Airtel launches Twitter on SMS

Twitter will be available in India on SMS only on the Airtel network. There is exclusivity for the same for 4 weeks, in which only Airtel consumers will be able to use the service on SMS across the nation. This period of exclusivity is something that we want to take advantage of and make sure that Brand Airtel can own the property Twitter in consumer mind space.

For details on how to use Twitter on Airtel visit this page on Airtel site.

How to use Twitter ?

How does one register for Twitter?

New User
• SMS Signup to 53000 @ Re 1 per SMS
• Follow instructions to go ahead and complete the registration

Existing User – Wanting to link their device to the Twitter A/c
• SMS Start to 53000 @ Re 1 per SMS
• Follow instructions to complete linking your Airtel phone to your Twitter A/c

General Guidelines & Keywords to Twitter Use
http://help.twitter.com/forums/59008/entries/14020

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Mobile Flash Will Make Smartphones Smarter

Adobe Systems, the developer of software for PCs and mobile phones that allows devices to create, display and interact with rich-media content, has revealed that development of its Flash Player software for mobile phones is well underway, in partnership with a growing number of hardware and software firms, including most of the leading handset manufacturers.

Read through the press releases I’ve linked to here and you’ll see that beta versions of Flash Player 10.1 are on track for release by the end of the year for the Windows Mobile and Palm webOS operating systems. Versions that will work with Symbian and Android are expected early in 2010, with BlackBerry likely to follow soon afterwards now that Research In Motion joined Adobe’s Open Screen Project at the weekend.

The aim of this initiative is to create a common media platform for mobile phones, computers and TVs, which should facilitate interoperability but, most importantly, should significantly cut development time for rich media content and applications thanks to the use of a single standard. There are now almost 50 companies involved in the project, up from 16 at its inception last year.

In turn, it will become quicker and, therefore, more cost-effective to develop a broader range of applications and content for the mobile environment – such as social networking, gaming, video and music, advertising, and location-based services, to name but a few.

Although some incompatibility hurdles will remain – particularly the issue of screen sizes and processor capacities which vary from one device to another – Juniper Research welcomes this exciting development, which will go a long way towards encouraging the usage and consumption of rich media services and, by default, should then encourage more consumers to take up smartphones.

A Juniper report published earlier this year found that around 13% of all mobile phones shipped in 2008 were smartphones. We believe that such devices will account for an increased percentage of shipments this year, despite the recession, to almost 16% of the total. By 2014, smartphones will account for more than a quarter of all new phones sold.

There is one key industry player that has yet to participate in the project, however. Apple has, so far, declined to involve itself in the project (perhaps preferring to time any such announcement for a moment that best suits its own marketing and publicity machine: its quarterly results are due on October 19th!), but with RIM – its main rival in the smartphone arena – now having signed up, it does seem inevitable.

The industry’s warm welcome to Adobe’s news also chimes with another finding in our smartphone report: the hardware race is over and, going forward, innovation and development is mostly being focused on advancing software that underpins the performance of these devices. And, as we’ve seen in our recent report on Operating Systems, increased use of ‘open’ platforms with common functionality will help keep development costs – and therefore overall handset and service costs – down.

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Meet the Facebook Mobile Team in India on 9th October in Delhi -MOMO Delhi

Mobile Monday, Delhi chapter is glad to invite all of you to meetup with Facebook Mobile Team who will be visiting India soon. Detail of meetup is listed below .

You Are Cordially Invited To meet up with

Facebook Mobile Team

When?

Friday 09 October 2009

Venue:

Impetus Infotech Pvt Ltd,
D-40, Sector-59, Noida.
Phone: +91-120-4363300

Register yourself at

http://momodelhifbmeetup.eventbrite.com/

Schedule

5:00-05:30 PM : Introduction

05:30PM-06:00PM:Opening Address By Impetus

6:00PM-6:30: Talk By Henry ,Head of Facebook Mobile

&A Session.

Format: Very informal. No slides. Henri, Head of Facebook Mobile, will

give a short 10min talk on Facebook and Mobile. Then open it up to

questions. We’d like to have an active dialog with the Indian

developer community.
Agenda:

Overview:

• Facebook on the Web: 300M active users
• Facebook on Mobile: 65M active users
Facebook Mobile for Developers:

• Mobile Web: Developing 2 mobile web sites in 60 languages. One for

regular handsets, another for touch phones.

• Mobile Apps: Developing apps for mobile platforms including iPhone,

Android, Symbian, Blackberry and others

• International markets: Mobile Internet and applications as we see

per country. Lessons learned from Western Europe and North America.
Facebook Connect for Mobile:

• For iPhone and on the Mobile Web

• How to create mobile social apps that are virally distributed

through your friends.

Facebook Mobile in India:

• Learn about you, your goals and how we can help.

• Mobile initiatives in India.

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Cairo Hosts the 4th Annual North Africa Com Conference and Exhibition

Informa Telecoms & Media, the leading provider of business intelligence and strategic marketing solutions to global telecoms and media markets, announces today that it is hosting the 4th annual North Africa Com conference and exhibition on the 27th and 28th of October,  2009, at the JW Marriott hotel in Cairo, Egypt.

Under the theme of “Strengthening Operators’ Positions in North Africa with New Technologies & Services”, the region’s largest telecommunications event is expecting to welcome over 800 senior-level representatives from the region’s mobile and fixed-line operators, Internet Service Providers, regulators, investors, telecoms solutions vendors and content providers.

“With mobile subscriptions in North Africa expected to increase to 264.5 million by 2012, this rapidly developing market is vital to telecom operators’ business growth strategies,” says Veronika Pete, Informa Telecoms & Media’s Marketing Executive of the Com World Series. “Delivering a 40% growth in attendance between 2006 and 2008, North Africa Com is the region’s largest telecom event for regional operators and international vendors in terms of networking and doing profitable, regional business,” Pete adds.

The 4th annual event will feature a mix of keynote speakers and multi-stream sessions on Day 1, followed by a single stream program on Day 2. New topics for this year include:  Data Services and Broadband, Opportunities for Converged Services and Triple Play.

North Africa Com 2009 will welcome many industry leaders from the North Africa region, with the following top key speakers:

-  Tamer El Mahdy, CTO, Orascom Telecom Holdings, & CEO, Orascom Telecom Algeria (Djezzy)
-  Mohamed Elnawawy, VP for Corporate Strategies, Telecom Egypt
-  Hassan Kabbani, CEO, Mobinil, Egypt
-  Hatem Dowidar, CEO, Vodafone Egypt

The conference is designed to deliver market insight, practical solutions and best-practice benchmarks to grow businesses and partnerships in countries such as Egypt, Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Sudan and Tunisia. The agenda comprises a mixture of presentations, case studies, interactive panel sessions and Q&A sessions. The conference is complimented by an exhibition showcasing 70 stands by leading international vendors and their newest solutions and technologies.

The North Africa Com event is part of Informa Telecoms & Media’s Com World Series, the longest-running annual series of telecommunication conferences and exhibitions focussing on emerging, high growth markets. “The event provides a distinct meeting point for mobile, fixed and integrated telecoms service providers and their suppliers working in, or looking to be part of these markets,” says Pete.

North Africa Com is sponsored by the world’s leading telecommunication providers, such as eServeGlobal, VNL, SmartTrust and more. “The conference and exhibition are ideal platforms for interaction between the leading network vendors, software developers and operators from outside the region and those within it,” Pete said.

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Vodafone Qatar’s subscriber base reaches 100,000 in 2 months

Over 100,000 customers have joined Vodafone Qatar since the company had launched its services two months ago, the firm has said. Half of this number had opened a Freedom account, Vodafone’s Postpay-equivalent product, while the remaining half had joined Red, Vodafone’s new Prepay tariff, Vodafone has said.

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Google releases Android 1.6 SDK

Google announced the Android 1.6 software development kit is now available for developer download–based on the donut branch from the Android Open Source Project, the update introduces a series of new features and technologies including support for CDMA and additional screen sizes. Among the highlights of Android 1.6: Gesture APIs, a text-to-speech engine and integration with Quick Search Box, enabling users to search across multiple sources–including browser bookmarks and history, contacts, and the web–directly from the device homescreen. An updated UI provides an integrated camera, camcorder, and gallery experience, while a new Virtual Private Network control panel in Settings allows users to configure and connect to multiple types of VPNs.

Source: Google Release

The Android 1.6 SDK also includes an Android Market update promising to simplify the user discovery experience–at the homescreen, users can choose among Apps, Games, and Downloads, with each category offering separate lists spotlighting “Top paid,” “Top free” and “Just in” submissions. Developers may also post app screenshots alongside user reviews.

The Android 1.6 SDK requires a new version of Android Development Tools, including a new tool that enabling developers to download updates and additional components like new add-ons or platforms. Google says devices running on Android 1.6 will appear as early as October–applications written for older versions of Android will continue to run on devices with Android 1.6.

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Opera Software debuts Mini 5 mobile browser beta

Opera Software released a beta version of its new Mini 5 mobile web browser, promising new features and a more intuitive user experience. According to Opera, Mini 5 boasts an advanced look and feel, adding tabbed browsing–enabling users to browse several mobile sites simultaneously–as well as touchscreen and keypad browsing, password manager and speed dial, which offers pre-selected websites once the browser is loaded. A special version of Mini 5 optimized for the BlackBerry platform includes opening links and copy-and-paste functions.

More than 30 million people use Opera Mini each month, browsing more than 12 billion web pages monthly.

Mini Opera Preview

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