VNPT launches new smartphone

VNPT Technology, a member company of the Viet Nam Posts and Telecommunications Group, released its second made-in-Viet Nam smartphone VIVAS Lotus S2 for low-income customers on November 25 in Ha Noi.

The smartphone offers new applications, developed by VNPT Technology on the VNPT Appstore, such as TVOD for watching TV online and VIVAS Cloud for unlimited online storage. VIVAS Lotus S2 is available in five colours, namely turquoise, pink and yellow, besides black and white.

The VIVAS Lotus S2 Eco models are available in black and white. They have a 5.0MP front camera and a 2.0MP back camera.

VNPT Technology has a factory each in Ha Noi and the southern province of Binh Duong, and plans to open its third factory in Ha Noi again next year. The factory in Ha Noi currently has a capacity of producing 3,000 smartphones per day. The company aims to sell 50,000 S2 smartphones per month.

Mobile devices face growing security threat

Trend Micro, the US-based provider of antivirus for cloud computing and internet content security, has said that since late last year two million threats were found targeting smart phones through free applications and games.

Terrence Tang, the company's Asia-Pacific senior director for individual security, told a forum titled "Smartphone story: Strong or Safe?" in HCM City on Tuesday: "Smart phones have entered all aspects of life. Therefore, security for smart phones [is vital] to protect users' privacy."

In 1993 there were 100 million PCs, but by 2020 there will be 10 billion mobile connected devices around the world.

Tang warned: "Mobile games are the fastest-growing segment of the market, with revenues set to nearly double between 2013 and 2015 from US$13.2 billion to $22 billion. And this is the best environment for viruses to enter smart phones, especially through free downloads on the internet."

He also pointed out that in the past most viruses were from hardware but now 80 per cent of them spread through the internet.

According to figures from Germany-based marketing and market research company GFK, smart phones make up 49 per cent of 51 million mobile phones in Viet Nam now.

The forum was organised by Vietnamese smart phone manufacturer Mobiistar.

On the occasion, Mobiistar launched its first phablet, Prime 558, which is produced in co-operation with Trend Micro and costs VND5.5 million.

Viber introduces new Public feature

The leading mobile communications app offering free messaging and HD-quality calls Viber Viet Nam announced Public Chats, a new feature that allows users to discover, share and interact with conversations, communities and content on mobile.

Public Chats are live discussions between celebrities and personalities that Viber users can follow.

Anyone on Viber can follow as many of these chats as they like on their mobile device. Users can invite friends to follow the Public Chats that interest them and can share content.

Viber launched a Social Communication Assistant contest, with awards worth a total of US$1,500 in the occasion of announcing new feature Public Chats.

Twenty winners of the contest will become assistants for celebrities to help them manage and create their images on Public Chats.

App ushers xe om into digital age

A smart phone application on the popular iOS and Android platforms that allows users to call xe om (motorbike taxi) was launched in HCM City by Malaysia-based GrabTaxi on Thursday.

A customer can tap open the GrabBike app to see all the motorbike taxis in their vicinity at that moment and information about the distance of their trip and the fare.

The selected driver contacts the customer by phone from the number provided by the app, and a deal is struck.

The drivers too benefit from the app as it enables them to get more passengers, Nguyen Anh Tuan, executive director of GrabTaxi Viet Nam, said.

US-based Uber and Brazil-based Easy Taxi provide similar services, though only for taxis, in Viet Nam.

Lazda.vn launches online campaign

Lazada Viet Nam has launched an "Online Revolution Campaign" that run from November 11 to December 12 and offer thousands of promotions.

On November 11, thousands of items were sold on its site within a 24-hour period.

The online shopping mall saw a record-breaking spike in traffic and online transactions, hitting an all-time high with an increase in items sold within the first hour of the sale and a huge surge in site visits to Lazada.vn.

The company hopes that December 12 will be the biggest online shopping day ever in Viet Nam, predicting that sales could increase fivefold over November 11.

On this day, discounts will be up to 50 per cent.

Over the last 12 months, the website has developed rapidly and strengthened its position as a Vietnamese e-commerce leader with the site's traffic and sales growing by more than three times.

With 1,000 merchants and more than 300,000 products, the site's marketplace has become the company's main source of revenue, accounting for two-thirds of sales.