Apple's iPhone and iPod Touch continue to be the platform of choice for mobile Web users, but the Google (NSDQ: GOOG)-backed Android is picking up steam, according to data from AdMob.
In its monthly "Mobile Metrics" report, AdMob analyzed what handsets and operating systems were using the most mobile data for June. While it is not a comprehensive report of the industry because it only measures Web sites and applications that use AdMob's advertising network, it does give some insight into mobile Web usage.
Apple's mobile platform remains popular, and its devices accounted for nearly 43% of all U.S. ad requests. The report also broke down requests by region, and estimated that 54% of the 45 million iPhone and iPod Touch users were in the United States. Apple continues to seek deals in new markets, and it is reportedly close to bringing the handset to the huge market of China.
While Apple's mobile devices were far and away the most popular, the Android OS appears to be gaining traction. AdMob said requests from the Linux-based OS increased 25% month over month, and its worldwide share surpassed Windows Mobile for the first time. Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT)'s mobile OS still has a far larger installed base than Google's OS, but this is an indicator that Android users are more likely to browse the Web from their handsets.
Android's quick gain in market share can be attributed to the release of more handsets, including a smartphone from Samsung. Google said it expects up to 20 Android-powered devices to be shipped by the end of the year, and handsets like the HTC Hero are already generating buzz among smartphone enthusiasts.
After a string of sunny earnings from Apple (AAPL), Intel, and other tech companies, Microsoft's dreary fiscal fourth-quarter results reported July 23 threaten the rising sense of optimism that a recovery in technology spending is at hand. "They kind of spoiled the party," says Brent Thill, director of software research at Citigroup (C) who has a buy rating on Microsoft shares.
Microsoft's (MSFT) net income fell 29% and sales dropped 17% for the quarter ended June 30. Both missed Wall Street's expectations, and investors sold Microsoft shares in extended trading, pushing the company's stock price down by as much as 8%. The report came after a trading day in which stocks rallied on strong corporate earnings in recent days, and Microsoft's stock had closed up 76¢, or 3%, at 25.56. Amazon.com (AMZN) also reported disappointing earnings after the close on July 23.
Hopes for Rebound Recede
The tech market had been caught up in a wave of optimism after chipmaker Intel (INTC) issued a strong third-quarter forecast July 14, and Apple on July 21 exceeded Wall Street's expectations for second-quarter sales. EMC (EMC) and Texas Instruments (TXN) have also issued positive earnings reports.
Investors have hoped that technology spending by consumers is rebounding, and that tech stocks would enjoy an extension of the rally they've had since March. "That belief has been shattered," says Yun Kim, an analyst at Broadpoint AmTech, which has a neutral rating on Microsoft. Instead of buying into a rally that's seen the Nasdaq Composite Index climb 55% since Mar. 9, investors will need to closely evaluate the specifics of companies whose shares they own. "Investors need to be a little more careful about analyzing each individual stock and not riding the market sentiment," Kim says.
Weak sales of PCs and servers took their toll on Microsoft's business during the quarter. Revenues were $13.1 billion, vs. $15.8 billion a year ago, and well short of Wall Street analysts' consensus estimate of $14.4 billion in fourth-quarter sales. Net income was $3.05 billion, or 34¢ per share, down from $4.3 billion, or 46¢ per share, last year. Analysts had expected Microsoft to earn 36¢ per share. Still, company officials said there are reasons to believe the economy is stabilizing. "At least we are seeing signs now of the bottom," Chief Financial Officer Chris Liddell said during a conference call with analysts.
Stumbles in All Divisions
For the latest quarter, however, Microsoft felt pain across all its divisions. Sales in Microsoft's Windows group, which closely mirror PC sales, tumbled 29%, to $3.1 billion. PC shipments worldwide declined 5% during the second quarter, according to market researcher Gartner (IT). Businesses are waiting for Windows 7, the next version of the operating system due Oct. 22, before they buy new machines.
A new study reveals that firms can gain an additional Rs. 92,935 through productivity by refreshing their old desktop PCs with laptops. According to the study conducted by Wipro Research in India, firms can also benefit from power savings amounting to Rs. 5,442 per year by switching from old desktops to laptops. Overall, by refreshing an old desktop with a laptop the firm gains Rs. 92,935 plus Rs. 5,442 that equals to Rs. 98,377 per PC per year.
Switching to laptops would also result in eliminating the need for UPS - thereby providing firms with an additional Rs. 3,550 in savings through UPS capital and running costs, resulting in a total power saving of Rs. 5,442. Over 50 percent of respondents feel that new applications, service packs, updates and patches are the major reasons for increase in maintenance effort every year. Anjan Choudhury Chief Technology Officer of Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) said,"At BSE, we have taken a decision to refresh desktops and laptops every four years with a warranty for the whole period from the manufacturer so that cost of ownership is minimized."
Today, due to the rising security threats, firms are enhancing their infrastructure to be protected. According to the survey, 52 percent of companies experiencing security incidents run with older PCs running older operating systems. Just over half of the survey respondents felt that security incidents increased with the age of a PC. With all these benefits available, it needs to be seen how many firms will replace their old PCs with brand new laptops.
The study was conducted among 50 firms in India that had more than 1000 PCs, by making use of a two step data gathering technique. First a survey questionnaire of 45 questions collecting 400 data points on PC management practices and costs was conducted followed by face to face or telephonic interviews to validate the survey. The study polled firms which on an average have 6861 employees, 3609 desktop PC users and 1184 laptop PC users.
Kingston first 256GB flash drive – After a lot of bragging about 128 GB data traveler 200 flash drive wonder, now Kingston has announced about its first 256 GB data traveler 300 USB flash drive.
Comprised with special protected area known as Privacy Zone, this high capacity USB flash drive is available with new password traveler software, which permits creating and access password on this protected area. Right now, it is attainable at amazing cost of just 657 Euros i.e. Rs. 45100 which is greater than 256 GB SSD’s.
Having a capacity to store data up to 10 Blu ray discs or 54 single layer DVD’s or 365 CD’s,the flash drive has a retractable pin interface. Kingston claims 256GB flash drive proffers reading speed of 20MB/sec and writing speed of 10MB/sec without any falter in data access.
The flash drive is perfect for all netbook users who are looking for portable and extended storage, easily carried in pocket. In addition, it lets Vista users to use this flash drive as memory as for all Window 7 and Vista based systems, DT 300 is already Ready Boost enabled.
It has announced the launch of the DataTraveler 300 -- the world's first 256 GB USB flash drive. Not only does the flash drive provide ample storage space, users also have the option to password protect their data. The Kingston DataTraveler 300 is suited for netbook users so that they can extend the capacity of their ultra-portable computers. It can also be used by business professionals or designers who require lots of storage space to store their high quality digital artwork.
According to Kingston, the DataTraveler 300 is capable of storing data equivalent to almost 365 CDs. With the Password Traveler software, users can also protect their confidential data from being accessed by unauthorised individuals. The Password Traveler software allows users to password protect their data in a privacy zone without the need of administrator rights. The 256 GB flash memory is enclosed in a cap-less shell, which also protects the USB connector when not in use. The DataTraveler 300 supports the Windows Readyboost feature too.
Includes Password Traveler security software for Windows. Enhanced Windows ReadyBoost on Windows Vista-based systems.The Password Traveler software does not support Mac OS or Linux. As of now, the DataTraveler 300 is built to order only, which means customers who are interested in buying the flash drive will have to place an order with a Kingston reseller.
Product Specifications:
Dimensions: 70.68 mm x 16.90 mm x 21.99 mm
Capacity: 256 GB
Speed: Data transfer rates of up to 20 MB/sec (read) and 10 MB/sec (write)
US-based visual display product maker ViewSonic unveiled its first all-in-one PC for the Indian market at a price tag of Rs 32,000.
The system 'VPC100' is the first of a new line of concept products that the company plans to launch in India. The PC allows users to watch HD movies, browse Internet, play games or view documents with crisp details.
It is powered by Intel's 1.6GHz Atom processor, the company said.
ViewSonic Technologies, India Country Manager, Gautam Ghosh said, “ViewSonic's PC will be available in India through the company's authorised distributor Redington India at an MRP of Rs 31,999.”
The domestic market is flooded with computers with basic features to advanced functions at a price range starting from Rs 8,000 onwards.
Tata Communications and F-Secure today announced a new partnership to offer mobile phone security services to the Indian mobile subscribers. Targeted towards the 50 million smarphone users in India, the services would provide a Mobile Security package including virus protection, malware protection and an integrated firewall.
The application is available as ready to install from the tie-ups website.
The solution supports leading mobile operating systems such as Windows Mobile, Symbian and UIQ.
As part of limited period offering, the solutions are available at 30 % discount and for 30-day free trial.
“Mobile security must not be an afterthought. We, at Tata Communications are committed to provide customers with the easiest and the most comprehensive security solution for all devices (PC, Server, Mobile). We are pleased to be in association with F-Secure to offer mobile security solutions to our subscriber base, suitable for their needs,” said Mukul Sood, Vice President, Content and Applications, Tata Communications Ltd.
Venu Palakirti, sales director for India and SAARC Region, F-Secure Corporation, said, “Most mobile phone users are aware that malware can infect a mobile device via Bluetooth, SMS, MMS or thru the internet but fail to have security software installed. Our solution enables smartphone users to enjoy the full potential of their devices without the fear of mobile threats and we feel that Tata Communications has shown great forward thinking in the way it approaches and sustains its customers by enhancing the awareness on mobile threats. We view the partnership with Tata Communications as an important synergy for F-Secure in India.”
The two are already into tie-up for PC and server security.
Twin sensors + twin lenses = 3D images. Image: Fujifilm.
When it comes to common camera technology in the modern consumer electronics market, hardware and image quality are often gauged upon aspects such as mega-pixels, zoom magnification and a plethora of enhancement tools. However, camera specialist Fujifilm is looking to take imaging to another level with the world’s first digital 3D device.
While the concept of a camera delivering three-dimensional content may seem like the stuff of Hollywood sci-fi blockbusters, the Fujifilm FinePix REAL 3D W1 (what a mouthful) promises to “revolutionize the world of photography” with genuine 3D images.
Expected to hit the UK market this coming September, the FinePix REAL 3D camera still offers up the same tempting specifications found in many other cameras (i.e., 10.0 mega pixels, 3x optical zoom, a 2.8-inch display screen) but it promises to stand out from the crowd thanks to 3D still image capture and 3D video recording capabilities too.
Equipped with twin lenses and twin sensor technology, Fujifilm’s latest draws upon a processor capable of blending two separate images in order to create a single, three-dimensional result “that jumps out at you,” according to Theo Georghiades, digital product manager at Fujifilm.
The final 3D imagery can be viewed directly through the camera’s onboard display or, if users want physical copies in 3D, they can e-mail their content to a processing laboratory in Japan that transfers images onto special lenticulated paper that creates a 3D holographic print.
Although Fujifilm has not yet announced full regional availability and accompanying prices for its 3D wonder gadget, current online speculation places pocket damage for the UK market somewhere in the region of 600 GBP.
That price should come down as/if the technology evolves and finds traction in the market, with Mr. Georghiades outlining that, while the FinePix REAL 3D will likely only be a favourite with the ‘must have’ tech crowd upon release, Fujifilm is “confident that 3D imagery is the way forward.”
The T-Mobile MyTouch 3G is T-Mobile's second smartphone running Google's Android mobile operating system. And while the MyTouch 3G ($200 as of July 22, 2009) has much going for it-- a lightweight design, a gorgeous screen, and the 1.5 update to the Android operating system, it's not without its flaws -- the on-screen keyboard is far from perfect, for example.
The MyTouch 3G is virtually identical to the HTC Magic, as the handset is called overseas. The phone has an eye-catching design that's what the T-Mobile G1 should have been-it's sleek, elegantly curved, and graced with distinctive design touches. When the G1 first came out, I described it as bland. Viewed side-by-side with the myTouch 3G, the G1 now looks downright kludgy. It feels bulky, too, and no wonder: Though the MyTouch 3G's dimensions are only slightly smaller than the G1 (measures 4.5 by 2.2 by 0.5 inches versus the G1's 4.6 by 2.2 by 0.6 inches), in hand it feels significantly smaller, and it is noticeably lighter (weighing 4.1 ounces versus the G1's 5.6 ounces). The AppleiPhone 3G is taller and slightly slimmer than the myTouch.
The phone's gentle curves are more than aesthetic touches: Its bottom tip has a more pronounced curve than the top, and the resulting shape formed a comfortable thumb grip. The curves, coupled with the shiny maroon (dubbed "Merlot") finish, make the myTouch more pocketable than the G1 ever could hope to be. Like the iPhone 3G, I found the myTouch is highly prone to showing fingerprints--which are especially prominent on its screen. The only element that didn't attract fingerprints was the matte stripe that runs around the edge of the phone.
Other design touches I appreciated were the well-cut, light-up navigation buttons beneath the screen (Home, Menu, back, and search--a new addition) and the deep well that surrounds the smooth navigation trackball. Also, the volume rocker is longer and easier to press than the one on the G1. The back slides down and off easily, and the microSD Card slot is accessible without your having to remove the battery.
I didn't like the placement or size of the oblong Talk and send/power buttons, however. These critical buttons were unduly small, and I often inadvertently hit the power button instead of the back button because of their proximity. Also annoying is the design decision to have the mini-USB port at the bottom double as the headphone jack; as a result, you have to use HTC's proprietary headphones or add a dongle for regular headphones. At least the port is free and clear, and omits the troublesome cover that the G1 had. Another positive: The included headphones are more stylish than before, and proprietary USB-to-headphone dongle is thinner. It actually felt like an acceptable extension of the headphone's connector, and not the annoying add-on cable included with other HTC handsets.
The myTouch 3G gets another miss with its on-screen touch keyboard. The more I used the device, the more I missed having a physical keyboard, as on the G1. Yes, I appreciated being able to do some limited typing with one hand using the new-to-Android 1.5 native on-screen keyboard, and yes I liked the haptic feedback vibration as I pressed a key (which can be activated in the settings menu), But overall, I felt that the keyboard was too tightly packed, making it occasionally difficult to type on. I also found the letters disappeared too quickly from the screen, so it was hard to confirm at a glance that I had hit the key I thought I'd hit; by comparison, the iPhone 3GS's keyboard displays that key strike longer, showing in a big, easily seen enlargement.
Going back to fix typos was harder than I would have liked, too (unlike on an iPhone, I couldn't drag the cursor back where I wanted it in a line). I found the horizontal keyboard roomier, but when I invoked the myTouch's horizontal keyboard, I could see only a few lines of text in the screen above it.
I loved the myTouch's 3.2-inch, 320-by-480-resolution (HVGA) capacitive touch display. Placed next to the G1's display, it was brighter, more vibrant, and sharper. That said, I found that, compared with an iPhone 3GS, it was not as bright and clear when in the glare of sunlight outdoors. The built-in 3-megapixel camera gains camcorder functions with the 1.5 Android update. It lacks the dedicated shutter button that the G1 offers; but you can use the trackball as a physical shutter button, so you needn't rely solely on pressing the on-screen shutter, as you must on the iPhone.
In most respects, the phone functions in the same ways that the G1 phone (with its first-generation Android operating system) did. Operation was smooth, with few points of frustrating sluggishness (the notable exception was the long pause between taking pictures with the camera). The Android 1.5 OS introduces a few critical improvements, the most obvious being the on-screen keyboard (which appears when you touch a text field). The phone now has integrated universal search, so can search for things on the Web or within individual apps. Android 1.5 can record and upload video and pictures to YouTube and Picasa, and play video in MPEG-4 and 3GP formats. You can now add widgets to the home screen (a media player with playback shortcuts, analog clock, calendar, and picture frame are pre-installed options, or you can search for other widgets, too). Android 1.5 also has stereo Bluetooth support, lets you copy and paste from within the browser (about time), and lets you search from within a page.
The myTouch 3G has integrated Google Voice Search, too; however, in my tests, I found it to be haphazard in its accuracy. Usually, the phone didn't recognize what I said correctly--much like the issue I found with the iPhone 3GS' Voice Control feature. And if I were in an environment with ambient noise, well, my odds of it working went down from there. T-Mobile gets a nod for its innovative packaging of the myTouch 3G. The phone comes in a zippered travel case, with convenient pockets for the USB cable, headphones, and USB-to-wall power adapter. The adapter gets extra kudos for its compact, slim design and the way the outlet plug collapses into the adapter.
McAfee lays out its plans to expand its software-as-a-service business with an eye toward gaining traction among enterprises. To back up its talk, McAfee announces the addition of Web filtering and vulnerability assessment to its SAAS portfolio.
It's no secret that adoption of software as a service is growing, particularly when it comes to security.All of the major vendors have made a push around cloud-based services, Symantec with the acquisition of MessageLabs and Trend Micro with its Smart Protection Network pitch. Now it's McAfee's turn to talk SAAS.
McAfee July 20 announced the release of McAfee Total Protection Service 5.0 and outlined its plans for expanding its SAAS portfolio. Much of McAfee's pitch centers on providing better ROI to businesses—which Marc Olesen, senior vice president and general manager of McAfee's SAAS business, said is the driving force for adoption.
"From a time standpoint, [with SAAS] the solution is up, running and available," Olesen said. "It takes minutes to turn customers on … Whereas if you compare that to on-premises [options], you have got to provision hardware and install the software, you've got to troubleshoot it and you're just extending out your ROI. That's just [savings] in time."
In particular, the company is focused on the enterprise space, where its SAAS offerings have not made as much progress as among smaller businesses. While small and midsize businesses may see SAAS as a way to do something they don't have the expertise or personnel to do on their own, the decision-making process for enterprises involves sizing up whether or not they want to do something in-house, Olesen explained.
With Total Protection Service 5.0, organizations can choose from a mix of capabilities, ranging from e-mail and endpoint protection to the newly added Web filtering and vulnerability assessment capabilities. Looking ahead, McAfee said it wants to continue to build more and more security features into the cloud—effectively offering the same type of protection via SAAS as it does via on-premises options.
"We want everything to be integrated [with] the online management console, so that will include data protection, that will include network protection around intrusion prevention and VPN and firewall, and ultimately being able to roll everything up and correlate it in a security information management system," Olesen said.
When it comes to e-mail, the company wants to get more into the area of archiving and continuity. McAfee also wants to move its vulnerability scanning inside the firewall, Olesen said.
"The longer-term vision among all of this is that it is ultimately choice across the board," he told eWEEK. "Any type of security; you can get it in the cloud or on-premises, it's the same functionality. It's just where you want to allocate your resources."
Despite last-minute wrinkles, India is still looking to sign an end-use monitoring agreement to ease the sale of U.S. military hardware during the visit here of Hillary Clinton, but the highlight of Monday’s discussions between External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna and the U.S. Secretary of State will be the unveiling of a new strategic dialogue architecture and the signing of an agreement to facilitate the launch of U.S. satellites and satellites with U.S. components on Indian launch vehicles.
South Block officials say the new dialogue architecture is intended to take Indo-U.S. relations to a higher level, 3.0 — to use Ms. Clinton’s phrase — and will cover areas like nonproliferation, security, education, health and development. Although the U.S. side is keen on India making public the sites where U.S.-supplied nuclear reactors will be located, a final decision has yet to be taken on this in South Block.
The new Technology Safeguards Agreement (TSA) to be signed on Monday will cover launches involving satellites owned by U.S. government or academic institutions or by third country space agencies and universities which have U.S. equipment on board. Since the components and satellites will have to be integrated with ISRO’s launch vehicles, the TSA will provide for monitoring by the U.S. side to ensure against diversion or misuse of equipment.
In March 2006, Frontline reported that the U.S. was insisting on “a full-fledged TSA, which included restrictive movement of the payload, constant overseeing presence of U.S. escorts, and impermeable firewalls between civil and military payloads.”
According to ISRO officials, the final text of the agreement to be signed follows the standard template the U.S. negotiates with all countries. “Its provisions are essentially driven by U.S. law and India did not have much flexibility during its negotiations,” an official told The Hindu.
The agreement to be signed is apparently an umbrella one — similar to the TSA that China and the U.S. signed — with individual licensing by the State Department likely dispensed with, but India will not yet be able to enter the lucrative market for the launch of U.S. commercial satellites or third country commercial satellites with U.S. components till a separate Commercial Space Launch Agreement (CSLA) is signed. “The TSA is a necessary but not sufficient condition for commercial launches,” said an ISRO official. India and the U.S. have been working on the draft of a CSLA for some time now but there are still major differences between the two sides.
Even after a CSLA, however, ISRO will not be able to launch U.S. communications satellites since these figure in the U.S. Munitions List and require separate certification from the State Department.A second agreement will also be signed by Mr. Krishna and Ms. Clinton on a framework for “robust result-oriented cooperation” in science and technology for “collaborative research and its commercialisation.” Ministry of External Affairs officials say this agreement will build on the October 2005 Science and Technology Cooperation Agreement.
The Next Steps in Strategic Partnership of January 2004 envisaged an agreement to allow for the Indian launch of all U.S.-licensed satellites and third country satellites with controlled U.S. items on board but despite the absence of this, the NSSP was declared “concluded” in July 2005.
Transcend has announced the availability of its "ultra-speed" Solid State Drive with model number SSD25D. It is a 2.5 inch drive (laptop hard disk form factor) that operates over the SATA II interface. It has 64MB of inbuilt DRAM cache. SSDs are generally more durable, reliable, and power saving than spinning magnetic hard drives.
A press release issued by Transcend claims sustained transfer speeds of up to 230MB/s read and 180MB/s write -- performance which is far higher than normal hard disk drives. With such fast transfer speeds and a latency of around one millisecond, a PC can be expected to be more responsive, boot-up faster, and launch software applications quicker.
The target market for such drives is high-end gaming systems, workstations, and performance laptops. Transcend claims the drive runs cool in operation, includes error-correction, and wear-levelling to obtain longer life. It is available in 60GB and 120GB capacities, priced at Rs. 18,000 (US$372) and Rs. 31,000 respectively, with a two year warranty.
Asus has introduced the all new Xtreme Series motherboard featuring Asus P6TD Deluxe model based on Intel X58 chipset. Xtreme Series motherboards boast of ultimate system performance with better reliability of controlling multi-core process operations and managing them effectively. Asus is offering P6TD Deluxe motherboard for Rs. 21,350, excluding taxes.
Just like Gigabyte introduced its Ultra Durable 3 technology, Asus' Xtreme Series focuses majorly on enhancement of power, throughput and stable system performance.
Asus P6TD Deluxe motherboard is based on Intel X58 chipset and supports Intel Socket 1366 based Intel Core i7 CPUs including Extreme Edition that support Intel Dynamic Speed Technology. This motherboard can support up to 24GB of DDR3 RAM over six DIMM slots, three PCI-Express 2.0 slots and fourteen USB 2.0 ports!
As a part of the Xtreme Design, Asus has added innovative feature called Stack Cool3+ which effectively cools the motherboard with an advanced copper layer. This motherboard also features Xtreme phase that ensures more stable and optimized power usage and Turbo V for real-time dynamic processing boost. Enthusiasts and overclockers would be able to make the best of both features with a boost of up to 51 per cent in the processing throughput.
Asus is offering the Asus P6TD Deluxe motherboard with three years of guarantee.
In an effort to curb piracy of music, state-owned telecom service provider BSNL has collaborated with Hungama.com to offer music services to the telecom operator's broadband customers. The service was soft-launched a few months ago.
With bsnl.hungama.com, subscribers will have access to nearly 65,000 songs and 2,000 music videos. Users will have unlimited access to this trove at Rs. 149 per month.
Say, that's a reasonable amount to pay for unlimited downloads of songs, video and games - restricted options for the moment, but it is a beginning.
However, the service does come with its setbacks. Once a user's subscription expires, they cannot access the media files downloaded from the portal. They need to keep renewing their account in order to be able to use the files.
The companies haven't disclosed the response they've received for the service so far.
"Delhi has only 15 Mhz of spectrum available making it possible only for three telecom operators to offer such services," Raja told Lok Sabha in a written reply.
The minister also told parliament that an Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) had been constituted to look into matters concerning 3G spectrum auctions, scheduled to happen this year.
Each telecom operator (successful bidder) will be allocated 5 MHz of 3G spectrum once the auctions are over.
In Delhi, only two private players will be able to offer this high-end services as one slot is already reserved for the state-run telecom operator Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL).
The minister said West Bengal will get only 10 MHz of spectrum, while Gujarat will have 15 MHz.
Such a crunch may lead operators to make crazy bids to acquire spectrum in maximum number of telecom circles, industry officials worry.
The government is expected to earn about Rs.35,000 crore from the 3G auctions.
Samsung India has announced the launch of its flagship series of LCD monitors - Samsung Lavender Series in the Indian market.
The new Lavender series is available in 21.5" and 23" screen sizes offer consumers Complete Display Solutions for their entertainment and business needs. The Lavender Series LCD monitor comes with the Touch of Color (ToC) design and a contrast ratio of 50000:1, a response time of 2 ms; viewing angle of 170/160 and a 16:9 Wide format Panel that is made for multimedia and optimized for HD Content .
The Lavender series has a slimmer neck compared to conventional models and has front OSD Touch buttons that emit red lighting from under the panel. Samsung claims that the Lavender series eliminates the need of using non-biodegradable components in manufacturing of exterior panels, making it 100 percent recyclable and environmentally friendly. Also, the Lavender Series consume less than 1W of power in the Power Off Mode, adds Samsung.
The Samsung Lavender Monitors are available in 21.5" and 23" wide display format and are priced at Rs 12,500 and Rs 13,500 respectively.
Taiwan-based High Computer Tech (HTC) will launch a high-profile 3G handset based on Qualcomm's Brew Mobile Platform (BMP) in September or October targeting the consumer segment, according to industry sources in Taiwan.
The BMP-based handset will come with a touchsreeen, HTC's in-house developed TouchFlo 3D technology and HTC Sense interface as found in the HTC touch-enabled smartphone lineup, and yet the device will be available as an entry-level model, the sources noted.
HTC also plans to increase the adoption of Android-based platform in place of Windows Mobile. The proportion of HTC's shipments of Android-based smartphones will rise to over 50% in 2010 compared to 30% in 2009, the sources indicated.
The deployment of BMP-based models and the enforcement of Android-powered handsets will help further enhance HTC's competitiveness, the sources asserted.
What's not to love about a $150 camera? The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-S980 is a bare-bones but well-designed pocket camera that offers some nice-looking specs for the price: a 12-megapixel sensor, a 4X-optical-zoom lens ranging from 33mm to 132mm, digital image stabilization, red-eye reduction, face detection, a 2.7-inch-diagonal LCD screen, and ISO equivalencies up to 3200.
Those aren't groundbreaking specs, but they hit many sweet spots for a sub-$200 camera. Alas, the cost-cutting measures needed to happen somewhere, and in the case of the Cyber-shot DSC-S980, the trade-off is lackluster image quality.
In PC World Test Center jury evaluations, we pitted sample images from the DSC-S980 against those from a slew of other bargain-priced cameras in our sub-$200 camera roundup. The samples from the DSC-S980 were noticeably darker and, when the flash was turned on, less evenly lit than those of the competition. Overall, the DSC-S980 earned an imaging score of Fair.
Battery life was a much brighter note, however. The Cyber-shot DSC-S980 took a whopping 379 shots on a single charge of its lithium ion battery, enough for a battery-life rating of Very Good.
Like the higher-quality Cyber-shot DSC-W230 ($200), the DSC-S980 has a host of convenient design elements going for it. Topmost on that list is the mode dial, which provides quick analog access to six shooting modes (Program Auto, Auto Mode, Easy Mode, Auto ISO Mode, Scene Mode, and Movie Mode).
In Program Auto mode, with manually adjustable ISO settings, the DSC-S980 performed at a decent level in low-light scenarios. Noise became a bit disruptive at ISO 1600, and was extremely visible at ISO 3200. Even so, the camera snapped bright shots at high-light-sensitivity levels.
In Scene Mode, you get six options: a soft-focus portrait mode, a landscape mode, twilight modes for both portraits and scenery shots, and modes for snow and beach shots.
The Cyber-shot DSC-S980 shoots standard-definition, 320-by-240 video at 30 frames per second, saving them as AVI files. As with most basic point-and-shoots, you can't use the zoom while filming video.
As usual with Sony's point-and-shoot cameras, the on-screen navigation for selecting and adjusting settings is intuitive and well designed; users should have no problem picking the camera up and getting started right away.
The button layout is simple, which goes hand-in-hand with the camera's basic set of features. The power button and shutter button are on the top right of the DSC-S980, while the A/V-out and DC-in ports are on the right side behind a flimsy-feeling plastic and rubber door.
On the back of the camera is a zoom rocker, the six-selection mode dial, a menu button for accessing contextual settings, and a four-way directional pad for navigating the on-screen interface. The four main directions on the circular pad also offer one-press access to the LCD screen settings, the flash, the self-timer, and the macro mode. Below that are two more dedicated buttons, to activate playback and delete photos. The battery and Memory Stick slot are tucked under a door on the bottom of the camera.
Of course, image quality is very important in a camera, which is why we can't wholeheartedly recommend the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-S980. Nevertheless, it is a nice, cheap option for an aspiring younger photographer, and it has basic, intuitive controls that would be easy for anyone to learn. For almost any other buyer looking for a Sony point-and-shoot, we'd recommend plopping down the extra $50 for the vastly better Cyber-shot DSC-W230.
The congestion in cellular networks has gone up in the first three months of the calender year(January-March) an analysis by sector regulator TRAI has revealed.
The regulator said that Reliance Telecom, Reliance Communications and Idea Cellular have the most congested networks among private operators while Tata Teleservices had the least levels of congestion.
The regulator, which monitors congestion on a monthly basis, has said that in as many as 76 places, the congestion levels were above the permissible limit during the quarter, when compared to only 66 such places in the previous quarter. Congestion levels have been steadily coming down and had fallen to an all-time low in October-December 08, when telcos’ networks were congested in only 66 places. Network congestion leads to call drops and deterioration in voice quality. Besides, this is also the primary reason why consumers have to make repeated calls to get through.
The regulator tracks this by evaluating the congestion levels at the points of interconnection (PoI), which are places where mobile traffic is exchanged between the networks of different operators. Congestion level is one of the important parameters and signifies the ease by which a customer of one network is able to communicate with a customer of another network. The regulator has set a benchmark of less than 0.5% for this parameter. This means out of 200 calls between two operators, only one call should face the problem of congestion.
Among private service providers as of March 2009, Reliance Telecom and Idea both have congestion in 18 PoIs each, followed by Reliance Communications (16 POIs) and Vodafone (11 POIs). The circles most affected due to PoI congestion are Bihar (13 PoIs), followed by Andhra Pradesh and Kolkata (8 PoIs each) Assam and Himachal Pradesh (7 PoIs each) and Mumbai (6 PoIs), TRAI said in a statement.
Bharti Airtel, which so far had the most congested network, has shown a rapid turnaround and now boasts of one of the lowest congestion levels, TRAI’s report said. In fact, Bharti is now second behind only the Tatas, in terms of the least congested networks.
The Walkman beat competitors MP3 and Apple iPod to become the 'Top Music Invention' of the last 50 years. The top ten list was published by the leading gadget magazine, T3 Magazine. Sony's Walkman just celebrated its 30th birthday. Several other music inventions such as Dolby Sound, Compact Discs (CDs) and Napster were in the fray, but Walkman got the top honours.
The Walkman was launched by Sony on July 1, 1979. The launch of The Walkman brought a revolution to the music industry. It gave the first "music on go" experience to the music lovers.
Here are T3's 10 Top Most Musical Inventions of the last 50 Years:
1. Sony Walkman 2. MP3 format 3. Apple 4. CD 5. Napster 6. Dolby 7. DAB radio 8. Boombox 9. Sonos Multi-Room Music System 10. Panasonic Technics DJ Deck
A community implementation of .NET is splitting in two, hoping to protect Linux and open-source against potential patent claims from Microsoft.
The Mono Project plans to split between a core set of APIs that are based on ECMA specifications of Microsoft's C# and Common Language Infrastructure (CLI) and a stack that implements other Microsoft APIs for ASP.NET, ADO.NET, and Winforms.
Microsoft has promised it won't assert patent claims against non-Microsoft implementations of C# and CLI, but it has made no such clear promise on the rest.
The distinction is important, as Mono has been used in a variety of open-source applications that can ship with and work on popular Linuxes such as Debian and Ubuntu.
Applications using the C# parts of Mono include the Banshee media player, the Gnome Due application installer, Beagle desktop-search, and the Tomboy note-taking application.
Mono leader Miguel de Icaza told The Reg: "The concern is Microsoft won't sue over the ECMA code but there's no word on the others so we are going to split those out so everybody isn't concerned."
ASP.NET is under Microsoft's Shared Source Initiative, which provides limited rights to view the Microsoft source code. ADO.NET is available under Microsoft's Public License. And Winforms come in a variety of open and copyrighted licenses.
The very presence of Mono in applications used by Debian and Ubuntu reached a crescendo last week, with GNU-daddy Richard Stallman calling it a threat to open-source because Microsoft could assert its claims over C# to kill Mono-based projects.
Stallman's comments followed what appeared to be a great deal of community politicking, debate, and personal attacks made through various email lists apparently designed to get people to boycott Debian and Canonical and force them to dump Mono, which is sponsored by Novell. Mono has been taking heat since Novell's controversial patent protection deal with Microsoft in November 2006.
In some cases, people have reacted to the anti-Mono wave.
One commenter on an Ubuntu mailing list promised his company would look into switching from Ubuntu to Fedora because Mono "is just too dangerous" and said he stood by the position taken by Stallman. He was speaking after The Ubuntu Technical Board said it saw no harm in Mono.
The sticking point was that since 2001, Microsoft has made Mono available on reasonable and non-discriminatory (RAND) terms rather than a royalty free license, a license Microsoft had promised it would adopt.
The sore point was what constituted "reasonable" as Microsoft could set the terms. de Icaza said nobody had followed up to make the ECMA C# and CLI specs available under the promised royalty free license.
Microsoft's promise Monday of availability under its Community Promise is designed to rectify that and satisfy critics of Mono. The C# and CLI parts of the Mono core can still be installed with the other part of the Mono stack, covering ASP.NET, ADO.NET, and Winforms.
Riding high on the wave post India's first successful lunar mission, ISRO Chairman G. Madhavan Nair has revealed that India's space organization will launch the Chandrayaan II in the year 2013.
The Chandrayaan II mission will be far more complicated as compared to the first one because of the Moon Rover landing that this mission involves. Landing a rover on the moon is a complicated task, as the moon does not have an atmosphere that can slow down the descent of the rover with parachutes. The ISRO is working on alternatives that will endure a safe landing for the rover.
With the Chandrayaan I continuing to dazzle scientists with fresh data being received from the craft everyday, it is only natural that the Chandrayaan II needs to be launched later to supplement data received from its predecessor. ISRO will also launch a geostationary, weather satellite in the near future for recording monsoon patterns and cloud shifts in the next few years.
India is also planning a mission to Mars, which has been stalled owing to the lack of qualified personnel. Nair, in what seems to be an indirect call to the student community, has requested young students to take up careers that would help the country achieve success in missions like these. Currently, there seems to be dearth of ideas and most students it seems do not seem to take up research activities as a career option.
The system 'VPC100' is the first of a new line of concept products that the company plans to launch in India. The PC allows users to watch HD movies, browse Internet, play games or view documents with crisp details. 
