Micromax CEO steps down
The head of Micromax, India’s second-largest mobile phone maker, has left the company after smartphone shipments dropped 12 per cent in Q4 and it lost market share.

While the vendor’s share last year fell 2.5 points to 16.1 per cent, overall smartphone shipments in India expanded 23 per cent in 2015 to more than 100 million units, according to Counterpoint Research.

The departure of CEO Vineet Taneja, a year after Airtel CEO Sanjay Kapoor resigned as Micromax chairman, comes as Micromax faces increased competition from low-cost local as well as Chinese rivals.

Docomo expands FIDO support to iOS
Japan’s NTT Docomo plans to launch an iOS app that allows customers to use biometric authentication on Touch ID-compatible handsets to access the operator’s online shopping services.

The free ‘D Account’ app (iOS 9.0 or above), which will be released on 9 March, supports specifications of the FIDO Alliance and eliminates the need for Touch ID users to enter a password.

The operator already released Android smartphones offering FIDO-enabled biometric authentication.

Docomo, a board member of the FIDO Alliance since May 2015, said the app will encourage more partner companies to incorporate the FIDO standard as users demand biometric authentication for an increasingly diverse range of mobile handsets.

It said Touch ID handsets also will be able to verify carrier billing starting in late March.

Foxconn invests $15B in China tech park
Taiwan’s Hon Hai Precision, or Foxconn, is investing CNY100 billion ($15.34 billion) in a technology-focused industrial park in Nanning, Guangxi province, that will create an estimated 70,000 jobs when it becomes operational in 2020, Reuters reported.

Telkomsel steps into vehicle-tracking market
Indonesia’s largest mobile operator Telkomsel has developed a T-Bike app that enables users to track the location of their motorcycles as well as monitor and assess road conditions via their smartphones.

Telkomsel general manager of M2M product development Alfian Manulang said the app currently works only on Honda motorcycles, but it plans to expand to other brands. The service is only available in the Greater Jakarta area.

He told the Jakarta Post that the idea for the app came from the high frequency of motorcycle accidents and thefts in the country.

The operator is also positioning the app for fleet management and is partnering with a number of restaurant chains, which use T-Bike to gain greater control over their delivery vehicles.