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Intel achieves 50 Gbps throughput using photons

Setu — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 15:37:37 +0000

Intel has successfully achieved 50 Gbps throughput over photon based telecommunication equipment. This is 50 times faster than the 1 Gbps ethernet we have currently. Although it will still take a few years before this tech can come to our homes or offices, it is a wonderful breakthrough in terms of communication speeds.

Here is a video showing the tech in action:

[via CrunchGear]

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Vodafone launches solar powered mobile phone in India

Setu — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 14:51:28 +0000

In order to tap in rural customers with little or no power supply, Vodafone has launched a solar power mobile handset VF 247 in India at a price of INR 1500.

The phone is made keeping the rural customers in mind and boasts of features like Torch, FM radio and a prepaid balance indicator. Sun Boost, an inbuilt hardware and software ensures that the phone charges under normal daylight also.

[via PI]

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Indian Railways planning to launch its own ticket booking site

Setu — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 14:40:31 +0000

Apparently, all is not well between the Indian Railways and the Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC). After terminating the catering contract in Rajdhani, Duronto, Shatabdi & other mail and express trains, Indian Railways is allegedly planning to launch its own online ticketing site.

With a profit of approx. INR 1.22 billion, IRCTC is the largest ecommerce site in India, responsible for 30% of all rail booking in India. However, Indian Railways feel that IRCTC lacks in terms of infrastructure and customer support, and is therefore planning to take the task in its own hands.

[via PI]

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Check out the swanky new (beta) version of irctc.co.in

Apple store refreshed. Magic trackpad & Battery charger added

Setu — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 08:15:58 +0000

Apple refreshed its online Apple store yesterday and added two new cool products – The Magic Trackpad & AA battery charger.

Magic Trackpad

At $69, you can get this cool looking magic trackpad and add multi touch to any of your Mac. It works over Bluetooth wireless technology similar to the Apple wireless keyboard and supports multiple multi touch gestures. It’s made with smooth, wear-resistant glass that feels great to the touch. And it’s nearly 80 percent larger than the built-in trackpad on the MacBook Pro, giving you plenty of room to perform gestures. Because the entire surface of Magic Trackpad is a button, you can click on objects just as you would using a traditional mouse. And Magic Trackpad sits at the same height and angle as the Apple Wireless Keyboard, so you can go from trackpad to keyboard in one seamless motion.

Magic Trackpad maintains a reliable and secure connection up to 33 feet away from your Mac. It comes with two non-rechargeable AA batteries.

Check out this video detailing every part of this new toy:

Battery Charger

As they now have Apple wireless keyboard and the magic trackpad which run on AA batteries, Apple decided to make and sell its own battery charger. Its compact, lightweight and a great value for money as it comes bundled with 6 AA rechargeable NiMH batteries at $29!

The batteries have a life span of 10 years. Apparently, the charger has one of the lowest standby — or "vampire draw" — of similar chargers on the market. That’s the energy that most chargers continue to draw even after their batteries are done charging. Unlike other chargers, the Apple Battery Charger senses when a battery charge cycle is complete and automatically reduces the amount of power it uses to 30 milliwatts — more than 10 times better than the industry average.

[via Apple Store & 9to5mac]

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The presentation responsible for the Indian Rupee symbol

Setu — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 16:48:48 +0000

If you are one of those people who think that the Indian Rupee symbol was designed in a day or two, you need to look at the following presentation prepared by the symbol designer D Uday Kumar, assistant professor at IIT Guwahati:

Indian rupee symbol

The symbol might look very simple to you, but it is clear that Mr. Kumar has put a lot of thought and efforts into designing the symbol. Specifically the slides towards the end which show the practical usage of the symbol. And we appreciate it .

The Indian Government has proposed to the Unicode Consortium that the Unicode character code U+0971 be assigned for the new Rupee symbol. However it will take some time before we can type in the rupee symbol from our keyboards.

[via Digital Inspiration]

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Indian Ocean giving away its latest album for free

Setu — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 16:17:53 +0000

Indian Ocean, the contemporary fusion music band from Delhi, India is giving away their latest album 16/330 Khajoor Road for free on their website. The songs of the album will be made available to download one by one. The current available song is “Chand”.

The band claims that they are doing this in order to reach out to their listening public. They have also identified that their primary audience, the Indian youth, mostly downloads pirated music. So there is no point in signing contracts with the record companies and fighting over copyright issues.

Here is the full excerpt from their website:

A lot of people are curious as to why we want to give away the music free. Firstly, this greatly reduces the distance between the band and its listeners. A lot of people (specially younger people!) do not buy music any more but rip or download from the web, so we want to make their lives a little guilt-free! In addition, this means no more negotiating contracts with record companies and fighting over copyright issues, no worries about bad distribution, albums not being available at different places and so on. Also, very frankly, no Indian artist survives on royalty. We make almost all our income playing live shows and composing music for films etc., so it is no great hardship for us to give up this amount. We also hope that this becomes a means for other artists in India to reach out to their listening public.

The first song to be given away is titled ‘Chand’, which means ‘moon’ in Hindi. We made this song for an eponymous short film directed by Anurag Kashyap, which unfortunately never saw the light of day. It’s a beautiful, touching twelve minute film about a young boy called Chand, who resides in a remand home in Mumbai, but lives in a world of his own. Sanjeev Sharma has written the lyrics for this song.

Download their songs for free here.

[via Indian Ocean Official Site']

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US Copyright office legalizes jailbreaking and unlocking of iPhone

Setu — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 18:04:01 +0000

Epic news today. The United States Copyrights Office have legalized jailbreaking the iPhone to run apps that are not available (read rejected) on the app store. The revolutionary rule is one of the six new activities that are now exempt from DMCA. The new rule also exempts unlocking your iPhone to use it on another network. Ripping a DVD for educational purposes is also allowed from now on.

Here are the six activities that are now exempt from DMCA:

Motion pictures on DVDs that are lawfully made and acquired and that are protected by the Content Scrambling System when circumvention is accomplished solely in order to accomplish the incorporation of short portions of motion pictures into new works for the purpose of criticism or comment, and where the person engaging in circumvention believes and has reasonable grounds for believing that circumvention is necessary to fulfill the purpose of the use in the following instances:
1. Educational uses by college and university professors and by college and university film and media studies students;
2. Documentary filmmaking;
3. Noncommercial videos
Computer programs that enable wireless telephone handsets to execute software applications, where circumvention is accomplished for the sole purpose of enabling interoperability of such applications, when they have been lawfully obtained, with computer programs on the telephone handset.
Computer programs, in the form of firmware or software, that enable used wireless telephone handsets to connect to a wireless telecommunications network, when circumvention is initiated by the owner of the copy of the computer program solely in order to connect to a wireless telecommunications network and access to the network is authorized by the operator of the network.
Video games accessible on personal computers and protected by technological protection measures that control access to lawfully obtained works, when circumvention is accomplished solely for the purpose of good faith testing for, investigating, or correcting security flaws or vulnerabilities, if:
1. The information derived from the security testing is used primarily to promote the security of the owner or operator of a computer, computer system, or computer network; and
2. The information derived from the security testing is used or maintained in a manner that does not facilitate copyright infringement or a violation of applicable law.
Computer programs protected by dongles that prevent access due to malfunction or damage and which are obsolete. A dongle shall be considered obsolete if it is no longer manufactured or if a replacement or repair is no longer reasonably available in the commercial marketplace; and
Literary works distributed in ebook format when all existing ebook editions of the work (including digital text editions made available by authorized entities) contain access controls that prevent the enabling either of the book’s read-aloud function or of screen readers that render the text into a specialized format.

This is big. Epic big. Time to celebrate for US citizens!

[via copyright.gov]

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Facebook crosses 12 million users in India. All set to overtake orkut

Setu — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 16:52:08 +0000

Everyone knows that Facebook recently crossed 500 million users worldwide. What many might not know that Facebook also crossed 12 million users in India. At this rate, it will be able to overtake orkut very soon.

Facebook announced this milestone on the official Facebook India page. As part of the celebration. Facebook has launched the Facebook-Stories initiative where users can share their own stories about impact of Facebook on their lives.

Certainly a big number for India. however, when we look at it from a population penetration perspective, it is just close to 1%.

[via Facebook India & PI]

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White iPhone 4 delayed further to “later this year”

Setu — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 16:12:36 +0000

Bad news for people who are waiting for the white iPhone 4. Apparently, Apple is facing some manufacturing challenges in producing the white model. In a press statement released today, Apple has told that the white iPhone 4 will not be available until later this year.

Here is the full statement:

White models of Apple’s new iPhone® 4 have continued to be more challenging to manufacture than we originally expected, and as a result they will not be available until later this year. The availability of the more popular iPhone 4 black models is not affected.

[via PR News]

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Olive telecom launches India’s first 3G tablet

Setu — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 08:03:35 +0000

Olive telecom has launched Olivepad-VT100 in India. Olivepad is the first 3G enabled tablet to be launched in India. The tablet will be powered by the Android OS and will support 3.5G HSUPA networks in addition to WiFi and Bluetooth.

Weighing at 410 grams the Olivepad is powered by an ARM11 600MHz processor and is based on the new Qualcomm MSM7227 chipset. It features 512MB RAM, 512MB inbuilt flash memory, and microSD expandability up to 32GB, aside from a CMOS 3MP camera and webcam.

The key features are:

7-inch touch screen
3 megapixel back camera
Front camera (resolution unknown)
GPS with turn by turn navigations (Google Maps and MapMyIndia)
e-book reader
Mobile television
Smart Phone capabilities
Voice & video calling
Flash support
mini USB port
SD card slot
720p video playback support
3.5mm audio jack
Gravity and ambient light sensor
Compass
3240mAh Li-polymer battery (16 hours standby, and 7 hours of talk time)
110×11.5×179.4mm

Priced at INR 25000, the Olivepad will be available countrywide at all Croma stores from August 2010.

The device sounds promising from its specs and features. Olive telecom has a history of bringing revolutionary products in India. Some of their known products include OliveFrvrOn (India’s 1st Hybrid Phone), OliveZipbook (India’s 1st 3G embedded Netbook), OliveWiz (India’s 1st Triple SIM Qwerty device), OliveGenie (India’s 1st 3G Music Modem) & OLiveNexus (India’s 1st Pocket Router).

[via Olive News & Thinkdigit]

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Indian Government builds INR 1500 personal computing device

Setu — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 07:43:58 +0000

Kapil Sibal, Union Minister for Human Resources development in India unveiled a low cost personal computing device which, apparently, will be priced at INR 1500($35). If that’s not cheap, he expects the price to drop to $20 & eventually $10 when the device goes for mass production.

The touch screen based device will have built in keyboard, 2GB RAM, WiFi connectivity and a USB port. The device will run over a 2 watt power system to suit poor power supply areas.

The HR ministry has asked various IITs in India to set up research teams to address the challenges in achieving the low price.

Device Features:

    * Touch-screen
    * Video-conferencing facility
    * Multimedia content
    * Searchable Pdf reader
    * Unzip tool
    * Solar Panels (later)

The reason why we are calling it a “device” and not a tablet is because we do not know how capable it is and what OS it will run on. Moreover, with the history of embarrassments the Indian Government has with technology, its really hard to say if this device will ever see the light of the day. Even if it does, it is not sure if they will be able to meet the price challenge.

[Via PIB & PI]

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Microsoft sells 175 million copies of Windows 7, gives free Windows Phone 7 to its employees

Setu — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 06:27:53 +0000

Microsoft announced their results for quarter ended June 30, 2010 and they are solid! A 22% increase from last year. Thanks to Windows 7 sales figure!

Microsoft has announced that Windows 7 has sold more that 175 million licenses to date. Quarterly revenues were $62.48 billion, 7% increase from last year.

From the press release:

“Our transition to cloud services is well underway with offerings like Windows Azure and our Business Productivity Online Services, and we look forward to continuing our product momentum this fall with the upcoming launches of Windows Phone 7 and Xbox Kinect.”

Microsoft is giving away free Windows Phone 7 to all its employees. Not sure if this is a ripple effect of the solid quarter, but MS is pitching this as a move to build an app developer community.

So far Windows Phone 7 looks promising with AT&T ordering for 8 million units, Here are some screenshots:

[via PI]

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Xbox 360 Arcade price slashed in India

Setu — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 06:27:44 +0000

The price of Xbox 360 Arcade console in India has been dropped form INR 16,990 to INR 14,676. This is good news for all people who were planning to buy the console.

The Xbox 360 Arcade console comes with Xbox 360 wireless controller, AV cable, arcade games disc and 256 MB memory unit (to save your game progress). This console is compatible with the upcoming Kinect (previously called Project Natal) for Xbox 360.

With this price drop, you can expect the console to be available at even cheaper price on ebay and in grey markets like Palika Bazaar.

In addition to playing games, you can use Xbox 360 to stream content from your PC to your HDTV and Home Theater system.

[via Techtree]

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TataSky launches India’s cheapest HD set top box

Setu — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 15:44:36 +0000

Back in 2008, TataSky broke the 100 rupees subscription price barrier and sparked stiff competition in the DTH space. They have done it again by launching India’s cheapest HD set top box priced at INR 2599. The new set top box delivers HD signals at 1080i in 16:9 format with 5.1 channel Dolby digital surround sound.

Tata Sky HD will offer Star Plus HD & Star Movies HD in addition to National Geographic HD and Discovery HD. HD movies and sports channels will be added later on.

As part of launch offer, all existing Tata Sky subscribers who upgrade to Tata Sky HD will get the HD Gold Pack free for an entire year. All new Tata Sky HD subscribers would be offered the HD Gold pack free for the first two months.

The success and failure of the service will depend primarily on the subscription price of HD channels. Indian consumers are extremely price conscious. In addition to high entry cost, many consumers do not adopt DTH primarily because they feel that the subscription price is too high compared to their local cable charges.

No word yet on availability of TataSky+ HD. A bad move, according to me, as TataSky+ consumers, being the premium segment, are most likely to upgrade first.

[via India Info Line]

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iPhone 4 coming to India through Vodafone

Swaroop — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 11:14:22 +0000

Now that the much awaited iPhone 4 is announced. The iPhone lovers (read “Apple fans”) in India are craving to get a hands on this baby. (Count me in there)

Vodafone has confirmed that it’s going to bring this amazing gadget to India in the coming months. Hope that’s soon.

We at woikr surely won’t wait for a year to own this (Call your friends in the US/UK/Europe to get you one). Start saving for this folks. It’s well worth it.

[via Pluggd.in]