Airtel and Samsung launch India’s first Integrated Digital TV

Airtel and Samsung launch India’s first Integrated Digital TV (iDTV)

• Take the lead in introducing a television with a built-in Smart Card that will allow customers to enjoy TV viewing without an external set top box

• Enable a smart TV viewing experience with minimal signal loss and maximum audio & video clarity 

New Delhi, October 21, 2014: Airtel digital TV, the Direct-To-Home (DTH) service from Bharti Airtel, today announced its partnership with Samsung to launch India’s very first Integrated Digital TV (iDTV).


As part of this innovation - Samsung’s range of SmartDirect TVs will come designed with an in-built Airtel digital TV Smart Card which will enable DTH signal reception without the need for customers to install an external set-top-box (STB).

The Integrated Digital TV (iDTV) capability will deliver a smart TV viewing experience for customers through minimal signal loss and maximum audio & video clarity while also ensuring maximum power savings.

 

“We at Airtel digital TV are always looking for new ways to deliver an experience for our customers that is truly innovative and world class. In line with this commitment, we are today excited to announce our collaboration with Samsung to launch the Integrated Digital TV and introduce the Indian market to its next phase of TV viewing experience”, said Mr. Shashi Arora, CEO – DTH & Media, Bharti Airtel.

Developed post an extensive R&D, the iDTV is a smart solution that not only enables a hassle free TV setup that has fewer wires but will also assist in reduction in signal loss (between the set-top-box and TV). iDTV offers a single remote solution powered by an intuitive user guide. 

 

“The in-built Airtel DTH smart card supports direct signal reception from the dish antenna, thus enabling crystal clear audio-video quality and making these Samsung TVs the smartest available in the marketplace today”, added Mr. Arora.

Commenting at the launch, Mr. Ranjivjit Singh, Chief Marketing Officer, Samsung Electronics said, “We are thrilled to partner with Airtel to launch India’s First Smart Direct TV with an in-built iDTV technology in India. 

 

The clutter free, convenient and ultimate viewing experience offered by iDTV showcases Samsung’s commitment to provide consumer-centric products. Samsung has consistently revolutionised the television segment by introducing superior products, modern technology and distinctive content to provide the latest and best home entertainment experience to our consumers.”

Powered by HD technology, iDTV creates a more immersive viewing experience coupled with intuitive user interface giving customers greater control of their entertainment experience. 

 

The iDTV set includes the Samsung SmartDirect TV and Airtel Digital TV’s Smart Card. It is now available across Samsung Plazas and all leading multi-retail outlets for prices at starting INR 44,900/-. 

 

Customers purchasing the all new iDTV can also enjoy a limited period introductory offer that offers 4 months of free subscription of Airtel DTH services. Customers can call 12148 or 18605006500 for more details.

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Samsung eyes Operating Profit of Q1 $7.7 Bn, Up by 53%

Samsung Electronics of South Korea, the leading electronic company, has been speculating that its operating profit for the first quarter  would go up by 52.9 per cent to  8.7 trillion won.

However, the official results over the earnings would be made public later this month. 

With gaining good sales in the smart market, Samsung's profit was increased in2012.


Sales in the first quarter of 2013 were expected to reach 52 trillion won, up 14.9 percent from a year earlier.


Analysts say, though Samsung overtook Nokia and Apple in smart phones last year, Apple was twice as profitable as Samsung in terms of gross profit margin,


According to Hong Kong-based market researcher, Samsung Electronics is estimated to have sold 25 million smart phones each month this year, which puts its quarterly sales at over 70 million units.

It also said, Samsung continued to dominate the global smart phone market in terms of market share, with its stake in the first two months of the year standing at 35 percent.

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International Digital Tech - Tuesday Round-up

In technology this week, we’re going to feature some tech news which is old somehow but yet need to be crying out loud. So let’s start:

Firefox OS launched
Launched around a week before Firefox OS is the new OS for your mobiles devices. If you’re a Firefox user and recently visited the site, then you must have seen the announcement about the new Firefox OS. Till now Firefox is considered as one of the competitive mobile browsers for both desktops and mobile phones. And now this new OS from Mozilla is expected to be a challenger to Apple, Symbian and Windows platforms in the future. Firefox OS is not limited to a single mobile manufacturer or carrier and thus proves to be beneficial for users & developers. There is also market place where users can find unlimited number of Firefox OS supporting apps.

Google Plus integrated into Google Play Store

Yes, you can provide app reviews through on Google Play store and your Google+ icon will show up beside your review with your photo and name. This is a new strategy from Google to improve review quality and also promote their brand Google Plus. Earlier Google also has made the Youtube video comments to be put through Google Plus profile.

Galaxy Note II crossed 5 millions sales figures
Within less than a month Samsung Galaxy Note II sales figures are touching 5 million from 3 million. Less than two weeks before we wrote an article on Mass Gadget Heist , where we wrote about theft of 1400 units of Galaxy Note II. We really don’t know what the actual reason behind such boost in sales is. If these heists are more of a publicity stunt than actual theft then as per the figures these stunts are working.

Android updates for the new Jelly Bean
Google android has been releasing new updates to its Jelly Bean update and some of the carriers in Australia, Europe and China are already releasing these updates into their devices. Vodafone Australia will begin the delivery of Samsung Galaxy S III with the new Jelly Bean update and in China Android 4.2 is ready to hit the market.

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Increasing Mass Gadget Heist – Concern or Publicity Stunt?

The year 2012 will be best remembered as the year with best gadget innovations as we’ve witnessed the launch of some amazing gadgets like iPhone 5, iPad Mini, Windows Surface, Google Nexus and many more. Companies like Apple, Samsung, Windows or Google are not backing out in competition and releasing their innovations with up-beat features. On the other side, we seem to remember this year as the year with most Mass Gadget Heists. Till now three major gadget heists have been confirmed by technology biggies like Apple and Samsung.

According to news reports, on a Tuesday in September just before some days of iPhone 5 store launch, a group of thieves stole $100 K worth new iPhone 5s and iPads from a Best Buy store in Murfreesboro. The theft was a financial blow to both the retailers and manufacturer. On the other side; in a report at CNET does reveal that the increasing first weekend sales figures of iPhone 5 are just a thing to boast about, but not to celebrate. Apple iPhone 5 sales are 1 million more than iPhone 4S in 2011. Some tech analysts did expect a 10 million first weekend sales of iPhone 5, which is of-course impossible. We tend to doubt whether this pre-launch theft is actually a theft or a publicity stunt to increase the popularity of the gadget just before it becomes available on stores.

This is not the single incident which makes us think or doubt these thefts, as recently Samsung confirmed theft of 1,400 new Samsung Galaxy Note II from the Malaysian airport. The whole consignment actually worth around $1 million and such huge financial theft is really a concern for copyright infringement accused Samsung. Just around one month after the theft, Samsung Galaxy Note II sales figures were touching 3 million and this figures are achieved 3X faster than the Galaxy Note I. At the same time Apple’s iPhone 5 figures were more than five million and Apple was planning its next device iPad Mini launch. Getting aggravated by varied tablet and smartphone sizes Apple released iPad Mini, which is selling beyond expected figures.

But if you see the last week’s sales report, Apple didn’t release any sales figures for iPad Mini or the new forth generation iPad 4 separately. Giving tough competition to iPad Mini, Google’s recently launched Nexus devices are enjoying good sales figures by approaching 1 million sales per month. And now the theft of 3,600 iPad Minis worth value of $1.5 million from JFK Airport, the same place where more than three decades ago $5 million cash and $900 K jewelry items were stolen. We don’t accuse anyone giving a publicity stunt to boost their sales figures rather we would like to appreciate these incidents. But what we think is that such frequent heists may raise doubt among the people and also among other competitors. Manufacturers or retailers should be more alarmed and stop these heists to avoid big financial blows.

Follow us over Twitter @Neel5 or like Business News This Week in Facebook for more updates.

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Apple corrects ‘inaccurate’ Samsung infringement apology; and iPhone 5 not a big bash in India

Apple is getting a hard time from its competitors in Asian and non-European countries except USA. Companies like Samsung do have great base as compared to Apple in Asian countries. Today we’re merging two news regarding Apple and we don’t think that either of them are good for Apple’s business. First one is Apple’s apology to Samsung regarding the product infringement and second one is iPhone 5 launch in India.

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