Tata Teleservices doesn’t need any new reference; it is a part of the Tata Group of companies and has brought to the fore DIALOG. You may get curious to know more. Well, DIALOG happens to be an exclusive product and has the intrinsic ability to convert one’s humdrum TV into a full-blown Internet device. Isn’t this great and wonderful? Surely it is!
It’s time to get more specific. The DIALOG kit, on the word of the company, consists of a set top box that links to the TV set directly and enables it with browser and photo viewing abilities. This set top box, in addition, consists of USB ports (four, in point of fact) and thanks to this the user can plug in his pen drives and perceive videos and listen to movies right on TV screen. What’s more, the USB port can be used to connect a Tata Photon Plus EVDO modem, in so doing bring Internet access to your TV.
Make a note of this as well. The DIALOG will be available in two options, while one of them is with Photon Whiz at Rs. 6,699, other one is available at Rs.7,699 with Photon Plus. Nevertheless, at the moment the service is limited only to the cities of Chennai and the Kolkata but there shall be a gradual expansion across India in the upcoming months. It seems that, the existing service is in the Test Run period and this would continue for the next three months.
What are the views of experts? As per the majority of them, the Tata DIALOG could develop into the easiest way to go online given that computer penetration remains low throughout India. But there is another fact too. If the sorry condition of electricity, TV penetration in the rural India and also the high prices of the set top box and the usage are taken into account, the scene doesn’t seem to be bright. Can DIALOG be successful then? We’re, indeed, cynical.
