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Mobility April 2014

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Content Cover Story

Powering Mobiles and Smart Devices

Special Story

Upcountry Goes Mobile Rise of the Small Town India

Channel Focus Modi Infosol betting big on Mobility

Mobility Interacton 22 Mediaman Target Growing Smartphone Sector for Storage Market Tech Story 23-25 LTE - The True Future for Mobile Broadband Mobility Personality 26 “Intel is partnering with Indian OEMs to launch innovative devices” Special Report Gionee presents Special Smartphone – Elife S5.5

and

27 Slimmest

Mobility Interview BYOD and BYOS not a “zero-sum” game Product Feature

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Mobility News

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Samsung unveils Galaxy S5 Smartphone

Apple might setup Stores across India to Push Sales

Qualcomm Sale of India BWA License Cleared by

Microsoft introduces Windows-based Tablets in India

Regularor

Nokia Presents ‘Nokia X’ Android Smartphone

Simmtronics XPad Partners with STAR CJ

Google Set to Unveil Android Watch Soon

Spice launches 5 inch 3G Android Stellar Mettle Icon

Rapoo Wins ‘iF Product Design Award 2014’ for the 4th

Industry welcomes Kerala Govt.’s New Mobile Tower

time

Policy

iBall launched Slide 3G 7271-HD70

ASUS Anounces the Pan India Accessibility of Zenbook

Karbonn announces Smartphone with Android KitKat

Motorola Launches Moto X in India Microsoft Seto to Offer Windows Phone free to Lava and Karbonn 4

Mobility April 2014

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Editor’S Choice

Sony Xperia Tablet Z It is true that the Xperia Tablet Z is Sony’s attempt at making a comeback in the tablet segment after its previous attempts with Xperia Tablet S and Tablet P. The tablet is based on the company’s recent flagship phone the Xperia Z in terms of design as well as software and is without doubt one of the sleekest devices available in the market. Is it the best tablet that money can buy at this point in time? We try to find out. At 6.9mm, Xperia Tablet Z is the thinnest tablet around - iPad fourth generation is 9.4mm thick, in case you are wondering. Sony engineers have done a commendable job, packing in all the power into such a sleek device. It weighs 495 grams and for a 10-inch tablet the weight to dimensions ratio of the device makes it easy to carry. The back is made of plastic and sports a matte finish. The quality of plastics used here is better than what we’ve seen in products from rival brands. But our only gripe with it is that it’s a smudge magnet. You’ll see some silver Xperia branding at the centre and the 8-megapixel rear camera lens at the top right corner, flush with the tablet. The Sony Xperia Tablet Z features an 8-megapixel rear shooter. The camera app is feature rich, having Superior auto, Normal, Video, Burst, Picture Effects, Sweep Panorama and different Scene selection modes. The Sony Xperia Tablet Z is powered by a 1.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro quad-core processor with 2GB RAM, and an Adreno 320 chip for processing graphics. There is 16GB of internal storage, which is expandable by another 32GB via a microSD card. At a price of `46,990 the Sony Xperia Tablet Z is an expensive offering from the Japanese electronics giant. The tablet packs in a large number of features, a unique design and high-end specifications, but recommending it over the latest generation iPad (3G+WiFi) that costs a similar amount, is a bit difficult.

Mobility Voice

Welcome to the World of Wearables T

oday there is a lot of discussion and hype around wearable computing. As wearable computing moves from science fiction into everyday life and the workplace, the wearable electronics market is set to cater to a multitude of different industry verticals and consumer groups. From smart glasses to smart watches and wearable fitness and health devices, it seems that consumers and enterprises alike are eager to explore the benefits of wearable computing. Smart glasses, such as Google Glass, are causing CIOs to take a fresh look at the impact wearable electronics will have on the enterprise and their potential to improve worker efficiency in vertical markets such as manufacturing, field service, retail and healthcare. Smart glasses with augmented reality (AR) and head-mounted cameras can increase the efficiency of technicians, engineers and other workers in field service, maintenance, healthcare and manufacturing roles. In the next three to five years, the industry that is likely to experience the greatest benefit from smart glasses is field service, potentially increasing profits by

$1 billion annually. The greatest savings in field service will come from diagnosing and fixing problems more quickly, without needing to bring additional experts to remote sites. However, during the next five years, the ecosystems will evolve to include more apps that do specific tasks with smart glasses, which may cause IT organizations to provide them for a wider range of employees. Now is the time for IT organizations to refresh their bring-your-own-device (BYOD) policies with smart glasses in mind. Though IT organizations will provide smart glasses to employees who regularly wear them for their job task, much of the IT impact may come from employees wearing their personal smart glasses at work. This is surely a big space to watch out now.

Swapan Roy roymobility@gmail.com

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Mobility News Samsung Unveils Galaxy S5 Smartphone

he company’s 5th generation Galaxy S redefines how technology innovation enhances our lives. Expands Wearable Line with the Next Generation of Gear devices that offers unmatched freedom and style Samsung Electronics, India’s leading smartphone manufacturer, has introduced the Galaxy S5, blending features that matter most to consumers. The new Galaxy S5 offers consumers a refined experience with innovation of essential features for day-to-day use. “The Galaxy S5 is yet another great proof point of people-inspired innovation. Designed to be both effortlessly smart and intuitively simple, the Galaxy S5 has been created to maximize consumer benefits by integrating superior hardware with enhanced smartphone usability and an iconic design,” said Vineet Taneja, Country Head, IT & Mobile Division at Samsung India. “This sleek and innovative smartphone believes in the importance of an effortless user experience, making your life easy and hassle-free; and, it empowers your life, helping take care of your well-being. At Samsung, we’ll never stop pursuing innovation conceived by people, so we can inspire them in return.” The Galaxy S5 combines an advanced camera, the fast network connectivity, dedicated fitness tools and enhanced device protection features as consumers stay fit and connected in style. Be more fit and active With the enhanced S Health 3.0, the new Galaxy S5 offers more tools to help people stay fit and well. It provides a comprehensive personal fitness tracker to help users monitor and manage their behavior, along with additional tools including a pedometer, diet and exercise records, and a new, built-in heart rate sensor. Galaxy S5 users can further customize their

Qualcomm Sale of Indian BWA Licenses Cleared by Regulator

experience with an enriched third party app ecosystem and the ability to pair with next generation Gear products for real-time fitness coaching. Essential device protection The Galaxy S5 is IP67 dust and water resistant. It also offers a Finger Scanner, providing a secure, biometric screen locking feature. The Ultra Power Saving Mode turns the display to black and white, and shuts down all unnecessary features to minimize the battery consumption. All three devices - Gear Fit, Gear 2 and Gear 2 Neo allows users to express their mood or coordinate with their outfit with modern and sophisticated strap color options including Charcoal Black, Gold Brown and Wild Orange for Gear 2 and Charcoal Black, Mocha Grey and Wild Orange for Gear 2 Neo and Gear Fit. The home screen background, clock face and font are also customizable to reflect their personal taste. The devices also offer personal fitness coaching in real time, allowing users to develop a customizable fitness routine and monitor their heart rate in order to improve their overall well-being. “Samsung next generation of wearable devices were developed to redefine the way we live and to maximize our fulfilment of life,” said Mr. Taneja. “Our Gear portfolio continues to expand with unique devices designed for extended connectivity features, stylish customization options and a robust application ecosystem. These devices, especially the new Gear Fit, help consumers striving to live fit and active lives, without sacrificing their own personal style or their ability, to stay connected on the go. These devices enable one of the most seamless, natural and human-centric mobile experiences; opening up new horizons that allows you to live a life extraordinary.”

Simmtronics XPad Partners with STAR CJ

immtronics announces its association with STAR CJ Network India Pvt. Ltd. Simmtronics has forayed into the smartphone segment, with series ualcomm has received approval to sell its remaining stake in it’s like FUNDROID, AMAZOID and SMARTROID and will offer these products Indian BWA spectrum holding company to Bharti Airtel. Qualcomm (and demos) to the consumers through STAR CJ Home Shopping Television paid just over US$1 billion for Channel. the licenses in the auctions Anjana Sukhani, of 2010. Qualcomm sold a Indian Film Actor 49% stake in the holding and Model says, company to Bharti Airtel “I remember using for around US$165 million Simmtronics products in May 2012. Since then it in my computer has steadily increased its holdings, and has a long term plan to take full ownership of the company. when I was a kid. Last October it raised its stake to 93.45 percent, and now has full ownership The qualities of the Simmtronics tablets of the holding company. are authentic and are The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has now approved the very handy to use.” deal after the law ministry said the sale didn’t violate the 2010 auction rules. There had been some doubt about whether the sale could include Mr. Kenny Shin, CEO, STAR CJ Network India Pvt. Says, “We are pleased to associate with the associated ISP license as well as the spectrum. Simmtronics, a rapidly rising brand in the IT sector.” Qualcomm’s licenses cover Delhi, Mumbai, Haryana and Kerala, while Bharti has BWA licenses in four circles - Kolkata, Karnataka, Punjab Mr. Amoogh Sabharwal, Director, Simmtronics says, “We are overwhelmed by and Maharashtra - and 3G licenses in thirteen circles in India. With this our association with STAR CJ Network, which as empowered us to provide agreement, Bharti has secured a near nation-wide broadband capability extensive reach and value to our patrons.” in 18 circles.

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Mobility News Spice launches 5 inch 3G Android Stellar Mettle Icon

pice Retail Limited has launched Spice Stellar Mettle Icon Mi- 506 smartphone at an affordable range. The phone has been priced at Rs 6,999 and will be available across India through all major retail stores and www.saholic.com. The device has 1.3 GHz Dual Core Processor, 5 inch FWVGA capacitive touchscreen at 854 x 480 pixels resolution. This Android 4.2 smartphone offers an 8 mega-pixel rear camera with LED flash and a front-facing 1.3 MP camera. The 1800mAh battery gives a talk-time of more than 11 hours (2G) and 5 and a half hours (3G) hours and up to 227 hours standby ensuring a strong battery backup. Stellar Mettle Icon comes in a sleek, stylish and sturdy metal body, has an inbuilt memory of 4 GB ROM + 512 MB RAM which can further be expanded upto 32 GB with a microSD card.

Industry welcomes Kerala Government’s New Mobile Tower Policy

ASUS Announces the Pan India Accessibility of Zenbook

he ASUS Zenbook UX302 is a stunning, stylish touchscreen Ultrabook with a scratch-resistant finish ASUS, a leading brand, driven by the strength of mastering technological innovation and design perfection for the ultimate life-enhancing and computing experience announces Pan India accessibility of their stunning, stylish touchscreen Ultrabook with a scratch- resistant finish - Zenbook UX302. Zenbook UX302 has a strikingly gorgeous design refined with crystalline Gorilla Glass 3 and classic brushed metallic finish. Mr. Peter Chang, Regional Head - South Asia & Country Manager, ASUS India said, “We were the pioneers of bringing Ultrabooks in the market. Our first model was introduced in 2011. Introducing the Zenbook UX302 is one of our elite ranges of products, will be further enhancing our Ultrabook Series and quality offerings to our customers. Amazingly, it is just 15.5mm thick - 14% thinner than the previous Zenbook. It is a first ever Ultrabook which comes with NVidia GT 730M 2GB VRAM accelerating the performance with responsive multimedia and faster gaming. We are affirmative that this device will content techies with fetish for excellence in the country. It is the Ultrabook you’ll want with you, wherever you go.?

Motorola Launches Moto X in India

otorola is set to in India Moto X, priced `23,999 onwards, in he Indian Telecom industry has welcomed the Kerala Government’s partnership with e-Commerce company Flipkart.com.”After the huge decision to accept the Central guidelines for clearance for installation success of Moto G, Flipkart.com and Motorola are now launching the Moto of mobile towers in the State and said that the other State Governments X in India. At can take a leaf out of the `23,999 for the Kerala Government’s colour variants initiative of adopting and `25,999 the Central guidelines for the wood in totality. finish variants, Rajan S Mathews, the Moto Director General, COAI X is priced said: “The move by the aggressively, Kerala Government matching is a step in the right prices in the direction for the U S m a r k e t ,” development of ICT Flipkart said in sector. India has adopted a statement. stringent safety norms The device for emissions from Base is available Transceiver Stations in the US for (BTS) which is one-tenth USD 399.99 of the international (`24,392) s t a n d a rd s. Fu r t h e r w i t h o u t ,the Central norms contract for the 16GB version and USD 449.99 for 32GB (`27,465).The of tower guidelines Moto X features a 4.7-inch touchscreen, Android KitKat OS, dual core 1.7 were formulated after GHz processor, supports 4G LTE, 10 MP rear camera, 2 MP front camera elaborate discussions and has 2GB RAM. Previously, Motorola had partnered with Flipkart to with all stake holders including, the State governments, Department of launch its affordable smartphone, Moto G. Telecommunications and the industry and we find no reason why they It added that this would be a phased launch and once sold out, the should be subjected to further scrutiny and change,” he added. next lot of Moto X will be available on Flipkart .

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Mobility News Microsoft Set to offer Windows Phone free to Lava and Karbonn

ccording to media reports, Karbonn and Lava are the two phone makers in India who will be spared the usual licensing fee for adopting Windows Phone. And Microsoft reportedlywilldoleoutWindowsPhoneforfreetothesecouple of Indian phone makers to spur adoption in the country.

Mobile Phone Batteries can be Charged with Sugar?

ave you heard of a battery that consumes sugar and can run your smart phone for 10 days?This bio-battery may soon become a reality. Researchers at US based Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, popularly known asVirginiaTech, have designed a new bio-battery with a greater output per weight than the typical

The software giant has been chatting with Indian phone makers about developing more affordable Windows Phone devices. Two device makers purportedly agreed, but only after Microsoft promised to drop the normal license fee for its mobile OS, according to the sources. Microsoft is surely changing its game here as the company typically earns its bread-and-butter by charging a licensing fee for each Windows Phone handset. Microsoft even charges key partner Nokia to make Windows Phone devices.

lithium-ion batteries used in most electronics. A bio-battery converts sugar into energy much like our metabolism - decomposing sugar into carbon dioxide and water while releasing electrons.The new bio-battery fully converts sugar into energy, which means more power

output than previous bio-batteries and a greater battery charge than common lithium-ion batteries. The new bio-battery gets its efficiency by using a novel system of enzymes which are proteins that help the reaction to take place. The system uses two active enzymes that liberate two pairs of electrons from the sugar while 10 other enzymes help to reset the reaction inside the bio-battery. Once the reaction is reset, the active enzymes release another quartet of electrons. After six cycles, the bio-battery extracts all of the energy bound in the sugar molecule along with carbon dioxide and water.

Apple Might set up Stores Microsoft introduces Windows-based Across India to Push Sales Tablets in India

pple is set on big plans to make a big entry into Indian cities and tier II markets. The company was looking to set up a chain of outlets that will sell Apple products in regions where the company has limited retail presence currently. Now Apple is set to be going for an India-specific strategy aimed at trying to grab market share from dominant rival Samsung. The stores will reportedly be set up in cities and towns such as Pune, Vishakhapatnam, Guwahati, Durgapur and Gangtok.

f you like to use your tablet for work and play - in office, on-the-go or at home, you now can choose from 20 different Windows-based tablets in India which are on offer from eight of Microsoft?s original equipment manufacturing partners. Eight of these tablets from Acer, Asus, Dell, HP, Lenovo, Panasonic and Lava .

Apple is expected to set up independent stores in neighbourhoods across the country with help from Indian distributors Redington and Ingram Micro, and other distribution partners. The move comes on the back of Appleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s decision to bring back the iPhone 4 to India, which is one of the key growth markets in the world. With a miniscule market share in India (around 2 percent), Apple is a not a force to be reckoned with yet in the Indian smartphone market. It would seem Apple approached multi-brand outlets as well to set up Apple-specific stores, but not all of them agreed. An executive at a retail chain told the paper that margins on Apple products is quite less compared to Samsung or other brands, hence it makes more sense to stick to the multi-brand format. 10

Mobility April 2014

Windows tablets offer consumers the power of a PC in a tablet. They are also the only tablets which allow multiple user accounts, so you don?t have to worry about your child wiping off your office email. Windows-based tablets allow multi-

tasking, so you can listen to music, do social networking and download a presentation all at the same time. They come preinstalled with Microsoft Windows Home and Office 2013 and best of all, all Windows tablets are equipped with all-purpose ports that can connect to the TV via HDMI, the Internet via a dongle or a keyboard/printer/ mouse/headphone via a USB port. Since its introduction in mid-2010, the tablet category has witnessed huge growth in demand and shipments. Currently the hand-held segment leads with an impressive annual growth of 629% *. Consumer usage patterns around technology are constantly evolving and what people are doing with technology today is vastly different from what we have seen a few short years ago. Given the ease with which tablets enable convergence, the popularity of this device comes as no surprise. www.mobilityindia.com

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Mobility News Nokia Presents ‘Nokia X’ Android Smartphone

okia has announced the launch of its newest phone ‘Nokia X’ Android smartphone which will be available in Indian market. As the Finnish firm plans to grab a good share of the burgeoning affordable smartphone market. The smartphone priced at Rs 8599 MOP, is a four inch touchscreen dual SIM handset loaded with Android’s Jellybean OS a dual core 1 GHz processor, 3MP rear camera and 512 MB of RAM and memory expandable up to 32GB.

The phone come pre-loaded with apps like Maps, Mixradio, Facebook and Twitter.As per the Nokia website, Nokia X also introduces to an all-new customizable home screen in which one can customize as per requirement. Resize and rearrange apps with resizable tiles, group apps into folders and get Android widgets for the things that a user may require frequently. “India is one of the fastest growing markets for smart phones in the world. With the launch of Nokia X, we are adding more ammunition to our smartphone portfolio. “We believe Nokia X is a unique combination of Nokia quality and experiences, Microsoft services and Android apps. It will resonate with consumers and set a great precedent for the level of quality that can be achieved in the fast-growing, affordable smartphone segment.” Said Mr. P Balaji, Managing Director, Nokia India. Nokia X comes with Fastlane, a screen which lets people switch between their favorite apps more smoothly. People can access curated, quality-tested apps from Nokia Store, more than a dozen third-party app stores and by side loading.

Google Set to Unveil Android Watch Soon

Cook has promised new “product categories” later this year.A video posted on Google’s blog on Tuesday showed people speaking into their watches to check sports scores, control music, send replies to text messages and even open their Google has unveiled plans to home garages. By aligning itself with a broad help develop the watches and other spectrum of partners to develop wearable computers based on its the smartwatches, Google is hoping Android mobile operating system, to replicate the success that helped whichalreadyrunsmorethanthreeout make its free Android software of four smartphones sold worldwide. the most popular smartphone The Android Wear project is open to software makers to create apps for operating system, analysts said. the watches, putting Google at the Juniper Research expects more forefront of efforts to jumpstart the than 130 million smart wearable nascent wearable computing market. devices will ship by 2018. Moreover, The news comes as speculation global shipments of wearable swirls around iPhone-maker Apple “smart glasses” alone will reach 10 Inc’s plans for wearable computers, million each year by 2018, compared including a smartwatch of its with an estimated 87,000 in 2013, own. Apple Chief Executive Tim according to the research firm. oice-controlled smartwatches thattrackheartratesandconnect to phones and tablets will debut later this year as Google Inc partners with electronics, technology and fashion companies to take consumers to the next promised frontier in computing.

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RAPOO Wins ‘iF Product Design Award 2014’ for the 4th Time RAPOO has bagged ‘iF Product Design Award 2014’ award for RAPOO A600 Bluetooth portable NFC speakers. RAPOO has won the ‘iF Product Design’ award for the 4th time in a row. RAPOO has been successful in qualifying for this award category due to its professional cutting-edge wireless peripheral designs. ‘Industrie Forum Design (iF)’ award is a German based renowned International design association - reputed provider of design services at the interface of design and economy. iF Product Design Award has been dubbed “Oscars of Design World” by European media. Mr Sunil Srivastava, Country Marketing Manager at RAPOO said, “It is an honor to be acknowledged by iF international design award for the 4th time.”

iBall launched Slide 3G 7271-HD70 iBall has launched another Dual SIM tablet Slide 3G 7271-HD70, which offers 3G network support in one of the SIM slots and also supports video calling. It has a 7-inch (1024 x 600 pixels) capacitive touch screen display, powered by a 1.3 GHz dual-core Cortex A7 processor and runs on Android 4.2 (Jelly Bean), similar to the HD7 tablet. It comes with a 2-megapixel rear camera with LED flash and a VGA front-facing camera. It has dual SIM support, voice calling and wireless FM Radio. This dual-SIM configuration supporting tablet is powered with a 3000 mAh battery. Major difference of this tablet from its predecessor is 1GB RAM and 8 GB of internal memory, instead of 512MB RAM and 4GB of internal memory in the Slide 3G 7271-HD7. The iBall Slide 3G 7271 HD70 comes in silver color and is priced at an MOP of Rs. 8,299, while the MRP is Rs. 8,999.

Karbonn announces Smartphone with Android KitKat Karbonn and MediaTek have announced a strategic partnership in smartphone business.This major partnership integrates MediaTek’s innovative product engineering roadmap into Karbonn’s new portfolio of‘true’octa-core &hexa-core processor based smartphone range. Priced at Rs. 16990/-(MOP) for the Karbonn Titanium Hexa, Rs. 14490/-(MOP) for the Titanium Octane and Rs. 17990/-(MOP) for the Titanium Octane Plus, the devices will be ready for shipping from the last week of April 2014. Through this collaboration, Karbonn has introduced a new portfolio of smartphones includingTitanium Hexa,Titanium Octane andTitanium Octane Plus. Speaking about the partnership, Pardeep Jain, Managing Director, Karbonn says, “This collaboration with M e d i aTe k w h i c h enables advanced multi-tasking and better performance is our endeavour to introduce devices which can answer every emerging need in the industry.” Dr. Finbarr Moynihan, General Manager, International Sales & Marketing, Mediatek Inc. says,“True to MediaTek’s DNA, we have set another benchmark in technological innovations by developing the MT6591, the Hexa-core platform that now completes the loop of multi-core processor offerings by MediaTek.” Mobility April 2014

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ChannelFocus Focus Channel

Modi Infosol Betting Big on Mobility Company is planning aggressive expansion into Smarphones & Tablets Segments. They have also launched their Own Mobile Accessory Brand iJab Shyam Sunder Modi, Director, Modi Infosol

odi Infosol Pvt Ltd. (formerly Modi Peripherals Pvt Ltd), founded in 1987, is a customer-oriented IT products and solutions distribution company providing a range of products and expert services. Modi Group have their Head Office in Nehru Place, New Delhi, Registered Office in Mumbai and Branch Offices in Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Punjab and the recently opened branch office in Bangalore. Currently they have a turnover of over Rs 200 crores (Rs 2000 Million). Modi Group is an established distributor of software, PCs, laptops, smartphones & tablets, servers, printers, multi-function machines/ photocopiers, video projection systems, storage and networking products to develop customized IT solutions. Modi Infosol also undertakes maintenance of servers PCs & peripherals and other IT-related hardware on an Annual Maintenance Contract (AMC) basis. The vendors or providers for mobile devices with whom Modi is associated include several top notch companies like HP, Lenovo, Acer, Samsung, Simmtronics and ASUS, among others. According to Shyam Sunder Modi, Director, Modi Infosol, “We are expanding our pan-India network. In this regard, we are in the process of setting up more offices in all major cities. So far our 12

Mobility April 2014

presence has been strong in North and West India, but now we are expanding to South and East India. Recently we opened our branch office in Bangalore and plan to open one in the East soon.” Regarding mobile gadgets market, Modi says, “In spite of downturn in the market, our smartphone and tablet business has grown by over 100%,which forms roughly 30% of our revenues, though for other IT products the growth remains low at around 10%.” Modi Launched their Own Brand iJab for Mobile Accessories. Modi group has recently launched their own brand iJab for mobile accessories. Speaking in this regard, Modi reveals, “We launched iJab only 2 months back starting with laptop battery, laptop adaptor and laptop bag, but soon we will expand to accessories for smartphones and tablets. Have our own strong and established distribution network is special advantage for promoting our own brand and soon we will establish iJab as strong brand in the market.” Marketing Strategy Every company has its own marketing strategy. As a distributor Modi details, “We promote via TV shows, roadshows, retailing and our own online portal. However, online sales volume is nominal. We

have a workforce of over 100 staff which we want to gradually increase. We are mainly present in North India and West India. In South India we recently opened office Bangalore, and also we want to open an office in East India in the coming months. Our main sales bases are big cities, but gradually we want to expand to Tier-2 and 3 cities—it will take time. We work closely with our downline partners. As far as partners are concerned, some of our partners for mobile devices sell exclusively mobile devices whereas some are common for mobile devices and other IT products.” Future Plans Regarding future plans, Modi states, “As already mentioned, we are expanding our pan India network. We are waiting for the new government after 2014 general elections. Depending upon the new government’s policies and budget, we will redraft our strategy. We want a stabile government, preferably headed by Narendra Modi who can propel the development of IT industry and the market as well. We want to increase our revenues from the present Rs 200 crores to Rs 500 crores in the next 3 to 4 years. For mobility segment in particulars we are entering into new tie-ups and signing up with new partners. We want to establish our newly started mobile accessory brand iJab.”

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Cover Story

Powering Mobiles and Smart Devices

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he number of electronics applications that have become portable in the last 20 years has risen dramatically with the evolution of battery technologies.

Cover Story The cleantech market intelligence firm estimates that portable power represents 55% of the global battery industry, with the stationary and motive battery sectors accounting for the balance of the market. The firm’s analysis indicates that portable power’s compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8.5% will outpace growth in the other two sectors.

The portable power batter y market has grown significantly during this same timeframe across a variety of consumer and industrial application areas. While this sector was initially Advanced battery technologies constrained by supply-side limitations, the market has matured and is showing hold the potential to have a major steady growth. impact on how portable devices are A report from Pike Research used in a variety of consumer and forecasts that the portable power sector industrial markets. However, batteries will continue expanding at a healthy are governed and constrained by rate over the next few years, rising a set of electrochemical laws that from $25.3 billion in global revenues prevent them from achieving the in 2012 to $30.5 billion by 2015. kinds of advancements we have seen in the electronics industry. There is no Moore’s Law for battery technology, but a large number of innovators are actively seeking ways to significantly improve the performance of batteries.

RAJESH DOSHI Director - Purchase & Marketing, Topnotch Infortronix India

Pike Research forecasts that the largest market growth will continue to be in batteries for laptop computers and mobile phones, driven largely by ongoing increases in unit shipments. Other major growth categories will include portable navigation, military applications, medical devices, power tools, and instrumentation/sensing. A few application segments, such as batteries for portable AV/music and digital photography, will experience flat to negative growth between 2010 and 2015. Power Bank Strategy in India According to Rajesh Doshi, Director - Purchase & Marketing, Topnotch Infortronix India, the company always looking forward to engaging with its set of customers in interesting ways and power bank is surely an emerging segment.

confident of capturing a good portion of this market with good quality VFM products,” he adds on. According to Sudip De, Vice President, ADATA Technology India, “ADATA India’ main product line being storage, recently we forayed into mobile power segment with 2 new products. One a mobile power bank ADATA PV100 and second a wireless charger for mobile phone supporting wireless charging model CE700. With these 2 news products, we are going full throttle with our distribution network in creating awareness on the products, its USPs, technological benefits over the competitive products to the front ending sales team and channel partners alike. Apart from our distribution setup, we are also working very closely with a chosen set of partners have specialization in mobile segment to create awareness amongst the mobile channel partners. On the other front, we are also working along with leading ecommerce portals to create awareness amongst the end users directly,” he informs. As per the v iews of Rajan Sharma, VP Sales – DIGILITE, “We have recently launched DIGILITE powerbank series with 3 models with 5200mAH & 6600mAH power. Our products come with Samsung battery, LED charging indicators, LED torch, overcharge short circuit protection & over Discharge Protection. We are looking customers who are quality conscious & need higher batter backup,” he adds on. He is quick to add that as more and more people carry portable electronic devices like - laptops, phones, smartphones, tablet PC, digital cameras, camcorders etc to enjoy the benefit technology brings us the power bank requirements are shooting up. “We expect market size to be almost equal to atleast 50% of current MID,Smartphone market. We are working closely with our IT & TELECOM channel across India through our distribution partners Ingram Micro, Redington & Supertron Electronics. With their reach & consistent business in IT as well as Telecom channel in selling MID products from SAMSUNG, APPLE,DIGITAB etc, we have opened up excellent opportunity of customers & users to experience our DIGILITE Powerbanks,” he explains.

“We always strive hard to offer the consumers quality products at reasonable price. We have a range of power banks in Zebronics called Power Grid. Our products in this range are very competitively priced and come with one year warranty, so one can buy and use them with peace of mind. Mobiles and tablets are very fast growing market segments. As these mobile devices gets more processing power and better displays, the battery requirement also goes According to Sundeep Popli, COO up. There is lots of scope for power banks, in this segment. We are very at LAPCARE, the company started

TEJAS SETH Director, Asia Powercom

“As the market is increasing and in demand, it is very difficult to judge how big the market will be. But we think there is more than 50% connect ratio for all small phones being sold. The competition is from all angles. It varies from branded ones to unbranded Chinese powerbanks but in general it depends mainly on what segment one operates,” power banks about six months ago and it will be its prime focus product for the coming future. “We have introduced complete range starting from 2200 mAh to 15600 mAh. Currently we have been selling power banks through our channel partners across the country but going forward our strategy for power bank is to maximize our presence in Multi brand outlets and Mobile segment. Our key strategy would be to leverage our strength of Lapcare brand is the battery & adaptor segment. As Smartphones and mobile devices are gaining more popularity in India, there is also increased demand for the mobile accessories. According to industry estimates, the size of the market for mobile accessories is about 1,500 crore. Mobile power banks are making their way into the ‘a must have’ among the most popular accessories like Mobility April 2014

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Cover Story LAVA 520 (5200mAh) & LAVA W880 (8800mAh) Power Banks, The Right Companions for Your Smartphones and Tablets LAVA 520 5200mAh Power Bank-cum-Wireless Router is an attractive buy for charging smartphones and tablets (via a USB port) and connecting to Internet, while on the go. It creates a Wi-Fi hotspot from your 3G dongles or Ethernet connection, and supports up to 32 users access to Internet. W520 has a massive inner battery of 5200mAh, which allows up to 8

hours of continuous use and up to 10 hours of standby time. The W520 has two access modes: 3G wireless access (via WCDMA, EVDO and TD-WCDMA) and cable access (via WAN or LAN ports). This wireless router-cum-power bank has a a maximum bandwidth of up to 150 Mbps. The maximum transmission distance of this device is 50 meters outdoors and 30 meters indoors. Charging this Lava power bank is facilitated by the availability of multiple charging options like via a PC or laptop USB port, power adapter and mobile charger. W520 comes with an MRP Rs 2999 and MOP approx Rs 1950. Lava W520’s Rj45 port is covered which protects it from dust, water, particles, etc. LAVA W880 mini portable power bank is potential accessory for Smartphones and tablets for peace of mind during long outings. LAVA W880 has a massive 8800mAh battery, enough for three full charges of most smart phones and one full charge for most tablet devices. Battery Charging time is 6-8 hrs. LAVA W880 comes with an MRP Rs 2999 and MOP approx Rs 2500.

protective cases and covers. We will continue seeing mobile Powerbanks to dominate for few more years in the market,” he adds. According to Tejas Seth, Director at Asia Powercom, the company has tie-ups with the LFRs, mobile distributors, retail stores to increase its presence in the retail chain that target the powerbank segments. “As the market is growing, it is very difficult to judge how big the market will be. But we think there is more than 50% connect ratio for all small phones being sold. The competition is from all angles. It varies from branded ones to unbranded Chinese powerbanks but in general it depends mainly on what segment one operates,” he adds on. As per Arun Ghosh, Managing Director, CyberPower “Today the main expectations of the consumers, who are more aware of technology and other aspects than ever before, are looking for features such as quality, reliability, green performance, etc. when making products-related decisions. Mobile Power Bank is the ideal design for charging and powering USBpowered devices ANYWHERE and ANYTIME, including cell phones, MP3/IPODs, PDAs, handheld gaming systems and cameras. We serve all Geographical and demographical segmented buyers who have common needs or characteristics of buying Power Bank Products. Our strategy is to create awareness through regular BTL activities, Schemes, Print Media, Social Media, Events etc. Young generations and working 16

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class are fond of electronic products and thus growth of sales is high in these market segments,” he adds. Competitive Scenario Speaking about the competition in India, Rajesh Doshi says that the market is evolving at a very fast pace and so, the technology. “There are many branded and non branded products available in this segment, where the competition among these is also high. We have a team of engineers, working on power banks to provide best products by adding new features and making them tiny and lighter. Zebronics Power Grid range of products is unique in design and steady in build quality. Power Grid products are also well appreciated by the media and critics and we have got many good

reviews on it,” he adds on. As being put forward by Sudip De, since the market is wide open and un-fragmented, there are many players foraying into the market. “Also with the segment being new, there are many regional brands and players who are also present. As of now, this is a wide open market and many non-IT players are also jumping into bandwagon as not much technical know-how and expertise is required from the players,” he explains. Speaking about the competitive landscape, Rajan Sharma says that this market is currently driven by sub-standard imports, which needs to be checked. “We are one of the few established companies to bring DIGILITE powerbank with proper specifications, IQC & post sales network,” he adds.

“ADATA India’ main product line being storage, recently we forayed in mobile power segment with 2 new products. One a mobile power bank as ADATA PV100 and secondly a wireless charger for mobile phone supporting wireless charging with a model as CE700. With these 2 news products, we are going full throttle with our distribution network in creating awareness on the products, its USPs, technological benefits over the competitive products to the front ending sales team and channel partners alike. Apart from our distribution setup, we are also working very closely with a chosen set of partners that have specialization in mobile segment to create awareness amongst the Vice President, ADATA Technology India mobile channel partners.”

SUDIP DE

www.mobilityindia.com

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Cover Story Tejas Seth says that Asia Powercom has three SKU’s for this, AP-2600C the unique powerbank with LED torch in it, AP-5200C the high capacity Lithium rechargeable battery with double USB port and AP-4000A India`s slimmest Powerbank. “Our strategy remains the same as to gel with the market with new innovations & feel of the products. Meeting the demands of the customer by providing them with the new products, feature rich, well designed and all at affordable price. With the introduction of 4G, the Smartphones and Tablets are the segment where we can expect the high growths. The rapid growth in internet, digitalization and increase in mobile internet users are some of the trends reshaping the growth in smartphones as well as powerbanks sectors,” he adds on. According to Arun Ghosh, Managing Director, CyberPower, nearly 60% of

Accessories market is Unorganized and 40% of the accessories market is organized. Customers today are much aware of the products and are willing to buy the branded products rather than the cheap local brands with poor quality products. Competition is adhering to the product that has innovative features, quality, price and reach. Major Players in this segment is Sony, Samsung, etc. which are considered as our major competitors. We provide reliable computer battery backup systems, power management applications, and series of computer accessories for desktop, workstation, and network equipment. We have wide range of solutions for all kind of Power Needs that are, Line Interactive UPS, Online UPS, Emergency Power Systems, Power Distribution Unit, Solar Inverter / Chargers, Power Inverter, Mobile Battery Pack, USB Car Chargers & Inverters, USB Hubs, Cables, 3G Wi-Fi Dongle etc. In Portable battery bank categories we

“ W e h a v e i n t r o d u c e d complete range starting from 2200 mAh to 15600 mAh. Currently we have been selling power banks through our channel partners Sundeep Popli across the country COO, LAPCARE but going forward our strategy for India power bank is to maximize our presence in Multi brand outlets and Mobile segment. Our key strategy would be to leverage our strength of Lapcare brand in the battery & adaptor segment.

Global Cellular Battery Trends

obile phones are no longer just for talking as they now serve as users’ personal assistants and enter tainment centers. This trend has largely altered the landscape of the global mobile phone market. As for smartphones, Apple, Samsung, and HTC are the three giants in the industry, and the competition between them has been heating up over the recent years. Cellular battery, as the main electricity source of mobile phone, is redefined by the rise of smartphones. In order to cater to smartphones’ slim sizes, smartphones’ batteries are built-in, which in turn emphasizes the importance of supplementary power. Smartphone Market Ruled by Two Giants In terms of the total shipments, Samsung’s self-supply of the key components allows it to replace Nokia as the number one in the industry. Samsung started to develop entry-level cell phones as early as 2000 and officially became number one in North-American sales in 2008. Due to the climbing demand, Samsung has been increasing the smartphone portion in its production. As of 2011, Samsung’s self-owned smartphones accounted for 45% of the total production, and it will further go up to 65% in 2013. Unlike HTC and Apple’s sole dedication to smartphone, Samsung stably increases its share in the traditional cell phone market. Thus, the users of Samsung’s traditional cell phones may later switch to using Samsung’s smartphones. Apple and HTC targets the smartphone market from the getgo, so their strategy is to acquire high-end users first and then low-end users. Continuous improvement and innovations is the key to remaining the top-dog in the high-end market. Apple’s business sees stable growth due to its continuous innovations. On the other hand, HTC still pales in comparison with Apple. HTC’s target market overlaps with that of Apple, and on top of that, Samsung has carved up a chunk of the smartphone market. As a result, HTC is facing a fierce challenge in the mid and high-end smartphone market.

www.mobilityindia.com

Smartphone Propels Built-In Battery Growth In the past, cell phones usually used standard batteries (replaceable batteries) in order to cut costs. However, due to smartphones’ requirements for product designs and slim sizes, a fair amount of smartphones use built-in batteries. All Apple products use built-in batteries as Apple emphasizes on the product design and portability. All Apple products’ batteries and packaging are tailor-made in order to optimize the products. As for Samsung’s smartphones, some use standard batteries and some polymer batteries. Samsung’s 4-inch and 5-inch products use standard batteries in order to have better battery lives. HTC’s strategy is similar to that of Samsung, but the portion of built-in batteries starts to rise since 2012, expected to reach above 30% by the year end (15% in 2011). Affected by Smartphone’s booming popularity, many components have undergone certain drastic changes. For example, battery is crucial to smartphone due to its high electricity consumption, and therefore, battery life becomes a pressing issue. That and the demand for trendy design make built-in battery more and more popular. The biggest advantage of built-in batteries is that it is compatible with the slim and trendy product design. Most high-end smartphones use polymer batteries, which are difficult for users to replace. Most smartphones with built-in batteries can be recharged through USB port or wireless charger; the former is the most common solution for most products. Power bank is another solution that supplies the products with electricity through electric socket. Wireless charger is still a relatively new solution and is currently only for high-end users. Although there are several solutions, they can basically be categorized into two kinds: power recharge and supplementary power. The edges of power recharge solution are low cost and high applicability, which makes it the mainstream solution for the time being. As for supplementary powers, although backup battery is the more popular choice now, it has its weak points. Backup power might make a better choice under certain circumstances.

Mobility April 2014

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Cover Story have launched four products, viz. CPBC2200 / CPBC4400 / CPBC5200T / CPBC10400. These USB Battery Pack products are a rechargeable lithiumion battery designed for powering mobile devices including phones, MP3 players, cameras, and handheld gaming devices while away from other power sources. CyberPower’s CPBC5200 Series USB Battery Pack Received World’s First Power Bank Product Certification from UL. Designed to be applicable to power bank products worldwide, the new safety evaluation standard conducted by UL specifies the requirements intended to reduce risks of personal injury from fire, electric shock or other hazards. Therefore, equipment complied with this standard could be deemed as certified safe hence the significant recognition for users and potential customers. CyberPower, the professional solution provider in power industry, always designs and manufactures products with care and attention to fine detail,” he adds on. Power Bank Products and Solutions

Talking about the various offerings of the company, Rajesh Doshi from Infortronix says that, “We have named our power bank products as Power Grid. We have 3 models currently, ZEB-PG2400, ZEB-PG4800 and ZEB-PG7200 with 2400mah, 4800mah and 7200mah capacity respectively. The ZEBPG2400 comes with built in torch for additional convenience. The ZEBPG4800 and ZEB-PG7200 comes with dual output of 1A and 2A. All the 3 products are easy to use, light weight and tiny in nature. All the necessary cables and adapters are bundled with the power banks. Speaking about Adata products, Sudip de says that, “as of now we have introduced 2 products, Powerbank PV100 and Powerbank PC500. Apart from this another product introduced by ADATA is CE700 – a wireless mobile charger. Some of the key features that we have are to keep users priceless gadgets free from damaging are, overcharge protection, over discharge protection, short circuit protection, over voltage protection, over current protection and over temperature protection. These features have been developed by in-house R&D team and surely going to be leading the path for growth for ADATA in this segment,” he adds on. He also adds that at present, Adata is working very closely with its existing distributors and regional distributors and their channel partners.

Arun Ghosh Managing Director, CyberPower

“We don’t consider the low brand competition as customers today are much aware of the products and are willing to buy th e b r a n d e d products rather than the cheap local brands with poor quality products. Competition is adhering to the product that has innovative features, q u a l i t y, p r i c e a n d reach.” 18

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“Apart from this we are also exploring the mobile segment, which eventually will be one of the key drivers for the growth. To create awareness in the market, we will be doing road shows and channel meets specifically in the mobile segments and highlighting the products USP to the partners. Apart from this, with Internet penetration increasing manifolds, we are also working closely on reaching out to end users through this medium. With the usage of smartphones and tablets increasing manifolds and the power situation not improving immediately in India, power banks are going to play a pivotal role to keep people connected. Upcountry markets will lead the path for this segment in terms of growth in the coming quarters. The demand will be for not only higher capacities but people looking in for features to safeguard their devices,” he explains. Speaking about the competition in this market segment, Sandeep Popli from Lapcare says that, “Broadly we have two types of competition. One is from brands that compete on their value proposition and other competition is from China brand which can offer anything for price. We try not to compete on price. Our products have unique values and offerings,” he explains. Power Bank Trends As per the views of Rajesh Doshi, in today’s world, everyone wants to stay connected, no matter where they are. Mobile devices are helping people for faster and stable communication. “As these devices are getting more powerful and better, they are utilizing more battery for its processing and multitasking abilities. Power banks enable the users to maintain their communication for longer hours

Rajan Sharma VP Sales – DIGILITE “We have recently launched DIGILITE powerbank series with 3 models with 5200mAH & 6600mAH power. Our products come with Samsung battery, LED charging indicators, LED torch, overcharge short circuit protection & over Discharge Protection. We are looking customers who are quality conscious & need higher batter back-up, We expect market size to be almost equal to atleast 50% of current MID,Smartphone market.” and help them on the move. As more and more people are shifting to Smartphone and tablets for computing needs, accessories segment for these devices will also grow,” he explains. According to Sudip De, usage of smart phone, tablets, digital cameras, portable gaming consoles being on the increase, power bank segment is one that is surely to keep rising in the coming quarters and give partners an ample opportunity for growth. As per the views of Sandeep Popli, “Our focus is on high end products. We keep in mind the aesthetic values of the products and also the value proposition. Our product offering starts from 2200 mAh power bank and goes up to 12000 mAh. We will soon be launching power banks as high as 30,000 mAh capacities. Our unique solution is that we offer in built cables for all kind of mobile phone models. Our go to market strategy depends on the market which we plan to address. For IT and Retail market we are distributing products through RX Infotech P Limited. For markets like Gujarat and Maharashtra, we have set of Regional Distributors who are distributing the products in the market. Beginning from March we will be appointing Mobile accessories & mobile phone distributors as our RDs for power banks & other mobile related products. With the high growth on smart phones & also with a strong base of smart phones already in India, this market is going to grow many folds this year.” He adds on. www.mobilityindia.com

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Special Story

Upcountry Goes Mobile

Rise of the Small Town India E

ight thousand towns, 630,000 villages, over eight million stores and 1.2 billion people! In such a diverse consumer universe, how do you measure demand, where is it strongest? North vs. South, the metros vs. Rural - the choices are endless. Despite current inflationary environment, tier II and tier III towns are showing strong momentum with an improved demand appetite as far as mobiles and smartphones are concerned. We take a closer look at how the smaller Indian towns are leading the demand surge in the mobiles and smartphone segment shopping like metros. In a year w here consumer confidence generally took a beating with the European crises, high interest rates, inflation, and political uncertainty, the Indian FMCG market managed to clock a respectable growth www.mobilityindia.com

rate of 15 percent in 2011 over the previous year in value terms. While some argue this signifies a worrisome slowdown relative to the growth rates of almost 19 percent witnessed in the previous year, 2011 was still a significant year for the Indian small town consumer.

found that 42 out of 83 categories in Middle India grew at least 10 percent or more in same-store sales; in smaller towns (rest of urban, population of <1 lakh) this was even more broad-based with 53 out of 83 categories clocking at least a 10 percent growth in samestore sales.

As we dissect the reasons behind the 15 percent value growth and identify where consumer demand resides in India, for the first time we find that the charge is led by the tier II and tier III towns. The metros have carried India for the last decade; now smaller towns have taken on the demand baton.

When we evaluate some of the fastest growing categories from a pure consumer pull perspective, we find that many specialty and evolved categories like pre-post wash, hair conditioners, air fresheners, prickly heat powder and cheese stack up on the top of the list.

and cheap call rates are driving the growth of mobiles phones in these regions. Consumers, especially youth, are more open to experimenting with handsets, and are excited about newer technologies. If service providers offer better mobile internet services in small towns at affordable rates, it is likely that a wave of consumers will skip the computer-led internet access phase and unlock the power of the web through mobile devices. However, this is possible only if telecom companies make internet usage appealing, affordable, and relevant to the Middle India population.

Decoding the Middle India consumer

The Upcountry Scenario

What are small-town Indian consumers demanding?

Mobile telephony

The small-town demand opportunity runs deep and wide. From an FMCG perspective, within the same year (Q4 over Q1 2011), we

Mobile phones have a stronghold in Middle India. More than 94 percent of the population claims to own a phone for personal or office use. Factors like affordability of handsets

Arvind. R. Vohra, India Head - Gionee Smartphones & Director, Syntech Technology Pvt. Ltd. says that Gioneeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s marketing spends for Yr 2013 was Rs 45 crore and the brand plans to spend about Rs 90 crore in 2014. Mobility April 2014

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Special Story “We have also launched our premium products on the BlackBerry 10 OS such as BlackBerry Q5,-bundled with aggressive promotional campaigns and EMI schemes during various festive occasions. As a part of our marketing outreach, we have tied up with CCD outlets, colleges across the country, etc to bring our products and services closer to the young consumers in these markets. We have also deployed multiple channels to reach out to customers in tier II/III towns with large format retail stories, BlackBerry exclusive stores and online portals such as Flipkart.”

Hitesh Shah Channel Sales, BlackBerry India Gionee India has also achieved close to 2% market share by value since its India entry in early 2013. Gionee plans to open 250 Brand stores in 2014 across India along with increasing it’s In shop promoters from 2000 in 2013 to 4000+ in 2014 and also increase presence in over 2500 shop-in-shops. As a company we firmly believe in Depth of Distribution (DOD) and we are touching 60% of upcountry locations pan India,’ he adds on. As per the views of Hitesh Shah, Director, Channel Sales, BlackBerry India, according to IDC, India is slated to become the third largest smartphone market by 2017, with burgeoning demand from tier II and tier III cities, apart from the urban areas. Increased literacy, better incomes, improved internet and telecom connectivity coupled with a 24X7 digitally connected young population; is fuelling smartphone adoption in the upcountry markets of India. Realizing the potential that these markets offer, we at BlackBerry have introduced products and services that are apt for consumers in these areas, which include the BB OS7 devices that have seen great traction amongst users in these markets. “ T h a t s a i d , w e h a ve a l s o launched our premium products on the BlackBerr y 10 OS such as BlackBerry Q5,-bundled with aggressive promotional campaigns and EMI schemes during various festive occasions. As a part of our marketing outreach, we have tied up with CCD outlets, colleges across the country, etc to bring our products and services closer to the young consumers in these markets. We have also deployed multiple channels to reach out to customers in tier II/III towns with large format retail stories, BlackBerry exclusive stores and online portals such as Flipkart. Today we have around 4000 retail outlets and 100 service centers across 190 towns, 20

Mobility April 2014

catering to our consumers,’ he adds.

The Upcountry Potential

According to Amit Saxena, Director, Marketing, ZTE India, ZTE believes that upcountry market holds immense potential for the Smartphone vendors including us. ‘We believe that the next growth wave for the smartphone segment also lies in the upcountry market. We also have a definite strategy to reach out to the upcountry market through our innovative portfolio. When a vendor is targeting the upcountry market, it’s of paramount importance to keep in consideration the local consumer demands. We at ZTE, are committed to understanding and innovating in this direction. For instance, we have introduced the global smartphones in the Indian market in their dualsim and high camera quality versions, just so that we meet the Indian customer’s needs in the best possible way. Our handsets are also multilingual supporting multiple Indian languages. We are soon introducing this feature in our smartphone range as well. Our branding and marketing communications also have a regional flavor. For instance, when we reach out to customers in Maharashtra or say in Gujarat, we essentially communicate to them in their own language,’ he adds on.

According to Arvind Vohra from Gionee, Indian smartphone market has witnessed a growth of 85% in 2013 with over 900 smartphones launched across brands. The growth is likely to witness upto 200% increase in the Indian market by 2015. ”Recent report suggests that consumers are more liable to get attracted to brands that can offer the best integration of features and yet provide value for money. Smarthphone category has witnessed unprecedented growth over last 2 years in India with over 85% increase compared to previous years and will continue to see the growth . Large screens, High performing processors, Increasing use of camera features due to rise in Social media reach, multimedia content will be the major factors and reason for the rapid rise in this category. Gionee’s primary focus has been to provide the best quality hardware integrated with best optimization of the software for a great user experience. Since our inception we have offered the finest quality of smarthphones for Indian consumers yet providing value for money across our range. We currently have 15 handsets ready in the Indian market and we plan to launch around 10 more smartphones in 2014.

Also with the help of 5 renowned distributors we have mapped our entire marketing and distribution network. Gionee Smartphones plans to further strengthen its Authorized service center network by setting up 500 + new Service centers across India in 2014. The Authorized service centers will further be increased to 750+ by 2015 to reach length and breadth of India,’ he explains. As Hitesh Shah puts it, ‘’At the moment, if we go by industry estimates, India still remains one of the biggest markets for feature phones. Only 10% of the population in the upcountry is using smartphones as opposed to feature phones. However, as the price gap continues to narrow between feature and smartphones, we are seeing a lot of uptake for smartphones. If the numbers are any indication, smartphones are all set to outmaneuver feature phones within the next few years. According to IDC, the smartphone market in India grew by 229% in 2013, while the share of feature phones continued to slide further to make 81% of the total mobile market in India. We expect this number to go up significantly as cited in industry reports that imply a spike in the usage patterns of smartphones in the age bracket of 16 and above years, where numbers have gone from 5% in 2012 to 22% this year, a four-fold increase. The willingness to stay connected through IMs, emails social network and apps within these age groups is what is driving the smartphone adoption in these markets. They are the true ‘mobile first’ markets where people are experiencing the power of the Internet and its social culture for the first time by using their mobile phones. And therefore the opportunities the

“Gionee’s marketing spends for Yr 2013 was Rs 45 crore and the brand plans to spend about Rs 90 crore in 2014. Gionee India has also achieved close to 2% market share by value since its India entry in early 2013. Gionee plans to open 250 Brand stores in 2014 across India along with increasing it’s In shop promoters from 2000 in 2013 to 4000+ in 2014 and also increase presence in over 2500 shop-in-shops. As a company we firmly believe in Depth of Distribution (DOD) and we are touching 60% of upcountry locations pan India,”

Arvind. R. Vohra India Head - Gionee Smartphones & Director, Syntech Technology Pvt. Ltd. www.mobilityindia.com

CMYK

Special Story “We entered the Indian market announcing our entry level devices which are primarily in the affordable segment. These are specially designed to meet the mass market needs of the customers in metros and also upcountry. Very soon we will be expanding our portfolio announcing high end devices to meet the needs of premium customer segment. We also have an ambitious partner focused regional expansion plan which will help us ensure the best reach to the upcountry market. We also boast of one of the widest service network, with 214 service centers across the country.”

upcountry markets offer are immense developed our strong presence in and hard to ignore for any smartphone top 80 cities we looked at expanding our reach to 190 cities and towns, as brand!,” he adds on. Amit Saxena from ZTE says these cities will drive the next phase that, although ZTE has a rich global of growth for the industry. India pedigree of innovating with latest is a vast country and therefore the technology, when we forayed in the challenges could sometime emerge Indian open market our strategy from the fact that the products need was different. ‘We entered the Indian to reach the customers in tier II/III market announcing our entry level towns, along with competent support devices which are primarily in the facilities. Realizing this, we have been affordable segment. These are specially working on our channel strategy designed to meet the mass market and have succeeded in establishing needs of the customers in metros and the right kinds of distribution also upcountry. Very soon we will be channels and service networks. We expanding our portfolio announcing have identified the right distributors high end devices to meet the needs of who have optimum reach in the premium customer segment. We also upcountry markets and retain them by have an ambitious partner focused providing apt levels of service support regional expansion plan which will to ensure that they get their return on help us ensure the best reach to the investment,’ he explains. upcountry market. We also boast of one of the widest service network, with 214 service centers across the country. Today ZTE is one of the top five mobile equipment brands in the world, the reputation we have painstakingly built over the years. We are sure that our products, which have industry leading standards, will very soon create ripples in the Indian market, including the upcountry,” he adds on. Challenges Ahead Talking about the challenges, Hitesh Shah from BackBerry says that ‘As a part of our Go-to-Market strategy, we are focused on building and fortifying new and existing relationship w ith our channel and distribution partners. Having www.mobilityindia.com

Speaking about the challenges, Arvind Vohra says that the mobile phone market is currently going through a major upheaval as hundreds of millions of users in India and around the world upgrade from cheaper and less-capable feature phones to smartphones. ‘The biggest barrier for us is the ability to convince users that cheaper phones compromise on user experience which includes smartphone performance, speed and hardware quality but good quality is must for a great user experience. Gionee over the years has believed in keeping Innovation as its Core Value Proposition which has helped the company’s growth over the last decade. . With our own R&D, Manufacturing and Design centres Gionee ensure

Amit Saxena Director, Marketing, ZTE India

a deeper level of engagement with the audiences. We will continue to offer consumers a rich smartphone experience that enriches their daily habits providing seamless access to content, information, productivity and entertainment needs. We are focussed to roll out new services and software bundled with our devices to Upcountry Plans differentiate ourselves in the market, Gionee plans to open 250 Brand and drive profitable growth,’ he stores in 2014 across India along with explains. increasing its In shop promoters from 2000 in 2013 to 4000+ in 2014 and also increase presence in over 2500 Big Distributors for Backberry Redington and Ingram Micro are shop-in-shops. Blackberry’s major distributors in ‘We will be offering close to 15 India. “We currently are focusing on phones in India this year including 10 the market with 4000 retail outlets smartphones and 5 feature phones. which include 500 stores in Large Through our well laid distribution Format Retail. Apart from these, we channel and various marketing also have 20 exclusive stores as well as initiatives in 2014 we plan to increase 100 service centres across 190 towns the sales and recall PAN India in the coming year. The brand plans to spend in India to ensure we deliver the right about 90cr in 2014 for its marketing experience to our customers. Since the initiatives double than its first year of Indian smartphone market is largely operation in 2013,’ Arvind Vohra from driven by retail channels, it becomes important to enhance the retail Gionee adds on. experience to our target consumers. Expressing his views n Backberry, A unique initiative that we have Hitesh Shah says that, BlackBerry has undertaken is to set up BlackBerry been and continues to innovate itself Experience Zones which are based on as an iconic brand. Over the years, the store-in-store concept nationally,” BlackBerry has shown significant Hitesh Shah adds on. movement and has evolved from being just a smartphone to a versatile and Big Distributors for Gionee ubiquitous brand. that they provide excellent hardware integrated smartphones along with best software optimization for exceptional user experience. 33% of our revenues comes from the smartphone sale in .the upcountry locations,’’ he explains.

‘We position our products in the market by doing some distinct marketing activities across the country. This helps us to drive awareness and highlight the aspirational value of our products and services and create

Gionee has partnered with United Telecoms Ltd, United Teleservices, UT Electronics, Vishal Video & Appliances, Priyanka Communications & Trust Marketing that ensures its reach across the 4 zones of the country.

Mobility April 2014

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Mobility Interaction

Mediaman Targets Growing Smartphone Sector for Storage Market The growing market of smartphone in India offers huge scope for vendors who caters to memery products. And Dushyant Mehta Chairman & CEO of Mediaman Infotech (P) Ltd. predicts that this opportunity will be there for atleast next 5years. Dushyant Mehta, Chairman & CEO, Mediaman Infotech (P) Ltd.

ediaman Infotech (P) Limited was first founded in 1987 as Mediaman by Mr. Dushyant

Mehta, and later incorporated as Mediaman Infotech (P) Limited in 1996. Today, Mediaman, with its headquarters in Mumbai and 40 sales offices & stock locations (and growing) spread across the country, is among the 15 largest

of the new one. That is the trend today.” On the indispensable nature of memory products in the present day, technologydominated life, Dushyant explains, “Memory storage products have huge opportunity. You cannot always depend on the Cloud for essential information; you need to have it handy. For that

allied areas. Soon innovative memory cards for smartphones will appear which will be used for many purposes—buying, transacting and so on. We will be present in this market and will try to gain maximum mileage. We are promoting the memory products of SanDisk, Toshiba, Transcend, etc wherever appropriate.

you need storage devices with you, at office or at

Now the trend is memory with added

home. So far we have seen micro SD, SD cards

solutions. Storage business has a great scope

and USB but now there is a new innovation

in countries such as India and China where

called dual USB card which can be used in

populations are more and people’s disposable

both laptops and smartphones. New and more

incomes

efficient apps are appearing every now and then

opportunity will be there for at least 5 more years.”

for different purposes. The existing memory is

Main challenge the vendors and distributors

unable to meet the needs, so new innovations,

face is educating the channel since technology

that will remarkable increase the memory

is changing fast. In this regard, Dushyant

capacity, are bound appear increasingly in the

concludes, “Educating the channel is everybody’s

technology has advanced a lot and data storage

coming few years.”

business—vendors’ as well distributors’. Earlier

needs have increased enormously, both in

Market strategy of Mediaman and Future

size and quality. Every six months gadgets are

Trends

Information Technology distributors in India. Current trends of memory market Sharing his views on the present memory market in India, Dushyant Mehta says, “Earlier innovations used to survive for nearly 10 years and the transition to new technology was rather low. Today, new innovations are coming up after every year and sometimes after 6 months— both in software and hardware.” Today storage

appearing with many new features added which were unimaginable a decade ago. Dushyant adds, “Today, you should learn a new thing comes into the market, unlearn (or forget) what you have learnt earlier and relearn on the lines 22

Mobility April 2014

Regarding the mission and goals of Mediaman, Dushyant adds, “We will tie-up with large integrators. Per year smartphone market is growing at the rate of 30% 40%. Our target market for storage will be smartphones and the

are

steadily

rising.

This

great

people had to search for big files in the racks and then carry big bundles of files. Now you just need a pendrive—you can copy and carry without affecting original files. Social media and the Internet have become very important platforms to the spread of technology. Whenever there is a new innovation, we are ready to promote it.” www.mobilityindia.com

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Tech Story

LTE - The True Future for Mobile Broadband

riving the evolution of wireless broadband technology is customers’ increasing expectations for speed, bandwidth, and global access. Customers want more information, such as business and consumer applications, and entertainment available through their mobile devices, but with greater speeds. For wireless carriers to achieve greater speeds and pervasive connectedness, their networks need to start behaving more like landline IP-based networks.

from mobile services to broadband connections—for customers and service providers alike. Enter the fourth-generation (4G) wireless network. Unlike earlier wireless standards, 4G technology is based on TCP/IP, the core protocol of the Internet. TCP/IP enables wireless networks to deliver higher-level services, such as video and multimedia, while supporting the devices and applications of the future.

inherent mobility

and services of today and those of

• Offers easier access and use with tomorrow greater security and privacy • Reduces cost per bit through • Dramatically improves speed and improved spectral efficiency latency • Delivers enhanced real-time video and multimedia for a better overall experience • Enables high-performance mobile computing • Supports real-time applications due to its low latency

Wireless technologies enable one or more devices to communicate without an actual wired connection. Radio frequency is used to transmit the data. Such technologies are rapidly evolving to meet a variety of communications needs, from simple to complex.

Wireless communications needs The Benefits of LTE (Long Term • Creates a platform upon which can all be classified in one of three This line of thinking represents Evolution) to build and deploy the products ways, based on the distance they are a fundamental shift in perspective— • Provides a global ecosystem with www.mobilityindia.com

Mobility April 2014

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Tech Story meant to cover. These include: wireless personal area networks (WPAN), wireless local area networks (WLAN), and wireless wide area networks (WWAN). Wireless networks form the transport mechanism between devices and traditional wired networks. WPANs are limited to distances under about 10 meters and include technologies such as infrared (IR), Bluetooth® technology, and ultrawideband (UWB). WLANs cover a local area with distances of individual access points reaching to about 100 meters, and include technologies such as Wi-Fi (802.11a/b/g/n). WWANs cover even larger areas, using cellular data networks.

range of an access point with their notebook computers, handhelds, or other network devices. Multiple access points can be coordinated together by a network WLAN switch to allow users to hand off between access points.

HSPA Wi-Fi

Wi-Fi (or IEEE 802.11) is the set of standards established to define wireless LANs. A number of different protocols are defined in the 802.11 family of standards, addressing var ious operat ing frequencies and maximum throughputs. The 802.11g standard is currently the predominant protocol deployed in This section discusses some of the WLAN implementations. most popular and widely used wireless technologies to provide readers with a point of reference for the use of 3G WWAN technology. WWANs provide broadband data networks with a far greater range, using cellular technologies such as GPRS, WPAN HSPA, UMTS, 1xRTT, 1xEV-DO, and WPANs typically provide ad LTE. Wireless data devices connect hoc network connections designed to a wireless broadband network to dynamically connect devices to through a commercial carrier’s other devices within close range data network, allowing broadband of each other. These connections performance without the need for are termed ad hoc because they a cabled connection to a network do not generally need to connect infrastructure (much like a WLAN), to any network infrastructure to while providing end users with far operate. They can simply connect to greater mobility. These WWANs each other and perform necessary typically incorporate sophisticated communications without the need of user identification techniques to any access network devices, such as ensure that only authorized users access points or base stations. are accessing the network. Multiple base stations are coordinated by base station controllers to allow users to Bluetooth Bluetooth has emerged as the hand off between base stations (cell most widely used WPAN network sites). standard. The Bluetooth standard is an industry specification that describes how mobile phones, headsets, computers, handhelds, peripherals, and other computing devices should interconnect with each other. Bluetooth network applications include wireless headsets, hands-free operation, wireless synchronization, wireless printing, advanced stereo audio, dial-up networking, file transfer, and image exchange, to name a few. WLAN

LTE As mentioned previously in this paper, LTE is a 4G wireless technology that Verizon Wireless and numerous leading wireless carriers have chosen as their upgrade path beyond 3G technologies. Global Sy stem for Mobile Communications (GSM) is 2G technology that offers both voice and data capabilities. GSM differs from 1G by using digital cellular technology and time division multiple access (TDMA) transmission methods, rather than CDMA. GSM offers data transmission rates of up to 9.6 Kbps, while enabling such services as short messaging service (SMS) or text messaging, as it is more commonly known, and international roaming.

WLANs provide connections designed to connect devices to wired networks. Unlike a wired LAN, a WLAN does not require cabling to connect the device to a switch or router. Devices connect wirelessly to nearby wireless access points that are attached to the local network using an Ethernet connection. A single access W-CDMA point communicates with nearby Wi d e b a n d C o d e D i v i s i o n WLAN devices in a coverage area of Multiple Access (W-CDMA) brings about 100 meters. This coverage area allows users to move freely within GSM into 3G. W-CDMA is a type of 3G cellular network and is a high24

Mobility April 2014

speed transmission protocol used in Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS). UMTS offers packet-based transmission for text, digitized voice, video, and multimedia content.

The 3GPP body began its initial investigation of the LTE standard as a viable technology in 2004. In March 2005, 3GPP began a feasibility study whose key goals were to agree on network architecture and a multiple access method, in terms of the functional split between the radio access and the core network. The study concluded September 2006 when 3GPP finalized selection of the multiple access and basic radio access network architecture. 3GPP decided to use OFDMA in the downlink direction and use SC-FDMA in the uplink direction.

Hig h-Sp eed Packe t Access (HSPA) is a mobile telephony protocol that helps improve the performance of UMTS. HSPA uses improved modulation schemes, while refining the protocols that mobile devices and base stations use to communicate. These processes improve radio The specifications for the LTE bandwidth utilization provided by standard were approved by 3GPP in UMTS. January 2007. The specifications are now under change control, leading LTE Overview and Development to their inclusion in 3GPP Release Background 8. While the LTE requirements Various technology standards are finalized, the standard is not bodies began to explore options for fully completed. LTE Release 8 was their 4G wireless technology offerings. completed by late 2008. Two groups, the Third Generation Pa r t n e r s h i p Pr o j e c t ( 3 G P P ) , LTE Performance Estimates and representing the family of networks Technical Attributes generally referred to as GSM, and the O n ce f u l l y d e p l oye d , LT E Third Generation Partnership Project technology offers a number of 2 (3GPP2), representing the family distinct advantages over other wireless of networks generally referred to as technologies. These advantages include CDMA, are working together to lay increased performance attributes, the foundation for LTE. such as high peak data rates and low Established in 1998, 3GPP latency, and greater efficiencies in i s a co l l a b o r a t i ve a g re e m e n t using the wireless spectrum. Improved that brought together multiple performance and increased spectral telecommunications standards bodies efficiency will allow wireless carriers known as Organizational Partners. using LTE as their 4G technology This group initiated the 3GPP LTE to offer higher quality services and standards project to improve the products for their customers. UMTS mobile phone standard and to better meet future wireless technology needs. UMTS is one of the many 3G B e n e f i t s e x p e c t e d f r o m LT E wireless technologies in use today. technology: The most common form of UMTS • High peak speeds: 100 Mbps downlink (20 MHz, 2x2 MIMO)— uses W-CDMA as its underlying both indoors and outdoors—50 air interface and represents the Mbps uplink (20 MHz, 1x2) European answer to the ITU IMT2000 requirements for 3G cellular • At least 200 active voice users in radio systems. every 5 MHz (i.e., can support up to 200 active phone calls) 3GPP2 represents a collaboration between the numerous • Low latency: < 5 ms user plane telecommunications associations that latency for small IP packets (user helped develop CDMA standards equipment to radio access network for 3G. LTE is a global 4G standard, [RAN] edge) with researchers and development < 100 ms camped to active engineers throughout the world par ticipating in the joint-LTE < 50 ms dormant to active radio access standardization effort, • Scalable bandw idth: The 4G channel offers four times more involving more than 60 operators, bandwidth than current 3G systems vendors, and research institutes. and is scalable. So, while 20 MHz This is the same standards body ––channels may not be available that researched and established the everywhere, 4G systems will offer GSM, GPRS, W-CDMA, and HSPA channel sizes down to 5 MHz, in wireless standards. The LTE standard increments of 1.5 MHz. is tightly integrated with GPRS/ UMTS networks and represents an • Improved spectrum efficiency: evolution of radio access technologies Spectrum efficiency refers to how and networks for UMTS. limited bandwidth is used by the access layer of a wireless network. LTE Standards Evolution www.mobilityindia.com

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Tech Story Improved – spectrum efficiency allows more information to be transmitted in a given bandwidth, while increasing the number of users and services the network can support. Two to four times more information can be transmitted versus the previous benchmark, HSPA Release 6. • Improved cell edge data rates: Not only does spectral efficiency improve near cell towers, it also improves at the coverage area or cell edge. Data rates improve two to three times at the cell edge over the previous benchmark, HSPA Release 6. • Packet domain only • Enhanced support for end-toend quality of service: Reducing handover latency and packet loss is key to delivering a quality service. This reduction is considerably ––more challenging with mobile broadband than with fixed-line broadband. The time variability and unpredictability of the channel become more acute. Additional complications arise from the need to hand over sessions from one cell to another as users cross coverage boundaries. These handover sessions require seamless coordination of radio resources across multiple cells.

announcements of LTE being demonstrated at high vehicular speeds were made with download speeds of 50 Mbps in a moving vehicle at 110 Kmph. Live 2x2 LTE solutions in 20 MHz were demonstrated at both Mobile World Congress 2008 and CTIA Wireless 2008. Among the new applications demonstrated on LTE networks (at various bands, including the new 1.7/2.1 GHz AWS band) were high-definition video blogging, high-definition video on demand and video streaming, multi-user video collaboration, video surveillance, and online mobile gaming. A handover between CDMA and LTE was also demonstrated, showcasing migration possibilit ies between the two generations of wireless technologies. Beginning third quarter 2008, UMTS/ HSPA base stations were upgradable to LTE. Many bands are supported by these base stations, including the 1.7/2.1 GHz AWS band and the recently auctioned 700 MHz bands by the FCC in the United States.

data rate systems that operate in multipath environments because of its robustness to delay spread. The cyclic extension enables an OFDM system to operate in multipath channels without the need for a complex.

single-carrier properties and thereby ensure power-efficient transmission. This approach is often referred to as blocked or localized SC-FDMA.

Decision Feedback Equalizer (DFE) or Maximum Likelihood Sequence Est imat ion (MLSE) equalizer. As such, it is straightforward to exploit frequency selectivity of the multipath channel with lowcomplexity receivers. This allows frequency-selective scheduling, as well as frequency-diverse scheduling and frequency reuse one-deployments.

Higher data rates and lower latency make LTE connections more responsive, enabling real-time multicast applications, such as online gaming and video conferencing.

Furthermore, due to its frequency domain nature, OFDM enables fl exible bandwidth operation with low complexity. Smart antenna technologies are also easier to support with OFDM, because each subcarrier becomes fl at faded and the antenna weights can be optimized on a per-subcarrier or block of subcarriers basis. In addition, OFDM enables broadcast services on a synchronized single frequency network (SFN) with appropriate cyclic prefi x design. This allows broadcast signals from diff erent cells to combine over the air, thus signifi cantly increasing the received signal power and supportable data rates for broadcast services.

Verizon Wireless, Vodafone, and China Mobile conducted laboratory and over-the-air tests of LTE in early 2008, followed by successful field tests in northern New Jersey; Columbus, Ohio; and Minneapolis, Minnesota. The final phase of LTE testing began in the second quarter of 2009, and 700 MHz tests commenced in June 2009 after the Digital Television (DTV) transition. Verizon Wireless SC-FDMA will continue LTE testing throughout Sing le-car r ier FDMA (SCTesting and Deployment most of 2009, and will offer service in FDMA) was chosen to reduce Peak Many of the major global wireless some 30 markets in 2010. to Average Ratio (PAR), which has carriers have lined up to support LTE been identified as a critical issue for as the foundation for their 4G network use of OFDMA in the uplink where LTE Supporting Technologies deployments. These global carriers power-efficient amplifiers are required The follow ing information include Verizon Wireless, as well as in mobile devices. Another important Vodafone, China Mobile, AT&T, describes the various supporting requirement was to maximize the China Telecom, KDDI, MetroPCS, technologies that make up LTE. coverage. For each time interval, NTT DoCoMo, and T-Mobile—plan the base station scheduler assigns a to deploy LTE at some point in MIMO unique time-frequency interval to the future. Verizon Wireless and its Multiple-input and multiple- a terminal for the transmission of European partner Vodafone have been output (MIMO) employs multiple user data, thereby ensuring intracell among the most aggressive carriers in transmit and receive antennas to orthogonality. Slow power control, terms of LTE deployment timelines. substantially enhance the air interface. for compensating path loss and Verizon Wireless has spent the past few It uses space-time coding of the same shadow fading, is sufficient as no years working with 3GPP standards data stream mapped onto multiple near-far problem is present due to in an effort to ensure interoperability the orthogonal uplink transmissions. transmit antennas. between LTE and its current CDMA Transmission parameters, coding, EV-DO Rev. A wireless broadband and modulation are similar to the network. LTE field demonstrations OFDM downlink transmission. in realistic urban scenarios were In the downlink, orthogonal The chosen SC-FDMA solution conducted starting in December frequency-division multiplexing 2007. These field trials proved that (OFDM) was selected as the air is based on using a cyclic prefix to future LTE-based wireless networks interface for LTE. OFDM is a particular allow high-performance and lowcan operate using existing base station form of multicarrier modulation complexity receiver implementation sites. Also in 2007, LTE test calls were (MCM). In general, MCM is a parallel in the eNodeB. As such, the receiver completed between infrastructure transmission method that divides a requirements are more complex than and device vendors using mobile radio frequency channel into several, in the case of OFDMA for similar prototypes. These calls were the first more narrow-bandwidth subcarriers link performance, but this is not test of multi-vendor, over-the-air LTE and transmits data simultaneously on considered to be a problem in the base station. The terminal is only assigned interoperability. each subcarrier. with contiguous spectrum blocks in In April 2008, the first public OFDM is well suited for high the frequency domain to maintain the www.mobilityindia.com

Why LTE

LTE network results in a longer range from the base station, compared with systems operating at 2.5 GHz or 3.5 GHz. In addition, using the 700 MHz frequency allows for better inbuilding penetration and coverage by wireless signals, helping to improve network conditions. LTE also offers mobile users better coverage as they travel by providing seamless handover and roaming for true mobility. LTE is better suited for global adoption than WiMAX. Although 2.5 GHz, 3.5 GHz, and 5.8 GHz bands are allotted in many regions of the world, many growth markets require new allocations to service their populations. Given the diverse requirements and regulations of various governments, it will be a challenge for WiMAX to achieve global harmonization. LTE has strong and widespread support from the mobile industry, including support from a majority of the industry’s key players. Many vendors will enable operator transition to LTE in a progressive, scalable, and cost-effective way—protecting investments in existing technologies made by today’s GSM and CDMA carriers. GSM is the most popular mobile communications standard currently in use. Carriers on the GSM standard predominate around the globe and will use LTE as their wireless network upgrade pathway. According to an April 2008 report from Gartner Inc., the GSM family will account for 89% of the global market in 2011. In addition, LTE figures to enjoy widespread device support as most major device vendors have publicly announced the development of products to take advantage of LTE. • LTE enjoys strong, widespread support from the mobile industry, both from wireless carriers and vendors alike. • Multiple vendors, operators, and research institutes are participating in standardizing LTE. This provides a good base for creating a healthy technological ecosystem. • The Verizon Wireless IMS/AIMS core network is access-technology agnostic and supports LTE. Mobility April 2014

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Mobility Personality

“Intel is partnering with Indian OEMs to launch innovative devices” position as the global leader when it comes to processors for traditional PCs. With changing market realities, we are focusing on Mobility as a growth business for us and making the necessary investments in our development, in market expansion, At present how many brands sales and marketing to win share. support Intel platform for tablets And we are making good progress on on global scale? What is Intel doing the product front. At Mobile World Congress 2014, Intel announced: to increase the effort here? At the MWC, several of our • Two new 64-bit ready Intel® Atom™ processors – the dual customers announced new products core Merrifield and the quad based on our processors and modems, core Moorefield, which offer an including ASUS’ new Fonepad with ideal combination of fast, smart Intel LTE, and the HP ElitePad 1000 performance and long battery life and HP ProPad 600, the first 64Sandeep Aurora, Director, Marketing and Market for mainstream and performance bit Windows tablets with BayTrail. Development, Intel South Asia An d ro i d s m a r t p h o n e s a n d Intel also announced a multi-year tablets. f t e r h a v i n g f o c u s e d would like to clarify that today our agreement with Lenovo to introduce heavily towards garnering customers are shipping tablets based new Intel-based mobile devices across a • Intel officially introduced the new Intel® XMM™ 7260 – a big marketshare in the on Intel Architecture running both variety of smartphone and tablet form power-efficient, small footprint factors spanning value to performance tablets and mobility space, Android as well as Windows. communications processor with market segments. Foxconn and Intel India is a big market for Intel Please share your strategy to comp et it ive LTE-Advanced today and the company is going garner more market share in this are teaming up to drive the broader, f e a t u re s i n c l u d i n g c a r r i e r global availability of high-quality, after mobility products driven space? aggregation, CAT6 speeds and affordable Intel-based Android tablets. local brands such as Micromax In 2014, Intel has increased its support for TD-LTE and TDIntel will provide Atom processors in order to make big inroads focus on the tablet space globally. SCDMA. and communications platforms for a in the local market. Sandeep Locally Intel is partnering with select range of Foxconn products beginning • Customer agreements and design Aurora, Director, Marketing and local OEMs such as Micromax to this year. Apart from these, we already Market Development, Intel South wins that expand the availability of launch innovative new devices in have Dell and Acer that have their Asia shares his thoughts on the Intel-based mobile devices: the mobility segment. This is part of Intel powered tablets running on Intel company’s strategy for India and • I n t e l a n n o u n c e d a m u l t i our overall strategy to increase our available in the Indian market. the road ahead. year agreement with Lenovo market share in the country. Key to In our interactions with the to introduce new Intel-based success here is design wins and we channel community, it has come out mobile devices across a variety of are committed to bringing innovating What is the broad strategy that channel partners are becoming smartphone and tablet form factors form factors at attractive price points, that Intel is having towards the more comfortable and eager to sell spanning value to performance offered by multinational as well as tablet segment in India as well as tablets / phablets and hence sales of market segments. local OEMs. globally? traditional PC or laptop is coming • ASUS will deliver a broad portfolio In India, we will not only focus Tablets represent a big, growth down heavily. What is your opinion of Intel-based smartphones and on the consumers, but also the market and we are targeting to ship on this? tablets. At MWC, ASUS unveiled education segment as well as the large 40Mu this year, globally. Based on the Channels business run on volumes t h e A S U S Fo n e p a d 7 LT E government tender deals. success of Bay Trail as well as the product and the growing tablet/phablet gives –featuring an Intel Atom processor In the coming months and and customer agreements we have them an opportunity to sell more to and Intel LTE connectivity. announced at Mobile World Congress, quarters, how does Intel look at the consumers. Tablets are definitely we have a rich pipeline of tablet and this segment of converging segment • Foxconn and Intel are teaming hot right now, but PC has its own phablet design wins, which put us on a of tablets -- more and more up to drive the broader, global relevance and in my opinion, both will path to meet our goal. In India, we are technologies are getting packed availability of high-quality, continue to co-exist in a consumer’s also engaged with a few local OEMs to inside one device and many vendors affordable Intel-based Android are jumping on the bandwagon home. In fact, if you look at smaller bring Intel powered tablets to market. tablets. Intel will provide Atom cities, there is a very healthy desktop processors and communications What kind of market share today? Your comments please. demand that channels cater to. platforms for a range of Foxconn As the tablet market matures, does ‘Intel Inside’ driven tablets Intel is largely seen as a products beginning this year. have today, when compared with vendors are trying to cater to different consumer preferences in terms of traditional PC and Laptop powering • HP announced the first 64-bit Bay Android or Apple driven tablets? company and not a tablet or phablet As a company policy we do not price, screen size, OS, calling features Trail tablets - the HP ElitePad 1000 organization do you agree on this? comment on figures pertaining to and so on. And as you see the market and the HP ProPad 600. Intel continues to maintain its market share. At the same time, I evolving, we are also going to see the mainstream players bringing a great experience at really good price points in the market. Case in point is Dell that recently launched their Venue range of tablets powered by Intel which is available in the market for less than `10,000.

Mobility April 2014

www.mobilityindia.com

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Special Report

Gionee Presents Special and Slimmest Smartphone – Elife S5.5

ionee is very overwhelmed by its unprecedented success with ELIFE series within a year of operations in India. In an another grand launch after E7 event which was held at Buddha Internation Circuit Noida. Gionee had invited people from all over India in a destination launch event of Elife 5.5 in Goa. In the guest list they have included their dealers, distributors, bloggers, media people and many important company heads and employees from China. For this mega event they have also organized various cultural activities with some great bollywood personalities. Speaking on the occasion Gionee India Head Mr. Arvind Vohra said that the firm has seen a rise in popularity and company shipped 24 million phones in 2013 out of which 1 million phones were shipped to the Indian market. It has set a target of shipping 35 million units globally and 6 million phones in India, in 2014.Zone wise the company considers Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh West Bengal and Punjab as its top performers and now plans to strengthen its position in the metros. He also mentioned that Gionee India started operations in March 2013 and has done business of over Rs.500 crore and its next target is to touch a turnover of Rs.2,500 crore by the end of financial year 2014-15.

electronics and pie of art by consumers worldwide and that’s why we adapted a new approach with a focus in design. Smartphone is something that we carry on a daily basis, they are like a part of the human body, and there is zero distance between a user and their smartphones. This is similar to a piece of fashion clothing; it represents its user’s taste, personality, and even identity. The ELIFE S5.5 is crafted with a distinct metallic frame and Corning Gorillas Glass Uni-Body. It uses the world’s thinnest Gionee President William Lu said AMOLED Screen, thinnest PCB board “Smartphones are treated both as with a 0.6MM and 0.4mm glass rear

cover. We are proud to bring in this unique innovation first time in the world and it will be our constant endeavor to continue bringing in the best always” We are launching this smartphone in 40 markets across the globe and India is the second market after China, which itself speaks about the importance of this country for us. Firstlook of Gionee Elife S5.5: This phone certainly got the tag of worlds slimmest smartphone, it beats Vivo X3 which is 5.75mm, also beats Huawei Ascend P6 and Sony Z

ELIFE S5.5 Full Specifications • 5.0” Super AMOLED Plus display

• Ultra slim 145.1 x 70.2 x 5.55mm

• Octa- Core 1.7GHz CPU

• GSM-850/900/1800/1900MHz

• Single SIM

• WCDMA-850/1900/2100MHz or 900/1900/2100MHz

• 13.0MP AF +5.0MP AF Camera 95 Degree Ultra-Wide Angle

• 3.5 mm Earphone Jack

• AMIGO OS 2.0 (based on Android OS, V4.2)

• WIFI/GPS/BT4.0/FM/G-sensor

• Memory: 16GB+2GB

• OTG

www.mobilityindia.com

• Non-removable 2300mAh Battery

Ultra which measured 6.18 and 6.5 respectively. Gionee Elife S5.5 sports a sleek metal frame with a thickness of 5.5mm and weighs 130 grams. This ELIFE S series is a new product category from Gionee, targeted for those customers who desire for a slim and powerful smartphone to also act as a fashionable accessory. And at our first look we feel that it has that design and style element that will appeal many fashion oriented customers. And Elife S5.5 comes in Black, White, Pink, Blue so you can pick one of your kind of color that suits your personality. The phone features a 5-inch full-HD (1920 X 1080p) Super AMOLED Plus display with Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection. Powered by a 1.7GHz MediaTek MT6592 octa-core processor and 2GB RAM, Gionee S5.5 comes with 16GB internal storage and doesn’t include a microSD card slot. It sports a 13MP rear camera with LED flash and a 5MP 95 degree ultra-wide angle front-facing camera. The single-sim phone runs Android 4.2 Jelly Bean with Gionee’s Amigo UI running on top. It has a 2,300mAh battery. Connectivity options include 3G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0 and GPS. Gionee Elife S5.5 comes in Black, White, Pink, Blue and Purple color variants. At a price of Rs 22,999. The smartphone will be available in the Indian market starting April 27.

Mobility April 2014

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Mobility Interview

BYOD and BYOS not a “zero-sum” game What are the challenges and opportunities for companies to consider implementing BYOS? Employers need to trust their employees; otherwise, tech and IT will always be built from a “restrictive” view rather than a “permissive” one. Also they have to trust the employee to make the best productivity choices for themselves in using tools and services they are already familiar with. If they do that the productivity gains are bound to happen. With the new generation of employees expecting BYOD policies to be in place at enterprises they work for, what are the implications for businesses when employees also expect to be able to BYOS? BYOD & BYOS are not passing fads and are here to stay. For a business to thrive in today’s economy and compete on a global stage, a transformation to more creative and high value added output is needed, and knowledge work is the crucial ingredient to do n recent years, Bring Your how this can create more value for that. A natural concern that rises Own Device (BYOD) and Bring enterprises. Your Own Service (BYOS) have CommunicAsia 2014 speaks to Foo been at the forefront of empowering Tiang Lim, Market Development, Asia mobility among employees. According Pacific at Evernote for his perspectives to an analyst report, Asian businesses on the BYOD, BYOS and most recently, out of BYOD and BYOS would are lagging behind in enterprise Choose Your Own Device (CYOD) be security and confidentiality of mobility opportunities due to a lack phenomenon. company information. However, the of understanding about mobility and crux of the issue would be employees having to deal with sub-optimal user experiences that frustrate, causing CommunicAsia2014 Summit: Consumerisation of the employees to use tech that they Enterprise – BYOD vs. CYOD prefer. Hence, businesses should The CommunicAsia2014 Summit will address the implications, strive to provide the best tools to challenges and opportunities of BYOD and BYOS. Foowill be speaking at equip its workforce to be able to fully the ‘Consumerisation of the Enterprise – BYOD vs. CYOD’ session which realise the potential of the company. takes place on Day 3 of the Summit, 19 June 2014.He will be talking Instead of being concerned about about the following topics: BYOS, companies should embrace this trend as it could help to increase BYOD – Focus on your Employees’ Experience, Not the Device productivity in the long run.

• Why your people demand BYOD/BYOS: the discerning tastes of the modern knowledge worker • What companies can do to embrace that and overcome it: the importance of creating “business-class” experiences for your team and teams • What companies will need in the future: the augmented workforce www.mobilityindia.com

How can companies ensure the security of sensitive corporate information? A re-thinking of the role of the IT department is needed. Currently, a majority of IT departments play

the role of “enforcers” instead of “facilitators”. Too many discussions of the BYOD/BYOS trend are framed as a zero sum game, but that is not true, as security does not have to be compromised to enjoy the benefits of BYOD/BYOS. The key thing is to apply the right thinking in the right areas of the business, at the right levels. Additionally, the HR department plays an active role in ensuring that the right employees are hired. This, coupled with an office culture of transparency and trust, would help in ensuring the security of sensitive corporate innovation with the BYOD/ BYOS trend. Now there is also CYOD, is this moving too fast for companies, especially in Asia, to meet the expectations of the knowledge worker? This is actually an encouraging sign, and also an indication of the shifting of the role of the IT departments around the world. Again

the key thing is to work together with your workforce to craft a productivity IT strategy. CYOD isn’t a fad if you think about what the issue really is, and that is knowledge workers deserve the best and most productive experiences at work. The question of whether BYOD/BYOS/ CYOD facilitates, should not be an end in itself. Focusing on the welfare of employees is not just a courteous or morally right thing to do, it’s a very real business strategy. Productivity cannot be forced out of knowledge workers, the only way a company is able to raise their productivity levels is to ensure that the welfare of the employees is taken care of. Like with giving them the best experiences at work also allow them to choose their software & hardware.

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Product Feature

Nokia X Series – The Untrue Android Design and interface

the smaller screen, as it would be doing Android widgets, but while The Nokia X is the Finnish brand’s hard to hold something that small other launchers can make things look too complex, Nokia is doing things big effort to make greater waves into and thin. the low, low end of the smartphone The screen doesn’t seem to suffer its own way and making it all seem market – and it’s enlisted the help of either – the contrast is strong, helped a lot cooler.

You can also see more notifications on the lock screen than you might on other Nokia phones - it’s a little boring in terms of design, but works well enough.

Android to make that happen.

The other big change is Nokia’s Fast Lane – it’s an odd change from the notifications bar, as it’s essentially the same thing but one long scrolling page that can be accessed by swiping right or left.

by the smorgasbord of colour on offer For instance, there’s no ‘Apps’ key from the live tiles. that shows all the little bits of software The Nokia X is a phone that you’ve downloaded – now it’s all in comes with a fairly decent spec list for There’s not a lot else on offer one long list that just endlessly scrolls. a phone that’s coming in at €89 before here in terms of ports or anything – To that end, it can get a bit messy, so tax (around £75, $120, AU$135) the mandatory headphone jack and Nokia’s method of creating folders – we’re talking a dual-core 1GHz camera (which is only a 3MP option is needed and something that wasn’t processor from Qualcomm, 512MB with no flash) are the only other items possible on Windows Phone. of RAM, a 4-inch WVGA screen and in a sea of matte plastic. a 1500mAh battery. It’s nothing special, and you can’t But this isn’t meant to be a phone However, it’s important not to that’s all about design – the Nokia X just drag and drop to create a folder, compare to this to the likes of the is supposed to offer a differentiated instead needing to tap an icon. But Moto G, as it’s not meant for the user experience from the rest of the at least dragging the live tile icons more developed regions in terms identikit Android phones on the for each app will allow you to move the order around automatically, and of smartphone use. This is for areas market. some, such as the gallery, will expand where Android devices are sold at a To that end, I actually rather much lower average price, but still can liked what Finland’s top Microsoft to show pictures in your album. do the basic things that others can. There’s even the chance to change subsidiary is doing – there’s a nice the colour of some apps to match your With that in mind, the Nokia X is fusion of Android familiarity and theme – although the fact you can’t do probably a little better than OK. The Windows Phone functionality. this to all of them means this feature polycarbonate body is fairly chunky, The live tiles idea is really cool is slightly negated. but in the hand it dovetails well with – it’s essentially just a clever way of

It’s cool in some respects, as it allows you to dynamically control things like the music player, and always keeps your most-used apps close at hand. However, there is still the same pull-down bar as on other Android handsets here, but it’s only for changing settings. Fast Lane isn’t the same as the multitasking menu you’ll get on the likes of most other Android phones - while long pressing the icon will shut it down, the app apparently still runs.

� Sleek UI

� Low storage

� Low cost

� Chunky design

Mobility April 2014

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Product Feature

Karbonn Titanium X – Remarkable Smartness

ne of the most remarkable trends in the Indian mobile industry over the past few months has been the rise of smartphones sporting full-HD screens. Although such devices used to cost a lot of money in the past, a number of companies are now releasing more wallet-friendly models. The trend in the country might have been set by global brands, but Indian domestic handset makers are not far behind. Micromax was the first Indian brand to join the full-HD bandwagon with its Canvas Turbo launched last year. Now, after a period of relative quiet, Karbonn has marked its return to the Indian market with its first smartphone with full-HD display, the Karbonn Titanium X. Karbonn is clearly in the mood to win significant market share, and it’s back with a vengeance in terms of both specifications and price. But does company’s first full-HD smartphone, the Titanium X, pack enough punch to overcome more established players such as Samsung, Micromax, HTC, LG and Xolo? We take a closer look at this smartphone.

top. We assume that it’s meant to be waiting for Android 4.4.2 KitKat to helpful for taking selfies. Beneath the arrive on its handsets, Karbonn has used Android 4.2 Jelly Bean for the display one can find the Home, Titanium X, which is disappointing. Display The screen of a smartphone is a critical aspect to consider when making a purchase decision, and of late, smartphones such as the Spice Pinnacle FHD, Wicked Leak Wammy Passion Z Plus and Micromax Canvas Turbo have hit the market, all with full-HD displays and all priced under Rs. 20,000. The Karbonn Titanium X now joins the same club. An HD screen might not make a difference to many people, but when you hold one of these phones up next to a device with a low-resolution screen, you can see the difference. The Titanium X features a 5.0inch IPS full-HD (1080x1920 pixels) screen with pixel density of 441ppi. The panel attracts a lot of smudges, but nothing that cannot be wiped away quickly. The screen has decent viewing angles and though colour reproduction is not the best, it gets the job done.

lagged when launching some apps. Admittedly, the lag is not consistent but considering that this is a quad-core processor, it is quite disappointing.

It came as no surprise that the benchmark scores were not impressive at all. As expected, the Karbonn Titanium X barely made it through our synthetic benchmarks. The CPU performance scores were not impressive: the phone scored 14,930 in AnTuTu and 5,701 in Quadrant. On the graphics front, it only managed to push 3.4 frames per second in the Performance/ Battery Life GFXbench test, while it scored 1735 The Karbonn Titanium X is in the 3DMark Ice Storm Extreme powered by a quad-core MediaTek runthrough. chipset (MT6589T) clocked at 1.5GHz along with 1GB of RAM and PowerVR SGX544 GPU. MediaTek’s updated Verdict The Karbonn Titanium X is a MT6589T processor was launched last year, so it should perform quite mix of good and greateness in it. decently. Unfortunately, this didn’t The 5.0-inch full-HD display is no translate to real-world performance. doubt the USP of the device and is We found that the Titanium X great for watching videos on, but colour reproduction can be a bit of a damper. The Karbonn Titanium X is not a perfect phone by any means, but when you consider its price tag, it is not a bad performer at all. The Karbonn Titanium X ships with Android 4.2.2 out of the box. It might not be the most up-to-date, but it’s the most popular version of Android on mid-range smartphones in India at the moment. We are yet to hear any details about Karbonn’s plans to update the Titanium X.

Camera Look and feel

In terms of photographic ability, Karbonn has equipped the mid-range Titanium X with a 13-megapixel autofocus rear camera accompanied by a dual-LED flash. The rear camera offers 4x digital zoom, HD (1080p) video recording, touch to focus and a panorama mode. The Titanium X also includes HDR mode for video recording, which has been seen on some high-end Android smartphones. Other features seen in the camera app include portrait retouch, self-timer, self-portrait voice guide, smile shutter, focus mode, and ISO and exposure value adjustment. The rear camera can click images at a maximum resolution of 4128x3096 pixels.

The Titanium X is a departure from the company’s usual Android smartphone design, and it looks like a lot of time was spent on the design stage. The Karbonn Titanium X is definitely light at 143 grams, and sports rounded edges. It is sturdy, but it might be a little too wide for singlehanded operation, and those blessed with smaller palms will find it tiring to carry the device around. The 5.0inch full-HD display takes up most of the space in the front with a silver lining around the edges. Like most other smartphones, the ambient light and proximity sensors are lined up on top alongside the earpiece and frontfacing camera. We were amazed to see the 5-megapixel front-facing camera Software/ Interface accompanied by an LED flash at the At a time when the world is � Good Design

� Low battery backup

� Low cost

� Camera handling

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Product Feature

Lava Xtron+ (Plus) Tablet – Affordably Yours

ava Xtron Plus Tab is one of the best affordable tablet which comes at Box Contents decent price price and specifications for multimedia and good gaming Tablet, Screen guard pre installed, Circular thin pin charger, Edukart experience. Gift, Bigflix coupon etc, warranty card and user manual, OTG Cable, but no Lava Xtron+ (Plus) Tablet is a 7 Inch capacitive touch screen and runs MicroUSB Cable in the package, you will have to buy it on your own.

on 1.5 GHz Dual Core Cortex-A9 Processor and 1 Gb DDR3 RAM and Mali 400 Quad Core GPU which makes it a decent performer on the gaming and Build Quality, Design and Form Factor performance front, however the camera you get on rear is 2 MP Fixed Focus The build quality of this tablet is good, it has a aluminum metal back and 1.3 Fixed Focus on the front as well but you cant expect everything thing cover and the weight of the tablet is around 360 grams, design is good feels to be good at the price at which tablet comes, one major hardware change is solid and looks premium in hands. The form factor is good, tablet is around that it has mini HDMI port to connect the tablet to TV or external monitor. 11.9 mm in thickness which makes it easy to go into a bag but you may not be able to fit this tablet in a normal size jeans pocket and carry case would be Lava Xtron Plus Tab Quick Specs a better choice. • Display Size: 7 inch capacitive touch screen with 1024 x 600 pixels resolution Display, Memory and Battery Backup • Processor: 1.5 GHz Dual Core Cortex A9 It has 7 inch capacitive touch screen with 1024 x 600 pixels resolution is • RAM: 1 Gb DDR3 • Software Version: Android 4.2.2 (Jelly Bean) OS • Camera: 2 MP FF camera. • Secondary Camera: 1.3 MP front-facing camera FF [Fixed Focus] • Internal Storage: 8 GB with 5 GB approx user available • External Storage: Expandable up to 32GB

a quite good in terms of pixels density but the viewing angles on the display are not too good. The in built memory is another good thing about this tablet as you get 5 Gb approx free storage so that you can install more games and apps on without SD card required. But when the free storage is exhausted you wont be able to install apps on SD card but you can move apps from device internal memory to SD Card. The battery backup is around 3-4 hours with moderate usage.

• Battery: 3700 mAh battery Lithium Ion • Connectivity: Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, aGPS, 3.5mm audio jack, HDMI

Software, Benchmarks and Gaming The software UI is mostly stock android with no customizations, the benchmarks scores are mentioned below and device is capable of playing most of the graphic intensive and casual games. Camera Performance Both 2 MP rear camera and 1.3 MP Front camera is average in terms of performance, you can check out the camera samples below. Sound, Video and Navigation The sound quality from the loudspeaker is good and loud enough but slightly has more noise than bass. It can also play HD videos at both 720p and 1080p but the videos will not get played in full screen because of the touch capacitive navigation buttons which take away some part of the screen. It can also be used for Navigation with the help of assisted GPS. Conclusion and Price Lava Xtron Plus tablet is a great tablet offered at a basic price point at Rs. 6999 INR, it does come up with the right hardware which suits the gaming needs of the most of the casual gamers out there and on the top it can run some graphic intensive games as well.

� Sleek Interface

� Low on design

� Low cost

� Size

Mobility April 2014

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Product Feature

HP Slate 7 Voicetab - The Impressive Tab

Voicetab as this one has already been issues should be resolved before it and one full-size. These SIM slots let the HP Slate 7 Voicetab act like a big confirmed for the Indian market. hits shelves. HP Slate 7 Voicetab – Design and The HP Slate 7 Voicetab is light phone. You’ll look stupid holding it Features and reasonably compact for a 7-inch up to your face to take a call but HP thinks it’s a worthwhile feature, and From a glance the HP Slate 7 tablet. It doesn’t have as much blank suggests those put off by the size can Voicetab looks metallic. It is actually space above and below the screen as use a Bluetooth headset. I’m not keen plastic, but feels robust. There are the Nexus 7, even though it has stereo on the idea of using a 7-inch tablet some small areas where the joins front-facing speakers. to make calls, but the second SIM Aside from a 1-inch screen size aren’t quite as tight as they could be, The tablet has a removable provides a truly useful feature - free difference they are almost identical, but I’ve seen much worse from pre- backplate, which hides a microSD 3G data. but I’ll be focusing on the Slate 7 production models and these small slot and dual SIM slots – one micro Unlike the iPad mini Retina or Nexus 7 you don’t have to pay extra for 3G capability. The baseline model includes the SIM slots and you even get free mobile data allowance. P’s primary business is in desktop PCs and laptops. But it makes tablets too, and in a market that’s becoming ever more congested HP has launched the HP Slate 7 Voicetab and Slate 6 Voicetab. They are fairly low cost phone-tablet hybrids.

A 1.2GHz quadcore processor with 1GB RAM (of as yet unknown origin) powers the Slate 7 Voicetab and it seems fast enough to run Android 4.2 Jelly Bean smoothly. Apps open quickly and there was no obvious lag when scrolling through homepages or menus. H P ’s l a t e s t phone-tablet seems carefully considered and sensible. Its stand-out feature is a free data service rather than flashy hardware. This is a solid product at a competitive price, and a ver y costeffect ive way of getting an always connected Android tablet with some data allowance. � Super Design � Affordable Cost www.mobilityindia.com

� Processing power

Mobility April 2014

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Mobility April 2014

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Date of Pub: 18 March 2014 | Postal Dt.: 27th & 28th of same Month/ Posted at NDPSO

R.N.I. No. DELENG/2004/14198 Postal Reg. No.: DL(S)-01/3442/2013-15

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