In the Internews report,  The Promise of Ubiquity, Jan Blom, the designer for Nokia in Bangalore is quoted as saying that:

1. India is a fashion conscious market, where mobile phones are seen as a way to project image or self-expression.

2. The users are extremely cost conscious.

3. SMS dominates the VAS market.

4. People are seeking playful experiences and emotional expression through mobile phones. Therefore, there is a need for applications that can bring about joy and social interaction.

ITWire reports that Reliance India and MOKO.mobi launch mobile social networking for 61.3 million Reliance mobile customers.

International Herald Tribune reported that Virgin Mobile along with Tata Teleservices Ltd. launched new services for mobile phone owners targeting Indian youth in March 2008. The services included music, entertainment and news on India’s film industry, sports and stock markets.

D. Shivkumar, VP and MD Nokia India says –

India is Nokia’s no. 2 country.

The current mobile penetration in the Indian market is 30%.

Youth is a very important market segment for cell phone brands.

LG has launched three new multimedia mobile phones for youth in India. The KS360 almost sounds like an iPhone clone with touchscreen display. The features in these new mobile phones such as Yahoo search, NDTV viewer etc. make them sound like a mini-computer plus TV. I think these new phones signal an indication that mobile internet is soon going to be a reality in India and Indian youth are certainly going to lead this revolution. I am looking for any good examples of how this may be actually happening.

Motorola is set to launch new mobile phones with music rich features and wi-fi capability.

Spice Mobile launches S-590, an affordable cell phone with video camera capability, POPAT (talking phone), and other VAS features.

Agency faqs reported how RK Misra won the lead India contest by Times of India by using MyToday SMS service:

MyToday is a free SMS subscription service started by digital evangelist Rajesh Jain in India, which sends out daily message alerts on news, cricket, the sensex, jokes, religion, Bollywood and astrology to its three million subscribers.

Are there any other SMS based news service or cell phone news alerts services in India?

The other day I was talking to a friend of mine. Like me, she is also a Ph.D. student but in the nutrition department. She was telling me that her baby daughter is now 8 months old and she is planning to do her “mundan.” In the “mundan” ceremony the baby’s head is shaved usually at a temple which is then followed by a pooja (worship). I was wondering how is she going to do it here in USA. She said that she has talked to the woman at the hair salon who has agreed to shave the baby’s head. Then she will go to the temple nearby and perform the ritual. Since her family members can’t be here, she is going to save the baby’s hair and take it to India on her next trip. Then the actual ceremony can be performed in India by a relative.

I asked her what value is there in saving the hair and taking to India for the rituals, the baby will be grown by that time. But she said that I want my child to have Indian values in her. I didn’t want to say more because I could see that she was already so sad that she is not in India and performing the actual ceremony there. I love traditions. But I was wondering, why despite such higher education people still stick to traditions that don’t make sense. I told her, why don’t you change this tradition and do it differently. I understand that it is important to get blessings from family members for the baby. But I couldn’t understand, what value is there in saving baby’s hair? Is that really necessary.

The saying “romance is in the air” appears to be true in modern times too. In today’s world, it is mobile phones which are carrying the messages of love. Although you may read numerous articles about how the way you smell, the color of your clothing and your confidence can make you look more attractive to your date. In India where dating is not a culturally acceptable phenomenon, people are using mobile phones to date and romance. Does it mean that how you look, smell and the way you carry yourself has no relevance in India between the dating couple? I am not sure. But it is true that Indians are using mobile phones to get to know their partners before marriage even if the match is arranged. In her study Carolyn Wei, found several instances where young Indians living in Bangalore were using mobile phones to maintain personal and romantic relationships. The study supports the evidence that mobile phones are being used for dating, however, the extent to which they are impacting or changing cultural values about dating and romance is still not known. The question still remains, whether dating before marriage is now acceptable in India or is it happening because mobile phones provide a convenient way?

This article in Asia Times by Sultan Shahin, reports on how short messaging services (sms) on mobile phones have been embraced by Indians and changing communication behavior and practices. It reports, that on an average, 60 messages are sent out per phone everyday. This means minimum of 2 messages in an hour. SMS is being used to flirt, bypassing the cultural rules and also for greeting people on special occassions such as festivals. People are writing love poems and these short messages are arousing people. One would think that these short messages won’t affect people who are already bombarded with so many advertising messages. But probably intimately crafted messages do have an effect on people. And words do have an effect on people more than we may assume.