You have been receiving SMS codes: TA-ICICI, AX-Airtel…and wondering what’s it?

Recently, from almost a month SMSs from Banks, Service Providers, Companies have started prefixing something like ID, AT, VK…etc. What’s all this after all!!? Here I am to explain you what it is! Normally these SMSs originates from a Bulk SMS provider where you can use 11 digit Alpha-Numeric characters as "Sender". But there were some security risks in this method. I was able to give a phone number as "Sender" & it appears as that person at the recipient end. Basically there was a chance to send SMSs as a different person! I was actually using this to fool my friends.

But the new TRAI regulation insisted bulk SMS providers to restrict the "Sender ID" to 8 characters. Other three characters should be used to specify who is the service provider & where it’s originated from. Say for example: HDFCBANK sends an SMS to you using bulk SMS provider located at Tamil Nadu which uses Airtel. You will receive it as AT-HDFCBANK. First character specifies which service provider the message is being originated & the second character specifies from which location it’s originated. Here is the table which has details of these SMS codes:

Service Provider Codes:

So, combination of these two constitutes the first two digit of ?Sender? followed by an hyphen (-) & actual sender name.

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Few people use PIN locking system to lock their phone to avoid un-authorised access. Though this is a good option, it pisses you off sometime. Three wrong entry of PIN code will result in SIM blocking. Once SIM gets blocked, phone starts asking PUK code to enter. If you again enter wrong code for three times, SIM gets completely blocked. You have to walk into your service provider outlet to get a replacement SIM card.

PUK code is a SIM specific code assigned by your service provider. No way you can guess & enter it. So, when it asks for the PUK code, don’t do anything, get the PUK code from your service provider. Airtel has a easier way of getting PUK code. For getting PUK code of a Airtel number, send PUK<space>PhoneNumber to toll free number 121. You can make use of any other Airtel number to send this message since your SIM might have been blocked already.

If the above method doesn’t works or your service provider is not Airtel, call to customer care using any other mobile phone which uses the same service provider. They will ask some details about you to make sure you are the owner of the SIM card. Questions might include your billing address, email ID, numbers you recently called or messaged etc. They might even ask you number printed on the SIM card, so be prepared with all details before calling them. Once you get the PUK code, enter it into the phone & your phone will return to normal.

Most of the times we call the customer care to just to activate or de-activate a service. Sometimes, a service gets activated by accident, like caller tunes because of automated IVR based calls. Here is the list of short codes for Vodafone to actvate or de-activate a particular service:

You need to send this code to Toll Free number 111. Pre Paid customers need to send the code to 144 depending on service, which I am not sure about. Since both are toll free, you can have a try with both of them! If one doesn’t workout try another one!

This information has been provided by Tech Bangalore visitor Michael via comments, who also won “Best Commentator Award” for the month of October. You can refer to his complete comment over here.

1. Select Menu / Services / WAP / Settings

Edit Profile – On selection, there is a list just select the first or any profile and u get two options
1. Activate Profile
2. Edit Profile

Select Edit Profile and edit the following fields as below:

1. Rename Profile: Vodafone_gprs
2. Homepage: http://live.vodafone.in
3. Data Account: Vodafone_gprs

4. Connection type u get three options:
Connection-oriented
1. IP Address: 010.010.001.100 give done
2. Security: Off

Connectionless
IP Address: 010.010.001.100
Security: Off

HTTP
Proxy Address: 010.010.001.100
Proxy Port: 9401 (NOTE: I think as mentioned above this is for Tamil Nadu, so whichever city or country your from ask for your mobile operator IP or Proxy whatever)
Select Done

Save Settings if asked and Then give Activate Profile

Browser Options
Timeout: 300 by default, I just put 150 just in case a page takes too long to load

Show Images: On
Ok Save Yes

Then there is Data Account Below Wap
GSM Data (I just left this alone)
GPRS Select Edit
1. Account Name: Vodafone_gprs
2. APN: portalnmms
3. Username: (Leave Blank/None)
4. Password: (Leave Blank/None)
5. Auth. Type: Normal

I dont know about MMS coz I don?t usually use, but anyway just for safety I chose the second one under Data Accounts and edited as follows,
1. Account Name: Vodafone_MMS
2. APN: portalnmms
3. Username: (Leave Blank/None)
4. Password: (Leave Blank/None)
5. Auth. Type: Normal

BUT there is Under Messages Itself an option for MMS where in you have
Message Settings / Server Profile
Edit first profile to
1. Rename Profile: Vodafone MMS
2. Homepage: http://live.vodafone.in
3. Data Account: Vodafone MMS
4. Connection Type:
Connection-Oriented
1. IP Address
010.010.001.100
Connectionless
1. IP Address
010.010.001.100
1. Proxy Address
010.010.001.100
2. Proxy Port
9401
Username: (Leave Blank/None)
Password: (Leave Blank/None)
Done / Save / Yes
Activate Profile – Yes

In Menu / Settings / there is something called Network Setup under which you have GPRS Connection, there are two options When Needed or Always. Either works I guess I just left it on When Needed. (makes more sense)

Let me first tell you what is Push Email, you will receive email as soon a new email is received by the mail server, just like SMS. To use this service you need IMAP or POP access to your mail server & also your mail server should support anyone of them. With POP access you can download your emails to phone, but server & phone will not be in sync. For ex: if you delete a mail on your phone, it will be still there in server. IMAP is more advanced which syncs both mail boxes. Whatever you do on any place, gets reflected everywhere. Thankfully Gmail provides IMAP access for all the accounts, you have to enable it by going to “Settings–>Forwarding & POP/IMAP”. Basic GPRS plans like Airtel Live & Vodafone Live doesn’t provide IMAP access, you have to activate Airtel Mobile Office & or Vodafone Mobile Connect.

Configuring on Phone:

This configuration is for Phones which come up with inbuilt mail client, if your phone doesn’t have that try using gmail mobile app available at http://m.google.com.

Open email client on your phone, goto “Settings–>Add new email” & configure as mentioned below:

Incoming Mail Server:
Email/user ID: Your Gmail ID
Password: Gmail Password
Incoming Mail Server: imap.google.com
Mailbox name: Gmail (you can use anyting)
Mailbox Type: IMAP4
Security Ports: SSL
Port: 993 or Default in some phones

Outgoing Mail Server:
Email/user ID: Your Gmail ID
Password: Gmail Password
Outgoing Mail Server: smtp.google.com
Security Ports: SSL/TSL
Port: 465 or 587 or Default in some phones

After configuration connect to your mailbox, now you wil receive emails as soon as they arrive!

Long back I have written about Vodafone Live GPRS Settings. This post will describe about settings of Vodafone Mobile connect formly called as Hutch Access. For those wondering what is the difference between these two GPRS connections, Vodafone Live is limited to browsing websites on Phone. But Vodafone Mobile Connect allows complete access to internet such as IMAP/POP access, ability to use VoIP Clients (ex: Fring) & also can be used to access internet on your Laptop or Computer.

Here are the settings:

Connection Name: Anything
Data Bearer: Packet Data
Access Point Name: www
User Name: None (I mean leave it blank!)
Password: None
Authentication: Normal
Homepage: You can set any website

Advanced Settings:
Network Type: IPv4
Phone IP Address: Automatic
DNS Address: Automatic
Proxy Server Address: None
Proxy Port Number: 0

Settings alone can’t do anything, you have to activate Vodafone Mobile Connect first to use this service. Tariff for Vodafone Mobile Connect is as follows:

Prepaid pack
Monthly rental: Rs 199
Usage charges @ 5p / 10KB

Postpaid pack

To activate this service call to Vodafone Customer Care (Happy to help!?) at 111. If you want guide to access internet on Laptop or Computer using this connection, please refer to
Desktop settings for Airtel internet through Mobile Phone. Though it is for Airtel, guide stands same for Vodafone also.

I don’t have time to write about it right now, so just attaching mail from Vodafone. In the mean time Airtel already announced launch date to be on August 22nd, but it has not announced price yet. I will write a detailed article about whether to go for iphone or not shortly.

Hello Prashanth,

Thank you for registering for your Apple iPhone 3G? with us.

We are delighted to announce that the iPhone 3G will be available in India from August 22, 2008 It will be available in 8GB & 16GB models, priced at Rs 31,000 and Rs 36,100 respectively.

Be the first to get the iPhone

We have received a large number of registrations. As there are limited stocks, make sure that you get yours first, by paying an advance of Rs 10,000 to confirm your booking.

Where can you make this advance payment?

The iPhone 3G will be available at select Vodafone Stores. All you need to do is drop in at any select Vodafone Store between August 20 and 21 and make the advance payment by cash or credit card. Don?t forget to show the iPhone booking SMS, which you would have received from us, when you visit the Vodafone Store to pay the advance. To find a Vodafone Store near you, click here

Get an appointment now. No queues for you.

Once you pay the advance, we will immediately give you an appointment date and time, starting August 22 when you can come and experience a full demonstration and collect your iPhone, all ready to use with your contacts and settings, by paying the balance amount.

Hurry! Limited stocks.

Remember, the sooner you confirm your booking, the earlier you?ll get your iPhone. We have limited stocks and it will be on first come, first serve basis.

Happy to help

If you have any queries, log on to www.vodafone.in/iphone or call Vodafone Care on 111 (toll free) and we?ll be happy to help.

Hurry and be one of the first to make the iPhone 3G your own.

Regards

C P Joshi

AVP – Customer Service

You might have already seen ads about Vodafone Call Conference. But it doesn’t says much about usage & charges, which I am going to write here. Vodafone Call Conference allows you to talk to maximum five people at a time! And also each person you added to conference can add more five people! You can use call conference right away, there is no activation required.

Usage:

Click to enlarge - Call Conference Steps

The above image gives you step by step procedure to make a conference call. It might vary a bit for diferent phones. I have tried this on my Nokia phone & found that once conference starts you can’t add more people in between. So first call all people whom you want to include into conference call by keeping all other on hold & then make it conference. For Ex: Follow exactly same procedure till Step 3 in image, now you added two persons into you conference. You should not continue to step 4 if you want to add more people. So, before Step 4 add third person by keeping other two on hold. Same thing applies if you want to add fourth person. once you are done with adding all people for your conference, continue to 4th Step.

Charges:

Conference Calls will be charged as per your tariff. But if you have any plan with charges for calls is less than 30 paise or if you have free minutes, 30 p/minute will be charged. For Ex: I have a postpaid plan which has 450 free local calls & above that will be charged 40p/minute. Any conference call made within free minutes will be charged 30p/minute & above free minutes will be charged as per my tariff i.e, 40p/minute. It means that you have to pay minimum 30p/minute for conference call. You will also be charged for each call you make & not for conference call as a whole. Say, you made a call conference with 3 people, you will be charged for each of them.

Overall it’s a great servcie to have fun with friends & family. It can also be used for buisiness conference calls. Enjoy Conferencing!

Hope you are not getting bored reading too much about iPhone. It’s my duty to update my visitors with whatever update I have. So, there are some strong rumors about iPhone & Airtel. One of my friend updated my last week that he spoke to some Airtel guy who is knowledgeable. He told that Airtel is trying to launch iPhone in India in August first week. The price is expected to be around Rs.25,000.

I heard it $199, why Rs.25k here?

Yes, this might be a question in everyone’s mind who is interested in iPhone. In US you can get iPhone 8 GB model for $199 & 16 GB model at $299. But the catch here is you have to sign a two years contract with AT & T, a popular service provider in US. AT & T has a special service plans for iPhone, so you end up paying more for service rather than phone. So, now you know how the Apple kept iPhone price so low. It’s actually subsidized by AT & T. Apple iPhone is also available without contract also in US, but the price is different. price of Apple iPhone without contract in US is $499 & $599 respectively for 8 GB & 16 GB models. We don’t have contract system in India, so price is gonna be high here. According my knowledge you can use iPhone with your existing pre-paid or post-paid plans.

Is iPhone worth that much?

If you keep touch aside & think about features, it’s not worth that much. For the same price you can go for other options like HTC Touch, Nokia N95, Nokia N82…etc. Nokia higher end N series phones comes with 5 MP camera, Satellite GPS, 8GB memory…etc Comparatively these phones offer you better features than iPhone. Also on iPhone you can install applications built using iPhone SDK (Software Development Kit) & for many apps you might have to pay. But on these phones there are thousands of applications available for free to install. But the ease of using touchscreen outsmarts every other phone. So think smart before taking any decision, because everyone’s needs are different.

I am the big time fan of Apple iPhone. But these days I started hating Apple, arrey how many days I have to wait to get this cool gadget? I really felt bad about Apple for delaying release of iPhone to India. From past few days I am hearing lot of buzz about Airtel & Vodafone releasing iPhone in India. After Apple’s announcement about it’s upgraded 3G version of iphone, Airtel & Vodafone both said they are going to release iPhone to India soon!

A popular tech news website Techtree wrote that, Vodafone is going to start booking for iPhones through customer care & website in another few weeks. Airtel also announced it also starts booking for iPhone in few weeks. Airtel customers can send “iphone” to toll-free number 54321 to get updates about iPhone, prices, package…etc.

What will be the price in India?

Apple announced new upgraded 3G version of iPhone recently, which will be released on 11th July. The new 8 GB model is available for 199 USD (Rs.8246) & 16 GB model for 299 USD (Rs.12,390). But, remember that these prices are only applicable to US in collaboration with AT & T, a big service provider in US. There was a roomer that AT & T was giving some money to Apple for each it customer it gets. It was one of the reason to get such a great gadget for less. So prices in India will depend on service provider who is bringing it to India, i.e, Airtel & Vodafone.

What to do with 3G? It’s not yet in India!

The new Apple iPhone is 3G enabled, but in India 3G technology is not yet in use! I am curious that, will Airtel & Vodafone will launch 3G service along with release of iPhone to India? For those who don’t know about 3G, it’s a third generation mobile technology to bring broadband internet speeds on your mobile phone! you can see Wikipedia entry on 3G for more. Currently India supports only EDGE (Wikipedia), so we will not benefit out of new 3G upgrade in iPhone if our network doesn’t supports it.

Related reading: http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2008/06/09bharti.html