Asia Bizz

Asia Bizz: Mobile phone manufacturing giant Nokia, which was earlier the world’s largest seller of mobile phones in volumes, has become the leader in Dual-SIM mibile handsets in India. The Finish mobile company presently competes with another leading mobile phone manufacturer -Samsung.

While announcing the Nokia Q3 results, Stephen Elop from Nokia said that Nokia shipped aproximately 18 million dual SIM devices globally and in the market like India where the dual SIM market is pervasive, they gained market. Tarun Pathak, a telecom sector analyst, said that a new trend that has become visible is the launch of dual SIM smartphones by the vendors.

A media research study stated that multi-SIM shipments accounted for 54 percent of the total handsets market during November 2011 in the country. At present, Nokia is leading in the race with 19 percent share in the market which is followed by Micromax with 7.1 percent and Karbonn with 6.9 percent.

Nokia entered the dual SIM market in India in the year 2010. For this reason,  the company took corrective steps to join the segment in the country by launching its C1-00 and C2-00. Nokia also picked up in the market by introducing more handsets with advanced technologies and better performances for the convenience of the users.

Asia Bizz: American global technology company in NVIDIA has recently announced the launch of an online platform dedicated to the GPU computing as well as high Performance computing users in the Indian market. GPU users will be brought together by the informal special interest group.

GPU users will come from all fields and experience levels in the country including researchers, academicians, scientists, system integrators, device manufacturers, service providers and all of the earlier adopters of GPU and HPC computing.

The NVIDIA supported group will have a core group of key academicians to moderate as well as lead discussions. The site will have a bank of case studies, research papers and also posts on the latest technological developments at NVIDIA and also in the global industry.

The new platform by NVIDIA will also encourage the users to engage in web conferences and group chats to interact with each other. The company will also periodically host live talk shows with the experts from the industry to throw light on the latest updates in the industry.

Vishal Dhupar, the managing director of South Asia NVIDIA said that everyone from the gaming enthusiasts working professionals and college students can apply the GPU to enable better graphics as well as faster computing.

Asia Bizz: Indian auto giant Maruti Suzuki has  rolled out the new version of its ‘A-Star’ in the Indian market on January 25, 2012. The retail sales of the new variant have begun from January 27, 2012.

The new upgraded version of the ‘A-Star’ has been priced between Rs. 3.67 and Rs. 4.47. According to the current price list on the company’s website, the new variant will be costlier on an average by about Rs. 1000.

Shashank Srivastava, the chief general manager of marketing at Maruti Suzuki India, said that the smart modifications have been made in line with the customer feedback with the help of which the overall look and feel has been changed for the comfort of the buyers.

The company has brought new interiors and have added new colours to the offering. Moreover, Maruti Suzuki has also introduced a new top end ZXi variant to the model. The new ‘A-Star’ is the fifth global model for the parent company Suzuki but has been manufactured at the Manesar plant in India.

Till now Maruti Suzuki India has sold more than 3.80 lakh units of the ‘A-Star’. The car has also been supplied to the global markets like Australia, Europe and South Africa.

Asia Bizz: In some bad news for the officers in the Indian army, reports state that they have been directed to quit all the social networking sites. Orders have been issued to all its men who have joined the social networking sites like Facebook or Orkut following a recent confidential information leak online.

Officers who have not joined the sites have been asked not to join any social network or make themselves available on such social networks while in the army. The Indian army has been monitoring its officers to  see if they have been posting any pictures of the army in their units in uniform or with their weapons.

The officers have now been directed not to join the sites as there was a fear that vital information could be leaked out to unwanted sources. If any officer is noticed violating the rules then strict action could be taken against the offenders.

Facebook has been facing legal action by the Indian government for the permitting the posting of obscene content on its network. The social networking site is among 12 other websites that have also been sued by the Indian government. The teams of these websites have argued that there cannot be any way to censor the content as there are millions of users across the globe. The action came after the government warned the websites to block objectionable content a few months back.

Asia Bizz: Search engine giant Google – which is one of the biggest web portals in the world and has been sued by the Indian government – said on January 26, 2012 that it cannot censor or monitor everything that is on its websites. The internet giant has been sued for posting objectionable and obscene content.

Google and Facebook are among 21 companies which have been summoned to appear in person in one of the lower courts of Delhi on March 13, 2012. Nikesh Arora, the Chief business officer of Google, said that he is hoping there would be a balanced debate over the issue and eventually the right thing is going to happen.

The companies, in response, have challenged the summons in the High Court and the hearing of which is due on February 2, 2012. Arora added that they cannot censor the web and cannot even censor the ability of people to express themselves around the world.

The Chief business officer also argued that the Indian government is not only asking to censor to censor the web in India, but is also asking to censor the entire world wide web, which does not have any borders. In the last hearing, the companies said that there wasn’t any method to screen the content before it was posted online.

Asia Bizz: Last year, Indian auto giant Bajaj Auto launched its Boxer 100cc in a new 150cc avatar in the Indian market. But despite offering its customers an attractive price for a more powerful vehicle, the sales of the two wheeler failed to take off and is far away from the best selling bike.

Bajaj launched the bike with an aim to target the rural population who needed more power at a reasonable cost. At present, the company is selling 2500 to 3000 bikes in the Indian market.

In order to boost the sales of the bike, the company has launched a marketing campaign in about 16,000 villages. During the campaign demo, vans are sent to the remotest villages with bikes to be test driven by prospective buyers.

On contacting an official at Bajaj Auto, the company said that they have created a new category known as ‘Power Commuter’ through the new 150cc bike and it could take some time to establish the new model. On the other hand, analysts have opined that the sales of the bike are way lower than expected which can force the company to reposition the bike. This can be a disappointment for the company as the rural customers are the major target group for Bajaj Auto.

Asia Bizz: Indian two wheeler giant TVS, has recently launched an upgraded version of its popular Star City model in the Indian market. The brand was launched in the year 2004 and has since served the company well with a cumulative sales of more than 30 lakh units in April last year.

TVS has introduced the 2012 model of the brand to the masses at a price which is close to that of the existing TVS Sport model. The sports model was launched last year in the month of March and had an Indian cricketer  asthe brand ambassador.

The new 2012 Star City will be available with more exciting features like the dual tone body colors, new stylish head lamps and clear indicators. On the other hand, the existing features include backlit speedometer, black alloy wheels and the very handy econometer also known as the mileage calculator will continue to be a part of the new 2012 Star City.

HS Goindi, the president of marketing of TVS Motors said that the new motorcycle is a winning combination of the executive class features as well as vibrant styling. Goindi added that the high fuel efficiency and toughness will make the new TVS bike more popular. The new Star City will be available in six color combinations.

Asia Bizz: After a long wait, South Korean based company LG Electronics has rolled out the Gingerbread 2.3.4 update for its Optimus Black handsets in India. Despite the late release, the new update for the Android phones promises exciting new features for the smartphone.

LG has been known for its delayed rollout for software updates for its Android based handsets. The company announced the launch of the Gingerbread update back in the month of November 2011.

Certain reports surfaced that the users of the LG Optimus Black were getting a slightly outdated Gingerbread 2.3.4 update, but many of other device manufacturers have already shifted to the Gingerbread 2.3.7.

The update for the Gingerbread will begin from Europe and later it will also be rolled out in India. The update is expected to bring a host of new features like improved power management, enhanced gaming experience, support for new media formats and a more intuitive UI for faster access and control. With the new update, the LG Optimus Black will have active app management, icons, app groups, shortcuts, widgets, updated calendar options, better email syncing and better camera focus. The new update is good, but while the world is waiting for the new Google Android Ice Cream Sandwich update, the outdated Gingerbread does not attract much attention.

Asia Bizz: Since the launch of the world’s cheapest car Tata Nano, the Indian company has now come up with the latest version – the new 2012 version of Nano; though it looks identical to the older one, there are a few changes in the model and it seems to be receiving mixed reviews.

Tata zMotors has increased the power a bit to 38PS from the original 35PS. Due to this change, it has come in to direct competition with the Maruti Suzuki 800. While driving in the city, the small car does not feel short in power and even on the highway, the Nano shoots to a 100 with ease and without any hassles.

Tata claims that the new Nano will be the best in class aircon. Recently the car was tested on the roads of Mumbai and during the testing, there was a time with the aircon had to be actually switched off.

The LX version of the car comes with power windows in the front, air-conditioning and central locking. All the features are quite convenient and are found in most of the hatchbacks in the Indian market. The Nano has a good rear accommodation and for the driver, the experience can be described as cheap and cheerful. But there are still complaints with the steering wheel which many said was heavy to handle. The problem existed with the original Nano too.

Asia Bizz: Indian auto giant Mahindra has started accepting the bookings for its popular XUV500 from its SUV segment in the Indian market. The bookings of the SUV were stalled in the month of October 2011 as the company received more than 8000 bookings in just ten days.

The bookings will start from January 25, 2012 to February 3, 2012 and depending on the number of bookings, the Indian company will decide the further course of action. The production of the new XUV 500 has been put on hold for a while as the company is busy clearing up the pending orders.

Mahindra previously announced a price hike by up to Rs. 55,000 for the new SUV, which was effective from January 1, 2012. At the time of the launch, the company offered introductory prices and it also hinted that the prices can be revised later with the demand.

The price of the base model of the XUV 500 has been increased by Rs.30,000 while the W8 model costs Rs. 50,000 more. The top end model of the SUV cost Rs. 55,000 more compared to the earlier prices. At the time of bookings, the customers have to pay Rs. 80,000 in the current phase. The bookings have been opened in the cities including, Hyderabad, Chennai, Kolkata, Nagpur, Nashik and Mumbai.