Cell Phones Guide

  The device can be used for banking, E-PDS, MNREGA payments, E-governance services such as passport, taxation, healthcare and education. US-based handset maker InFocus will soon launch a new smartphone in India that will support Aadhaar authentication using the iris scanner on the device.  Priced at under Rs. 12,000, the device will be made available early next year. InFocus also says it has been awarded STQC (Standardization Testing and Quality Certification) from the Indian government and the company plans to launch more devices supporting Aadhaar-based biometric authentication in the future. "InFocus smartphone features IriTech's superior iris image quality assessment and on-board K7 generation algorithm to provide good quality images and avoid false positives while maximising true positive identification rates," InFocus India Country Head Sachin Thapar told PTI. Apart from UIDAI, IriTech also works with government agencies in the US,...

Following Reliance Jio’s extension of free services till March, telecom operator Vodafone has started offering double 4G data usage under existing schemes priced above Rs 255, thereby reducing prices by 50 per cent. “All Vodafone 4G pre-paid customers can now avail ‘Double Data’ benefits on existing market packs and will enable Vodafone customers to enjoy an enhanced mobile internet experience. This offer is applicable on all 4G market packs starting from Rs 255,” Vodafone said in a statement. Under this offer Vodafone customers will get 2 GB of 4G data usage for Rs 255 instead of 1GB offered earlier. Similarly, Rs 459 plan will offer 6 GB of 4G data, Rs 559 plan 8GB, Rs 999 plan 20 GB and Rs 1999 plan 40 GB. All plans will be valid for 28 days. “We are confident that this value offering will further enhance mobile internet experience for our customers and will enable them to experience the world of Vodafone SuperNet4...

Following on the lines of Reliance Jio, Airtel on Thursday launched two subsidised pre-paid data packs with lucrative deals in India. The new packs include data benefits along with free voice calling. Airtel’s Rs 145 pack offers 300 MB 4G data along with free unlimited Airtel-to-Airtel local/STD calls, its Rs 345 pack offers unlimited free local/STD calls to any network in India and 1GB of 4G data. Both packs have a validity of 28 days and are available for customers across the country. The two Airtel unlimited voice calling packs may vary in different circle as the company has added that customers in Kerala will avail the data benefits on 2G/4G networks. Ajai Puri, Director – Market Operations (India & South Asia), Bharti Airtel said about the two unlimited voice calling packs, “This is another initiative from us to bring innovative bundle offers to our customers in line with our endeavour to provide the great value backed by a superior network experience.” ...

Digital payments platform Paytm today announced a toll-free number to enable consumers and merchants without an internet connection to pay and receive money instantly and also recharge their mobile phones. Customers and merchants will need to register with Paytm their mobile number and set a four digit paytm PIN, the company said in a statement here. "They (users) can then enter the recipient's mobile number, amount and their Paytm PIN to successfully transfer the money from their Paytm wallet to another Paytm wallet," it said. "We are committed to enabling more and more Indians to transact digitally. The launch of our new toll free payment number (180018001234), is another significant step in that direction. This will allow even non smartphone users across India to go cashless," Nitin Misra, senior vice president, Paytm said. Currently, over a million offline merchants across India accept Paytm as their preferred payment mode, the company claime...

In an interview, Microsoft CEO stated that the company hasn't given up on the smartphone plans. Despite trying again and again, Microsoft just can’t seem to catch a break in the mobile world. But the company isn’t done trying yet — according to CEO Satya Nadella, the next Microsoft phone could be one of the best smartphones we’ve ever seen. In an interview with the Australian Financial Review, Nadella said that Microsoft would “continue to be in the phone market” and that it would pave its own path to create the “ultimate mobile device.” In other words, Microsoft doesn’t even want to create the best phone by today’s standards — it wants to build a device that could herald a new generation of smartphones. Of course, just because Microsoft  wants to have such an impact on the smartphone industry, that doesn’t mean that it will — as we’ve seen time and time again, Microsoft’s mobile attempts have generally always missed the mark in some way. Still, even thoug...