50% of smartphone users in India are under 25 yrs: Nielsen

Indians are increasingly taking to smartphones and the number of such devices in the country touched 40 million last year with almost half of the users younger than 25, says a survey.

The dramatic growth in the usage of smartphones is driven by a desire among users to stay connected and have instant access to social networking sites, according to the survey by research firm Nielsen.

“Decreasing device and data costs, coupled with a wide range of features that today’s smartphones offer, readily encourage consumers to trade in their traditional cell phones for handsets with much more functionality,” the survey said.

According to the Indian smartphone user study – conducted in September and October 2012 across 46 cities – people overwhelmingly prefer mobile devices that operate on the Android operating system.

While Symbian usage is also high in India, Windows, BlackBerry and iOS devices each only have single-digit market shares, said Nielsen Informate Mobile Insights that polled more than 10,000 smartphone owners.

Moreover, tablet ownership among Indians is set to spike as consumer interest in tablets is also on the rise.

While only 3 per cent of respondents who participated in the study in the last quarter of 2012 said they owned a tablet, 11 per cent said they intended to purchase one.

Voice calls and texting accounted for only 25 per cent of smartphone usage; multimedia, games, apps and Internet browsing made up the rest.

Among apps, consumers prefer games, particularly with respect to paid apps. Games were the most popular category among paid apps, with nearly three out of five users (58 per cent) paying for games.

Other popular paid app categories among smartphone users include chat and instant messaging (53 per cent) and streaming music (45 per cent).

Source: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/50–of-smartphone-users-in-india-are-under-25-yrs-nielsen/1073123/0

Six months WorldSpace subscription free with EAFT tablets

EAFT Technologies, a Bangalore based company, has launched two new tablets. These are Destiny D90T and D70P. The company has tied up with on-demand music service WorldSpace and buyers will get a free subscription for six months. Users can listen to DRM-protected music from 12 channels for free.

The D90T has a 9.7-inch IPS screen and runs on Android 4.0. D90T utilises can play full HD 1080p content, and has an HDMI port that lets you connect it to big screens. Powered by 1.6 GHz dual core Cortex A9 processor, EAFT says the tablet has a battery life of 8 hours on continuous video playback. The battery is rated at 8,000 mAh battery.

The D70P is a 7-inch tablet with built-in 3G (data+voice) for connectivity. It also has an IPS panel on the display, with a resolution of 1024×600 pixels. The device is powered by a 1GHz Cortex A9 processor. The D70P comes with connectivity options like HDMI, USB, memory card slot, WiFi, Bluetooth and GPS. The battery is rated at 4,000 mAh.

Both tablets come with Smart Office, an application that lets you read and edit documents, spreadsheets and presentations.

Jithendhar GS, president and CEO, EAFT Technologies, said “We are excited to bring WorldSpace into the hands of music lovers once. Having consolidated our presence in the enterprise segment offering highly customised solutions in the entertainment and education verticals, we are now committed to offer unique propositions and best-in-class devices to retail customers.”

Source: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/six-months-worldspace-subscription-free-with-eaft-tablets/1073079/

China’s Lenovo sees RIM as M&A option, CFO says

A senior Lenovo executive said on Thursday that the Chinese computer maker may consider Research in Motion as a takeover target, sending the Blackberry maker’s shares up 2 percent just a week before it launches a make-or-break line of redesigned smartphones.

But Levovo, which vaulted into the personal computer market with its 2005 purchase of IBM’s (IBM.N) PC division, would face formidable hurdles if it tried to buy a company that Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper once described as a national “crown jewel.” The Chinese company would also encounter tough regulatory scrutiny in Washington, cybersecurity experts say.

Lenovo, on track to become the world’s largest PC maker, has held talks with RIM and its bankers about various combinations or strategic ventures, its chief financial officer, Wong Wai Ming, said on Thursday.

“We are looking at all opportunities – RIM and many others,” Wong told Bloomberg in an interview at the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland. “We’ll have no hesitation if the right opportunity comes along.”

A spokesman for Lenovo said Wong was asked about RIM by the Bloomberg journalist and that Wong was speaking broadly about Lenovo’s M&A strategy.

CRUCIAL JUNCTURE

RIM, once a pioneer in the smartphone industry, has struggled in recent years as its aging line-up of devices have ceded market share to Apple Inc’s (AAPL.O) iPhone and devices based on Google Inc’s (GOOG.O) Android operating system.

RIM hopes its new touch-screen and keyboard devices, powered by its new BlackBerry 10 operating system, will help it claw back some of the lost ground. Optimism surrounding the launch has powered the stock higher in recent weeks.

Last May the Waterloo, Ontario-based company announced a far-reaching strategic review under which it was expected to examine all options, from software licensing deals to an outright sale of the company.

Earlier this week, RIM shares surged to a 13-month high after Chief Executive Thorsten Heins said RIM might consider strategic alliances with other companies after next week’s BlackBerry 10 launch.

In an interview with a German newspaper on Monday, Heins said RIM’s ongoing strategic review could lead to the sale of its handset business or the licensing of its software to rival smartphone companies.

Even so, analysts expressed skepticism about a Lenovo bid.

“Anybody who’s serious about buying a company doesn’t go talking it up… It sounds to me like a comment made more for publicity’s sake than a serious approach for RIM,” said Charter Equity analyst Ed Snyder. “It is a very long shot at the best.’

NET BENEFIT TEST

Any bid for RIM would face a rigorous review by the Ottawa to determine whether the deal would bring a “net benefit” to Canada. The Investment Canada Act gives the government the authority to kill deals that could harm Canadian interests or threaten the country’s national security.

In response to the comments by Heins, Canada’s Industry Minister Christian Paradis told Reuters earlier this week that Canada may even go to the extent of reviewing a sale of RIM’s handset business if such a deal was proposed.

“Research in Motion has made an important contribution to information and communications technology in Canada, a sector that is so important to the Canadian economy. We hope they continue to do so well into the future,” Paradis said in an emailed response to the Lenovo comments on Thursday.

Lenovo’s acquisition trail over the past few years, such as the purchase of Germany’s Medion in 2011 and IBM’s PC business in 2005, has sparked market talk that it could be interested in handset makers such as RIM and Nokia Oyj (NOK1V.HE).

Lenovo executives have denied on separate occasions last year that there were such plans.

Cybersecurity experts said Lenovo would likely go up against tough U.S. government scrutiny as well since the Defense Department and other agencies rely on the Blackberry, which is considered more secure than other smartphones.

Should Lenovo acquire RIM, it could lose a major client – the U.S. government – as U.S. officials would be reluctant to use products owned by a Chinese company due to national security concerns, analysts say.

“A potential acquisition of RIM by Lenovo would raise a number of important security issues,” said Michael Wessel, a Commissioner on the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, appointed by Congress.

“Government employees are one of the largest users of RIM’s BlackBerry products and the security of their communications has to be of paramount concern,” said Wessel, adding that he was speaking on behalf of himself and not the Commission.

After the comments from Lenovo, a RIM spokesman said the company had nothing new to report on its strategic review.

RIM shares closed 2.2 percent higher at $17.74 on Thursday the Nasdaq. The Toronto-listed shares closed 2.9 percent higher at C$17.80. RIM is a volatile stock, and moves of 3 percent and more are not uncommon.

Its shares are down almost 90 percent from an all-time high of over $148 in 2008, but the stock has rallied in the last four months as the launch of the BlackBerry 10 devices nears. The company’s shares have nearly tripled in value since dipping as low as $6.22 in late September.

Lenovo’s shares fell 2.73 percent in Hong Kong during Friday trade, after closing 6.6 percent higher in the previous session. (Reporting by Euan Rocha in Toronto, Diane Bartz in Washington, Randall Palmer in Ottawa, Sinead Carew in New York and Kelvin Soh in Davos; Editing by Frank McGurty, Leslie Gevirtz and Ryan Woo)

Source: http://in.reuters.com/article/2013/01/25/lenovo-rim-shares-idINDEE90O04720130125

Micromax launches 5-inch phablet Canvas HD

Strengthening its position in the phablet segment, Micromax has launched a new device, the Canvas HD. The device has a 5-inch five touch point HD IPS panel display. It is powered by MediaTek’s 1.2 GHz quad core processor paired with 1 GB RAM and runs on Android 4.1 Jelly Bean. Canvas HD also has also an 8 MP rear camera and 2100 mAh battery.

It is a dual SIM phone with single active option. The Canvas HD has 4GB internal memory with an expandable memory of up to 32GB. The device will be available from the first week of February and will be priced below Rs 15,000.

In future, market will be for Micromax and Samsung, competing against the likes of Nokia and HTC. Micromax will lead the Indian market with its budget pricing.