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Vodafone announced it has introduced a new service which allows more users to benefit from professional e-mail communication via mobile phones. The new Vodafone BlackBerry Starter tariff option is available to Vodafone customers with minimum term contracts, being the first tariff where users pay only for the amount of data transferred, with no monthly charge. The new option targets newcomers and occasional users who want to take advantage of a professional push e-mail service.

E-mails that are sent via the German Vodafone network with the new Vodafone BlackBerry Starter tariff are billed on a volume basis. For 19 cents, users can transfer 10 kilobytes, which corresponds to around three mails. This makes the new BlackBerry tariff option appealing for newcomers and infrequent users who only travel for a few days a month or don't receive or send many e-mails.

The Vodafone BlackBerry service provides automatic receipt of e-mails in real-time - just like the popular text messaging service. The e-mails are displayed immediately after receipt and can be answered or processed straight away. One major advantage of mobile e-mail communication is that there are no restrictions on the length of text messages and messages with file attachments can also be sent. Vodafone BlackBerry eliminates the processes of manual login and e-mail retrieval because everything takes place automatically. Users can use up to ten existing e-mail accounts (at Vodafone, GMX or Web.de).

The new tariff option can be activated by calling the free service number 1212 in the Vodafone network. Then, owners of a BlackBerry handheld or BlackBerry compatible handset - such as Nokia E50, E60, E61, Palm Treo 750v, SonyEricsson P990i, M600i – can configure their device for automatic e-mail reception.

Labels: Blackberry, cellphones, email, Mobile phones, Vodafone

Posted by Aadi at 7:59 PM | Permalink | Comments

Hutch India and Research In Motion (RIM) have jointly launched the BlackBerry Pearl 8100 smartphone in the country.

The BlackBerry Pearl 8100 comes complete with phone, digital camera, and multimedia capabilities. It offers the full BlackBerry experience, including, e-mail with multiple email account management, group messaging, attachment viewing, instant messenger, organizer applications, Web browsing, and other mobile applications. The smartphone has a large, ultra-bright 240x260 color display, megapixel camera with 3 zoom levels (up to 5X), and built-in flash, multimedia player with stereo headset jack, 64 MB flash memory, and microSD expansion slot.

It features push-technology, Sure Type keyboard with QWERTY layout, new intuitive user interface, call management features, and other first-rate phone features with speaker independent voice recognition (SIVR) for voice activated dialing (VAD), dedicated 'send', 'end', and 'mute' keys.

In addition, the 8100 smartphone supports Hutch India's GSM/GPRS/EDGE network, thus allowing customers to use the quad-band BlackBerry Pearl while traveling overseas.

Moreover, BlackBerry Enterprise Server support integrates with Microsoft Exchange, IBM Lotus Domino, and Novell GroupWise environments, and features a new set of IT policy controls for IT departments to administer camera and expansion memory settings.

The phone supports up to 16 days of standby time, and 3.5 hours of talk time.

With this launch, there are now four BlackBerry models available in the Indian market: namely, the BlackBerry 8100 Pearl; the BlackBerry 8700g; the BlackBerry 7130g; and the BlackBerry 7290.

The BlackBerry Pearl 8100 is available at a price of Rs 24,990, while the other phones are available for Rs 29,990, Rs 14,990, and Rs 19,490 respectively.

Labels: Blackberry, cellphones, gadgets, Handhelds, Mobile phones

Posted by Aadi at 10:40 AM | Permalink | Comments