Page 3 - Mobile Phones

Morale of the industry at all-time low, says ICEA on Lava MD arrest

Morale of the mobile manufacturing industry has hit an all-time low with the arrest of Hari Om Rai, founder of homegrown device maker Lava International, industry body ICEA said on Saturday. The Enforcement Directorate has arrested Rai in an alleged money laundering case against Chinese smart devices maker Vivo. "We understand that the morale of the industry has hit an all time low and national champions are feeling very demoralised. We want to assure them that we have full confidence in India's regulatory and judicial system and we are sure that he (Rai) will emerge from the clouds and continue to champion the development of our industry which is critical in building the nation," ICEA chairman Pankaj Mohindroo said in a statement. ED raided Vivo and its linked persons in July last year, claiming to have busted a major money laundering racket involving Chinese nationals and multiple Indian companies. The ED had then alleged that a whopping Rs 62,476 crore was "illegally" transferre

47% Indians to spend over Rs 10,000 in upcoming festive season: Report

Customer sentiment is significantly higher than last year when 19% of Indians said they would spend over Rs 10,000

Google's Pixel 8, Pixel 8 Pro, Pixel Watch 2 available for pre-orders

While the Pixel 8 is priced at Rs 75,999, the Pixel 8 Pro comes in at Rs 106,999. Meanwhile, the Pixel Watch 2 is priced at Rs 39,900

HonorTech to relaunch Honor brand of phones in Sept, to invest Rs 1,000 cr

HonorTech will relaunch the Honor brand of smartphones in the country in September with plans to initially invest Rs 1,000 crore in the business, a senior company official said. For the relaunch, HonorTech is going to work under a licensing deal with a Chinese smart devices company Honor, in India. HonorTech CEO Madhav Sheth told PTI that the company will aim to garner 4-5 per cent market share in terms of volume by end of next year, which will translate to a revenue of Rs 10,000 crore for the company. "The government is looking at the idea that business and authority in the company should be owned and managed by Indians. "HonorTech is a completely Indian entity. We are going to work under a licensing deal with Honor where they will license us and we will do everything from sales to manufacturing in India. No royalty will go to Honor," Sheth said. Honor brand was launched and owned by Chinese telecom major Huawei which sold it to another Chinese firm Shenzhen Zhixin New Informatio

How PLI-2 scheme is attracting traditional tech cos to manufacture in India

While PC, laptops, mobile phone makers are setting up a manufacturing hub in India, with players like HP and Cisco coming in, it adds to diversity of hardware capability the country is building

Apple aims to keep iPhone shipments steady despite 2023 turmoil

Apple's production schedule is closely scrutinized because of the company's broad impact

Govt portal pins 285,000 missing phones, but only 20,771 recovered

However, recoveries stand at only 20,771 devices so far

Nord 3 5G Unboxing: First look at OnePlus flagship midrange smartphone

The Nord 3 5G is a midrange flagship smartphone from OnePlus. It boasts an HDR10+ certified 6.74-inch AMOLED display of 120Hz refresh rate, Dirac-tuned dual stereo speakers powered by Dolby Atmos.

Rajasthan's 'Free Mobile Yojana' promises to be gamechanger for women

CM will be giving free mobile phones to women of the state under Rajasthan Free Mobile Yojana 2023

Good news: As input costs drop, TVs and mobile phones may get cheaper

The decline in input costs is also expected to help manufacturers increase their profit margins

17,000 extra SIM cards of subscribers beyond 9 connections deactivated

Altogether 17,000 of the 21,800 SIM cards found to be issued in excess of the permissible limit of nine mobile connections for one subscriber were deactivated in Bihar and Jharkhand in April and May so far, an official said on Sunday. Such a move was taken by the Department of Telecommunication through an analysis using artificial intelligence (AI)-based facial recognition technology, he said. "The artificial intelligence and facial recognition-powered solution for Telecom SIM Subscriber Verification (ASTR) analysis by the DoT in April and May revealed that at least 21,800 mobile connections were issued violating the permissible limit of nine numbers for one subscriber in Bihar and Jharkhand. "Around 17,000 such numbers have been disconnected. Further analysis is going on to identify such numbers," a senior official of the Special Director General Telecom, DoT (Licensed Service Areas-LSA-Bihar) Office told PTI. Jharkhand also comes under the jurisdiction of LSA (Bihar). According

Govt asks retailers not to insist on mobile number for providing services

The Consumer Affairs Ministry has issued an advisory directing retailers not to insist on the personal contact details of customers for delivering certain services, Consumer Affairs Secretary Rohit Kumar Singh said on Tuesday. The advisory has been issued following several consumer complaints. Customers have complained about many retailers not providing them services if they refuse to share their contact number, he said. "Sellers say they cannot generate the bill until personal contact details are provided. This is an unfair and restrictive trade practice under the Consumer Protection Act and there is no rationality behind collecting the information," the Secretary told reporters. There is also a privacy concern. Therefore, an advisory has been issued to the retail industry and industry chambers CII and FICCI to address this issue in the interest of consumers, he said. It is not mandatory in India for customers to furnish their mobile numbers to a retailer to generate a bill. Howev

3,500 phone connections obtained via fraudulent means disconnected: HP

Nearly 3,500 mobile phones procured for cybercrime and phishing through fraudulent means have been disconnected by the Himachal Pradesh unit of telecommunication department, according to a statement issued on Wednesday. The department used artificial intelligence (AI) and other techniques to identify the mobile connections obtained through fraudulent means and detected 3,491 connections given by telecom service providers in the state, it said. Additional Director General (ADG) at HP telecommunications Ranbir Singh said fake connections have been cancelled.

Why use of refurbished mobile phones helps in environment conservation

Smartphones have become an integral part of our daily routines, but their mass production has brought damage to the environment

Apple's emerging India play, strategy notably different from Vietnam

In India, Apple has decided to focus on a few products but on a large scale, as they did in China, instead of assembling the entire range of its products in smaller volumes

After lithium reserve in J&K, 15 rare earth elements discovered in Andhra

These elements are also used in clean energy, aerospace, defence, and in manufacturing permanent magnets- a key component in modern electronics- wind turbines, jet aircraft, and several other products

63 police stations don't have vehicle, 285 have no mobile phones: Govt

As many as 63 police stations in the country do not have any vehicle, 628 police stations do not have telephone connection and 285 police stations don't have a wireless set or mobile phone, Lok Sabha was informed on Tuesday. Union Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai said there are 17,535 police stations operating in the country now. A total of 63 police stations don't have any vehicle, 628 don't have any telephone connection and 285 don't have a wireless set or mobile phone, he said in a written reply to a question.

Explained: Canada's latest ban on TikTok from govt-issued mobile devices

Canada is banning TikTok from all government-issued mobile devices and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said it might be a first step to further action. The European Union's executive branch said last week it has temporarily banned TikTok from phones used by employees as a cybersecurity measure. The EU's action follows similar moves in the U.S., where more than half of the states and Congress have banned TikTok from official government devices. TikTok is owned by ByteDance, a Chinese company that moved its headquarters to Singapore. It has been targeted by critics who say the Chinese government could access user data, such as browsing history and location. U.S. armed forces also have prohibited the app on military devices. TikTok is consumed by two-thirds of American teens and has become the second-most popular domain in the world. But there's long been bipartisan concern in Washington that Beijing would use legal and regulatory power to seize American user data or try to push pro-Chin

Phones, knives, drugs recovered from inmates after surprise raids in Tihar

Mobile phones and knives were recovered from inside Delhi's Tihar Jail number 3 in a search operation, jail authorities said on Thursday

Budget 2023 wishlist: ICEA calls for rationalisation of duties on parts

India Cellular and Electronics Association (ICEA) has batted for rationalisation of duties on parts and components of mobile phones and sub-assemblies, saying some of the smaller tariffs should be done away with, while all inputs duties on 'mechanics' should be removed immediately. The industry body has also suggested that the government should ease the Basic Customs Duty (BCD) on high-end phones. The 20 per cent customs duty on high-end phones should be continued only with a maximum BCD pegged at Rs 4,000 per device, the association has said in its Budget wishlist. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will be presenting the Union Budget 2023-24 on February 1. ICEA contended that tariffs on inputs and components are a barrier to increasing localisation. It has said that some of the smaller tariffs should be done away with, to support local businesses and bring ease of doing business. In this regard, ICEA suggested that the tariff of 2.75 per cent (including social welfare surcharge