, no headphone jack
2 camera system, IP67 water resistance, “Force Touch” home button, no headphone jack
India has been stuck in the internet revolution for many a years. And while the country is progressing at a rapid speed, infrastructure is not growing fast enough. With new businesses sprouting each day, the need for a connected economy has increased considerably.
India’s Massive Market
India is one of the largest consumers of mobile phones in the world. Enough so, that many manufacturers have put India in the first list of launch countries. According to the TRAI Performance Indicator Report, India has 414.18 million wireless GSM connected users as of March 2015. But this is just in the rural sector, the all India number is at 705.21 928 Million according to the COAI report of May 2015 and Others report of Dec 2014. This number also receives staggering growth of 2.5% month on month in the Rural sector and a growth of 0.90% month on month nationwide.
What appears to be a small growth percentage, 2.5% growth means that the industry is adding approximately 10.2 million rural subscribers a month at the current trend. This additional user base earns the industry approximately Rs. 1200 crore each quarter. This large number is only a dip in an industry that moved around Rs. 26781 crore in revenue in Q4 2014.
The large revenue for the telecom operators is driven largely by the large number of users and large user base additions each month. But how much has the industry progressed since the begining of the internet age.
[pullquote_left] By the End of 2014 the World was Consuming 3000 PetaBytes of Data [/pullquote_left]
Global consumption of mobile data is through the roof. By Q4 2010 the world was only getting acquainted to mobile data and consumption of data on a portable phone was at 400 PetaBytes (mobile data traffic Up+Down). However, by the end of 2014 the world was consuming 3000 PetaBytes of Data. The industry estimates that the growth with continue by 60-70% each month.
Global Launch Trends
HSPA 42 Mbps networks have been commercially launched in 86 countries, while LTE networks have been commercially launched in 112 countries. So far, 40 LTE TDD networks have been made commercially available in 27 countries, with 27 operators launching LTE services using only the TDD mode, and 13 deploying both TDD and FDD modes together. 6 In a mixed LTE FDD/TDD network, the use of FDD for the uplink can improve the effective coverage area of the TDD band, and can also make TDD more efficient on the downlink.
On the other side mobile operators in 75 countries have now launched HD voice commercially. VoLTE or “voice on LTE” provides users with telecom-grade HD voice, video calling and other new, richer communication services on LTE smartphones.
State of Indian Networks
Despite all the launches mentioned above, India remains as a part of none of them. While India contributes to a large percentage of global mobile data usage, it all somehow comes from poor data connections.
It is estimated that if connection quality and speeds were to improve in India, the present data consumption would increase by 400%. A number that the industry should play close attention to. Over 60% of the data consumption in India was mobile data by the end of 2014.
Mobile Data Drivers
Out of the total mobile data consumed in India, 45% comes from video playback from websites like YouTube. A large chunk of music streaming services are also responsible for driving mobile data in the country.
Mobile Data Usage
[pullquote_left]55% of mobile data will be consumed for Video services[/pullquote_left]
Globally, YouTube is responsible for consumption of 40-60% of mobile data, a number which is relatively lower at 17% in India due to mobile data connectivity and speed limitations.
It is estimated that by the year 2020, 55% of mobile data will be consumed for Video services. Reaching this percentage will be possible by the implementation of 5G mobile data globally. 5G services are being tested in over 8 countries as we read this, while implementation for global markets is kept at 2019. India (and some other markets) are not a part of this implementation list.
India is about 5 years behind the 4G rollout targets (Dec 2010) and 2 years behind LTE 2.0. HD Voice and Video are not being talked about by the Indian industry leaders, despite the fact that India is one of the largest contributors to the overall revenue for the mobile industry.
Data and Future
India needs fast internet access, as a developing nation, its metropolitan cities need to be connected to the world. With a boom in startup culture and high paying jobs with international markets, most suffer due to lack of internet access. Video consumption and video calling with services like Skype, Google Hangouts and even FaceTime are at an all time high and consumers end up paying large sums of money just to say connected.
[pullquote_right]FUP has slowed down growth[/pullquote_right]
The biggest limiting factor in the whole telecom industry is the limited usage policies implemented by the companies. The limited usage policy or fair usage policy (FUP) was first implemented by Airtel and Tata Teleservices to prevent users for exploiting their internet connection speeds and downloading illegal materials from the internet.
The FUP has since not been removed and with no pressure from TRAI (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India) this antiquated method continues to haunt each user.
Airtel is one of the biggest users of this aged method of policing the usage of high speed data and is also one who exploits its use the most to benefit in the long run. Airtel has annoying auto redirects (Smart Bytes) that transfer you to a buy page insisting that you buy additional data packs to continue on the fast speed. These packs are usually 4-5 times the cost of the bundled data and tend to really hurt consumers financially.
The world is getting connected, using a highway of data which is not only fast but also super efficient and budget friendly.
However, we are no where near that future. Most operators globally offer the ability to choose a plan that suits the customers needs. The United States and countries like United Kingdom, Australia, South Korea, Japan, New Zealand, Spain, Canada and many others are not familiar with the term FUP. In fact, any form of throttling is against the law in many of these countries. Terming the so called limiting plans as “marketing gimmicks” countries have ensured that the consumer gets what he pays for, no more and especially no less.
Google Fibre Deployment Map
Then there are packages from the likes of Google Fibre limited in reach and availability, Google has made possible speeds of upto 1000 Mbps for as little as US $ 70/month (chump change compared to what iGyaan spends for Internet) available at residences across the United States. They also offer a “Basic Plan” which is at 5 Mbps downloads and 1 Mbps uploads (unlimited) for a price of US $0 if you pay the installation fee. Free Internet! If that does not help the startup economy, then what else will?
Something needs to change
India and Indians deserve the ability to get unlimited internet, the users seem to be paying for it, but nobody seems to be getting it. Riddled by hidden corporate talk and contracts that fool the customers into believing that they are getting the best possible deal. Everybody has the right to stay connected, and a fast internet connection is more like a lifeline today.
Many sectors in the country do offer high speed data connections for a higher price. However, these too are controlled by limits, and speed drops are often too high. A 100 Mbps connection from Airtel Fibrenet drops to a mere 512 Kbps post a 100GB download. A simple math calculation will tell you that it takes just 2 Hours, 23 Minutes and 9.93 Seconds to download 100 GB on such a connection. Post the download you either have to pay heavy sums of money to get data packs or live with a devastatingly slow 512 Kbps which would take 19 Days, 10 Hours, 2 Minutes and 1.6 Seconds to download the same 100 GB. Airtel charges INR 5,999 + tax for this plan , making it well over US $100. Now compare this to Google’s 1000 Mbps line with no limits whatsoever, which costs US $ 70 /month.
Something needs to change and fast! Sign our petition below and be part of the voice of change. #StopFUP #EndFUP
Safety has become a primary concern of every individual, especially women. The recent Uber incident in the capital goes to show that taking safety precautions no longer remains an option, but has become a necessity.
Our phones are loaded with many apps to amuse us, but there is an urgent need to install one of the below listed emergency tools to make sure your loved ones and family knows your whereabouts in hard times. These apps are quite handy and you will always feel a support with any of them on your phone.
We are jotting down top 5 apps that will safeguard you in uncomfortable situations:
This emergency application alerts your contacts added in the app with just the push of a power button twice consecutively. The recipients receive the message, “I am in danger. I need help. Please follow my location.” The app keeps updating recipients with your location details every 2 minutes.
Pros:
Instant and facilitates locating you with your present position.
Convenient to use.
Offers safety tips in an emergency situation with ‘Tips Feed’ option.
Compact (acquires only 2.2 MB space on your device.)
With this, only a finger touch is enough to notify your recipients. It records surrounding voices for 45 seconds and sends out an alert (through mail and message) along with your location.
Pros:
Works even without a working internet connection.
Recording remains hidden within the device.
Easy usability.
Comes in handy with 517KB size.
Cons:
Doesn’t offer continuous tracking of the person in trouble.
It is a complete safety package. It lets you know about how secure the area is where you are residing. Tracking and alarm features locating friends and family over GPS, and let them track you. The personal safety app keeps you updated about the possible harassment threats and precautions to be taken to keep yourself safe.
Pros:
Directory option to find local emergency help numbers.
Helps locate nearest police station, hospital or pharmacy, and suggests directions to reach there.
Allows views sharing about locations.
Cons:
Needs a working internet connection.
Doesn’t have an instant access button to notify in emergency.
Another app to keep you safe is Nirbhaya: Be Fearless, which allows you to send messages and call contacts added in the app. All you need to do is press the power button. Also you can shake to send an emergency message.
Pros:
Shake feature sends a message even when the phone is locked.
Informs about the safety level of areas.
Instantly dispatches emergency message.
Gives an alert about the potential unsafe area.
Cons:
You might alert your close ones even when there isn’t an emergency.
Just a couple of years back, 3G was all the rage in India. With massive investment in advertising, we were made to believe 3G would deliver lightning fast speed and make our life a lot easier. But even after a considerably long time, 3G is still catching up in this country. The connectivity is still pathetic and rarely do we get the speeds which are advertised. But while 3G is still in the process of finding itself, 4G LTE has come to the country and is fast setting up shop at various places in India. Meanwhile in the US, communication giant Verizon seems ready to phase out its 3G network as the 4G LTE services are fast picking up speeds.
Wireless tracker Milan Milanovic is reports that Verizon is now providing LTE services off its 1900 MHz band which is usually reserved for 3G data. The company says that it is just a test, and they are not making any active transition. Testing is the right way forward as better technology slowly supersedes the previous generation by offering better services. And just like Cassettes, CD’s, 1G and 2G before it, 3G will also be shown the door someday. But not for now. Even with the high costs and low connectivity, 3G services are still showing growth.
In the grand scheme of the mobile world, there have been four generations of service that provided connectivity between the portable devices. First there was the analog cellphones which came under 1G(the G stands for generation) followed by digital phones that came under 2G. Then came 3G, which was dubbed the mobile broadband. If provided right, 3G services are capable of speeds up to 400Kbps to almost ten times that speed. Finally, we come to 4G which is also known as LTE(Long Term Evolution). Though LTE is one of the components of 4G technology along with HSPA+ 21/42, WiMAX but LTE is the most prominent of all, and it is considered true 4G because of its high mobile speeds.
There has been a barrage of LTE capable devices around the world including India. All major network providers are fast setting up the network. LTE capable devices are also arriving at sub Rs. 10,000 price range, which not only makes them future ready but also future proof. In many nations, 4G networks are fast becoming the norm. By about 2016, the first LTE only phones will start arriving into the market. So 3G still has a considerably long time before its bags are packed and shelved.
4G, like its predecessor, is fast arriving to replace the previous generation technology. As we move towards a purely data based communication system, where apps are fast replacing voice calling and SMS, we can expect a demise of 3G by the end of the decade. Instead, it might get replaced by 4G and public Wi-Fi’s with high speeds and all round coverage. By shifting to voice-over-LTE, networks can offer all mobile features in one service. Seems like there are only happy times ahead for the mobile world.
OnePlus One is denoted as the smartphone of the decade. The cult smartphone has been termed as the ‘Flagship Killer’ for its amazing features and price, and the good news is that it is now coming to India. OnePlus One will still be sold in India through India-specific invites with an exclusive availability on Amazon.in. The company is holding a press event on 2nd December to launch the smartphone in New Delhi. Here are some pointers to go through before you decide to get the One.
India-Specific Invites Vs. Global Invites
If you have a global invite, you can buy it from http://OnePlus.net/one but then the OnePlus website doesn’t offer shipping to India. However, there is a way around. You can pay a courier forwarding service like PPO Box to get it shipped to India, which will cost some extra bucks. Global invites are easy to come as they are periodically shared on Facebook groups and can be asked from a person who already has a OnePlus One.
The company planned to give away the Indian invites for those who registered at OnePlus.net/in for the newsletter. The selected people will get an email tomorrow with a confirmation link. Once you get the invite, you’ll have 48 hours to purchase the One, otherwise the invite will expire.
Amazon is regularly conducting competitions like ‘One in a 1000’ to give away the invites. In the competition, people were asked to share a photo of OnePlus ‘Never Settle’ and out of those people, invites were given to a selected few. Once the first batch of the One is sold, the users can forward the invites to other people like global invites.
Warranty
The One purchased by global invites will not come under warranty in India as explained by the CEO Carl Pei. There is quite a confusion about this, however, it is said that once India gets included in the list of OnePlus One countries, the global warranty will be valid in India too. Anyhow, this was not an official statement and still it is not clear how the company is planning to handle the warranty system.
Cyanogen Updates
The company has shared some disappointing news on its official blog. Well, Cyanogen had granted exclusive rights in India over the Cyanogen system to another company. That means, the flagship killer will be reaching the country with the popular Cyanogen OS onboard for now. However, it won’t be getting any official support or future updates. The company also added that the One will continue to be supported globally and receive frequent OTAs.
The reason for this disappointment is a recent agreement between Cyanogen and homegrown smartphone maker Micromax, through which the latter has exclusive rights to offer devices with the custom platform in India. So, while the company has no other choice than to bring the OnePlus One to the country with the CM11S OS inside, it’ll be developing its own firmware as a replacement in the future.
Also, people who bought the phone from the global invites will continue to get the OTA updates. However, Indian users can root their phones (which doesn’t void the warranty) and install the CyanogenMod Installer from the Play Store, and the latest version of CM ROM (Android) will run on your One.
Service Centres
As of now, there is no information about how the company is planning to provide services in the country. This is one of the major concerns for the Indian users who have purchased the device through global invites. The company is expected to officially announce what are they planning to do in this area tomorrow, so stay tuned.
The iGyaan Verdict
The Oneplus One 64 GB variant is expected to cost around Rs. 24,990 while the 16 GB variant is likely to come at a price of Rs. 19,990. Although the prices are slightly more than the $ price, they are much less than the Indian price of major flagships. So for the price of one LG G3, HTC One M8 etc you could typically get , “One Plus One” = 2 phones.
If you can get your hands on an invite today, do not think twice and get the phone, in fact you should have owned it yesterday.
With the release of the new Lumia branded phones by Microsoft, Nokia died as a mobile phone brand. For most, it’s not just a phone brand; it was a revolutionary change maker. It created, nurtured and took the mobile business to its maturity. We have now reached a point of tremendous concentration in the mobile market and the company who started it all has bid farewell. Nokia is like a grandparent; it did its part and then departed, leaving behind a lasting legacy of a communication infrastructure that has brought gigantic leaps in the growth of human civilization.
Journey To The Mobile Business
Nokia’s paper mill on the banks of River Nokianvirta in 1868.
Nokia began as a paper mill back in 1865 with its second mill going up in the town of Nokia in Finland. The name ‘Nokia’ is derived from the river Nokianvirta, on the banks of which the company was established.
The company expanded to working with rubber, electricity, and cables. Nokia rubber boots become a bona fide design classic, still on sale to this day by the name Nokian, albeit under new owners.
Let’s fast forward to ’60s when the company made its foray into electronics. Nokia developed a host of electronic devices including radio telephones for the army. In 1979 Nokia took its first steps into telephony by creating Mobira Oy in a JV with Finnish TV maker Salora, and they created the Nordic Mobile Telephone (NMT) service. This was the world’s first international cellular network and in the 80s, Nokia launched its first car phone called the Mobira Senator.
The Mobira Senator was the companies first car phone.
In the 1970s and 1980s, Nokia developed the Sanomalaitejärjestelmä (“Message device system”), a digital, portable and encrypted text-based communications device for the Finnish Defence Forces.
In 1987, Nokia launched the Mobira Cityman, the first mobile phone that would run on the company’s NMT network. At 800 grams and priced at $6,308, it may be heavy and pricey by today’s standards, but the device soon hit cult status when Mikhail Gorbachev was photographed using the device.
Nokia also tried its hands at personal computing.
In the 1980s, Nokia’s computer division Nokia Data produced a series of personal computers called MikroMikko, which it later sold to Fujitsu. It briefly tried its luck again in the personal computer market in August 2009 with the introduction of the Nokia Booklet 3G mini laptop. It was not commercially successful but was appreciated for its integrated 3G modem, high-resolution screen, exceptional battery life and its fan-free design.
World’s first commercial GSM call was made in 1991 in Helsinki over a Nokia-supplied network, by Prime Minister of Finland Harri Holkeri. Also, the first device to be used to make a satellite call in 1994 was a Nokia device. Nokia truly started the mobile revolution.
The Devices
Nokia E Series
Nokia 5300 Xpressmusic
Communicator
Nokia 1011 was the first mass-produced device from Nokia. The design of the device was quickly copied into making pencil boxes for kids. The memory could hold 99 numbers and had a price tag of $1600.
Nokia 3310 announced on 1st September 2000, has now become a cult classic. There are unlimited internet memes based on the “Hulk-ness” of the device. Touted in humor as the only Man-Made thing that can incapacitate the Hulk. Nokia sold over 126 million pieces of the 3310 which had a 96×48 pixel display. You could take off the front and back panel and replace it with the color of your choice. It was the first phone to allow 459 character SMS messaging.
Nokia 2110 was the first phone to come with the Nokia tune. It is estimated that the Nokia Tune is heard worldwide an estimated 1.8 billion times per day, approximately 20,000 times per second. It has been the icon of Finnish corporation Nokia since the 1990s.
Introduced in 2002, the Nokia 3510 was the first color phone from the company. It was also the first mass market GPRS device.
The 6600 was one of the most popular devices and was almost the star of the movie, Cellular.
The Nokia 6600 was a prolific device that was launched in 2003. The owners of the phone flaunted its VGA camera, Bluetooth and expandable memory. It was the first Nokia and Symbian device to sell over a million.
The devices from Nokia were also known for its superior camera performance. Thanks to its popularity amongst the users worldwide, at one point Nokia was the biggest digital camera manufacturer in the world. It surpassed all other conventional camera makers.
The company has set records after records during its stint at the top of the food chain. In fact, the Nokia 1100 is the bestselling phone yet, selling over 250 million devices. At its peak the company sold 475 Million devices back in 2008, a feat that is still unchallenged.
So What Remains of Nokia
Following the departure of the mobile and services division of the company, the company is now has three business groups: Mobile Solutions, HERE, and Technologies. The company is currently headed by India-born Rajeev Suri.
Nokia’s Mapping service Here is one of its remaining businesses.
In 2007 Nokia acquired Chicago-based company NAVTEQ, which was the largest maker of automotive. This set the path to Nokia’s Here Maps. The mapping system is one of the few business retained by Nokia following its acquisition by Microsoft. Nokia will be now selling the mapping data to navigation providers like Garmin, BMW, Oracle and Amazon.com. It will now be available as a service across multiple platforms like Android and iOS.
India born Rajeev Suri will be heading Nokia in its new era.
Nokia Networks, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Nokia will also stay back with the company. It is a multinational data networking and telecommunications equipment company. They provide business services like Customer care support, fixed-mobile convergence, Hosting, IPTV, Mobile TV, WCDMA frequency reforming. It also provides connectivity solutions to governments, railways and airways.
Nokia had developed a new operating system called MeeGo. When it shifted to Windows phone, the MeeGo team left Nokia to form an independent phone company called Jolla. The phones recently arrived in India.
Another brand that is the offspring of Nokia is the luxury smartphone maker, Vertu. It was established by Nokia as a wholly owned subsidiary in 1998. For long the company used Symbian OS before shifting to Android recently. The phones are known for their stratospheric price and handcrafted luxury devices.
The journey of Nokia was long, arduous and for the most part rewarding. The company deserves credit and respect for spearheading the mobile revolution across the world. For the folks who saw the transition of the mobile world in the past two decades, the name Nokia brings a lot of memories of personal communications through what are now archaic devices. The mobile world has come a long way, but the fingerprints of Nokia will be visible everywhere. We don’t know what the future holds for Nokia, but we sure hope that it pulls a ” Motorola” and has a chance to rise from its ashes. RIP you Tech Giant.
Timeline
1982: Nokia created the world’s first car phone, the Mobira Senator. It was paired with the Nordic Mobile Telephone analog standard and weighed around 22 pounds.
1987: the portable Cityman was Nokia’s first handheld mobile phone. It weighed a little over 1.7 pounds and cost about $5,456.
1994: Nokia launched the 2100 with the now iconic Nokia ringtone.
1997: Launches Snake, one of the most widely recognized mobile games of all time.
1996: The Communicator 9000 of was the first all-in-one phone of Nokia’s kind. It had email, web browsing, fax, word processing and spreadsheet capabilities came for $800.
2000: Nokia 3310, the hulk of the mobile world is launched, and it sells 126 million units sold worldwide. Later becomes a popular internet meme.
2002: Nokia 7650 for around €600 was Nokia’s first Camera phone.
2003: N-Gage, World’s first gaming phone.
2008: 5800 Xpress Music release was Nokia’s first all-touch smartphone, but Apple was out with its iPhone and Android was coming up around this time.
2011, Nokia debuted its first Windows Phone, the Lumia 800.
2014, Microsoft acquires Nokia’s Mobile and Services business and puts an end to Nokia’s existence as a mobile brand.
3D printing is one of the most beneficial technologies out there and it is all set to bring immense comfort to our lives in the coming decades. It is a process through which one can create three-dimensional objects in which successive layers of material are laid down under computer control. NASA pushed the limits of this technology and decided to create one of the most complex parts of a rocket engine, and then they tested the prototype. What happened next will blow your mind.
At a test stand at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, scientist tested out a design with a new manufacturing process. The design was fed into the computer and then manufactured layer by layer in a 3D printer. The process involved layering metal powder and fusing it together with a laser, a process known as selective laser melting.
3D Printing will make Space travel immensely convenient.
This injector design was similar to the ones that are used in small rocket engines. It is also close to the design of the RS-25 engine which will power the Space Launch System (SLS), which will be the biggest rocket ever built. The entire injector was created as a single component instead of manufacturing each element individually. In traditional processes, about 163 individual parts are made and then assembled for this extremely complex equiment. This process is economical, both money and time wise.
NASA engineers tested out two designs for five seconds each, and they produced 20,000 pounds of thrust. They performed as per the expectations. The 3D printing process afforded the engineers the convenience of building parts that enhance the performance of the rocket engine. They created geometric flow patterns that allowed oxygen and hydrogen to swirl together before combusting at 1,400 pounds per square inch and temperatures up to 6,000 degrees Fahrenheit.
For this initiative, NASA took the assistance of two private companies, Solid Concepts in Valencia, California, and Directed Manufacturing in Austin, Texas. Both companies were responsible for printing out one injector for testing.
NASA now plans to test out the feasibility of additive manufacturing process in the entire manufacturing process of a rocket engine. They have already tried complex injectors and other components through 3D printing process, and are impressed by the speed at which the components are manufactured and the ease of testing these components. The technology will make space travel a lot more convenient too. Instead of taking huge cargo of equipments, astronauts can simply print out the tools they need, thereby being independent of the earth base. 3D printing, by the looks of it, is here to stay, and this technology is capable of changing the world.
Samsung has more or less dominated the smartphone market in the past couple of years. After a short, yet fruitful reign of the Cupertino based Apple Inc. and their iPhone, Samsung took the pole position and has not wanted to let go ever since then.
With the power of 100% component control, in-house manufacturing and software R&D, Samsung led the rat race thanks to all its strengths. But, just like every other leader in the past, Samsung took the threat of competition lightly. So sure of their position and their loyalties, the Korean manufacturer failed to realise the need of the modern day man.
2014 may have seen less of it, but up until last year it was impossible to go ten days without an announcement from Samsung and that too just the mobile division. With their consumer electronics and home appliances doing their bit separately. Samsung wanted to be present, and today it is present in each and every price segment.
So here is a big question; why has Samsung started to dwindle, why are the consumers against the company they loved so much and what has really happened?
The answer lies in Samsung’s own flawed approach. Even though the company made sure it could tighten its ends and function like a well-oiled single operational unit, too much goodwill from within the organization led to almost zero critical feedback. Everyone in-house was busy appreciating how wonderful they are, no one telling them where they are wrong.
The Korean giant also failed to answer people’s unanimous need of better-built phones that not only performed well but were also made with the use of premium materials. Samsung failed the consumer’s demand and hope within a brand that people had only just begun to trust. Samsung never changed their design philosophy, making handset after handset to feed the familiarity of the brand.
A premium phone to create excitement in the flagship market; and then a mid-segment with similar looks and software capabilities to excite and create aspiration for those who could not afford the premium segment. Then there was the down segment shift of the same design to the lowest price point.
Not to say that this strategy didn’t work for Samsung, 2012 and 2013 alone saw an estimated 150+ launches for Samsung Mobile division, that is four times their next closest competitor and 75 times that of Apple Smartphone announcements, being the iPhone 5s and 5c.
2014 was also supposed to be a year of Samsung; many launches and many price segments and many new-magical innovations. But, things like multi-window and air gesture were not going to get attention. Hopes were pegged on a metal built handset with a 2k display, which was supposed to woo the crowd and earn the Korean company millions and millions of dollars with the Samsung Galaxy S5. But, ironically the complete opposite started to happen, the Korean giant started to lose market share and how. The company is worried, to the extent that they have reshuffled policies and opened up board rooms for strategy building. Resources are being spent, and ideas are being made within the company to rebuild the position that Samsung seems to be losing fast.
Samsung knows very well that they failed with the Samsung Galaxy S5, especially in markets like India, where they offered a sub standard and sub performance flagship, which not only quickly dropped in price but also in fan fare.
Samsung has never been a humble company; employees seem to be trained always to be arrogant and adamant about their policies, and about the position of the company. The beginning of the company itself is said to be tainted by a tale of controversy. Originally started as a trucking business in 1938, by the name of Samsung Trading Co, the company had corrupt ties with war governments trying to give an industrial strength to the country and survived through the war to become what is now a mega company.
The company’s chairman of 25 years, Lee Kun-hee resigned from Samsung in 2008 after being indicted and found guilty of embezzlement and tax evasion in Samsung’s infamous slush funds scandal. It is estimated that the company had over US $200 million in budgets for bribing prosecutors and politicians in favour of Samsung policies and making them blind towards the company’s misconduct.
But how does that play in today’s scenario? and how does that affect us in any manner?
It is speculated that Samsung has kept a stiff upper lip in India since its inception in the early days. The company is said to have deep ties with the Indian government and deeper pockets for the not so honest few in control. Samsung has often managed to bend rules in favour of their products and managing to change laws to better help the company’s growth.
However, while the Korean company was busy playing its deep rooted tactics, a new enemy was lurking in the shadows. Samsung essentially dethroned by local competition in markets they wouldn’t have imagined possible.
Micromax has always been playing catch up with Samsung, playing on the weaknesses of the company and essentially delivering a value for money prospect for the consumer who was sick of the boring design and hardware mix of Samsung. Micromax even brought unibody aluminium phones to mid and low segment markets while Samsung’s flagships continued to be made out of plastic. (we meant “Polycarbonate painted – er – plastic”)
In China on the other hand, Samsung never considered Xiaomi a threat, assuming that the company would never reach production requirements of the market. Most investment specialists and market reach firms estimated that Xiaomi would fizzle out in less than a year from inception. But just like Nokia back in the day, these people were wrong, very wrong; Xiaomi dethroned Samsung to gain not only the current position but as the leader in the Chinese market. The company has secured millions of pre-orders of their upcoming phones, the Redmi and the Mi4, ensuring them success and a tight position on the top of the chain for a few months if not years.
Xiaomi has also seen success in markets like India where they have managed to gather interest of the consumer, although largely lacking supply. The Indian market may not be that forgiving to the company if their current policy of sale of phones continues. However, this has set rolling the notion for a perfect budget phone, making companies like Samsung with red-rock strategies of selling dated products for newer markets obsolete.
The reign of Samsung is far from over, in-fact the company may as well be in a great place to play its strengths and recover market share with ease. The lack of great phones hasn’t helped the Korean manufacturer, and with their flagship of 2014 fizzling out in the market, Samsung will need new products and cut throat pricing strategy to regain their stronghold in markets like India. With players like Motorola, Xiaomi and Gionee playing catch-up in India, Samsung may have their work cut out for them.
Their previous relationships with their distribution and end retail chain are also in the swamp, and the company is having a real hard time coping with the situation. With all eyes perched on the new Note 4, Samsung may have more on the line than ever before. If the Korean smartphone maker fails to deliver in their monopolised category, they might have a tough time recovering. Samsung India plans to play a lot more in the online space, which initially was being ignored by the Korean company, and if previous examples have taught us anything, we know India is more than ready for e-commerce.
When Motorola departed India in haste, shutting down operations and basically calling it quits, a large chunk of Moto believers were left disheartened. Motorola was always perceived as a quality brand, the real inventor of the mobile phone and an innovation driver.
With Motorola’s global operations in trouble the company took a breather to rework strategies and work towards exciting products says Amit Boni, who now heads Motorola Mobility India’s reenergized operations.
In a very candid and exciting conversation with the man we learnt that the company has inherited a lot of traits from ex-parent Google and the business strategies going forward seem to be well in order.
Motorola really researched the Indian market before returning with its new lineup, and found the Flipkart model to be a success runner and in a price conscious market like India, a steady pricing system.
We wanted to ensure our customers pay one price for our phones throughout India.
[/quote]
Amit says Motorola is keen to begin the relationship when the buyer purchases a Motorola product and will ensure that service is never an issue for the customer. The company has a strong foothold in India for service and Motorola is keen on expanding the service base.
Xiaomi is not a threat, says Amit, we are happy with competition and going forward are ready to provide a better consumer experience. This sort of competition helps us stay grounded he claims, allowing the company to know where they stand.
Xiaomi’s entry in India using Flipkart is a validation of Motorola’s excellent strategy
[/quote]
Motorola wants to bring products to India as fast as they can, and they are really excited for the Moto 360. The Moto 360 will suffice in a market that has seen some disappointing products, says Amit.
While he stayed mum on future products, he smiled through our questions and demand for some exciting news.
Watch the full video below for the juicy bits and a whole list of other questions.
