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Tata, NTT DoCoMo unveil new branding in India

by Chris Ziegler posted Jun 10th 2009 @ 8:32AM

The term "DoCoMo" is usually accompanied by a barrage of wild, high-end mobile hardware, so we have a tendency to sit up and pay attention whenever the storied name appears on a carrier anywhere in the world. India's Tata Teleservices -- of which NTT DoCoMo holds a 26 percent share -- is set to launch a newly-branded GSM service as Tata DoCoMo in the southern part of the country this month, followed by a "gradual" expansion nationwide. The logo's pretty awesome, the name's pretty awesome -- now we just need some Japanese domestic market handsets to go along with it and we'll be in business.

Virgin Mobile launches in India, but don't call it an MVNO

by Chris Ziegler posted Mar 4th 2008 @ 3:51AM

Emphasizing that Virgin Mobile India's launch is a "brand franchise," not an MVNO, Virgin chief Sir Richard Branson has unveiled the partnership with Tata Teleservices to bring the company's marque to a range of CDMA handsets in one of the world's largest and fastest-growing mobile markets. The franchising scheme is an interesting one because it allows both Tata and Virgin to hook up with other partners, and indeed, Branson has already said that he'll be shopping the service to GSM carriers later this year. As part of the launch, Virgin Mobile is touting ten "industry firsts" -- and while most of them are marketing mumbo jumbo, it's notable that every single phone offered by the ~~carrier~~ ~~MVNO~~ brand features a color display and FM radio. The service is available now.

[Via mocoNews]

Samsung "Hero" anti-theft phone for India

by Chris Ziegler posted Jun 23rd 2006 @ 1:02PM

We've seen some third-party solutions for this, but Samsung has taken phone theft prevention to the next level in India, adding a "Mobile Tracker" feature to its new SCH-S109 Hero low-end candybar. With its 128 x 128 black and white display the phone itself doesn't seem likely to turn any heads, but in the unlikely event it catches the eye of a hard-up bandit, the Hero will silently send out two text messages to numbers programmed in by the phone's rightful owner as soon as the SIM gets swapped. The text messages contain the new SIM's phone number, so even if you can't get the phone back, you can heckle the thief at all hours of the day and night. The Hero is dropping as we speak on India's Tata Teleservices network; if it's a commercial success, we'll hopefully have some happy endings to report from the other side of the world.

[Via textually.org]