nepal

Two 'nepal' stories December 2014 - April 2015

T-Mobile & Sprint make calling & texting Nepal free, waive bills to aid earthquake relief efforts

Many tech companies are attempting to help victims of the devastating Nepal earthquake this week and the latest is T-Mobile. The carrier announced that it’s making calling and texting Nepal free in order to aid relief efforts:

In the wake of the devastating Nepalese earthquake, many T-Mobile customers are trying to stay in touch with their family and friends in Nepal. T-Mobile is making this easier by waiving and crediting fees for all calls and text messages to and from Nepal from Saturday, April 25 through Saturday, May 16. Calling and texting to and from Nepal without charges applies to all postpaid and prepaid customers of T-Mobile, MetroPCS, GoSmart Mobile and Walmart Family Mobile with international calling.

T-Mobile also notes that its customers can text to various charities to make a donation that will be charged to their mobile bill:

Save the Children – Text NEPAL to 20222 to donate $10 to Save the Children

UNICEF – Text NEPAL to 864233 to donate $10 to UNICEF

World Vision – Text NEPAL to 777444 to donate $10 to World Vision

Google and Apple have also launched efforts to aid people in Nepal impacted by the earthquake.

Android One coming to Bangladesh, Nepal, and Sri Lanka in the coming weeks

Google announced an initiative called Android One earlier this year that intends to bring some affordable smartphones to emerging markets, and now the Mountain View company says that the program is expanding beyond India (where it launched earlier this year in September). As noted on the company’s Asia Pacific Blog, the next few countries that will be getting Android One are three of India’s neighbors: Bangladesh, Nepal, and Sri Lanka.

In these countries — with a combined population of over 200 million people — a wide range of manufacturers and network partners such as Banglalink will begin to sell Android One smartphones. In addition to Micromax, Karbonn and Spice, Bangladesh’s own Symphony will launch their first Android One phone with the Symphony Roar A50. All these devices will give people a high quality mobile experience for an affordable price, running stock-Android with updates from Google.

This is the company’s first step at the “next 5 billion people” it says, with these three countries comprising more than 200 million of the world’s population. A variety of manufacturers will soon begin selling Android One devices in Bangladesh, Nepal, and Sri Lanka, including Micromax, Karbonn and Spice. But Google also says that Bangladesh-based manufacturer Symphony will be also be launching their first Android One device dubbed the Symphony Roar A50.

Recently, Karbonn committed to a long-term partnership with Android One in India, and it looks like the company is ready to push some high quality, affordable phones to a few new countries.