Samsung to roll out WP7.8 update to all WP7.5 handsets

After much talk by Nokia regarding WP7.8 update roll-out (which will happen in 2013, though some users have reported about receiving WP7.8 update), now Samsung (Italy office) executive has confirmed that Samsung too will update all its existing Windows Phone devices running on WP7.5 to latest version WP7.8.

I am happy to hear this news particularly being Omnia W owner, and looking forward for this upgrade, hoping to get it in early 2013.

Source (Translate page using Microsoft/Google Translator)

These days we have had several contacts with Samsung Italy that, as you will recall , has been revealed as the exclusive rights that the arrival in Italian shops smartphone Samsung S ATIV , new top of the range Windows Phone 8 , moves back to the end of the next January 2013. ATIV S It is not only that we have talked to our Italian contacts internal Samsung Electronics : In fact, we took the opportunity to seek guidance and any confirmation or denial about news that we reported a few days ago , that the Samsung Omnia W would not be upgraded to Windows Phone 7.8 .

Here's what was said in this regard:
"We can confirm that our products carrying the version Windows Phone 7.5 [and therefore all the Windows Phone so far marketed by Samsung, Ed] , are updated the [version] 7.8 but will be made available with terms decided by Microsoft. "

The answer provided by the technical department of Samsung to our question was absolutely clear and in line with what is promised by Microsoft should definitely serve to dispel any doubts that may arise about the future availability of updates for this or that model of Windows Phone, at least for those branded Samsung. Doubt remains about the timing of release of these but we can now rest assured that sooner or later, for sure it will come.

(Updated) Unfair Price Rise by ESPN STAR force DTH Operators to pull off HD Channels

Before on-field battle between India-Pakistan Cricket series begins, battle was started between official boradcasters ESPN-STAR and various DTH Operators. ESS has raised price of its HD channels from Rs 40 to Rs 120, which is huge price, and in protest several DTH opertaors like Airtel, Dish TV and Sun Direct have decided to pull of ESS HD channels viz ESPN HD and STAR CRICKET HD.

These price rise displays greediness of ESS by charging such huge amount for its HD channels considering HD viewing is gaining popularity in India. Inspite HD channels were highely charges, channels continued to broadcast advertisments (which included HD Movies channels as well). TRAI should intervene and stop this price rise forced by Channel broadcasters.

In protest I have decided to drop plan of subscribing to SD version of Star Cricket, and watch all matches on Doordarshan!

Source

The country's top direct-to-home (DTH) players Airtel Digital, Sun TV and Dish TV have pulled the plug on ESPN HD and Star Cricket HD just before the start of the much-anticipated India-Pakistan series due to a sudden hike in tariffs by the broadcaster. There are almost a million high-definition (HD) subscribers on DTH in India out of a total market of 50 million.

A DTH operator told TOI that ESPN HD, which used to cost Rs 40 per month, is now being priced at Rs 142 monthly, while customers who earlier paid Rs 40 for Star Cricket HD will now have to pay Rs 120 monthly. This hike they said is too steep for them to pass on to their subscribers. However, Tata Sky, Videocon D2H and Reliance Big TV will continue telecasting the HD versions of the sports channels. The India-Pakistan series starts on December 25 and has attracted huge advertiser interest with ESPN expected to rake in around Rs 120 crore.

Salil Kapoor, Dish TV CEO, told TOI, "This sort of increase before the start of such a series is not justified and we have decided to not carry these channels on the HD platform. Broadcasters need to be more sensitive about pricing although we are still hoping some sort of a solution can be achieved before the series starts." He added the adoption and growth of HD in India will be impacted with this kind of insensitive pricing by broadcasters.

Dish TV has the highest number of DTH subscribers in India at around 14 million, while Airtel DTH has 7.5 million registered users. HD has been a growing segment for all DTH operators. A spokesperson for Airtel DTH also confirmed that they will not be telecasting the HD version of ESPN and Star Cricket.

Update: ESPN STAR has denied allegations that prices have increased for their HD channels. Now not sure, who to blame, ESS or Airtel for removing channels before high profile India-Pak Cricket series.

 

Windows Phone 7.8 update rolling out to Nokia Lumia 800

According to Dutch Website WP7.nl, Nokia have started rolling out latest update to WP7 handset- WP7.8 Version. All handsets update with latest version till date should get new update "7.10. 8858.136" if handset is connected to Zune. Those haven't received should try their luck with latest version of WP7.

Source-  (Translated content using Google Translate)

He sat there for a while to come: The Windows Phone 7.8 update for Windows Phone 7.5 devices. But as to the good news to start the update is available! It emerged earlier this week reports that the update on the Nokia Navi Firm servers would stand and that is usually a good indication of the actual appearance of the update. I just hung my Nokia Lumia 800 to Zune to justsome photos to sync and tadaaaa! There is an update ready!

Indeed, there is no one ready, but the whole process on Windows Phone 7.8 ending up takes about four updates all at once installed. If your device is already completely up to date, you will get first Nokia Update, then update to 7.10.8773 7.10.8779.8, then proceed with the update to 7.10.8783, which prepares the device for the final update to 7.10. 8858.136, to be exact. When the process is complete, you will in any case be provided with the opportunity to reduce your Tiles and there are a large number of changes. The splash screen is the same as that of the Windows Phone 8 devices and the Xbox Tile is now fully Windows Phone 8 style!

For those who can no longer wait, hang your Lumia 800 (or 900) to Zune and see if the update is available. It may be that branded devices have to wait, but hopefully also in the coming weeks the new version presented.

BBM 7 adds Voice Supports

Some exciting news to Blackberry owners. BBM which is popular among Blackberry users is now updated to new version BBM 7. AND.. it supports Voice calls. BBM 7 is available App World, and can run on Blackberry 6 OS.

Source - Blackberry Blog 

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been on chatting with someone on BlackBerry Messenger (BBM), trying to explain something, and realize it’d be a lot easier to just pick up the phone and talk it out. Thankfully, BBM 7 has me covered with BBM Voice. It’s available now in BlackBerry App World for devices running BlackBerry 6 OS and higher with support planned for smartphones running the BlackBerry 5 OS early next year.

NOTE: Please be aware that it may take up to 24 hours for the app to be available in the BlackBerry App World storefront.

Here are some other great features you’ll love in BBM 7:
BBM upgrade notifications – BBM will notify you when there are updates to download straight from within the app
BBID Synchronization – your BBM profile, Groups and Contacts are linked to your BlackBerry ID
16 Additional emoticons – even more choice for those times when words just aren’t enough. Can you spot the new ones? *Drool*

Angry Birds Space available for WP7

According to news at WPCentral, Angry Birds Space is now available for WP7 (WP7.5) handsets in Market Place.

Check the game on Windows Market place here.

Nokia Lumia 505 with 8 MP Camera at Mexcian Carrier Guerrero Móvil

Nokia seems to be on spree of launching Windows Phone Handset of Lumia Series. Yesterday we read about Lumia 620 WP8 based hansdet, and today images of latest Lumia 505 has leaked online. It might be exclusive to Mexcian Carrier Guerrero Móvil. It has 8 MP camera but other specs (rumored) are not belonging to highend handset. It could be cheapest WP handset, and it could also be first handset to have WP7.8 out of box.

Source at Engadget

It's not exactly often that our neighbors down south get any handset exclusives to call their own, but according to Guerrero Móvil's Facebook page, there's a Mexico-only Lumia 505 well on its way to Telcel's mobile lineup. Aside from touting an 8-megapixel camera, though, the regional carrier doesn't really reveal any other details -- however, rumor has it this Nokia handset will be running Redmond's en-route Widows Phone 7.8 and come sporting a 3.5 or 4-inch WVGA display with an 800MHz, single-core processor, 256MB RAM and 4GB of built-in storage. Of course, it's still a tad bit early to say these specs are set in stone, but the social network post does note that the WP slab will soon be official, and thus it's only a matter of time before we find out what the Lumia 505 really has to offer.

Nokia announces Lumia 620

In a surprising move Nokia has announced Lumia 620, latest in WP8 line-up. These handset seems to cheaper in WP8 handsets (unless Lumia 520 is announced :) )

Details from Engadget-

Nokia announced a surprise new Windows Phone 8 member at LeWeb 2012 in Paris today -- the Lumia 620. The entry-level handset has a 3.8-inch TFT screen at WVGA resolution (800 x 480), a 1GHz dual-core Snapdragon S4 Plus processor, half a gig of RAM and 8GB of internal storage, expandable by microSD (up to 64GB cards supported). A 5-megapixel shooter with LED flash capable of recording 720p video occupies the back, while a VGA camera is up front for those self-portraits. Connectivity-wise, you'll get online via WiFi or WCDMA 3G, with NFC and Bluetooth 3.0 taking care of all your sharing and pairing. "Dual-shot color" interchangeable shells mean you'll be able to personalize your handset beyond switching up the Live Tile layout, and they also keep the 1,300mAh battery under wraps. Excluding taxes and subsidies, the new Lumia will cost $249 dollars when it begins shipping in January next year, first in Asia, then expanding to Europe, the Middle East and other territories later. If you're looking for a Windows Phone 8 handset but don't need the best specs out there, perhaps this is your guy -- the wallet-friendly Lumia 610 generally impressed us, so we've got a feeling this might, too.

Windows Phone 7.8 Release Coming Soon in 2012?

According to “tonistechblog” Microsoft is planning to release WP7.8 very soon. Blog has in fact mentioned that WP7.8 could be release on Wednesday (28 Nov 2012) based on information provided from some close source related to subject (Windows Phone perhaps). Now this news would be liked by many WP7 handset owners (like me) who were deprived from Microsoft’s latest Phone OS offering WP8. WP7 owners worldwide are eagerly waiting for new update which would bring start screen to WP7 just like WP8.

WPCentral has also revealed and confirmed below features present in WP7.8-

·         Build number for WP7.8 will be 7.10.8858.136.

·         New Boot Screen – Reflects Microsoft’s new Windows Phone logo and actually matches that of Windows Phone 8

·         New Start screen – The earlier confirmed 3-sizes for Tiles

·         New Core apps re-design – Xbox Games, Office and Store all get updated with new logos

·         20 Accent colors – We saw this with Windows Phone 8 and now 7 .8 too gets 10 new accent colors (plus one for OEMs or carriers to customize)

·         Live Lock screen Wallpaper – Users can now take advantage of Bing wallpaper, which dynamically updates every day. We’re not sure if this extendable to third party applications as in Windows Phone 8 but presumably it is possible.

There are some advanced changes that only Nokia is applying to their Lumia line as these are OEM customizations.

·         Nokia Network+ settings – we’ve seen this in current Lumia 810/820/822 and 920 devices where Nokia adds some advanced network configurations, such as call forwarding, call waiting and SMS options

·         Bluetooth sharing of non-DRM multimedia files

·         More ringtone editing abilities

·         Contact transfer and sharing app upgrade with new features

Tango (8773) Update for Samsung Omnia W in India

Recently Samsung has started roll out for Tango Update. However there is no notification for upgrade while Windows Phone is connected to Zune. From various online sources, I tried to force upgrade my Samsung Omnia W following below steps. If anybody is interested they can also follow these steps at their OWN RISK.

Steps to force Tango Upgrade-

·         Set phone to Flight Mode which will turn off Phone Network, WiFi, and Bluetooth.

·         Connect your phone to PC via USB cable. Zune application will open.

·         Go to Phone by clicking “Phone” symbol.

·         Go to Settings, and click update.

·         While Zune displays searching for update disconnect internet connection to PC after about 2-3 seconds.

·         If above steps are right, there should be prompt about new update 8112 available. (Repeat above step if there is no prompt for update available). [Image 01]

·         Update phone with 8112.

·         Follow above steps again. This time update prompt for 8773 would be displayed. [Image 02]

·         After 8773 update is complete, Zune will also Update Omnia W with some updates from Samsung. [Image 03]

OS Details after Tango Update-

OS Version: 7.10.8773.98

Firmware revision number: 2424.12.04.3

Hardware revision number: 23.15.0.8

Radio software version: 0424.12.3.1

Radio hardware version: 0.0.0.900

Bootloader version: 6.4.25.0

Chip SOC version: 0.74.2.1

Tata Docomo 3G Signal not working

I was the one of the first customer to use Tata Docomo 3G when they launched 3G service in my city Pune. I used it till March 2012, and was getting good speed throughout city in 30 KM range from my home to office. Later I couldn’t recharge to 3G, as Online 3G recharge was down in March. So I recharged for 2G and used 2G internet plan for 21 days.

After my 2G internet plan expired, and 3G recharge was back online, I recharged with Rs 90 (which was suppose to give 120 MB). But I got 240 MB data!

BUT main issue is I am not getting "3G" symbol on my mobile (Nokia N95). If I select "Dual" network, my phone will have full signal without 3G symbol, and if I select "UMTS", "3G" is displayed, but there would be no signal.

When I was using 3G earlier, I was getting 3G symbol everywhere (home, office, road), but now my phone is not showing 3G network. So I wondered if there was any issue with Tata Docomo 3G in Pune.

I called Tata Docomo Customer Care. They checked network (I guess) at my place and confirmed that there is no issue with 3G Network. They asked me to check my handset, I checked and found that Vodafone 3G and Idea 3G was working fine on my handset, so I was sure that there was no issue with my handset.

I even sent sms “ACT 3G to 121” to check if I need to reactivate 3G again, but I got reply that 3G is already active on my sim.

So now I am on 3G plan, but not able to access 3G network at all. I guess trouble started when I activated 2G internet plan for 21 days. This is really pathetic service by Tata Docomo who is unable to change their database and provide me 3G Network access because I used 2G internet earlier!

Who will broadcast Indian Cricket?

Source

The bidding war for media rights of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI)'s matches to be played in India is heating up, with more contenders joining the race. The rights include television, internet and mobile coverage for six years, starting July 2012.
According to BCCI officials, Multi-Screen Media (MSM), which telecasts the Indian Premier League on MAX, has bought the invitation to tender. The network also plans to a launch a new sports channel, Six, this year.
Apart from MSM, ESPN-STAR Sports (ESS), Bennett, Coleman & Co Ltd (BCCL)-led consortium and Reliance-Network18 have picked up tender forms.
An ESS spokesperson said they would not comment on these matters, while BCCL chief executive Ravi Dhariwal said it was an internal matter.
Subhash Chandra's Zee group, which owns sports channels under the TEN umbrella, is believed to be interested in the rights, but is waiting for BCCI to withdraw its case against it.
The bids will have to be given on April 2 in Chennai. "The marketing committee will meet in Chennai to receive and open the bids next Monday," said a BCCI official.

After BCCI has terminated Broadcast deal with Nimbus, BCCI has invited fresh tenders. ESPN-STAR looking to gain the rights which it has been missing for long period. Sony-MSM which already hold BCCI backed IPL rights also looking to grab the rights to boost its newly planned Sports channel SIX. Zee group has case pending against BCCI, so it has restrained itself from bidding currently, but it would also be happy to get rights. Apart from this three, surprising to see BCCL (owners on Times group channels - Times Now, ET Now, Movies Now, Zoom) and Reliance-Network18 (who recently acquired ETV channels). April 2 is the date to watch out for all the happening in biggest broadcast deal in Cricket.

Den Digicable Merger Plans

Source

Is further consolidation coming to Indian cable TV land? Last year, Zee and Star merged their distribution aggregation firms - Zee Turner and Star Den - to form Mediapro. Last week, News Corp announced that it was exiting from leading Indian cable TV MSO Hathway Cable, paving the way for private equity firm Providence to enter.
Now, the buzz is gaining ground that a deal between Digicable and Den Networks is imminent. Sources indicate that talks between the two are at an advanced stage.
"Talks are on for a share-swap deal. Details of the share swap ratio are being worked out," a source familiar with the development said.
Apparently, private equity firm Ashmore, which controls Digicable, is eager that a deal does indeed take place.

"We are in talks. But nothing has happened so far," Digicable MD and CEO JS Kohli said.
Den founder-promoter Sameer Manchanda was not available for comment till the filing of this report.
The consolidation is coming in the wake of the government's mandate to the cable TV industry to switch over nationally from analogue mode to digital by December 2014, beginning with the four metros over the next three months.
The merger, if it does go through, will result in a behemoth with 17 million subscribers nationally.
A deal between the Den and Digicable, however, will require some serious hammering out, indicate observers.
For starters, is the red ink that stains Digicable's finances. Den will have to absorb those. Then there is the huge investment that is needed to upgrade headends and homes to digital.
"The merged entity will have a huge footprint, but the challenge for Den will be to raise capital to support digitisation of this expanded network," said a media analyst.

What I had read earlier that Anil Ambani has stake in Digicable, while Big brother Mukesh has stake in DEN.

Ambani brothers planning some big game in TV distribution in India

Does India have 4G Broadband? This guys thinks Yes!

Just seen advertisement pasted on my building wall about Broadband connection by 4G!!!
Few days back I read news that Indian govt is allocating 4G spectrum and soon going to sale this spectrum by holding auction. But this guys have already got 4G.

But look at their speed - 512 Kbps to 2 Mbps. Its speed less than that offered by 3G. This guys needs some serious education on Wireless technologies.

Neo Sports for Sale?

Reference

For founder-promoter Harish Thawani, fresh trouble is brewing. TheOneAlliance, the brand of the joint venture company between Multi Screen Media (MSM) and Discovery, has terminated the distribution contract of Neo Sports Broadcast's two sports channels.

"We terminated the contract with Neo Broadcast on 3 January. We had specifically mentioned in the contract that the deal would be valid if Neo had the BCCI rights. We have communicated to them about the scrapping of the contract," MSM Discovery president Rajesh Kaul told Indiantelevision.com, without disclosing the size of the contract.

"After deciding to end the distribution contract, it is highly unlikely that Sony will look at buying Neo. The Times of India Group may be a contender. Or even Mukesh Ambani via Network18. These are entities who could be looking at entering the sports broadcasting market. But the big debate could be valuation," said a media analyst.

It seems Indian Sports broadcasting would see rise of new sports broadcaster in 2012 after Nimbus/Neo was out of BCCI boat. It would really be interesting if group like Times Network (who runs channel like Times Now, ET Now, Zoom and Movies Now) or Network 18 (who runs channels like CNN-IBN, CNBC-TV18 along with Hindi news channels and soon to start newly acquired channels from ETV) would own Neo channels. Or would Neo bounce back?

Also interesting to see who gets BCCI rights for Cricket broadcast right for all Internation and Domestic matches played in India (hosted by BCCI).