Tata Tele launches dual-tech phone

"Instead of carrying two phones, a person can carry just one now with Samsung Duo," Tata Teleservices president Vinayak Deshpande told reporters in Mumbai.

With the launch of Samsung Duo, priced at Rs 11,999, Tata Teleservices looks to attract subscribers of other service providers, he said. The company would be launching about 15,000 phones in the next couple of days.

"Last year, about 2.5 lakh smart phone PDAs were sold. This year, smart phone PDA market is expected to touch 4 lakh," Deshpande said. Samsung Duo supports data speed of 153 kilo bytes per second.

The handset has 'panchang' and touch screen facilities. The set has been launched in silver. As the market picks up, the company would look at launching Duo in other colours, Deshpande said.