MTV, Swipe launch VOLT, a 6 inch Phablet for Rs. 13k

Looks like no one can stay away from entering the Smartphone / Tablet space. Now, MTV has gone ahead and announced launch of “Swipe MTV VOLT” a 6 inch Phablet (Phone+tablet). The Phablet has been bought into the market by Swipe in Partnership with MTV.

Although it has not been clearly mentioned, it looks like Swipe will be handling manufacturing / procurement and inventory of this phablet, while MTV has lend its brand name, making it quite appealing to younger generation.

MTV, the youth brand of Viacom18, will undoubtedly bring more weightage to this phablet. Even according to Swipe Telecom, MTV VOLT is a ‘made to order’ product for the generation that’s constantly communicating, entertaining and socializing.

The unique feature of this phablet is an exclusive in-built TV player that will offer Volt tablet owners on the go access to MTV content. It is not clear how this MTV content will be offered, but if it is through 3G data access, it may not be appealing given the data transfer costs that users will incur.

MTV VOLT Specifications

MTV VOLT is light weighing only 239 grams – Most of 7 inch tablets are 300 grams and upwards. It comes with 1 GHz Dual Core processor (MTK 6577) and has a HD Capacitive 5 point Multi-Touch Display. Although the display is good, the resolution of this phablet is a modest 854 X 480.

As is the norm now for such tablets-phablets-smartphones, it comes with Dual-Sim and has a 4 GB internal memory expandable upto 32 GB using SD card. However, the most disappointing aspect of MTV VOLT is its RAM. At 512 mb, it will not be sufficient for resource hungry applications/games needed by today’s younger generation.

Running on Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, this phablet has a 8.1 MP rear camera with flash, a 1.3 MP front camera, FM with recording, G-Sensor and a decent 3200 mAh battery that should last a complete day at low to moderate usage. [See full specs here]

At Rs. 12,999/-, MTV VOLT should appeal to a section of young consumers who want to own a decent brand, but at the same time do not want to spend too much!

Software Suites need to go A-La-Carte…

There must be millions of softwares in the world. Some of these softwares are free or open source, on the other hand, some cost more than the computer they are supposed to run on. Some of them are made by individual programmers while others are made by large corporations and are more like commodities.

In these commodities, there are software systems that are called suites or Software Suites. These are a group of softwares that are in a similar field or serve similar purposes and are therefore companies tag them together for the people to buy them together.

The two best examples for this kind of suite are – Microsoft Office and Adobe Creative Suite.

The first one is an Office application with softwares that range from Word (for writing) to Powerpoint (Presentations) and from Excel (data crunching) to OneNote (notes). Adobe creative suite consists of softwares like Photoshop (Image manipulation), Flash Builder (Flash), Illustrator (Vector Graphics) and many more. Basically, there are softwares for all the creative pursuits, be it web designing, pictures or videos.

There are many other suites as well- LibreOffice, Seamonkey, Corel Graphic suite, Microsoft Visual Studio etc.

All these have a few things in common-

• There are versions from light to heavy with heaviest containing all the softwares.
• Most of them are bloated, especially the heaviest (or pro) one.
• Those which cost really have steep prices.

With the coming of cloud, the numbers of services that can be offered have increased and so has the option of downloading the software online. Microsoft even has started its own Office 365 which it is promoting even more than its original Office suite. Add to that the fact that the last iteration of both Windows and Mac OS were downloadable and relatively quite cheap and we know that the physical distribution is soon going to become obsolete.

Why I am bringing this is because there was another flaw of physical distribution system. The different kind of softwares that can be added in the suite (the less costly or the lighter versions) was to be decided by the software developing company. They could not give the option of choosing to the user without giving away the whole suite in the CD or DVD and locking the rest of the softwares (this was also done sometimes).

With the internet distribution channel, this is not a necessity anymore. Thus, I think there should not be package systems like they currently are.

All the softwares can be given an individual price and buying more than one can get the customer appropriate discounts. This way, if a person wants a particular combo he can get that without having to buy extra software. Think of it like TV paid channels, you can either buy a single channel or have a pre-fabricated combos or create your own combo.

After all let me ask you- “How many softwares from a software suite does a person actually use?”No one uses all of them.

More importantly, people barely use half of them. For example, I need only the student edition plus Outlook. There might be a person who uses InfoPath, Publisher and Powerpoint only. Yet again, there might be someone who uses some other combo.

Same can be said about any other suite as well. Not everybody manipulate photoshop and design web. Some might just like to create videos. Yet again, there might be someone who uses a completely different combination.

The two advantages of this to the customer are-

1. Prices go down. You pay for what you use.
2. Bloat reduces. System resources are less used as not the whole suite is installed.

For the company also, there are advantages. They can know which software is used less thus can be given less focus. The bandwidth will reduce that is used for downloading.

It might seem that the profits will reduce for the company as people will not buy the complete (and costliest) version. That is true. But the company can still price the individual softwares in a way that this impact is minimal. Also, once the company knows where to give maximum focus the resources used will reduce as well.

I think this is a win-win situation for both the parties. With internet distribution increases, this type of choice should become a norm among the companies.

HP Hotspot Printer Giveaway!

Trak.in readers now have a great opportunity to get HP Hotspot printer that we reviewed a few days back. You will have to simply tell us how HP Hotspot can be an asset to your office and you might just own one!

Over the next 4 weeks, selected 5 best entries will get a HP Hotspot printer each.

Participants need to:

Tell us how efficiently you can use HP Hotspot in your office and how it may help increase your productivity.

With HP Hotspot printer, apart from regular laser printing, copying, scanning and faxing, you can actually setup your entire small office network wirelessly within minutes. It can replace all your networking devices for upto 8 users, making it ideal for small offices, home offices and startups.

3 features that stand out for this printer are ePrint, Airprint and Hotspot/Direct print. These 3 features make it possible for the user to print not only from within their office wirelessly, but from any where in the world. It is as simple as sending an email to the printer (yes, each printer has its own unique email ID).

To know about more the product please read the detailed review here.

HP Hotspot Printer Giveaway

To participate, please follow these simple steps:

1) Read the review to know more about the HP Hotspot printer.

2) Leave a comment with your name (and Business / startup name), email ID and your feedback on the printer. (The comment has to be left on the this page itself)

3) The feedback comment should talk about how HP Hotspot printer can benefit your business.

See screenshot below

Please be as detailed as possible and all fields have to be filled in properly. Your comment has to be honest and truthful. If you do not like something about the printer or you want to see some more features on this printer, just let us know.

HP Hotspot Printer Giveaway Rules

1. The giveaway will be offered to the best feedback / comment received.
2. Incase of more than one “best” comments, we will do a lucky draw to find a single entry every week.
3. Best selected entry will be announced every Monday.
4. Trak.in has the sole discretion for choosing / rejecting the entries (Be rest assured we will be as fair as possible).
5. We will get in touch with shortlisted entries on email / phone to check the authenticity.

The Giveaway will run for a period of 4 weeks till 11^th March 2013.

During the first 3 weeks we will announce one best entry each. On 11th March, we will announce the final 2 best entries of the Hotspot.

Android Fragmentation – The real issue is security!

We have all heard about Android Fragmentation. This is neither a myth nor as big a deal as made out. Basically, because of its open nature, the handset makers are free to upgrade the OS on the phones as per their convenience. [Current Android distribution percentages]

In contrast to that, as soon as a new version of iOS comes in the market, every iPhone in the market gets updated to it. Mind you, these iPhones (be it 4, 4S or 5) are the ones that Apple is currently selling. The support extends only so far.

All iOS updates are not the same as well. For example, iPhone 4 did not get Siri though it was updated to iOS 5. This might at first look feel like the update itself is useless if it does not give you the best thing about the OS. In many ways, it can itself be considered a fragmentation of the OS itself. Only the naming convention is kept but each phone is getting a different OS.

In this way, fragmentation is present in Apple too. There are two major differences though-

1. All the supported phones (by Apple) do get the latest iOS.
2. The time lapse between the release of OS and its update on the phone is less.

How does this change situation you might ask. Well, for first, an OS is not just the a few cool features that weren’t present earlier. In fact, most of the time, it is under the hood features that are more important.

For example, Windows Vista was worse than WinXP in a lot of ways. It was slower and what not. Despite this, it was definitely more secure than WinXP (which in turn was better than Win95 or 98). This is true for Mobile OS as well.

Now, a phone might not be able to run 60 fps that are up for offer in Jelly Beans but if the phone is in the market and is supposedly still supported, then it should at least get all the security features of the latest OS. Once, a new OS is launched, even with best efforts only patches can be delivered for the old OS.

In the (Android) mobile world, this issue is twice as bad. As the version 4.2 is in the market, it is quite difficult to maintain a 2.3 (Gingerbread). Ironically, it is the current most used OS. Worse, some cheap phones that are even launched recently have this on their phones. Security is a major issue in such cases.

With mobiles becoming the go to device for everything, they practically hold all the information about a person. In many ways, a mobile is a more powerful device to get hold of than a man’s computer. In such a situation, it is very important to have the phone updated to every security measure possible and not just a few patches here or there.

Also, the phones that can be upgraded should get the update as fast as possible. Preferably, Google should work with the OEMs so that the testing occurs before the OS is launched. At least the flagships deserve a better response time. The launch of Android 5.0 is around the corner and many phones are still not on 4.1 let alone 4.2.

Cool features aside, the true reason for quick update to latest OS should be security. UI is important but with the amount of sensitive information a phone holds, mobiles should get the best possible security, be it any OS version.

Indian Government’s IT Spending pegged at Rs. 36,800 Cr in 2013 [Report]

Indian Government’s IT spending is estimated to be Rs. 36,800 crore in 2013 according to a forecast by research and advisory firm Gartner. Telecommunications will be the largest expenditure category while software will see highest growth in government spending.

Government of India’s UID program is seen as a key driver of increase in expenditure. Direct cash transfersand a revamped welfare system are some of the ambitious goals of the UID program.

The UIDAI portal reveals that nearly 27.5 crore or 275 million AADHAARs have been issued across India. After achieving 200 million enrolments in February last year, the government reportedly allowed authorities to approve the enrolment of a further 400 million.

Implementing and issuing AADHAAR numbers across a user base of 600 million Indians will presumably drain a significant sum out of the government coffers. Ram Sewak Sharma, Director General, UIDAI, said last year that the total cost of the project may be Rs. 18,000 crore.

“India goes to the national polls in 2014, and the GoI will aim to expand the UID operational infrastructure by speed tracking ‘financial inclusion’, allowing easy access to banking for poor & encouraging micro ATMs” said Anurag Gupta, Research Director, Gartner.

The Rs. 20,000 crore National Fibre Optic Network (NFON), electronic chip making and digitization of databases are also seen by Gartner as factors which will drive government spending and benefit the Indian IT sector.

In October last year, the Union Cabinet approved the National Electronics Policy which envisaged the incubation of a $400 billion Electronic System Design and Manufacturing (ESDM) sector in India by 2020. Large scale indigenous chip making facilities was one of focus points of the policy.

Apart from the highlighted government initiatives in the Gartner report, there are other programs that are set to increase penetration of IT in everyday governance. “In the second generation revolution what we are doing is transforming governance, education, health and many other things with the use of internet and web” said Sam Pitroda, adviser to the PM in September 2013. The ‘second generation revolution’ will reportedly see the government spending over Rs. 1 lakh crore.

Gartner expects government spending on desktop and infrastructure software to drive a strong rate of growth in expenditure in the software category. Telecommunications, the largest driver of the 10.5% forecast increase in IT expenditure will include government spending on telecom/networking equipment and related services.

Information and technology is seen by commentators as a vital anchor point for India’s growth story. Commentators are hoping that expectations of increased expenditure in IT will eventually be backed by efficient implementation for delivery of better governance to the common man.

HP Hotspot Printer: Setup a fully Wireless Office in Minutes!

Recently, I installed a HP wireless All-in-One printer at my Home Office primarily for my wireless printing and scanning needs. However, having used it for over a week now, I can say that this newly launched HP Hotspot Laserjet pro M1218nfs MFP turned out to be much more than what I had expected.

HP Hotspot is first printer in the world to have hotspot and networking features built into it, making it an ideal all-in-one router/printing/scanning/networking/copying/faxing device for any small office environment. Infact, I can go to an extent to say that this will probably be the only device that may be required by startups or Individuals who are newly setting up their office.

The most impressive feature for me has to be the HP ePrint service. The HP Hotspot Laserjet pro M1218nfs MFP printer is ePrint enabled, which means you can print to the printer from virtually anywhere in the world by simply sending an email. Lets look at these features in little more detail

Features of HP Hotspot Laserjet pro M1218nfs

The printer obviously has all the traditional features that a LaserJet printer should have, including 18 ppm printing, document copying, scanning and also Fax (I doubt anyone uses it now). But the 3 other features – Wireless Hotspot, Airprint and HP ePrint – are something that are really useful especially for startups.

Wireless Hotspot & Direct Print

As the name suggests, the printer acts as a hotspot. Just plug the internet cable (RJ 45) in the provided port and you are ready to go. At initial setup you will just need to go through a simple setup process and install the driver, and you are nearly done. HP Smart Install automatically installs printer within minutes, without the need for CD installation. The HP Hotspot printer allows upto 8 wireless user connection making it an ideal networking setup for a home or small office.

Any of the hotspot connected devices can also directly print to the printer without any hassle.

Airprint

Airprint is more useful to iPhone and iPad users – where the iOS based devices can directly print anything on from their devices directly to the printer (without installing any software). Airprint is basically a feature implemented by Apple on their recent iOS versions for printing requirements on wireless LAN. See the video below regarding more details on Airprint.

Hp ePrint

Like I mentioned before, this undoubtedly is my favourite feature and I am sure to use it quite frequently. ePrint allows anyone across the world to print to your printer just by sending an email.

Every ePrint enabled printer has a unique email address attached to it (which you can even customize after creating an account on ePrint website). A user who needs to print a document, image or anything else has to send it as an email attachment to that specific email address. Once the email is sent, generally within about 10 to 15 seconds the printer will out all the documents that have been sent to printer.

Imagine, how easy it will now be to get anything printed from anywhere. Know more about ePrint on their official page.

The goodies don’t stop there – and this is especially useful for people who are Google Docs users. The ePrint enabled printers can directly print from Google docs using the Google Cloud print platform.

Pricing

There is no doubt that HP Hotspot Laserjet pro M1218nfs is one of the most complete printers I have come across. It can probably print anything from any device from any place. However, in my view, even with all these features, a retail price tag of Rs. 18,306/-, is higher than what I would have liked.

Notwithstanding the slightly higher price, I would recommend this printer to all startups and small businesses who are looking at a building an efficient, smart and connected office!

With Quad-core mobiles under 15K, What will the Biggies do?

You must have read the recent announcement from Micromax. They will launch a quad-core phone this February in the price bracket of 15K. You can read more details on the Micromax A116 canvas mobile, we published earlier. I am not going to repeat the specs here. They are as good as any phone above 20K have in the market and the quad core. Well, this baby was till now available in the 30K range only.

With this phone Micromax is not only challenging the big guns, it is changing the whole smartphone picture. Recently, I wrote an article about what new things will come in the smart phone market. Till then, there was always an option that the quad-core phones will become cheaper. I expected this to happen soon, but in all honesty, not this quickly.

This means that other companies will have to bring down the cost of their smartphones or bring the quad core in the 20K range if they want to fight Micromax.

Now, being an Indian company, Micromax will not command the same kind of elite aura that is associated with Sony, Samsung or HTC. Heck! Sony is even thinking about leaving the whole cheap smartphone arena to focus on the high-end phones. Even with all this, we have seen Micromax’ Canvas series phones selling like hot-cakes because they are such value for money. Now, this phone beats even its old predecessors.

How is current Smartphone Market placed in India

Let us look at the current market for a second. Samsung has its best phones with Quad core and anything below 30K is having a dual core. Same is the case with HTC.

HTC has yet to launch its 5” phone in the Indian market (Micromax Canvas A116 HD is 5”).Sony’s first 5” and quad core phone Xperia Z is just out and has similar specs as A116 (except the camera). Also, there is still time for it to be launched in India. Windows phones are still sporting Dual-cores…no quad-cores there yet!

This pretty much clears the fact that A116 is a high end phone without the “high end” price tag. Add the price tag and the competition it actually has (the lower end phones of high end companies) and there is no competition of any kind. It has a stock Android Jelly Bean 4.1 (upgradeable to 4.2) which is being praised and thus has no need of any skin.

What will the biggies do?

The question is- What do the rest of the companies do? They cannot launch the 4 cores in the midrange yet. That is their next upgrade and cash cow.

They can of course hope that because of its screen size and name many people will leave it even with its worth. They can reduce the current price of their phones. These things though are temporary solutions and also remember- Micromax is planning to launch nearly 30 phones in next 12 months, and it is quite possible that half of them would be high-end smartphones. If they have already reached a quad core, imagine what their next high-end phone will have!

Thus unless the phone has some glaring defect, it has the potential to turn hardcore fans of other companies to at least test this one out. Of course, unless you are not interested in the 5” screen!

One thing I can say with surety though – The Rs. 40k price-point will now become more of a Rs. 30k price point. What I mean is the top-of-the-line phones were generally commanding prices closer to 40k. With Micromax launching A116 canvas at Rs. 15k, I doubt anyone will not even think of buying a Rs. 40k phone. That price point will now be 30k. We will increasingly see high-end phones coming in bracket lesser than Rs. 30k.