G'Five mobile handset Is Biggest manufacture having Low prices up to Rs.1000/

G'Five Mobile Introducing more number of feature with projector as low as Rs.1000.G'Five mobile phone maker announced today that it has reduced prices of between 10-30 per cent across the Commission against the trend of rate hikes competitors because depreciation of rupee.

"G'Five is one of the largest manufacture of mobile handsets in China. Unlike other companies, we do not have to buy a third party. Even if the value of the depreciating rupee has certainly affected our margins but we are considering slashing prices for large volume business, "managing director Kingtech Electronics, a subsidiary of G'Five, Pathak told PTI Arshit.
He said that company has reduced prices for each model and the lowest price is below Rs 1000 and top model company is in range of Rs 4500.

"Our phone has the lower end camera, 1.8 inch screen, music player phones have others. There prices were below Rs 1000. Call us a top end phone projector which was earlier price of Rs 6000 and now we sell Rs 4500, "said Pathak.

Mobile call tariffs to increase further

NEW DELHI: Mobile call tariffs, which were hiked by many telecom operators a couple of months ago, are expected to witness further increase in the coming months back as the operators would try to offset the lower revenue from rural markets, said Bharti Airtel chairman Sunil Mittal said.



In rural markets, consumers typically make fewer phone calls than in cities and towns, Mittal said while speaking at an industry event here, citing rising pressure on margins and increasing costs to have forced the operators to hike tariffs. With the entry of new players and the ensuing tariff wars, the high priced bidding for 3G auctions, which saw top operators like Bharti Airtel and Reliance Communications coughing up 12,295 crore and 8,583 crore respectively, had led to margins being hammered.



Bharti had, in fact, paid an additional 3,314 crore for acquiring broadband wireless access (BWA) spectrum as well. Bharti's move to hike call tariffs gave a break to the cut-throat competition among telecom operators offering dirt cheap tariffs.



While speaking on allocation of spectrum, Mittal said the government should be liberal and judicious.



He said the operators have paid far too much to obtain spectrum for offering third-generation mobile phone services.

Question corner - Earth-Sun distance

 How do you measure the distance between Earth and Sun?

Palakkad, Kerala

Let us ask first a related question, namely, “How is the distance between Earth and any planet, measured?” Take for example the planet nearest to the Sun, namely, Venus. This distance to Venus can be obtained at any time during its travel by radar measurements.

For this, a pulse of radio wave is transmitted from Earth and is received when it bounces off Venus and comes back to Earth. Since radio waves travel at the speed of light, by measuring the total time taken for the pulse to come back, the distance can be calculated as: Distance = 0.5 X (time taken by radar pulse to travel both ways)X (speed of light)

Now we come to the other question, namely, the measurement of distance between earth and sun. Obviously we cannot use the earlier radar measurements since the sun itself is a source of intense electromagnetic waves and in addition it is too far away from the earth.

But our measurement of distance between planet and earth will become useful for this important measurement. Let us assume that the distance between Earth and the Sun is ‘R.' To first approximation, the orbits of Earth and Venus are perfect circles around the Sun. Now, let us consider the orbit of Venus. There are two places where the Sun-Venus-Earth angle is 90 degrees.

At these points, the line joining Earth and Venus will be a tangent to the orbit of Venus. These two points indicate the greatest elongation of Venus and is the farthest that Venus will get away from the Sun in the sky with respect to an earth observer. Now, by making observations of Venus in the sky, one can determine the point of greatest elongation. One can also measure the angle between the Sun and Venus in the sky at the point of greatest elongation. In the diagram, this angle will be the Sun-Earth-Venus angle marked as in the right angled triangle. Now, using the trigonometry, one can determine the distance between Earth and Sun R, in terms of the Earth-Venus distance at this time: R= (Earth–Venus distance at point of greatest elongation)/ Cos . We get the distance between the Sun and Earth to be 1.496x10{+1}{+1}metres (nearly 150million kilometers or 93 million miles!).
s-vbs

Wipro Partners with Imec to Launch ARISE Lab

Bangalore: India's leading electronic engineering design services company, Wipro partners with Nanotech electronics and semiconductor researchers, Imec, to form R&D lab named ARISE in Bangalore, India.

According to Imec, the 1+ billion population of India as a great prospect for its IP in nanotechnology particularly in electronic and semiconductor manufacturing. Imec focuses on wireless, energy and health not only in India but worldwide. Imec is working on some nanotech devices like tera-powered processors, energy efficient solar array, sensors and wireless transceivers to grab the opportunity in the emerging market. Imec is directing towards affordable medical care as an important arena. The ARISE lab is equippedwith wearable ECG monitor linking patient to doctor's information system. The demonstration for the product was done at (India Semiconductor Association)'s CXO conclave event held in Bangalore.

MEMS(Micro Electro Mechanical System) which is also known as NEMS(Nano Electro Mechanical Systems) is no more micro, its nano now. The sensors are so smart and small that they can easily be implanted into human brain to cure neurological disorders. Imec is also working on development of nano sensors to smell, which is called e-nose to sense air quality, food quality etc.

Imec is aiming to source its technology to Indian high tech manufacturers in semiconductor and nanotech orbit.

India is rising more as a buyer than an innovator, so it's time for Indian based companies to head towards product research. Creating IPs are more beneficial for companies than providing design services. Though product space evolves a lot of risk but some business companies are brave enough to take the risk.
s-vbs

Microsoft lines up its big swing at tablets

SEATTLE, USA: Next week a high-ranking Microsoft Corp executive will stand on stage and show off a new version of Windows on a tablet computer.It won't be the first time. Chief Executive Steve Ballmer did it last year. Co-founder Bill Gates did it 10 years ago.

This time, when Windows chief Steven Sinofsky shows off an early version of its next touch-enabled, tablet-friendly operating system -- code-named Windows 8 -- to independent developers at their annual conference in Anaheim next Tuesday, there is a sense that it really matters.

"It's a big deal," said Todd Lowenstein, portfolio manager at HighMark Capital Management, which holds Microsoft shares.

"Investors are hungry to see how they are going to join where the market's going. They've been lagging and they need to catch up and surpass what's going on, to demonstrate they truly are an innovative company."

Despite foretelling the tablet revolution a decade ago, Microsoft is last off the blocks with a salable device. The tablet PC Gates unveiled at the Comdex tech show in November 2001 was too clunky to catch on. The slick-looking Hewlett-Packard prototype slate brandished by Ballmer at the Consumer Electronics Show in 2010 did not even make it onto the shelves.

The first generation of touch-enabled tablets running Windows 8 are expected on the market in about 12 months.

That gives Apple Inc two and a half years head start with its iPad, which has already sold 29 million units. Tablets running Google Inc's Android software will also have gained ground, likely boosted by an expected Amazon.com device.

The shift away from desk-based PCs -- which mostly run on Microsoft software -- toward tablets and smartphones is happening quicker than expected. The future of Microsoft, and its moribund stock, may hinge on how well Sinofsky can sell the latest combination of tablets and Windows.

"Windows 8 might actually matter if they can do the touch-screen innovation," said Michael Yoshikami, Chief Executive of fund manager YCMNET Advisors. "Otherwise Windows 8 is just Windows 7 with one more number."

HEARTS AND MINDS

First, Microsoft needs to get itself back in tune with developers and entrepreneurs who are flocking from Microsoft-centric programing platforms to the more exciting realms of Apple and Android.

The shift to a Apple-based culture is noticeable among innovators and entrepreneurs, said Matt McIlwain, managing director at Seattle-based venture capital firm Madrona Venture Group.

"Five years ago I would have said 80 percent of the startups or ventures who came to pitch us pulled out their laptop and started showing us their PowerPoint presentation," said McIlwain. "Now 80 percent pull out their Mac. If I were Steve Ballmer, that would be concerning to me."

The enthusiasm of independent software developers is key for the health of what Microsoft calls its Windows "ecosystem". It has stirred excitement with its new motion-controlled Kinect system for the Xbox game console, but is lagging in the exploding market for mobile apps.

Apple iPhone and iPad users can download 425,000 apps, while Android users have a choice of 250,000. There are only 30,000 apps for Windows Phones, although that is expected to grow when Microsoft launches its own app store with Windows 8.

Microsoft finds itself playing only a background role in many tech-savvy startups, such as fashion site StyleCaster, which uses Apple computers, Google email, Linux web systems and Amazon.com Inc for its data storage.

"In the last four or five years, ever since the iPhone platform came out, you have even more developers who have moved over onto Apple systems, and that's created more and more tools," said Drew Butler, StyleCaster's vice president of technology.

Not everyone is so downbeat. Wes Greene, lead mobile developer at Seattle-based Groundspeak, which makes a leading app for geocaching -- basically GPS-enabled treasure hunting -- for Windows, Apple and Android phones, expects Microsoft's deal with Nokia to bring it into the mobile mainstream.

He likes what he has read so far about Windows 8.

"It's kind of cool to see it's not like three separate companies any more, it's all falling into line."

WALL STREET RESTIVE

Microsoft also needs to connect with Wall Street and investors, who are nonplused with a share price that hasn't budged in the past decade.HANOI, VIETNAM: Microsoft Corp is less optimistic about China than India or Indonesia, due to the country's lack of progress, in stamping out software piracy, according to chief executive officer Steve Ballmer.SEATTLE, USA: Next week a high-ranking Microsoft Corp executive will stand on stage and show off a new version of Windows on a tablet computer.It won't be the first time. Chief Executive Steve Ballmer did it last year. Co-founder Bill Gates did it 10 years ago.

This time, when Windows chief Steven Sinofsky shows off an early version of its next touch-enabled, tablet-friendly operating system -- code-named Windows 8 -- to independent developers at their annual conference in Anaheim next Tuesday, there is a sense that it really matters.

"It's a big deal," said Todd Lowenstein, portfolio manager at HighMark Capital Management, which holds Microsoft shares.

"Investors are hungry to see how they are going to join where the market's going. They've been lagging and they need to catch up and surpass what's going on, to demonstrate they truly are an innovative company."

Despite foretelling the tablet revolution a decade ago, Microsoft is last off the blocks with a salable device. The tablet PC Gates unveiled at the Comdex tech show in November 2001 was too clunky to catch on. The slick-looking Hewlett-Packard prototype slate brandished by Ballmer at the Consumer Electronics Show in 2010 did not even make it onto the shelves.

The first generation of touch-enabled tablets running Windows 8 are expected on the market in about 12 months.

That gives Apple Inc two and a half years head start with its iPad, which has already sold 29 million units. Tablets running Google Inc's Android software will also have gained ground, likely boosted by an expected Amazon.com device.

The shift away from desk-based PCs -- which mostly run on Microsoft software -- toward tablets and smartphones is happening quicker than expected. The future of Microsoft, and its moribund stock, may hinge on how well Sinofsky can sell the latest combination of tablets and Windows.

"Windows 8 might actually matter if they can do the touch-screen innovation," said Michael Yoshikami, Chief Executive of fund manager YCMNET Advisors. "Otherwise Windows 8 is just Windows 7 with one more number."

HEARTS AND MINDS

First, Microsoft needs to get itself back in tune with developers and entrepreneurs who are flocking from Microsoft-centric programing platforms to the more exciting realms of Apple and Android.

The shift to a Apple-based culture is noticeable among innovators and entrepreneurs, said Matt McIlwain, managing director at Seattle-based venture capital firm Madrona Venture Group.

"Five years ago I would have said 80 percent of the startups or ventures who came to pitch us pulled out their laptop and started showing us their PowerPoint presentation," said McIlwain. "Now 80 percent pull out their Mac. If I were Steve Ballmer, that would be concerning to me."

The enthusiasm of independent software developers is key for the health of what Microsoft calls its Windows "ecosystem". It has stirred excitement with its new motion-controlled Kinect system for the Xbox game console, but is lagging in the exploding market for mobile apps.

Apple iPhone and iPad users can download 425,000 apps, while Android users have a choice of 250,000. There are only 30,000 apps for Windows Phones, although that is expected to grow when Microsoft launches its own app store with Windows 8.

Microsoft finds itself playing only a background role in many tech-savvy startups, such as fashion site StyleCaster, which uses Apple computers, Google email, Linux web systems and Amazon.com Inc for its data storage.

"In the last four or five years, ever since the iPhone platform came out, you have even more developers who have moved over onto Apple systems, and that's created more and more tools," said Drew Butler, StyleCaster's vice president of technology.

Not everyone is so downbeat. Wes Greene, lead mobile developer at Seattle-based Groundspeak, which makes a leading app for geocaching -- basically GPS-enabled treasure hunting -- for Windows, Apple and Android phones, expects Microsoft's deal with Nokia to bring it into the mobile mainstream.

He likes what he has read so far about Windows 8.

"It's kind of cool to see it's not like three separate companies any more, it's all falling into line."

WALL STREET RESTIVE

Microsoft also needs to connect with Wall Street and investors, who are nonplused with a share price that hasn't budged in the past decade.HANOI, VIETNAM: Microsoft Corp is less optimistic about China than India or Indonesia, due to the country's lack of progress, in stamping out software piracy, according to chief executive officer Steve Ballmer.SEATTLE, USA: Next week a high-ranking Microsoft Corp executive will stand on stage and show off a new version of Windows on a tablet computer.It won't be the first time. Chief Executive Steve Ballmer did it last year. Co-founder Bill Gates did it 10 years ago.

This time, when Windows chief Steven Sinofsky shows off an early version of its next touch-enabled, tablet-friendly operating system -- code-named Windows 8 -- to independent developers at their annual conference in Anaheim next Tuesday, there is a sense that it really matters.

"It's a big deal," said Todd Lowenstein, portfolio manager at HighMark Capital Management, which holds Microsoft shares.

"Investors are hungry to see how they are going to join where the market's going. They've been lagging and they need to catch up and surpass what's going on, to demonstrate they truly are an innovative company."

Despite foretelling the tablet revolution a decade ago, Microsoft is last off the blocks with a salable device. The tablet PC Gates unveiled at the Comdex tech show in November 2001 was too clunky to catch on. The slick-looking Hewlett-Packard prototype slate brandished by Ballmer at the Consumer Electronics Show in 2010 did not even make it onto the shelves.

The first generation of touch-enabled tablets running Windows 8 are expected on the market in about 12 months.

That gives Apple Inc two and a half years head start with its iPad, which has already sold 29 million units. Tablets running Google Inc's Android software will also have gained ground, likely boosted by an expected Amazon.com device.

The shift away from desk-based PCs -- which mostly run on Microsoft software -- toward tablets and smartphones is happening quicker than expected. The future of Microsoft, and its moribund stock, may hinge on how well Sinofsky can sell the latest combination of tablets and Windows.

"Windows 8 might actually matter if they can do the touch-screen innovation," said Michael Yoshikami, Chief Executive of fund manager YCMNET Advisors. "Otherwise Windows 8 is just Windows 7 with one more number."

HEARTS AND MINDS

First, Microsoft needs to get itself back in tune with developers and entrepreneurs who are flocking from Microsoft-centric programing platforms to the more exciting realms of Apple and Android.

The shift to a Apple-based culture is noticeable among innovators and entrepreneurs, said Matt McIlwain, managing director at Seattle-based venture capital firm Madrona Venture Group.

"Five years ago I would have said 80 percent of the startups or ventures who came to pitch us pulled out their laptop and started showing us their PowerPoint presentation," said McIlwain. "Now 80 percent pull out their Mac. If I were Steve Ballmer, that would be concerning to me."

The enthusiasm of independent software developers is key for the health of what Microsoft calls its Windows "ecosystem". It has stirred excitement with its new motion-controlled Kinect system for the Xbox game console, but is lagging in the exploding market for mobile apps.

Apple iPhone and iPad users can download 425,000 apps, while Android users have a choice of 250,000. There are only 30,000 apps for Windows Phones, although that is expected to grow when Microsoft launches its own app store with Windows 8.

Microsoft finds itself playing only a background role in many tech-savvy startups, such as fashion site StyleCaster, which uses Apple computers, Google email, Linux web systems and Amazon.com Inc for its data storage.

"In the last four or five years, ever since the iPhone platform came out, you have even more developers who have moved over onto Apple systems, and that's created more and more tools," said Drew Butler, StyleCaster's vice president of technology.

Not everyone is so downbeat. Wes Greene, lead mobile developer at Seattle-based Groundspeak, which makes a leading app for geocaching -- basically GPS-enabled treasure hunting -- for Windows, Apple and Android phones, expects Microsoft's deal with Nokia to bring it into the mobile mainstream.

He likes what he has read so far about Windows 8.

"It's kind of cool to see it's not like three separate companies any more, it's all falling into line."

WALL STREET RESTIVE

Microsoft also needs to connect with Wall Street and investors, who are nonplused with a share price that hasn't budged in the past decade.HANOI, VIETNAM: Microsoft Corp is less optimistic about China than India or Indonesia, due to the country's lack of progress, in stamping out software piracy, according to chief executive officer Steve Ballmer.SEATTLE, USA: Next week a high-ranking Microsoft Corp executive will stand on stage and show off a new version of Windows on a tablet computer.It won't be the first time. Chief Executive Steve Ballmer did it last year. Co-founder Bill Gates did it 10 years ago.

This time, when Windows chief Steven Sinofsky shows off an early version of its next touch-enabled, tablet-friendly operating system -- code-named Windows 8 -- to independent developers at their annual conference in Anaheim next Tuesday, there is a sense that it really matters.

"It's a big deal," said Todd Lowenstein, portfolio manager at HighMark Capital Management, which holds Microsoft shares.

"Investors are hungry to see how they are going to join where the market's going. They've been lagging and they need to catch up and surpass what's going on, to demonstrate they truly are an innovative company."

Despite foretelling the tablet revolution a decade ago, Microsoft is last off the blocks with a salable device. The tablet PC Gates unveiled at the Comdex tech show in November 2001 was too clunky to catch on. The slick-looking Hewlett-Packard prototype slate brandished by Ballmer at the Consumer Electronics Show in 2010 did not even make it onto the shelves.

The first generation of touch-enabled tablets running Windows 8 are expected on the market in about 12 months.

That gives Apple Inc two and a half years head start with its iPad, which has already sold 29 million units. Tablets running Google Inc's Android software will also have gained ground, likely boosted by an expected Amazon.com device.

The shift away from desk-based PCs -- which mostly run on Microsoft software -- toward tablets and smartphones is happening quicker than expected. The future of Microsoft, and its moribund stock, may hinge on how well Sinofsky can sell the latest combination of tablets and Windows.

"Windows 8 might actually matter if they can do the touch-screen innovation," said Michael Yoshikami, Chief Executive of fund manager YCMNET Advisors. "Otherwise Windows 8 is just Windows 7 with one more number."

HEARTS AND MINDS

First, Microsoft needs to get itself back in tune with developers and entrepreneurs who are flocking from Microsoft-centric programing platforms to the more exciting realms of Apple and Android.

The shift to a Apple-based culture is noticeable among innovators and entrepreneurs, said Matt McIlwain, managing director at Seattle-based venture capital firm Madrona Venture Group.

"Five years ago I would have said 80 percent of the startups or ventures who came to pitch us pulled out their laptop and started showing us their PowerPoint presentation," said McIlwain. "Now 80 percent pull out their Mac. If I were Steve Ballmer, that would be concerning to me."

The enthusiasm of independent software developers is key for the health of what Microsoft calls its Windows "ecosystem". It has stirred excitement with its new motion-controlled Kinect system for the Xbox game console, but is lagging in the exploding market for mobile apps.

Apple iPhone and iPad users can download 425,000 apps, while Android users have a choice of 250,000. There are only 30,000 apps for Windows Phones, although that is expected to grow when Microsoft launches its own app store with Windows 8.

Microsoft finds itself playing only a background role in many tech-savvy startups, such as fashion site StyleCaster, which uses Apple computers, Google email, Linux web systems and Amazon.com Inc for its data storage.

"In the last four or five years, ever since the iPhone platform came out, you have even more developers who have moved over onto Apple systems, and that's created more and more tools," said Drew Butler, StyleCaster's vice president of technology.

Not everyone is so downbeat. Wes Greene, lead mobile developer at Seattle-based Groundspeak, which makes a leading app for geocaching -- basically GPS-enabled treasure hunting -- for Windows, Apple and Android phones, expects Microsoft's deal with Nokia to bring it into the mobile mainstream.

He likes what he has read so far about Windows 8.

"It's kind of cool to see it's not like three separate companies any more, it's all falling into line."

WALL STREET RESTIVE

Microsoft also needs to connect with Wall Street and investors, who are nonplused with a share price that hasn't budged in the past decade.HANOI, VIETNAM: Microsoft Corp is less optimistic about China than India or Indonesia, due to the country's lack of progress, in stamping out software piracy, according to chief executive officer Steve Ballmer.
s-vbs

4G services: 4 spectrum bands identified

  NEW DELHI: Facing shortage of spectrum for mobile telephony, the country looks to use four new spectrum bands, some of which will also support latest 4G technology, for wireless telecom services, a senior government official said.

"In line with International Telecommunication Union Conference 2007, we have identified frequency bands between 698 to 806 Mhz, 2,300 to 2,400 Mhz, 2,500 to 2,690 Mhz and 3,400 to 3,600 Mhz for use of IMT Technologies," Head of Wireless Planning Commission (WPC) Ashok Chandra said. Chandra was speaking at a TRAI workshop on Regulatory Framework here.

These bands, however, are not vacant and there are various challenges associated in getting them vacated for wireless telecom technologies.

For instance, the 698 to 806 Mhz band, also known as 700 Mhz band, is under dispute between DoT and Information and Broadcasting Ministry.

This particular band (700 Mhz) is considered to be very efficient and could fetch the government revenues more than it got through auctioning of 3G spectrum last year.

The band would entail less investments in infrastructure by the telecom firms as they would be required to set up less number of towers.

While public broadcaster Doordarshan has claimed its right on the said spectrum, WPC had earlier said an organisation can claim spectrum only after it obtains Wireless Operating Licence (WOL), which needs to be renewed at regular intervals -- generally on annual basis.

As per WPC's record, Doordarshan(DD) never obtained WOL for spectrum in 700 Mhz frequency band and hence, its claim on this band does not stand.

On the other hand, I&B ministry in a communication to the DoT has said that DD has 40 Mhz frequency assigned for mobile video link and 8 Mhz for digital transmission in four metros in this band.

The ministry has also frequently emphasised that it needs spectrum for mobile TV services on which it has received recommendation from Telecom Regulatory Authority of India.

Similarly, some of the players in the other frequency bands need to be compensated for shifting to other frequency band as this will call for expenditure on new equipment and devices.

Though an internal committee of DoT has recommended the need for a compensation fund for migrating services to new bands, the department is yet to make final announcement.

s-vbs

Do Texting and “Cyber Slang” Harm Students’ Writing Skills?

The explosion of social media has completely changed the way we communicate with each other. Whether via laptop computers, advanced mobile devices, Wi-Fi or enhanced 4G wireless networks, we are more connected than ever to everyone we know.

While this communications boom has been praised for its educational benefits, some argue that a negative side effect is beginning to take hold in our classrooms. Cyber slang is suspected of damaging students’ writing acumen.

Cyber slang is a term used to describe shortcuts, alternative words, or even symbols used to convey thoughts in an electronic document. Because so many digital media limit the number of characters an author can use at a time, students are becoming more creative to get the most out of their limited space. Common cyber-slang terms that have made their way into popular speech include BFF (best friends forever), LOL (laugh out loud) and WTF (what the ____).

“I think it makes sense for these social conversations to be lightweight or light-hearted in terms of the syntax,” said President of Dictionary.com Shravan Goli. “But ultimately, in the world of business and in the world they will live in, in terms of their jobs and professional lives, students will need good, solid reading and writing skills. I’m a little worried about where we are in America with literacy levels dropping. Are these [electronic devices] helping us, or making it worse? I think they may be going the other way and making it worse.”

The Times Daily newspaper cites a recent report from Pew Internet and American Life Project, "Writing, Technology and Teens," which found that the cell phone text-based abbreviated communications teens use are showing up in more formal writing.

One only has to spend about two minutes browsing the public pages of a social media platform like Facebook to find examples of cyber slang. In some cases, a second and third read is required before a sentence begins to make sense. A public Facebook page entitled “If you think the rules at UnionCounty High School are ridiculous,” dealing with school policies in Union, S.C. offers these examples:

“the new policy on dress code they handed out last week is our last chance 2 keep us out of uniforms. the new super intendant as u all know is from spartanburg is using the saturday school crap 2 take a note on how many offenses we have & will use it 2 make her decision. so we ned 2 stop breaking the dress code or we might have 2 really fight uniforms next year.”

“dont worry abt us wearing uniforms nxt year. our parents wont buy them & the district cant even give us the first set cuz our parents pay the taxes & we cant afford them. so get ur parents opinion & make them disagress with uniforms!” 

s-vbs

Google buys Zave Network

Google buys Zave Network

Bangalore: Internet titan Google, which is on an acquisition spree, has bought digital coupons and incentives platform Zave Networks for an undisclosed amount. Zave Networks is Google's 19th buyout this year so far.

According to an estimate, Google has acquired over 100 firms in the last decade, starting with Deja, a company in the Usenet space that was later integrated with Google Groups.This roughly translates into the purchase of 10 companies every year, on average, by Google.Last month, the search engine giant said it would buy Motorola Mobility, the mobile phones division of Motorola Inc., for $12.5 Billion in cash.

Zave Networks, a company founded in 2006, has announced on its homepage that it has been acquired by Google.

"We are delighted to share that Zave Networks has been acquired by Google. When we had the opportunity to join Google, we felt it was the perfect fit for our company and the perfect opportunity to rapidly drive the deployment and use of our platform to the next level," Zave Networks said.

"We're humbled by the unending support our investors, retailers, advertisers and consumers have provided over the past five years and would like to thank each and every one of them. Going forward, we are excited about being part of Google's efforts in this space," it added.

The company did not disclose the financial details of the deal.

 s-vbs

Dell launches storage solutions for virtual data centres

 

MUMBAI: Leading computer marketer Dell has announced a new generation storage solutions and supporting software to address data management requirements of virtualised data centres, a company official said here.

"The new storage arrays and virtualization tools can help our customers run highly optimised and efficient data centres by automating configuration and improving performance without forcing forklift upgrades," Dell Enterprise Storage Vice President & General Manager Darren Thomas said in a release.

It has introduced the EqualLogic PS6100 and PS4100 family of virtualised, IP-based storage offerings. Together with its new EqualLogic firmware version 5.1, its storage solutions will seamlessly integrate into existing environments without downtime or a major overhaul, Thomas said.

"With our newly launched next generation EqualLogic Arrays PS4100, PS6100 and FS7500, we are increasingly committed to focused leadership in storage. We are also offering proactive support that helps all our segments of enterprise customers optimise and automate the management and protection of their data," Dell India Marketing Director S Sridhar said.

It also released details of new integration across its storage portfolio with the forthcoming VMware's vSphere 5, virtualisation and cloud infrastructure platform.

"Our joint engineering efforts to integrate Dell storage solutions with the VMware platform will continue to help customers grow their environments, and manage business requirements without adding complexity or cost," VMware Vice-President for Product Management, Storage, Narayan Venkat said.

s-vbs 

How to use Gmail, Calendar, Docs offline

 

 The great thing about Web apps is that you can access your information on the go, and on variety of devices like mobile phones and tablets.

However, there are occasions when you don't have an internet connection making you often fret on the utility of these apps. But, starting today you will be able to access Gmail, Google Calendar and Google Docs offline.

Gmail Offline is a Chrome Web Store app that's intended for situations when you need to read, respond to, organise and archive email without an internet connection.

This HTML5-powered app is based on the Gmail web app for tablets, which is built to function with or without Web access. After you install the Gmail Offline app from the Chrome Web Store, you can continue using Gmail when you lose your connection by clicking the Gmail Offline icon on Chrome's "new tab" page.

Google Calendar and Google Docs let you seamlessly transition between on- and offline modes. When you're offline in Google Calendar, you can view events from your calendars and RSVP to appointments.

With Google Docs you can view documents and spreadsheets when you don't have a connection. Offline editing isn't ready yet, but we know it's important to many of you, and we're working hard to make it a reality. To get started using Google Calendar or Google Docs offline, just click the gear icon at the top right corner of the web app and select the option for offline access.

s-vbs

 Micromax becomes 12th largest handset brand

 BANGALORE, INDIA: Micromax Informatics Limited, the third largest mobile brand in India, on Monday said that it has achieved the status as world’s 12th largest handset manufacturer with 1 per cent market share globally, the company said quoting Global Handset Vendor Market share report from Strategy Analytics for Q2 201A company release said Micromax topped the micro vendor rankings, shipping an impressive 4.0 million handsets worldwide in Q2 2011. As per the report, Micromax commands an 8 pc share in its home market India, making the brand ranked third behind Nokia and Samsung in terms of volumes. Micromax grew 48 pc annually, leveraging its growing brand awareness, distribution reach, faster time-to-market and a diverse product portfolio.

With the elevation in its status, the company has claimed to have also become larger than all Japanese brands, including such famous names as Sharp and NEC. Micromax is ahead of Lenovo (2.6M) and closing the gap on Sony Ericsson (7.6M).

Rahul Sharma Executive Director Micromax Informatics Ltd., said “This trend re-emphasizes the emergence of Micromax as a global mobility device brand and puts us as a competitive player on the global radar of telecommunication industry. The mobile handset market is a dynamic sector which changes with the ever changing needs of the consumers. Our commitment to bring innovative products which are relevant for our evolved customers has put us in a strong position to lead the markets we operate in.”

The report tracks the world's 30 largest handset vendors on a quarterly basis. Also, with the entry of 25 new micro vendors this quarter, the global legitimate handset shipments increased 12 pc annually to reach a record second quarter total of 358 million units in Q2 2011.

According to the company it has a portfolio of more than 60 models today, ranging from feature rich, dual-SIM phones to QWERTY, touch-enabled smart-feature phones and 3G Android smartphones designed for younger consumers in suburban and urban markets.  Micromax, the domestic mobile handset major, on Monday got the green signal to set up a facility in Himachal Pradesh to manufacture solar energy cells, a government official said here.

“A Rs. 630 crore proposal of Micromax Energy Ltd to manufacture solar energy cells was approved by the state-level Single Window Clearance and Monitoring Authority,” Industries Commissioner J.S. Rana told IANS.

He said pharmaceutical major Cipla Ltd was also allowed to set up another unit in the state. “It's planning to invest Rs..270 crore to manufacture pharmaceutical and herbal medicines.”

Micromax and Cipla would provide employment to 615 and 800 people respectively.

Rana said Sun Juices, a subsidiary of a US company, also got approval to set up a unit with an outlay of Rs..51.75 crore for processing fruit and milk.

s-vbs

Amazon to revamp site for tablet launch: Reports

 

NEW YORK: Amazon.com Inc is testing a major redesign of its familiar online store as it moves to offer a $250 tablet device to rival Apple Inc's iPad, industry blogs and the Wall Street Journal said.

Changes seen by some visitors to Amazon's store "practically scream 'tablet-optimized'," TechCrunch blogger Sarah Perez wrote over the weekend.

The new pages showed a bigger search bar and less clutter to better highlight music, e-books, digital games and applications from the Amazon Appstore using Google's Android operating system, the blog said.

Amazon, which made its name online by selling books printed on paper, started rolling out the new design in the last days of August, spokeswoman Sally Fouts was quoted on Sunday as telling the Wall Street Journal. Fouts declined to say when the site would be open to all customers, the Journal reported.

The device Amazon is developing sports a back-lit, 7-inch (17.8-cm) screen, smaller than the iPad's and about the same as Research in Motion's PlayBook, TechCrunch reported earlier. The Amazon tablet is geared toward playing music and movies off the Internet.

TechCrunch, which said it had played with a testing prototype, reported that the plan was for Amazon to offer Amazon Prime, its $79-a-year Internet streaming service, for free along with the gadget.

Amazon did not respond immediately to requests for comment.

The Internet retailer's first entry in the tablet computing arena, its Kindle functions more like an electronic-book reader, has been touted as a strong contender to Apple, whose iPad2 starts at $499, according to the company's website.

Amazon's tablet will be Wi-Fi only and come with a color touchscreen but a limited 6 gigabytes of memory, the tech blog said.

Motorola and Samsung have only chipped away at Apple's three-quarters share of the market, while Hewlett Packard threw in the towel by announcing it would kill off its TouchPad after a final production run.

This past week, Sony Corp leapt into the field with its own poorly reviewed device.

Analysts have been upbeat on Amazon's gadget, particularly if it beats the iPad on price. It may sell as many as 5 million tablets in the fourth quarter, becoming the top rival to Apple, Forrester Research estimates.

Apple sells between 7 million and 9 million tablets a quarter

s-vbs

Digital Quantum Simulator Developed

 

Physicists of the University of Innsbruck and the Institute for Quantum Optics and Quantum Information (IQOQI) in Innsbruck have come considerably closer to their goal to investigate complex phenomena in a model system: They have developed a digital, and therefore, universal quantum simulator in their laboratory, which can, in principle, simulate any physical system efficiently.Their work has been published online in the journal Science.

Almost two years ago Rainer Blatt's and Christan Roos' research groups from the University of Innsbruck recreated the properties of a particle moving close to speed of light in a quantum system. They encoded the state of the particle into a highly cooled calcium atom and used lasers to manipulate it according to equations proposed by the famous quantum physicist Paul Dirac. Thereby, the scientists were able to simulate so called Zitterbewegung (quivering motion) of relativistic particles, which had never been observed directly in nature before. In the current work, the physicists use a digital approach instead of the previous analogue approach, and this universal digital quantum simulator can potentially be programmed to simulate any physical system efficiently. "We show in our experiment that our method works and that we can virtually recreate and investigate many systems," explains Benjamin Lanyon from the Institute of Quantum Optics and Quantum Information (IQOQI) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences. "When we want to study another phenomenon, we only need to reprogram our simulator."

The quantum computer at its best

The Innsbruck physicists use the building blocks of a quantum computer for the simulation. The mathematical description of the phenomenon to be investigated is programmed by using a series of laser pulses to perform a quantum calculation with atoms. Laser-cooled and electrically trapped calcium atoms are used as carriers of quantum bits (qubits). "We encode the desired initial state of the system to be investigated in these qubits and implement the operation sets by laser pulses," explains Christian Roos. He and his colleagues have demonstrated this method in two experiments at the IQOQI and the University of Innsbruck using up to 100 gates and 6 qubits. "One of the new scientific results is that interactions and dynamics can be simulated that are not even present in the quantum computer," says the enthused Benjamin Lanyon. He is convinced that this will be one of the most promising applications of a future quantum computer. "However, we still need a considerably higher number of quantum bits. This means that we need to be able to control and manipulate considerably more atoms -- up to 40 -- in the same exact way as we did in our experiment," says Lanyon.

First confirmation of approach

Physical phenomena are often described by equations, which may be too complicated to solve. In this case, researchers use computer simulations as a model to investigate open questions. Because this strategy is not feasible even for relatively small quantum systems due to the lack of the processing power of classical computers, the American physicist Richard Feynman proposed to simulate these phenomena in quantum systems experimentally. In 1996 the theorist Seth Lloyd confirmed the feasibility of this approach: Quantum computers can be programmed to efficiently simulate any physical system. A precondition for this approach is to have complete control over the technology and set-up of the simulator. This has already been achieved by Rainer Blatt's successful research group working on quantum computers over the last few years. Based on this groundwork, the physicists have now been the first to experimentally realize a quantum simulator.The scientific work published in Science has been supported by the Austrian Science Fund, the European Commission and the Federation of Austrian Industries Tyrol.

 

 IBM unveils microchip based on the human brain 

 

How to replicate the squishy sophistication of the human brain in hard metal and silicon? IBM thinks it's found a way, and to prove it has built and tested two new "cognitive computing" microchips whose design is inspired by the human brain.

In the mammalian brain, neurons send chemical signals to each other across tiny gaps called synapses. A neuron's long "tail", the axon, sends the signals from its multiple terminals; the receptive parts of other neurons – the dendrites – collect them.

Each of IBM's brain-mimicking silicon chips is a few square millimetres in size and holds a grid of 256 parallel wires that represent dendrites of computational "neurons" crossed at right angles by other wires standing in for axons. The "synapses" are 45-nanometre transistors connecting the criss-crossing wires and act as the chips' memory; one chip has 262,144 of them and the other 65,536. Each electrical signal crossing a synapse consumes just 45 picajoules – a thousandth of what typical computer chips use.

Because the neurons and synapses are so close together, the pieces of hardware responsible for computation and memory are also much closer than in ordinary computer chips. Conventionally, the memory sits to the side of the processor, but in the new chips the memory – the synapses – and the processors – the neurons – are on top of each other, so they don't need to use as much energy sending electrons back and forth. That means the chips can perform parallel processing far more efficiently than conventional computers.

 s-vbs