The Hindu : Front Page : India ‘inside’ many smart phones

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Sunday, May 11, 2008
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India ‘inside’ many smart phones

Anand Parthasarathy

Most of them are based on the S60 software platform
Indian ingenuity behind some popular applications

Bangalore: Remember the time when personal computers came with a sticker that said ‘Intel inside’? Maybe it is time to craft another one which says ‘India inside’ — a catchline for many of the world’s 250 million ‘smart’ phones that are expected to sell during 2008.

The majority of these phones are based on the S60 software platform largely created by the world’s biggest mobile phone maker, Nokia, and shared with other handset makers such as Panasonic, LG and Samsung. It runs on the Symbian operating system, jointly owned and used by many phone makers. Mobile phones are said to be ‘smart’ when they can access the Internet and provide a mix of Web-driven voice, data and video services.

To create an ecosystem to foster applications for this burgeoning phone category, Nokia has thrown open the platform to developers worldwide and — as a recent status report shared in Bangalore showed — some of the most popular applications worldwide, are the result of Indian ingenuity.

Nokia drew attention to:

(1) The Mumbai-based Geodesic, creator of Mundu IM, an Instant Message tool that was rated among the top 12 mobile applications of 2007 by PC Magazine. Mundu breaks the barriers of multiple IM networks and allows users to seamlessly move from phone to PC and back.

(2) From Gurgaon, near Delhi, Aims Migital has seen its smart phone tools used around the world. Among the most popular: ‘Smart Assistant Live’ which turns the phone into a personal assistant’ managing your calls, recording conversations if required and sending auto replies. ‘SMS Scheduler’ remembers all those birthdays and anniversaries and sends the greetings on time — even if you forgot!

(3) Technopark in Thiruvananthapuram, is home to View Systems whose Voice Reminder tool helps users keep track of key events through voice alerts rather than SMS messages.

What can we say except: ‘Smart’ work guys!

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