Cheap Olive Buzz VG800 dual SIM mobile launched in India

Olive mobiles has brought it’s another cheap dual SIM mobile in the Indian handset market. This is the ultra-thin (just 12mm ), sensor equipped full QWERTY keypad, Olive VG800 Buzz that can be fetched at an economical price of just Rs.3999. Olive VG800 Buzz has an expandable memory to up to 8GB which enables storage of ample data. There is a digital 2MP camera with video recording capability.







Olive Buzz VG800 also has a pre-installed MapsmyIndia software for navigation and is a google-based application. Its music-based features includes stereo FM radio, MP3/MP4 player and and 3.5mm audio jack. Olive VG800 Buzz features a 2.4 inch TFT display with resolution of 240×320 pixels.







Olive VG800 Buzz is JAVA-enabled and so has a lot of games in it for the entertainment of its users. It has bluetooth, GPRS for local data transfer and connectivity respectively. Its e-mail feature keeps its user connected on Net 24X7. It comes with an Opera mini browser for speedy browsing and active social networking on Facebook, Twitter and other social networking sites.

Smart smartphones Motorola Droid 2 and Droid X to launch soon

Motorola Droid 2 and Droid X are much awaited Android mobiles from Motorola. The good news is that Droid 2 will soon make it to the handset market, most likely by August 12, 2010.



The Droid 2 shall sport a 3.7-inches screen and will run on operating system, Android 2.2 with MotoBlur. The speedy processor to power it would be an OMAP 750Mhz. The mobile phone has 8GB of internal storage memory with provision of expansion. Its awesome 5 megapixel camera resting at its rear feature HD video recording. The Motorola Droid 2 has a re-designed QWERTY keyboard and associated features like Bluetooth voice dialing, improved browser, a faster Javascript engine and Flash 10.x support. One may store many applications on external memory. Motorola Droid 2 offer improved performance and power-efficiency.



Droid X will come by early September. It has wide and large 4.3" screen, 8MP camera with capability of making HD video and get HDMI output. It has a high-resistive screen and runs at web-busting speed. Motorola has also planned to release a smartphone powered by a dual 1GHz processor by the end of 2010.

Nokia X6 unleashed in India at Rs.14499

Nokia X6 is a Symbian OS v9.4 based TFT capacitive touchscreen smartphone. It is unleashed in India at price of Rs.14499. The ultimate scratch-resistant glass surface phone has a stereo FM radio with RDS and music player.



There is 5 MP camera with 2592x1944 pixels resolution and advanced features like Carl Zeiss optics, autofocus, dual LED flash and video light with goe tagging. Blue tooth in the configuration of v2.0 with A2DP confers local connectivity. There are other options for connectivity like the v2.0 microUSB, GPRS and EDGE of class 32 and the WLAN. WLAN is in the configuration of Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g and is UPnP technology based.

Despite having alpha-numeric keypad, its a bit thick at 13.8mm, but weighs less just 122 gm. There are SMS, MMS, Instant Messaging and E mail services.Its A-GPS support with Ovi Maps 3.0 makes navigation smooth. Its highlights are its good design, handwriting recognition capability and 32 GB storage, 128 MB RAM and unlimited phonebook entries, Photocalls.

Karbonn K777 and Karbonn K20 dual SIM mobiles launched in India

Karbonn K777 is a candybar dual SIM GSM phone with a 2.4 inch QVGA display,3.2 megapixel camera expandable memory up to 8 GB. Karbonn K777 supports GPRS/EDGE connectivity, Bluetooth with A2DP and hi-speed microUSB 2.0 port for local data transfer.



It is endowed with a music player,video recording function and FM radio. Google search and Opera Mini web browser allows for speedy Net browsing. It is supported on Tri-band GSM 900/ 1800 /1900 MHz Network. Its 1000 mAh standard Li-ion battery provides upto 3 hrs talktime and upto 250 hrs of standby time.



An another dual SIM, QWERTY mobile with trackball navigation from Karbonn is Karbonn K20. It has magnanimous 3000 records phone book memory, GPRS, web browser,2MP Camera and bluetooth. Mobile is pre-installed with Opera Mini, Facebook, MSN Messenger and eBuddy apps. Mobile supports Java but installation of Java Applications is not possible. It has just 259kb of internal memory but it can be expanded up to 8GB using MicroSD card.It has very poor battery backup, just 2.5 hrs talk time while the charging time being 4hrs.Coming to the battery back up problem in Karbonn K20, company has provided an additional spare battery.

Feature Highlights:

· QWERTY Keypad with trackball navigation

· WAP browser

· 2MP Camera

· Dual SIM

· Pre loaded Opera Mini, Facebook, eBuddy and MSN



Karbonn K777 price and Karbonn K20 price in India is approximately Rs.4500 and Rs.3500 respectively.

Cheap Karbonn K777 launched in India

Karbonn K777 is a candybar dual SIM GSM phone with a 2.4 inch QVGA display and is available in black color. Its stylish design and large circular 4-way joystick navigation key is simply appealing. Measuring 115 x 50 x 10.7 mm, the new Karbonn K777 phone weighs as light as 95 gms.




It has a good quality 3.2 megapixel camera and its memory is expandable up to 8 GB. It offers 2000 phonebook memory and 2000 SMS memory. Karbonn K777 supports GPRS/EDGE connectivity, Bluetooth with A2DP and hi-speed microUSB 2.0 port for local data transfer.

It is endowed with a music player,video recording function and FM radio. Google search and Opera Mini web browser allows for speedy Net browsing. It is supported on Tri-band GSM 900/ 1800 /1900 MHz Network. Its 1000 mAh standard Li-ion battery provides upto 3 hrs talktime and upto 250 hrs of standby time.

Its specialized features includes Vibrate mode, Handsfree Speakerphone, SMS/MMS/EMS messaging, CLID and photo ID calling, call conferencing, caller groups, closed caller group (family), and Anti-Theft feature, MP3/MIDI ringtones, support for English/Hindi and Telugu, and few embedded games.

Karbonn K777 handset comes preloaded with Opera Mini 5 browser, JAVA MIDP 2.1 and WAP 2.0/xHTML browser. It has in built access to social networking sites like Facebook, eMSN, eBuddy and Twitter.

Karbonn K777 price in India is Rs. 4,500

Mobile Banking and Usability

We have all lived through an amazing journey to see how fast mobile phones have grown in popularity. Many reasons for this massive growth have been given, ranging from the communication needs to fashion-awareness. One of the reasons for this growth in my opinion is that phones are so easy to use. I know that some people will disagree with me, but fact is that the majority of people use phones without (ever) reverting to a manual, having to go on mobile phone usage training or requiring assistance from family or friend. (Very different to what we have got used to in the Personal Computer Space).

So why is it that phones are so easy to use?

Usability design and testing has around as a formal discipline for the best part of twenty years. Mobile phone manufacturers (all of them) take usability very serious. Every design and every model usually go through rigorous usability testing cycles. Results are fed back into the design and never will a phone be released without a green light from the usability guru's. Industry advances and standards have made big leaps in this space. Techniques like the Mobile Phone Usability Questionnaire (MPUQ), the Usability Checklist for Mobile phones and many others are utilised in the design of mobile phones

Just a thought: how frequently have your mobile banking application and solutions been tested (or designed) for usability? have you contracted a supplier with a track record and capability to build mobile banking solutions that are usable?

I believe that this is the single most important reason why mobile banking applications are not being used as extensively as they could/should be. Most mobile banking applications have not been designed with due insight in and proper application of mobile usability techniques.

Who can see your PIN

Researchers claim to have found flaws in some famous brand PIN entry devices - certified by Apacs and Visa. These devices have loopholes that can enable fraudsters to access unencrypted PINs and account numbers.

The "tapping" techniques to capture unsuspected cardholder's PINs require little technical know-how and fraudsters can easily attach to the PED a "tap" that records PIN and account details as they are transmitted between the card and the PIN pad. Criminals can then use this data to create counterfeit cards that can be used to withdraw cash at ATMs in countries where Chip and PIN hasn't yet been implemented. (Read more)

In another report, a British criminologist has warned that the new security card technology could actually increase, rather than solve, the problem of identity theft and fraud. The researcher said that identity cards and chip and pin technology for credit cards were unlikely to alleviate the problem, as fraudsters react with more creative responses and individual vigilance and knowhow, which remains the best protection against fraud and identity theft will decrease. (Read more).

The biggest exposure to fraudulent transactions in my view is the lack of control that a subscriber have on what can be done with his/her PIN. How is the PIN dealt with, can it be intercepted or is it stored anyway along the line. Any third party device or transmission line that the subscriber does not have control over is a possible source of attack. PIN entry devices that are not under the direct control of the subscriber is the weak point. It is possible to utilise these devices to capture a PIN fraudulently without the knowledge of the subscriber.

Techniques are available that enable a subscriber to enter their PIN on a mobile phone in a secure way that can also be certified by banks and credit card associations. The difference with this approach is that the PIN is entered on a personal device that is (usually) under the control of the subscriber and tampering in order to capture a PIN fraudulently is much more difficult.