The authorities in Raipur, Chhattisgarh have begun sealing 144 mobile phone towers installed by cellular operators without obtaining permission. Even after serving a series of notices by the authorities, the tower owners did not respond. Raipur Municipal Corporation had sealed 38 towers Thursday and the process for the other illegal towers would be completed soon.

The authorities have put those mobile phone towers in the illegal list that were installed without getting a no-objection certificate from the municipal corporation or those towers on rooftops of houses constructed illegally or in areas that were not approved by the corporation. [via]

To find out which version of Android firmware is running on your device, just follow the steps below. Instructions vary depending on which device you have. Below are general steps that may not work on your device.

On your device, press < Home >
Press < Menu >
Select Settings
Select About phone
Look for ‘Android version’ or ‘Firmware version’ to see the exact version your device is running

You may visit this Google page on your device and you’ll be able to use an automatic firmware version checker.

Micromax plans to set up a manufacturing unit near Hyderabad. It is expected that the company is likely to come out with a detailed project report on mobile manufacturing units by the end of this month.
Micromax currently has been selling 1 million units per month through its retailer network and plans to double this figure in the next six months.

At present, the company imports handsets from Taiwan, South Korea and China. The company produces fixed wireless telephone equipment from its plant in Baddi, Himachal Pradesh. [source]

Facebook is bringing new privacy controls for accessing the social network through their mobile devices. The new dashboard will give mobile users a detailed view into what information they have shared with different applications and Websites and the ability to adjust those settings “on the go.”

The Applications and Websites section of privacy settings will display a full list of applications being used and when these apps last accessed their information.

Other settings you can adjust include access to your basic profile information, photos and videos, friends’ information and more. To see your privacy controls on mobile, go to m.facebook.com/privacy or visit the Settings page and click the ‘Change’ link next to ‘Privacy Settings.’ [via]

According to a study by telecom network technology firm Arieso, Android phone users use more data services than those with other smartphones. Customers with Android phones are creating more data traffic mostly due to better cameras and video recorders, and software for editing the footage.

Wireless operators are keen on raising revenue from Internet browsing and the social networking boom as revenue from traditional voice calls decline. This trend is set to continue.

Globally Android usage ranked second in the last quarter, beating iPhone and BlackBerry, but still trailing Nokia’s Symbian. Android is expected to become the leading operating system next year. [source]

Tata Docomo introduced a new online contest to share the Rules of Smartness you believe in  This content runs from 7^th December to 31^st December 2010, giving out the Nokia c6 every weekdays. Visit the Rules of Smartness website, login with your Facebook or Twitter account, and post your smartness rule.  Share your rules with friends in Facebook and twitter to get more popularity. The maximum number of entries that can be posted in a day is 15.

Every week day, a panel of jury will select one daily winner based on the most innovative response submitted by participant/s. You can view the complete terms and conditions.

Continue reading ‘“Rules of Smartness Contest” @ Tata Docomo, Win a Nokia C6’

Speaking at the LeWeb conference in Paris, Marko Ahtisaari, SVP of design at Nokia, said that Nokia is looking to revamp the mobile user interface in 2011. Nokia will launch devices based on this interface with Meego for 2011. He also added that, Nokia is not interested in using Android isn’t one of them right now.

There are 3.5 million app downloads a day in the Ovi store, with 1.3 billion people using Nokia handsets every day. read more.

Airtel Digital TV – Airtel’s Direct To Home (DTH) Service is available to users at offer price. Airtel Digital TV (Standard Box) will be available to users at just Rs. 999/-.Airtel Digital TV (HD- High Definition) wil be available to users at an offer price of Rs.2499/-. Installation and Home Delivery of the purchased Digital TV will be FREE.

Get Airtel Digital Tv at Rs.999 This offer is valid only for web purchases only, not valid for purchases through digitalTV Retail outlets.

Offers

• Airtel digital TV (Standard Box) @ Rs1590 999/-
• Airtel digital TV [HD] @ Rs. 2840 2499/-

Installation and home delivery is free.

Union Minister Kapil Sibal indicated that government had plans to allocate more spectrum for the telecom sector.

Responding to a query regarding allocation of additional spectrum, the minister said “This is something we are looking at. India is one of those countries, which has lowest quantum of spectrum. We are looking at releasing more spectrum soon.”

Earlier telecom companies had raised complaints regarding the shortage of spectrum available in the country.

ZTE won a US$85 million 3G contract from India’s Aircel to build and deploy 3G network. ZTE will be responsible for Aircel’s 2G network upgrade and for implementing the new 3G network and subsequent upgrades. The new Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) network for Aircel is based on ZTE’s software defined radio (SDR – unified 2G/3G/HSPA/HSPA+) platform.

This will allow Aircel achieve cost-effective networking and improved mobile services. Aircel is the Indian subsidiary of Malaysia’s Maxis group. ZTE also said that it has more than 4,000 research and development staff focussing on fourth generation (4G) technology development. [via]