Vodafone Announces Launch of eSIM on Primary Device in Mumbai, Delhi, and Gujarat

Vodafone Idea Ltd., India’s leading telecommunications service provider has announced the availability of eSIM for Vodafone postpaid customers using eSIM compatible Apple devices including iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, iPhone 11 Pro Max, iPhone SE, iPhone Xs, iPhone Xs Max & iPhone Xr. The service will be available soon on Samsung Galaxy Z Flip and Galaxy Fold as well. The service is currently available in select circles Mumbai, Delhi, and Gujarat.

Vodafone postpaid customers using eSIM enabled handsets will no longer be required to put in a physical SIM card to access the network. eSIM comes in the form of an integrated SIM chip which will be compliant with all the supported mobile network operators. The consumer will be able to carry out normal calling, SMS, data access and more without having to change physical SIM cards manually.

Speaking about the eSIM technology, Avneesh Khosla, Director – Marketing, Vodafone Idea, said, “Vodafone Idea is excited to introduce eSIM technology for our postpaid customers which enables them to enjoy the benefits of convenience and flexibility of having more than one sim even on single sim device. We therefore believe that eSIM will provide enhanced experience to our customers as it will enable them to do a lot more with their device.”

How to  get eSiim on your phone

Existing Customer

* Send SMS  to 199 by typing “eSIM <space> email id” (If no email id is registered with your mobile number, send SMS “email <space>email id” to  199. Post registration you can reinitiate the eSIM process).

* If your email is valid, you will receive SMS from 199. You need to  reply back with ESIMY to confirm eSIM request

* Post your confirmation SMS, you will receive another SMS from 199 asking you to provide a consent over a call

* After providing your consent on the call, an email with a QR code will be sent to the registered email id.

* Scan the QR Code:

Apple device: Please make sure that the phone is connected to Wi-Fi or mobile data.

* Go to "Settings" > Select "Mobile Data" > Click on "Add Data Plan"

* Now "Scan QR code" received on mail.

* Follow the prompts on the phone.

New Customer

* Visit nearest Vodafone store with  proof of identity and photograph to get new Vodafone eSIM connection

* Is it preferred if you carry the handset along, so that QR code generated during the activation process can be scanned immediately

The QR code sent through email will only be useful for a single scan and the eSIM will be successfully activated within 2 hours post scanning the code.

About Vodafone Idea Limited

Vodafone Idea Limited is an Aditya Birla Group and Vodafone Group partnership. It is India’s leading telecom service provider. The Company provides pan India Voice and Data services across 2G, 3G and 4G platform. With the large spectrum portfolio to support the growing demand for data and voice, the company is committed to deliver delightful customer experiences and contribute towards creating a truly ‘Digital India’ by enabling millions of citizens to connect and build a better tomorrow. The Company is developing infrastructure to introduce newer and smarter technologies, making both retail and enterprise customers future ready with innovative offerings, conveniently accessible through an ecosystem of digital channels as well as extensive on-ground presence. The Company is listed on National Stock Exchange (NSE) and Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) in India.

Will Nokia close its gaming service N-Gage?

Nokia will close its battered gaming service N-Gage next year, acknowledging failure in its first major services offering.

The handset maker's mobile gaming push has encountered major challenges over the years, with consumers first shunning its dedicated gaming phones.

The online gaming service, opened last year, never moved beyond a niche audience.

Nokia has started to look for new revenues from online services as its traditional handset market is maturing, with games and music being the first focus areas of the cellphone maker.

"We will no longer publish new games for the N-Gage platform," Nokia said on its N-Gage blog.

It said the games from its first major services offering can be purchased until the end of September 2010, and the community site will remain in operation throughout 2010.

After closing the N-Gage service it will continue to sell mobile games at its Ovi Store, a smaller rival to Apple's popular App Store.

Agencies

New Internet browser from Opera

Norway's Opera Software released on Tuesday a new version of its browser, Opera 10, promising faster downloads, new design and new fea
tures.

Opera battles for the spot of third-largest browser maker with Google's Chrome and Apple's Safari, but is far behind Microsoft and Mozilla Foundation.

Opera said the new browser is significantly faster on resource-intensive pages such as Gmail and Facebook, and adds features like full thumbnails of all open tabs.

Opera said its Turbo feature for slow connections, which packages web pages, makes the browser up to eight times faster than rival browsers in low connection speeds.

"We have worked a lot on Opera Turbo technology and have also made major improvements on the overall product stability. This is the most stable Opera browser yet," the company said.

The companies usually release several successive test versions of their browsers so they can incorporate user feedback in a series of improvements before their final launch. Microsoft launched its latest IE8 browser in March after a year of public beta testing.

Opera unveiled a public test version of the browser on June 3. Microsoft's Internet Explorer is used for about 60 per cent of global Internet traffic, and Mozilla's Firefox has about 30 per cent, with usage of Opera, Google and Apple all around 3 per cent each, according to Web analytics firm StatCounter.

Opera has a small share of the global desktop browser market, but its browser is the most popular in countries like Russia or Ukraine, and its mobile browser is the most widely used browser on handsets.

Agencies

Samsung partners BSNL, MTNL for 3G services

Korean electronic major Samsung said it has partnered state-run telecos BSNL and MTNL to provide high-end handsets for their 3G services and is looking at up to 45 per cent of its total sales being generated from multimedia and touchscreen phones.

"We have partnered BSNL and MTNL to promote 3G services in India. We are currently giving a special bundling offer for BSNL consumers on our select handsets for 3G services," Samsung India Electronics President and CEO Jung Soo Shin said.

He said, "We have also provided handsets to MTNL to offer 3G services in Delhi."

Samsung today launched an 8 megapixel touchscreen, 3G enabled phone 'Ultra' priced at Rs 27,500 in India. The handset is capable of offering speedy internet access, video telephony, streaming and multimedia services.

"Samsung already has four touchscreen phones available in the Indian market, all of these are 3G enabled," Shin said.

"We are looking at touchscreen and multimedia phone portfolio to contribute 40-45 per cent of our total sales by the end of the year," Samsung Telecom Division Country Head Sunil Dutt said.

Agencies

Nokia’s recycling campaign in India

Nokia will be launching its ‘Take Back’ campaign from Thursday (January 1) encouraging mobile phone users to dispose of their used handsets and accessories, regardless of the brand, at any of the recycling bins set up across Nokia priority dealers and Nokia care centres. For each handset dropped into recycling bins, Nokia will be planting a tree, besides giving gifts to people participating in its campaign.

As part of its initiative to educate mobile phone users on the importance of recycling of e-waste, India’s top mobile phone seller will begin the initiative from Delhi and then gradually roll out the programme in phases across the country. “We have laid out a robust recycling infrastructure across the country with over 1,300 recycling bins installed at our centre across India. We work with qualified recyclers around the world to ensure proper end-of-life treatment of used devices,” said Nokia India Vice-President and Managing Director D. Shivakumar.

The ‘Take back’ campaign aims to increase awareness of the concept of recycling.

Source: Agencies