Monthly Archives: November 2009

Non-IMEI Mobiles will be blocked from Tonight

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Are you using a Genuine and IMEI compliant Mobile Handset ? If no then you are in trouble as Mobile service providers across India is going to bar outgoing calls from mobile handsets with no or fake IMEI numbers from today night (30 Nov 2009) as per the Department of Telecom directive.

What is IMEI Number ?

An IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identity) number is a unique 15 digit number embedded with every genuine GSM (Global System for Mobile communications) mobile handset.

Global Systems for Mobile Communications Association (GSMA) maintains a global database of all genuine IMEI numbers and all mobile operators in the world share that data.

How to find IMEI Number ?

It is easy to find your IMEI number as normally it can be found near to the battery slot inside your phone. Or type *#06# to display the number on the screen.

IMEI number is a unique identifying number for your phone so it will not change even if you change the SIM card or change the service provider.

How do i verify my IMEI Number ?

Send an SMS to 53232 in this format IMEI <15 digit IMEI  Number> (Rs 3 per SMS)

As per latest estimates around 2.5 crore mobile phones in India are without an IMEI number or contain a fake IMEI number. Most of the handsets reached in Indian grey market from China and South Korea are without a proper IMEI number.

What to do if my IMEI number is not Genuine ?

Mobile Standards Alliance of India (MSAI) is the authorized body in India by GSM Association (GSMA) to perform Genuine IMEI Implant program (GII).

MSAI has opened many authorized GII centres, from where you can get a genuine IMEI number implanted.

Walk in to any one of the GII center with an ID proof to get a new IMEI number for your handset for a nominal charge if Rs 199.

For more info about the GII visit this page MSAI GII Program Page

Handsets without a IMEI number is a great threat to national security. IMEI number also can help in tracking or blocking your mobile phone if it is lost.

It is better to have a genuine mobile handset. So if you handset is not IMEI compliant then approach a genuine implant center and get it certified at the earliest otherwise your mobile operator will ban outgoing calls from your mobile from today night.

Apple iPhone 3GS in India – New Features, Camera Comparison

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iPhone 3GS is the latest Internet and Multimedia enabled Smartphone from Apple Inc. 3GS is a modified version of the successful Apple iPhone 3G.

It was officially released in US and Europe on June 19, 2009. (Rumors are spreading now that Apple is working on Apple 4G).

apple4 Major Changes in iPhone 3GS

3M Camera with Video : The main difference in 3GS is the camera. Compared to the 2 Megapixel camera in 3G version now apple bundled a 3 Megapixel camera in 3GS with Autofocus,macro mode and auto white balance with VGA Video Recording @ 30fps and on-device video editing facility.

Voice Control : Voice Control recognizes the names in your Contacts and knows the music on your iPod.

Improved GPS : In addition to the A-GPS support in 3G, Iphone 3GS comes with Digital Compass and Google Maps which helps to find out the location and direction easily when you are on the move. 

3G Upgrade : Compared to HSDPA @ 3.6 Mbps in 3G now iPhone 3GS equipped with HSDPA @ 7.2Mbps even though we cannot expect this much speed in India soon.

apple3 Internal Memory : Apple iPhone 3GS comes with 16GB internal memory compared to 8GB in 3G.

Since iPhone 3GS contains a faster processer compared to its predecessor, Apple claims that the 3GS works 2X times fasters compared to 3G.

Price : in US iPhone 3GS 16GB is priced at $199 and 3GS 32GB at $299 (with a two-year contract).

Iphone 3GS Price in India : Now iPhone 3GS is available in many retail stores in India and the latest pricing as on Nov 09 is – Rs 42,000 for Iphone 3GS – 16 GB and  Rs 48,000 for Iphone 3GS – 32 GB.

Another great feature of Apple phone is App Store, which now contains around 1,00,000 Apps exclusively designed for iPhones.

In India Apple official partners for selling iPhones are Bharti Airtel and Vodaphone.

Definitely iPhone is a great device if you love gadgets but still it lacks many features compared to other top mobile phones available in the market like a low megapixel camera and  low resolution video recording.

top-flickr-camera-phones For eg Sony Ericsson Idou comes with 12.1-megapixel camera with Xenon flash, Samsung i8510 Innov8 (8MP),Samsung i8910 Omnia HD (8MP Stills, HD Video at 720×480), LG KM900 Arena (5MP still camera and 720×480 video) and Nokia N97 (5MP).

But photos taken with iPhones are in top position in photo sharing sites like flickr, may be because of the convenience and popularity of iPhone.

Anyway mobile phones produce lowest quality photos compared to point and shoot cameras and DSLR cameras and megapixel is not the correct parameter to judge camera performance.

Microsoft Office 2010 Beta

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Microsoft Office 2010, the latest productivity suite from Microsoft Office family is about to hit stores by middle of 2010.

office-2010-apps Last week Microsoft made Microsoft Office 2010 beta public.

MS Office 2010 is going to be the first app in Office family which comes in both 32 bit and 64 bit. 64 bit version will be available for Windows Vista and Windows 7.

For the first time Microsoft Office is going to contain an online versions of popular office apps Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote to compete with growing threat from other popular web apps like Google Apps.

Microsoft Office 2010 will be available in 5 packages

  • Office Web Apps
  • Office Mobile
  • Office Home and Business 2010
  • Office Professional 2010
  • Office Professional Plus 2010

 

Microsoft Office Web Apps : Store your Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote files online and then access, view, edit, and share content through the web.

Microsoft Office Mobile 2010 : Enhanced mobile versions of Office 2010 applications, specifically suited to your Windows Mobile-based smartphone.

Download Microsoft Office 2010 Beta

Reliance 1 paisa per SMS offer

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On November 27th Reliance Communications, led by Anil Ambani announced 3 new hot SMS packages.

These new plans are  going to start another tariff war in the text message segment like Tata Docomo’s Pay per second scheme and 1paisa per second schemes started a tariff war in the mobile voice segment which forced  even major players to cut the tariff  drastically and move to pay per second schemes.

Rcom’s new SMS tariff plans are add-on plans comes as an add-on pack and applicable in both segment (CDMA and GSM) and available to both prepaid and postpaid customers.

Scheme 1 : Recharge with Rs 11 every month and send SMS at 1 paisa

Scheme 2 :Recharge with Rs 25 every month and avail 500 free SMS/day

Scheme 3 : One time recharge of Rs 14 and rental of Re 1 everyday to avail 500 free SMS/day

This is definitely going to create some ripples in the text segment as rates are too high (for some providers it is Re 1 or more per SMS)  when the actual cost to the operator  is a fraction of a paisa for sending an SMS.

On November 20th, Bharti Airtel Ltd slashed its roaming charges by around 60% for both incoming and outgoing.

As more and more players enter Indian telecom market customers are benefited as these companies come up with unprecedented offers to attract new customers as well as to keep existing customers.

Protect Stored Passwords with Master Password in Firefox

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Firefox, Internet Explorer and Google Chrome ask you to remember passwords when you enter a form on a web page.

It is not advised to save password in the browser especially for highly sensitive data like bank account login password and email passwords especially if you are using a shared computer or browsing center.

In Internet Explorer it is easy to recover password with third party utilities like IE PassView. So it is better to ‘uncheck’ the remember password option in Internet Explorer.

master-password-firefoxIn Firefox you can protect all stored passwords with a Master Password.

Click on Tools->Options and tick the “Use Master Password” checkbox under the Security Tab and specify a Master Password.

So Firefox will ask for Master Password each time when it has to apply a saved password in a form and also asks the master password when somebody try to open the password manager.

But this also not fully foolproof as your password is stored in a file. Even though it is encrypted chances are there that with the help of some malware programs malicious codes a hacker may break that file. Or if somebody gets your master password then you will loose all your passwords.

If you forget your master password in firefox then you can reset it with this

chrome://pippki/content/resetpassword.xul

Just type this in your firefox address bar to reset the Master Password. But remember if you reset the master password then firefox will remove all stored password, forms data, personal certificates, private keys etc associated with that master password.

3G in India and BSNL Promotional 3G Offers and Tariff

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What is 3G ?

3G  refers to the third generation of mobile communication technology. 3G offers high speed data transfer rates, video calls, mobile tv, video conferencing, video on demand with improved security.

The major 3G technologies are EV-DO for CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) networks and HSDPA for GSM (Global System for Mobile communication) networks.

3G in India

In India State Player Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited launched 3G in some parts of the country recently. Government of India is yet to finalize the 3G Spectrum Allocation. Private Telecom Players can enter the market only after that process.

BSNL 3G Promotional Offers

BSNL’s 3G SIM (called USIM or Universal Subscriber Identification Module) comes with a price tag of Rs 120 with a validity of 180 days and free usage of Rs 20.

As per the latest data available from BSNL (as on 28th Nov 09) it is available in two plans – 3G general plan and promotional plan.

In General Plan Local on-net calls are priced at 50 paisa per minute and local off net calls at 70 paisa per minute. In promotional plan it is 30 paisa and 60 paisa respectively.

In promotional plan all local video calls at 30 paisa and all std video calls at 50 paisa per minute.

The most important thing is data charges are priced at 1 paisa per 10kb. ie Re 1 per MB. or Rs 1000 for 1GB. This is in very cheap compared to the current GPRS plans which charges 1 Paisa for 1KB.

Recharge Vouchers

Recharge vouchers are similar to normal prepaid connections – Rs 110 recharge voucher will get a usage value of Rs75.

Promotional Offers

Also BSNL offers some time limited promotional offers to attract more 3G customers like

50 Minutes free local video call will be allowed to all new 3G prepaid and postpaid connections activated upto 31.12.2009.

Customers purchasing 3G Data card from BSNL and activating the same will get free data usage of 6 GB per month as 1GB day/any time and 5GB night usage for two months, as a promotional measure for 90 days w.e.f. 15.08.2009.

Summary

After 3G Spectrum Allocation more players will enter the market and which may lead to further tariff reduction as the entry of  Tata Docomo recently triggered a tariff war in the Mobile Phone voice Tariff which implemented Pay Per Second scheme and reduced call rates.