Paytm Launches India's “First Pocket Android POS Device” for Contactless Ordering & Payments

 

* Styled like a mobile phone this sleek device has been launched at an introductory monthly rental of Rs 499 

* It comes bundled with Contactless Ordering software for SMEs, restaurants and takeaway joints 

* Enabled with integrated billing software, camera for QR scanning, works with 4G sim cards, Wi-Fi & Bluetooth connectivity 

* Company to invest Rs 100 crore on distribution & marketing of these devices in FY21 

On a mission to equip SMEs with technology-led solutions, India's homegrown financial services platform Paytm has launched the country's “first pocket Android POS device” for contactless ordering & payments. The company has introduced 'Paytm All-in-One Portable Android Smart POS' at an introductory price of Rs 499 per month rental. Styled like a mobile phone for accepting orders and payments on the go, this is the first such Android-based device to be introduced in India and is much more powerful than the portable Linux based POS devices presently available in the country.

It also comes bundled with Paytm's 'Scan to Order' service that is fast getting adopted by thousands of restaurants and takeaway joints the country. Paytm is offering this high-end POS device effectively at the lowest price in the market, in an effort to empower a large number of SMEs to kickstart their businesses with contactless ordering and payment solutions. This device enables delivery personnel logistic players, Kirana stores, and small shopkeepers to accept digital payments on the go.

The robust, featherweight & ergonomic device weighs only 163 grams, 12mm thick, and has a 4.5-inch touch screen. It comes bundled with a powerful processor, all-day battery life, and an inbuilt camera to scan QR codes and instantly process payment. This fully-loaded device has many industry-first features & services including cloud-based software for billing, payments, and customer management. It works with 4G sim cards, Wi-Fi and has Bluetooth connectivity to ensure payments never fail and stays round the clock connected with all of Paytm's bouquet of services. The company aims to issue over 2 lakh devices within the next few months which will generate over 20 million transactions per month.

This smart POS device is integrated with the ‘Paytm for Business’ app to generate GST compliant bills and also to manage all transactions & settlements. Besides this, Paytm for Business app also helps merchants to avail of numerous business services and financial solutions such as loans, insurance, and Business Khata to manage digital ledger of all their transactions including udhaar, cash, and card sales. It also has a merchandise store on the app offering Paytm All-in-One QR integrated utility items such as soundbox, calculator, power bank, clock, pen stands, and radio. The Paytm for Business App has witnessed over 20 million downloads and is one of the most popular merchant apps on Google Play Store and App Store. 

Renu Satti, Sr. Vice President at Paytm said, "We innovate products & services that are aligned with our mission of enabling SMEs with technology-led solutions. We are confident that this affordable pocket-sized Paytm Android POS device will enable everyone from SMEs to delivery personnel of Kirana Stores to collect payments safely. It is our endeavour to help merchants & traders to easily digitize their business operations, without any investment in technology or backend infrastructure. Our Paytm for Business app, Khata, and payout services are providing the much-needed digitization support to businesses to improve their efficiency & supporting them to join the Digital India mission."

Launched this year, Paytm Payout is fast becoming a must-have tool for businesses to make regular payments to their employees, vendors, and business partners. During the ongoing pandemic, more businesses have used the service to process payments of over Rs. 1500 crores either to the Paytm wallet, food wallet, gift voucher, or bank account of millions of beneficiaries. 

Give Wings to Your Photography Dreams with the All New Lava Z66

Indian mobile handset brand, Lava International Limited, announced the launch of its new smart phone- Lava Z66. The Lava Z66 is equipped with a 13MP selfie camera with screen flash to capture stunning portraits even in low-light. It also sports a dual rear camera setup of 13MP + 5MP with LED flash which renders a superior photography experience. To enhance the user experience further, the smartphone camera has been packed with premium features like beauty mode, night mode, HDR mode, burst mode, panorama, time lapse, slow motion along with filters for every mood.

The smartphone is powered with a 1.6 GHz octa-core processor for a seamless performance and features a 6.08-inch HD+ notch display with a 2.5D curved screen & 19:9 aspect ratio. This 3GB RAM smartphone has a storage capacity of 32GB (expandable up to 128GB) for storing your precious moments and videos. Priced at Rs. 7777, Lava Z66 is currently available in three striking colour variants – Marine Blue, Berry Red and Midnight Blue. This Made in India smartphone is currently available at offline stores and will soon be available on Amazon and Flipkart.

The Lava Z66 draws power from 3950 mAh battery which provides up to 16 hours of talk time*. The smartphone runs on Stock Android OS (Android 10) and is free from pre-loaded bloatware which ensures a smooth performance and a clean Android experience. For improved device security, Lava Z66 has been equipped with a fingerprint scanner and a face-unlock feature that unlocks the phone in just 0.6 seconds*.

Commenting on the launch, Tejinder Singh, Head- Product, Lava International said, “Lava Z66 is an exceptional device in the budget segment for all the photography enthusiasts out there. This beautiful device not only lets you click the most stunning pictures but also delivers a power packed all round performance.”

The Lava Z66 comes with dual sim support (4G+4G), Bluetooth V4.2, OTG support, Micro-USB, and a 3.5mm audio jack. The phone also has an array of sensors that includes an accelerometer, ambient light and a proximity sensor.

*under Lava testing conditions

Lava International Limited 

#ProudlyIndian

Lava International Limited is a leading Indian Mobile Handset Company with operations in 20+ countries. In the international markets the company is growing rapidly and is already among the top players in many of these countries it operates in. 

Lava has always been at the forefront of Govt. of India’s ‘Make in India’ initiative. Lava was the first mobile brand to take a lead in support of this important nation building program and had set up a design team in India, becoming the first brand to design phones in the country. With this ‘Design in India’ initiative, Lava is now the only Mobile handset company that makes truly ‘Made In India’ phones with complete control on design and manufacturing within the country. 

With the vision to “Empower people to do more, to be more” the company was established in 2009. Lava International Limited is headquartered in Noida, Uttar Pradesh. The company has its manufacturing facilities and a repair factory in an approximately 300,000 square feet area in Noida. The manufacturing plants have a capacity of manufacturing 40 million phones per annum.

We Make in India, We Make for India.

Esper Partners with Point Mobile on Lifecycle Management for Rugged Android Devices

Esper, a global leader in the Android DevOps space, has announced a partnership with Point Mobile Co., Ltd., one of the world’s fastest-growing manufacturers of rugged, handheld mobile computers. Industrial fleet managers have off-the-shelf access to the industry’s most powerful tools for Android device deployment and management on Point Mobile devices. Esper and Point Mobile want to help firms in energy, materials, and the supply chain rapidly deploy and secure Android devices. 

“Point Mobile is among the most quality-focused mobile device makers in the world. They’re a globally-leading source for rugged Android devices and purpose-built mobile hardware,” says Esper’s COO and Co-Founder Shiv Sundar. “We’re proud to announce that Esper’s cloud tools are offered as part of Point Mobile’s leading options for post-sales support.” 

“Together, we can help our customers in the supply chain, energy, and materials streamline operations and gain a competitive edge with connected Android,” says Sundar. Esper’s Android DevOps tools can reduce fleet OpEx by 60% versus traditional mobile device management (MDM) solutions by offering remote features to provision, update, and debug devices. 

“Point Mobile partners with innovators like Esper to drive our mission of transforming industry mobility,” says SK Kang, CEO of Point Mobile. “Remote Android management features significantly lower fleet operating expenses, which allows our customers to focus on transforming industrial workflows.”  

Esper and Point Mobile’s partnership was formed, in part, because both firms share a mission to provide stable, simple, and cost-effective Android mobility solutions. Point Mobile customers can gain a mobile advantage with built-in cloud tools for ultra-reliable, rugged Android devices. 

About Esper

Founded in 2017 in Bellevue, Washington, Esper is the industry’s first complete toolchain for connected Android devices like kiosks, point-of-sale, digital signage, and purpose-built hardware. Esper’s cloud console and open APIs provide the infrastructure for secure connection and real-time data exchange between Android devices and cloud.

Esper Announces Free Pricing Tier to Support Android IoT Innovation

Esper announced they will provide free access to their Android DevOps tools for innovators and entrepreneurs worldwide. The startup hopes to create a healthier global ecosystem of Android innovation and lasting impact in healthcare, education, and other industries. The open-source Android platform is at the forefront of IoT innovation, and nearly unlimited potential for socially responsible innovation in the future.

“Smart, connected Android devices can create a brighter future for everyone,” says Esper Co- Founder and CEO, Yadhu Gopalan. “We believe that removing barriers to Android IoT innovation can result in technology for the greater good, like student tablets that equalize education access and remote healthcare monitoring devices that improve quality of life for patients with rare conditions.”

Esper is a Madrona Ventures-backed startup for Android DevOps with rapidly growing global customer adoption among major brands, startups, and nonprofits across industries. The firm’s core product is advanced device and app management tools for single-purpose Android devices of any form factor, including kiosks, mobile point-of-sale (mPoS), and non-traditional IoT hardware. Esper is free for fleets of 100 or fewer devices, and priced very affordably for larger fleets.

“We are excited to announce this Freemium model, especially for our customer base in India. Nearly 97% of consumers in India use Android devices. Given the current circumstances more and more businesses are adopting a mobile first approach and Android is the preferred platform, given its cost effectiveness. This makes India a huge market for us and also presents a requirement for effective device and app management in the Android dedicated device segment. Esper’s product connects a secure connection between the cloud and Android IoT devices. Our ultimate goal is to have one million devices on Esper’s platform that improve quality-of-life for people worldwide.” says Shiv Sundar, Co-Founder and COO of Esper.

Sundar will be available to answer questions about socially responsible Android mobility during an upcoming open “AMA” session- or, Ask Me Anything -  at 11 am IST on 9 July, 2020 via video conference. Details are available on the Esper website.

Social responsibility is woven into Esper’s cultural fabric, and a value that influences every decision from new partnerships to hiring. In recent months, Esper has formed fundraising and technology support partnerships with non-profit groups across India, including HungerBox and iTeach Schools.

“By providing free or affordable infrastructure for Android IoT innovation, Esper is able to help other organizations dedicate resources to solving challenging problems instead of fleet operating costs,” says Sundar. “We believe removing barriers to innovation is a socially responsible business, and ideally, contributes to a more diverse ecosystem of global transformation.” 

About Esper

Esper is a cloud platform that automates application deployment and management for Android devices. Using Esper, enterprises can configure and monitor Android devices for various use cases, keep them secure to help their business function seamlessly. Esper also specializes in streamlining the process for building, deploying, and managing apps on devices for POS, restaurants, kiosks, logistics, and transportation at scale.

Esper operates out of Bengaluru and Seattle and specializes in meeting the requirements of markets in US, Canada, India, and SE Asia.

Motorola's Android system banks on Google's Web power

Struggling phone maker Motorola unveiled its first device using Google's Android system Thursday, expecting it will power features that promise easier access to hot Internet sites like Facebook and Twitter.

The phone, called Cliq, will go on sale at T-Mobile before the end of the year. Pricing info has not yet been released.

Motorola has reorganized its handset biz around Google's Android system, hoping the partnership with the Web search leader can help it win back customers.

The centerpiece of Motorola's Android development is its MOTOBLUR software, which integrates contacts, e-mails and text messages along with postings and photos from social networks by feeding content from these sources into "easy-to-manage streams."

For example, Motorola's live "Happenings" application delivers updates posted by friends automatically on multiple social sites to one place, and gives the user a choice of ways to reply to those updates instantly.

Agencies

Motorola unveils Cliq smartphones

Motorola introduced its first smartphone based on Google's Android software, in a move that's key to the company's goal of regaining its place among the world's top cellphone manufacturers.

The device, dubbed the Cliq, will first be made available later this year in the US through T-Mobile. The touch-screen phone will run a new service from Motorola called MotoBlur, which synchronises all user messages and contacts, Motorola chief executive Sanjay Jha said at the Mobilize conference in San Francisco.

"MotoBlur makes text, e-mail, Facebook, Twitter feeds and photos from sources like MySpace, Gmail, Yahoo and corporate e-mail appear in a single stream and sync them together with no different logins," Jha said. "This means you can focus on what people have said instead of how and where they said it."

The Cliq will feature a full, slide-out keyboard, a 5-megapixel camera and access to all the Google programmes and applications available for the company's Android platform.

The phone will be called the Dext in markets outside the U.S. and will launch in France, Britain and Latin America later in the year, Jha said. No pricing was available for the device.

Analysts said the integration of social networking into phones could give Motorola and other manufacturers a foot in the door in their battle to challenge the iPhone as the world's dominant smartphone.

Motorola has been especially hard hit by the move to smartphones, selling just 18.8 million handsets in the most recent quarter, down from 28.1 million a year ago. Earlier this decade, the company's Razr was the world's most popular cellphone.

Jha said that Motorola was now refocused on producing cutting-edge mobile devices. He said the Cliq was crucial to the company's recovery.

"It's a very important starting point for us," Jha said. "I see smartphones as the future of computing. If it doesn't fit in your pocket, I don't think it's going to be a relevant device."

Agencies

Make-or-break bet for Motorola as it takes on Android

Motorola Inc needs to spark some serious gadget lust next week when it unveils new phones to convince consumers and Wall Street that it's still a player in the global mobile industry, but the odds may be heavily stacked against it.

After losing market share for years, Motorola has made what is viewed as a make-or-break bet on Google Inc's Android mobile software, hoping the partnership with the giant Web company can help it win back customers.

Shares of the one-time market leader, now ranked fourth in global handset sales, jumped 11 percent earlier this week on investor hopes that the new phones could generate enough excitement to make Motorola's bat-wing logo famous again.

But while no one is expecting an iPhone-killer at the San Francisco unveiling on September 10, analysts say the risk is still that the new phones will not be unique enough to wow consumers, especially when other vendors also sell Android phones. "Early devices will not be significantly differentiated and could disappoint those playing the 9/10 launch," said Macquarie Research analyst Phil Cusick, who expects Motorola to display two new Android phones that day.

Motorola has given few details about the announcement, which will come during Co-Chief Executive Sanjay Jha's keynote at GigaOm's mobile conference. Jha first revealed his plans for creating Android phones in October.

He has said the new phones will be integrated with popular online social networks; but rivals such as Apple Inc, Research in Motion Ltd, HTC Corp and Palm Inc already have features for services like Facebook.

Shareholders have been impressed enough with Jha that they have more than doubled Motorola's share price since May. Still, the stock is down 70 percent from its 2006 peak of $26 and has been trading below $8 per share. "It's going to be extremely significant to the company's future," said Current Analysis analyst Avi Greengart. "If the phone does well, they live to fight another day."

Comparisons will inevitably be drawn to Palm's Pre phone unveiling, which was also seen as a last chance for that company. Pre reception was good and caused Palm's share price to quadruple, in part on the perception that the company has become a more attractive takeover target.

Should the initial reaction to Motorola's devices be as strong, the company could have a good chance of luring back consumers, investors and mobile service providers, analysts say.

PRETTY HARDWARE

Motorola turned to Google for phone software because its own strength has been in hardware. This was demonstrated by the Razr, whose slim form inspired imitations for two years before it started to fall out of favor in late 2006.

Analysts expect Motorola's new phones to have stylish enough hardware to secure distribution by mobile carriers, but the question is whether the software will be different enough to spur holiday season sales -- especially when the bar has been set very high by Apple's iPhone and the thousands of apps available for download from Apple's online store.

"Short-term, Motorola needs to win the purchase decision of specific carriers," Greengart said. "Long-term, they're going to need to do something more than selling pretty hardware running an operating system other competitors have access to."

Motorola's Jha has said several times that carriers were impressed with the Android phones. He told Reuters in a recent interview that he was encouraged when one operator executive told him "bat-wings are back."

Analysts expect Motorola Android phones to be sold by Verizon Wireless, owned by Verizon Communications Inc and Vodafone Group Plc, and by T-Mobile USA, owned by Deutsche Telekom AG. But Verizon said it is not involved in Motorola's announcement next week. T-Mobile said it will launch new Android phones this year but declined to give details.

Even if carriers did back the phone, some of Motorola's former shareholders say they would be wary of betting on the company unless it started to show sustainable improvements.

"I wouldn't touch the stock until they've launched three, four or five phones and they've gained market share for at least a year," said Jane Snorek, an analyst for First American Funds, which manages $35 billion in equities that used to include Motorola shares.

Deutsche Bank analyst Brian Modoff said he is impressed by Jha but agreed that investors should look beyond September 10. "If you get to several phones and they're all disappointing, then you have to start writing the obituary. I don't see that," said Modoff. He said he will focus on the reaction from young consumers who crave cool gadgets: "We'll see what the 20-year-olds think. That's what really matters."

Agencies

Apple,Palm battle it for the smartphone market

Palm Inc has fired another volley at Apple Inc in their smartphone war, as the two rivals tussle over whether iTunes should be compatible with Palm's new Pre smartphone.

Palm, whose executive ranks include former Apple brass, released a software update for the Pre this week that allows it to sync again with Apple's iTunes media management software.

The move comes after Apple last week issued its own software update to close a loophole in iTunes that had allowed it to sync with the Pre. ITunes is designed to work with Apple's iPod and iPhone products.

Palm mimicks Steve Jobs

Palm announced the software update in a blog post that mimicked Steve Jobs' signature catchphrase "Oh, and one more thing," which the Apple chief executive has often used to announce a brand new product.

"Oh, and one more thing: Palm webOS 1.1 re-enables Palm media sync. That's right -- you once again can have seamless access to your music, photos and videos from the current version of iTunes (8.2.1)," said Palm's blog posted late on Thursday.

It was not immediately clear when Apple may issue another software patch to counter Palm's move. When asked for comment, an Apple spokesman said, "As we've said before, newer versions of Apple's iTunes software may no longer provide syncing functionality with unsupported digital media players.

$200 Pre was launched in June

The $200 Pre launched in early June as a competitor to Apple Inc.'s iPhone, became the first non-Apple device that could connect directly to iTunes. Palm launched the Pre to good reviews, seeking to win a slice of the touch screen smartphone market now dominated by Apple's iPhone. Prior to the launch, Palm had touted that the Pre "synchronizes seamlessly with iTunes."

RBC Capital Markets analyst Mike Abramsky estimates Palm has sold 325,000 to 375,000 Pre phones so far, ahead of expectations. In comparison, Apple sold more than a million iPhone 3GS units in the first three days on the market.

While analysts and the Pre's carrier, Sprint Nextel Corp, have said it's too soon to know if the phone will be a real hit, it has already sparked a huge rally in Palm shares this year.

War with Apple generating plenty of drama

Avian Securities analyst Matthew Thornton said the war with Apple is generating plenty of drama, even though few Pre users bought their phone with the intention of syncing with iTunes.

"There's a lot of hype around it," he said, noting that some senior Palm personnel formerly worked at Apple, making the rivalry between the two companies seem that much sharper even if the dispute will likely have a limited economic impact.

Palm Chief Executive Jon Rubinstein had helped create the iPod, and senior vice president of product development Mike Bell also used to work at Apple.

Rubinstein was brought in as Palm's executive chairman from Apple

Rubinstein was brought in as Palm's executive chairman when private equity firm Elevation Partners bought a stake in the company in 2007, and he was named CEO last month. Elevation's co-founders include tech investor Roger McNamee, former Apple Chief Financial Officer Fred Anderson and singer Bono.

Kaufman Bros analyst Shaw Wu called Palm's move a "modest negative" for the company.

"While we acknowledge this is a short-term fix, frankly, we would have preferred Palm respond in a more professional and mature fashion," he wrote in a research note. "We do not believe hacking third-party software to work with one's hardware is a viable long-term business model, especially for a publicly traded company."

Palm was a pioneer of handheld devices

Palm was a pioneer of handheld devices, but has fallen well behind competitors like Apple and BlackBerry maker Research in Motion Ltd.

"Palm believes that openness and interoperability offer better experiences for users by allowing them the freedom to use the content that they own without interference across devices and services," Palm spokeswoman Leslie Letts said.

Indiatimes

Is Google a threat to telcos?

Google's influence and market power with key telecommunications industry stakeholders is having a significant impact on the industry, says research firm Gartner.

According to Alex Winogradoff, research vice president, Gartner, Google will continue to be a market disruptor and disintermediator, especially in the communications market. "Carriers should selectively partner with Google rather than trying to compete, especially in areas where they don't have differentiated and core assets," he said. "However, carriers should also find common ground with Google (for example, on network neutrality) and, if necessary, look for creative ways to oppose Google on issues critical to their survival."

Gartner said that coming late to the operating-system and mobile markets has not been a problem for Google and that its Android and Open Handset Alliance (OHA) activities have already had a profound effect on the mobile industry. In addition to disrupting the traditional telecom ecosystem, Google's actions are diluting the market potential and the service providers' ability to profitably monetise their investments in new markets (such as entertainment and software as a service (SaaS) applications).

The research firm highlighted six critical actions by Google that have already had, or will have, the greatest impact on the telecom industry. Google pressured the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to set aside the "C" Block (22MHz to 11MHz in the uplink and 11MHz in the downlink within the US 700MHz spectrum auctions) as an open-access spectrum. All winning "C" Block bidders would be required to provide open access to applications (which cannot be blocked) and devices (which cannot be locked).

Google's primary motivation was to encourage the development of open broadband network platforms to ensure they will be able to deliver bandwidth-intense over-the-air services and applications.

On November 5 2007, several technology and wireless companies jointly announced the formation of the OHA and the development of Android, a new software platform for mobile devices that includes an operating system (OS), middleware and key applications based on the Linux OS and open-source principles.

This was quickly followed on November 12 2007, with a preliminary release of the Android SDK, as part of Google's $10 million developer challenge. This will help ensure that application and access openness is maintained on the mobile Internet as effectively as on the wired network to enable Google's ad model to spread as successfully as it has on the wired Internet; to open up the "closed" mobile industry ecosystem to Google's applications; and to enable Google to exert a strong influence over the development of the next-generation mobile OS.

Since the US regulator (FCC) adopted four network neutrality principles designed "to encourage broadband deployment and preserve and promote the open and interconnected nature of the public Internet," Google and other Web-centric companies have been lobbying the US Congress to codify these rules in favour of something called non-discrimination in network design between the public and private Internet.

In short, Google wants regulation to ensure that the public Internet remains free from potential discrimination and content blocking but also wants equality between the public and private Internet at no cost to customers or Web companies (in essence, no quality of service).
Google has been investing heavily to develop the world's most complete storehouse of geographic and mapping data supported by innovative applications that can detect mobile devices.

Google wants to be "the most-trusted source" and the best at matching up unique geographic location-based data so it can take advantage of just-in-time advertising opportunities derived from location-aware applications and bypass device manufacturers and carriers as the gatekeepers of location data.

Known as "white space" in the US and "interleaved spectrum" in the UK, this is the underutilised 800MHz spectrum that can be used to broadcast TV through the airwaves but also has highly favourable propagation characteristics for wireless broadband.

A powerful industry lobby backed by Google, Microsoft, Philips, Dell, HP, Skype and others (known as the Wireless Innovation Alliance) has been urging the FCC to develop rules to unlock the potential of TV white spaces.

Google's interest in white spaces is another effort to ensure that there are viable broadband options available for their services. The spectrum, which will likely be released as an open spectrum in 2010, would become another means for bypassing the carrier access network. Google is looking to engage enterprises by getting them hooked on using its applications and cloud computing infrastructure. Making it easy for users to download Google applications and giving them free space on Google's cloud infrastructure.

This will give Google great marketing insight to help it develop a presence within the SMB market. With eventual migration to larger enterprises where enterprises will come to Google for all their back-office SaaS needs.

The impact on carriers looking to generate revenue from the SaaS business model within the SMB market will require carriers to clearly differentiate their applications from Google or partner with it.

Source: Indiatimes