Roundup: Sony aims to triple its smartphone sales in India, Nokia to launch new Lumia models in China

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Sony aims to triple its smartphone sales in India

Sony aims to triple its smartphone sales in India

Sony Corp aims to triple sales of its mobile phones in India to 35 billion rupees in the year to March 2014, Kenichiro Hibi, managing director of its India unit, said, at the launch of the company’s Xperia Z high-end smartphone. Xperia Z is priced at 38,990 rupees ($712). In India, Sony had a 9 percent share of the smartphone market last quarter making it a distant No.2 behind market leader Samsung’s 40 percent share, according to research firm Canalys.

Nokia to launch new Lumia models in China

Nokia Corporation looks to expand its phones around the globe as it hit a new milestone in China with the activation of two million Nokia Lumia phones. Up next for the company is the introduction of its Nokia Lumia 520 and 720 China versions. China Mobile Ltd will be the wireless carrier and the phones have an expected launch date in the second quarter. Whether the phones will be available on either China Unicom (Hong Kong) Limited or China Telecom Corporation Limited remains to be seen but China Unicom and China Mobile do carry the Lumia 920. The phones will come with price tags of €249 ($324) for Lumia 720 and €139 ($181) for 520.

Japan Android app monetization startup Metaps secures Series B funding

Metaps, a Japanese startup that offers Android developers a platform to monetize their apps, has secured a JPY 1 billion ($11 million) Series B round from Fidelity Growth Partners Japan and other unnamed existing investors. It said it plans to use the funding to grow its business in Asia and expand to other countries, as well as to hire new staff. Prior to the Series B round Metaps had raised $5.5 million funding to-date. The company offers an SDK for Android developers to integrate into their apps that allows them to incorporate offers within the app aimed at increasing engagement on the Metaps platform. Since launching its SDK in August 2011, Metaps said it has been focusing on acquiring developers in Asian markets — mainly Japan, Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore — and also in North America.

Japanese phone firm Willcom unveils the world’s smallest mobile phone

It may look like a toy, but Japanese phone firm Willcom has unveiled the world’s smallest mobile phone. Measuring just 32 × 70 × 10.7 mm and weighing 32 grams, the ‘WX06A’ boasts a one inch colour OLED display more usually found in watches, and a fold out antenna. Currently it is only available in Japan, and is a quarter of the weight of the iPhone. It will go on sale in Japan in December, although pricing has not yet been revealed.

China’s gov’t: Google has too much control over China’s smartphone industry via Android

Google Inc has too much control over China’s smartphone industry via its Android mobile operating system and has discriminated against some local firms, the technology ministry said in a white paper. The white paper, authored by the research arm of China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, also said China had the ability to create its own mobile operating system. The paper said Google had discriminated against some Chinese companies developing their operating systems by delaying the sharing of codes. Google had also used commercial agreements to restrain the business development of mobile devices of these companies, it added.

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