Talking mobility

EXIBITION: Mobile Asia 2006 was abuzz with buyers and dreams of bridging India's mobile divide

An exhibition that can draw three lakh enthusiastic visitors in four days has got to do something with the hottest craze of the season: mobile phones.

Mobile Asia 2006, which concluded in Delhi on Monday, saw a buying frenzy of sorts with 40 per cent of the visitors opting for new generation handsets.

The four-day mega exposition on cellular technologies sent cash registers ringing with handset sales in the run-up to the festive season. With every exhibitor selling thousands of units (in the Rs 2,000 to Rs 45,000 range) every day, Mobile Asia 2006 has arrived as a platform for all the buzz around mobile telephony.

Organised by Indian Cellular Association (ICA), Mobile Asia 2006 had 35 exhibitors, including Airtel, AOL, Haier, I-Mate, LG, Motorola, Molife, Nokia, Reliance Infocomm, Sagem, Samsung, Sony Ericsson and Tata Teleservices.

According to Pankaj Mohindroo, national president, ICA, "Today, one out of every nine Indians has a cellphone in his hand. This should grow to one out of two in the next few years." The grand idea of Mobile Asia is to bridge the country's mobile divide.

At the current pace of change, it could well be done. The domestic mobile handset industry has grown from a tiny Rs 200 crore in 2001 to over Rs 20,000 crore in 2006, with more to come.

Sony Ericsson
Sony Ericsson, that enamoured markets across the globe with products such as the K800 Cyber-shot phone and its Walkman phone line-up, has added Z610i, W950i, W710i and W850i in its kitty.

"The latest additions have been in the mid and the premium categories," says Dhiraj Soni, senior marketing manager, Sony Ericsson, "simply because we expect consumers graduating to next generation handsets."

The company has launched Z610i, priced at Rs 16,495, in colours like rose pink, ice blue and black. The W950i (Rs 30,995), W710i (Rs 15,495) and W850i (Rs 21,975) will be part of the of the Walkman series that have been Sony Ericsson's winner models.

I-Mate
I-Mate , the specialist in Microsoft Windows Mobile powered devices and software applications, announced two new devices, the I-Mate JAQ and I-Mate SPL.

While JAQ is a no-frills heavy-duty business device, the I-Mate SPL is a great-looking slim device. I-Mate SPL will be soon launched in the sub-15k price range; the JAQ is priced at about Rs 25,000.

Samsung
The company highlighted its latest Ultra series, a premium range of slim phones. Besides, it also showcased its WiBro, an emerging broadband technology that lets people use wireless devices to watch TV broadcasts along with surfing the internet.

Samsung is also all gung-ho about making WiBro compatible with WiMax, another emerging wireless specification designed for use over a larger distance rather than the much shorter distances associated with wi-fi and Bluetooth standards.

Samsung also unveiled its Bang & Olufsen designed phones "" the ultimate style statement.

LG
LG Electronics unveiled new variants of its Chocolate Phone at Mobile Asia 2006. Post the successful innings of KG800, LG spruced up its line-up with phones in colours like red, wine, pink and white.

"The coloured Chocolate handsets will be directed at consumers who want their phone to say something about their personality," points a company spokesperson. LG claims to have sold over 3 million chocolate phones worldwide since its May launch.

Nokia
The leader of the pack unveiled its music phones 5300, 5200 and N91 with 8 GB memory, at Mobile Asia 2006. Strengthening its music capabilities, the Finnish giant has launched the two models that are expected to compete directly with Sony Ericsson's Walkman series.

Motorola
Right behind Nokia, Motorola made it big globally with Razr and Pebl. Carrying forward its tryst with design, the company has added some beautiful looking models like the Motorola Krzr and Motorola Ming and MotoFlip. The Krzr looks like a slimmer version of Razr and is targeted at users who aspire for trendy handsets.

"Motorola Ming comes with a business card reader and is meant for executives who would not want to compromise on design or features,"points out Lloyd Mathias, director, marketing, Motorola India. The phone is priced at Rs 16,500.

Motorola also showcased its business phone, P990i and Motorola Q (which is the company's answer to Blackberry variants).