Jousting for space in serpentine queues might well be a thing of the past with rail travel set to become a more relaxed affair. That elusive reserved train ticket can now be purchased from the local post office, petrol pumps and even ATMs.
The new budget also envisions setting up passenger reservation system (PRS) facilities at all non-suburban stations under group D and E. As far as unreserved tickets go, about 6,000 automatic ticket vending machines will be installed in all major cities. PRS-cum-UTS (unreserved ticketing system) counters will be provided at post offices as well as defence organisations.
In another welcome measure, central railways will also start a pilot project for issuing tickets through multi-purpose smart cards from Mumbai, followed by Chennai and Kolkata. The smart cards can be both bought and recharged at various designated points and they will be readable on touch by hand-held terminals provided to TTEs.
To prevent reserved berths from remaining unoccupied due to passengers not turning up, the hand-held terminals provided to TTEs will note current vacancies and transmit them to the PRS for allotting the berths to waitlisted passengers at ensuing stations. These terminals will be made available on a pilot basis on select Shatabdis.
Train enquiry call centres will start operating in the four major railway hubs between June and September this year, providing information on departures, arrivals and seat availability. They will also provide value-added services like SMS, railway ticketing and taxi booking in the near future.
Physically challenged people too might finally get an easier ride. More than 1,200 special coaches with wider doors and greater aisle passage for handicapped passengers will also be introduced in mail and express trains over the next two years.
There’s more: To make travel more easy for vendors, custom-designed vendor coaches will be built for milk, vegetable and fruit sellers. In addition to all that, a certain number of lower berths will be reserved for senior citizens and women aged above 45.
source: Economic Times
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Saturday, February 24, 2007
Net over pre-paid Tata Walky
Tata Indicom announced the launch of their Internet facility with pre-paid Walky. According to a statement, in order to connect to the Internet, the subscribers should have an Internet-enabled LG LSP 350T Walky and a data cable to connect the phone to the personal computer. Modem is not required as the LG LSP phone Walky has an inbuilt modem. Priced at Rs 1,999, the Internet access is charged Rs 2 per MB and the data cable has to be purchased separately.
source: Business Line
source: Business Line
Play Live Music Over the Net With Audio Fabric
Collaboration solutions maker, Raveta has announced the release of Audio Fabric, a service that enables musicians to play together live over the Internet using any type of instrument-acoustic, electric, MIDI, or voice. Musicians in different locations can play together as if they are in the same room using their ordinary broadband Internet connections.
Audio Fabric also enables musicians to find each other, record their sessions, store sessions in a band archive, and make their music available for the world to hear.
Musicians need to download the Audio Fabric Desktop software at www.audiofabric.com, plug their instrument or microphone into their computer sound card or audio interface, and can then jam online. The patent-pending technology in Audio Fabric Desktop locates the participants for a session, synchronizes their sounds, and delivers the signal to all the collaborators with low latency. All users can record their sessions, import the sessions into music editing software, participate in an unlimited number of Groups, and invite other musicians to join the Groups they create. Users can also take advantage of the web site features, such as store session files, download music files, and utilize the calendaring and message forums for communications within their Groups.
"Hundreds of musicians from around the world registered during Audio Fabric's beta period. Now that the service is in general release, we expect thousands of others to join in," said Rik Frost, Director of Business Development for Raveta. "My old college band mates and I are able to jam again even though we live all over California!"
Audio Fabric Desktop is available in two versions. The Silver Audio Fabric Desktop is free for all musicians. The Gold Audio Fabric Desktop, available for a monthly fee and allows more collaborators in a session with better quality sound.
source: tech2.com
Audio Fabric also enables musicians to find each other, record their sessions, store sessions in a band archive, and make their music available for the world to hear.
Musicians need to download the Audio Fabric Desktop software at www.audiofabric.com, plug their instrument or microphone into their computer sound card or audio interface, and can then jam online. The patent-pending technology in Audio Fabric Desktop locates the participants for a session, synchronizes their sounds, and delivers the signal to all the collaborators with low latency. All users can record their sessions, import the sessions into music editing software, participate in an unlimited number of Groups, and invite other musicians to join the Groups they create. Users can also take advantage of the web site features, such as store session files, download music files, and utilize the calendaring and message forums for communications within their Groups.
"Hundreds of musicians from around the world registered during Audio Fabric's beta period. Now that the service is in general release, we expect thousands of others to join in," said Rik Frost, Director of Business Development for Raveta. "My old college band mates and I are able to jam again even though we live all over California!"
Audio Fabric Desktop is available in two versions. The Silver Audio Fabric Desktop is free for all musicians. The Gold Audio Fabric Desktop, available for a monthly fee and allows more collaborators in a session with better quality sound.
source: tech2.com
Indian Postal Codes Search Launched
innINDIA.com, an India-centric portal, has launched an Indian Postal Code Search Service, with the help of the web services offered by Department of Posts, Government of India.
The service will enable users to search from around 50,000 postal codes, across India. Aaron Sarbagna, the CTO of innINDIA.com said, "We are looking forward to integrate some advanced features like Indian Map and Weather information in the following releases. I think it's important to realize that first and foremost innINDIA.com is a technology company, focused towards catering to the Indian population in particular."
Sarbagna also pointed out towards the future introduction of 'Fog Alert', 'Storm Warning,' as value added mobile enabled services.
Earlier this month, innINDIA.com released a Medical Search Engine, utilizing the coop service from Google.
The search engine is designed to provide a tailored search experience, built using Google's core search technology, which prioritizes or restricts search results based on websites and pages that has been scrutinized by an expert panel of medical professionals. The expert panel comprises of medical, bio-medical, pharmaceutical and bio-technology professionals... who have proven expertise in their respective fields and would review/scrutinize all relevant sites, before adding those to the index list.
Also, innINDIA is coming up with other Medical Services to beef up the Health Portal part of innINDIA.
source: tech2.com
The service will enable users to search from around 50,000 postal codes, across India. Aaron Sarbagna, the CTO of innINDIA.com said, "We are looking forward to integrate some advanced features like Indian Map and Weather information in the following releases. I think it's important to realize that first and foremost innINDIA.com is a technology company, focused towards catering to the Indian population in particular."
Sarbagna also pointed out towards the future introduction of 'Fog Alert', 'Storm Warning,' as value added mobile enabled services.
Earlier this month, innINDIA.com released a Medical Search Engine, utilizing the coop service from Google.
The search engine is designed to provide a tailored search experience, built using Google's core search technology, which prioritizes or restricts search results based on websites and pages that has been scrutinized by an expert panel of medical professionals. The expert panel comprises of medical, bio-medical, pharmaceutical and bio-technology professionals... who have proven expertise in their respective fields and would review/scrutinize all relevant sites, before adding those to the index list.
Also, innINDIA is coming up with other Medical Services to beef up the Health Portal part of innINDIA.
source: tech2.com
Free Virtual PC from Microsoft
How often have you wished you could run two or more operating systems simultaneously on your computer? A lot of people indeed do that, but doing so isn’t easy for a non-geek. Now you can do it, and for free, courtesy the software giant Microsoft. Yes, the company's latest version of Virtual PC 2007 is now available for free download from its website.
In simple terms, Virtual PC is a virtualization suite for Microsoft Windows operating systems. Virtual PC emulates a standard PC and its associated hardware. Thus, it can be used to run nearly all operating systems available for the PC. With virtual technology, users can simply switch back to a previous state. They can install their virtual operating system and save the current state (ie. the current installation) and then switch back to that, at a later date.
Users can use the virtual machine to run OS such as MS-DOS, Windows, and OS/2. They can run multiple OS simultaneously on a single physical computer and toggle between them as easily as switching applications-instantly, at the click of a mouse! In fact, the choice of the OS can be made from a simple drop-down menu.
see the below link
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/News_By_Industry/Infotech/Software/Free_virtual_PC_from_Microsoft/articleshow/msid-1669064,curpg-1.cms
source: Economic Times.
In simple terms, Virtual PC is a virtualization suite for Microsoft Windows operating systems. Virtual PC emulates a standard PC and its associated hardware. Thus, it can be used to run nearly all operating systems available for the PC. With virtual technology, users can simply switch back to a previous state. They can install their virtual operating system and save the current state (ie. the current installation) and then switch back to that, at a later date.
Users can use the virtual machine to run OS such as MS-DOS, Windows, and OS/2. They can run multiple OS simultaneously on a single physical computer and toggle between them as easily as switching applications-instantly, at the click of a mouse! In fact, the choice of the OS can be made from a simple drop-down menu.
see the below link
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/News_By_Industry/Infotech/Software/Free_virtual_PC_from_Microsoft/articleshow/msid-1669064,curpg-1.cms
source: Economic Times.
Thursday, February 22, 2007
Airtel launches `Mobile Radio` in Nashik
Airtel has launched `Mobile Radio', an innovative value-added service (VAS), for its customers in Nashik. The new service will enable customers to listen to FM radio ‘anytime, anywhere on the move?. The company is also planning to make this service available in Marathi in Maharashtra and Goa circle, shortly.
Speaking to the media, Mandeep Bhatia, COO, Bharti Airtel Ltd (Mobile Services), Maharashtra & Goa circle, said: “Airtel’s Mobile Radio is a step further in offering our customers more options in listening to music on mobile phones”.
source: Buesiness Standards.
Speaking to the media, Mandeep Bhatia, COO, Bharti Airtel Ltd (Mobile Services), Maharashtra & Goa circle, said: “Airtel’s Mobile Radio is a step further in offering our customers more options in listening to music on mobile phones”.
source: Buesiness Standards.
Guruji.com developing local language search engines
About 30 per cent of all global searches are local in nature. Most of us use Google to query India-specific information. It only seems logical then to have an India-specific search engine.
"Local search engines are the future. As Internet content gets local, so will search engines," says Mr R. Ramaraj, former Chief Executive Officer and Founder of Sify Ltd, who is now a board member of Guruji.com, a recently-launched Indian search engine. Russia, China, Korea and Germany have their own local language search engines.
"Search is the second most frequent activity on the Internet after e-mail usage. A vernacular search engine will attract more Internet users in India," says Mr Ramaraj. At present, there are about five crore Internet users accessing English content and about 15 crore are expected to be added by 2010. These will be driven mainly by vernacular content, he says.
Guruji.com is developing Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada platforms for its search engine, with the Hindi platform likely to be released in a few months. It plans to develop platforms for all Indian languages over the next year.
On the content front, the company is focused on `relevant search'. For instance, if one were to search for `newspaper', guruji.com would throw up links to Indian newspapers unlike Google that is more likely to show links to foreign newspapers.
The company's city-centric search (similar to a yellow pages listing) today covers 15 cities providing information on private and government entities including telephone numbers, URL or any other content provided by the owner. Large cities such as Mumbai have about 3 lakh listings while smaller ones like Pune have about 1-lakh listings.
According to Mr Anurag Dod, Chief Executive Officer & Co-Founder of Guruji.com, the company plans to cover 15 more cities by the end of this year.
"We also plan to add more content, like reviews and pictures," he said. An image search is also in the pipeline. The company has tied up with Tata Infomedia and also has an in-house team collecting information through field visits.
"We have invested about $100,000 so far on infrastructure alone. A significant amount will be spent on developing the vernacular search and extending the city search," said Mr Dod. Sequoia Capital has committed to invest $7 million in the company.
Guruji.com also plans to host online ads in future. "Search engine based marketing in India is doubling each year, though it still constitutes only 1 per cent of the total ad spend in the country," says Mr Ramaraj. The Internet and Mobile Association of India has estimated this market to be about $50 million.
source: Hindu
"Local search engines are the future. As Internet content gets local, so will search engines," says Mr R. Ramaraj, former Chief Executive Officer and Founder of Sify Ltd, who is now a board member of Guruji.com, a recently-launched Indian search engine. Russia, China, Korea and Germany have their own local language search engines.
"Search is the second most frequent activity on the Internet after e-mail usage. A vernacular search engine will attract more Internet users in India," says Mr Ramaraj. At present, there are about five crore Internet users accessing English content and about 15 crore are expected to be added by 2010. These will be driven mainly by vernacular content, he says.
Guruji.com is developing Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada platforms for its search engine, with the Hindi platform likely to be released in a few months. It plans to develop platforms for all Indian languages over the next year.
On the content front, the company is focused on `relevant search'. For instance, if one were to search for `newspaper', guruji.com would throw up links to Indian newspapers unlike Google that is more likely to show links to foreign newspapers.
The company's city-centric search (similar to a yellow pages listing) today covers 15 cities providing information on private and government entities including telephone numbers, URL or any other content provided by the owner. Large cities such as Mumbai have about 3 lakh listings while smaller ones like Pune have about 1-lakh listings.
According to Mr Anurag Dod, Chief Executive Officer & Co-Founder of Guruji.com, the company plans to cover 15 more cities by the end of this year.
"We also plan to add more content, like reviews and pictures," he said. An image search is also in the pipeline. The company has tied up with Tata Infomedia and also has an in-house team collecting information through field visits.
"We have invested about $100,000 so far on infrastructure alone. A significant amount will be spent on developing the vernacular search and extending the city search," said Mr Dod. Sequoia Capital has committed to invest $7 million in the company.
Guruji.com also plans to host online ads in future. "Search engine based marketing in India is doubling each year, though it still constitutes only 1 per cent of the total ad spend in the country," says Mr Ramaraj. The Internet and Mobile Association of India has estimated this market to be about $50 million.
source: Hindu
New tool from Sun Micro India
A group of engineers at Sun Micro India headed by Mr Moinak Ghosh have developed BeleniX, which they describe as the first OpenSolaris-based live CD. It allows users to have a full-fledged operating system running on desktop or laptop without installing the system on their hard disk. This can also be loaded on to a USB drive and carried along.
Mr Moinak Ghosh told Business Line that the product was intended to increase OpenSolaris awareness in India and make it more accessible to users. BeleniX includes free open source software and efforts are on to include new features.
source: Hindu
Mr Moinak Ghosh told Business Line that the product was intended to increase OpenSolaris awareness in India and make it more accessible to users. BeleniX includes free open source software and efforts are on to include new features.
source: Hindu
Hutch Roaming Sans Rentals
Hutch has announced national roaming without monthly rentals. Hutch has also announced a drop in national roaming rates by up to 56 percent. Now users will also not pay any security deposit for national roaming.
Hutch users will now pay only Rs 1.75 for incoming calls, which will save costs between 54 to 56 percent, depending on the roaming distance. Outgoing local calls will be Rs 1.40 per minute, while STD calls will cost Rs 2.40 per minute. There will be no change in cost for ISD rates and SMS or GPRS usage.
Commenting on the slash in tariffs, Samuel Selvakumar, Operations Director, Hutch, said, "The drop in roaming tariffs and abolition of monthly rentals on roaming service is uniform across all operators, and is in line with the recent guidelines issued by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India. While TRAI had initiated various rate drops in the 'local calls' segment, this is the first initiative by them in the long distance calls segment. This was introduced by TRAI with a view to providing customers lower call rates, and was a decision taken in conjunction with representatives of COAI and AUSPI organizations."
Reportedly, TRAI has said that the new tariffs; effective from Feb15, 2007, would be applicable for the dominant GSM network as well as the CDMA platform, and the new charges would cut roaming tariffs by 22 to 56 percent.
Selvakumar said, "TRAI has in the recent past introduced significant developments, which have brought down cost of serving the customer. Constant innovation, new and evolving technologies have brought about drop in costs, and we have been keen to pass this on to customers."
"We in fact have a backend team that constantly analyses usage and advises customers proactively on 'toppings' viz SMS packs, STD packs for high end SMS users, or STD users, as applicable. We also advise customers on new tariff plans, and how to subscribe to these plans basis their usage."
source: Techtree
Hutch users will now pay only Rs 1.75 for incoming calls, which will save costs between 54 to 56 percent, depending on the roaming distance. Outgoing local calls will be Rs 1.40 per minute, while STD calls will cost Rs 2.40 per minute. There will be no change in cost for ISD rates and SMS or GPRS usage.
Commenting on the slash in tariffs, Samuel Selvakumar, Operations Director, Hutch, said, "The drop in roaming tariffs and abolition of monthly rentals on roaming service is uniform across all operators, and is in line with the recent guidelines issued by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India. While TRAI had initiated various rate drops in the 'local calls' segment, this is the first initiative by them in the long distance calls segment. This was introduced by TRAI with a view to providing customers lower call rates, and was a decision taken in conjunction with representatives of COAI and AUSPI organizations."
Reportedly, TRAI has said that the new tariffs; effective from Feb15, 2007, would be applicable for the dominant GSM network as well as the CDMA platform, and the new charges would cut roaming tariffs by 22 to 56 percent.
Selvakumar said, "TRAI has in the recent past introduced significant developments, which have brought down cost of serving the customer. Constant innovation, new and evolving technologies have brought about drop in costs, and we have been keen to pass this on to customers."
"We in fact have a backend team that constantly analyses usage and advises customers proactively on 'toppings' viz SMS packs, STD packs for high end SMS users, or STD users, as applicable. We also advise customers on new tariff plans, and how to subscribe to these plans basis their usage."
source: Techtree
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Sify's WiMAX solution with Mobility
At an event held in Mumbai yesterday, Sify along with Proxim Wireless launched its new WiMAX solution with mobility features.
In order to demonstrate the range and mobility features of the solution, the launch was held about 5 km away from land on a catamaran cruising along the sea with a live demonstration of a 3.3 Ghz based product of 802.16d WiMAX standard.
Regarded as the first-of-its-kind solution, Sify has chosen and deployed Proxim Wireless's Tsunami MP.11 WiMAX product line as the core communications platform for last mile access using the 5.8 GHz frequency band.
The Tsunami MP.11 product family of rugged base stations, indoor and outdoor subscriber units, and accessories have been developed as a platform to enable WiMAX capabilities for license-free frequency bands.
As of now, the company claims to have deployed over 700 Tsunami MP.11 base stations and 3,500 subscriber units to provide Internet access, voice, and video broadband services to all sections including enterprise, residential, and cyber cafe subscribers in over 200 cities. There are further plans on expanding the service to more cities, but haven't revealed any name in specific.
Lionel Chmilewsky, Senior Vice President- International, Proxim Wireless, said, "Sify's deployment is certainly a strong endorsement of our WiMAX technology and product line. As India's premier provider of broadband access services, Sify is setting the standard for delivering 'triple play' of voice, data, and video to subscribers wherever they are located throughout the country. We are pleased and honored to be their partner in this effort."
Commenting on Sify's partnership with Proxim, Bhaskar S, Chief Technology Officer, Sify, said, "After testing and evaluating products from a number of manufacturers over a period of eight months, we chose Proxim's product line because the company met all our criteria, and its point-to-multipoint products offer the best packet processing capacity for last mile access."
The service is available in both, point-to-point and point-to-multipoint Proxim products and Sify claims to have tested a range of about 27 km on it's solution.
When asked about the cost, Bhaskar refused to disclose the amount but hinted that it will be a little expensive (30 percent more) as compared to other solutions. However, the cost will eventually come down, he said.
source: Tech Tree
In order to demonstrate the range and mobility features of the solution, the launch was held about 5 km away from land on a catamaran cruising along the sea with a live demonstration of a 3.3 Ghz based product of 802.16d WiMAX standard.
Regarded as the first-of-its-kind solution, Sify has chosen and deployed Proxim Wireless's Tsunami MP.11 WiMAX product line as the core communications platform for last mile access using the 5.8 GHz frequency band.
The Tsunami MP.11 product family of rugged base stations, indoor and outdoor subscriber units, and accessories have been developed as a platform to enable WiMAX capabilities for license-free frequency bands.
As of now, the company claims to have deployed over 700 Tsunami MP.11 base stations and 3,500 subscriber units to provide Internet access, voice, and video broadband services to all sections including enterprise, residential, and cyber cafe subscribers in over 200 cities. There are further plans on expanding the service to more cities, but haven't revealed any name in specific.
Lionel Chmilewsky, Senior Vice President- International, Proxim Wireless, said, "Sify's deployment is certainly a strong endorsement of our WiMAX technology and product line. As India's premier provider of broadband access services, Sify is setting the standard for delivering 'triple play' of voice, data, and video to subscribers wherever they are located throughout the country. We are pleased and honored to be their partner in this effort."
Commenting on Sify's partnership with Proxim, Bhaskar S, Chief Technology Officer, Sify, said, "After testing and evaluating products from a number of manufacturers over a period of eight months, we chose Proxim's product line because the company met all our criteria, and its point-to-multipoint products offer the best packet processing capacity for last mile access."
The service is available in both, point-to-point and point-to-multipoint Proxim products and Sify claims to have tested a range of about 27 km on it's solution.
When asked about the cost, Bhaskar refused to disclose the amount but hinted that it will be a little expensive (30 percent more) as compared to other solutions. However, the cost will eventually come down, he said.
source: Tech Tree
Govt delicenses 50 MHz of spectrum for WiMAX
In a move that will help roll-out of WiMAX services, the government has delicenced 50 MHz of spectrum in the 5.8 GHz band for commercial use.
The move assumes importance as the global WiMAX forum has identified three frequency bands — 5.8 GHz, 2.5 GHz and 3.5 GHz — to deploy systems using this technological platform. Of these three frequencies, the world over, only the 5.8 GHz is a licence-exempt band, and therefore the Department of Telecom’s move to delicense this frequency puts India in line with global standards. DoT has already initiated moves to get spectrum vacated for WiMAX services in both the 2.5 GHz and 3.5 GHz frequencies, currently in use respectively for INSAT series of satellite communications and satellite television broadcast.
When asked on the commercial implications of the move, Rajesh Chharia, president of Internet Service Providers Association of India told ET, “A lot of ISPs are likely to offer services in this frequency as it is now free. However, if a large number of ISPs switch, then this frequency can get choked, as only a total of 50 MHz (from 5.825 to 5.875 GHz) has been delicensed. This can result in poor quality of services.”
Explained an executive with another leading ISP, “Globally, since this is a license-exempt band, the equipment that are available on this frequency have not received any certification. Identifying the right equipment for using and launching services in this frequency can be an issue.” Additionally, the spokesperson of another ISP said that players would be able to derive maximum commercial benefits only if the government were to delicence the entire 5 GHz band, and not just the 5.8 GHz band. “Most of the equipment that is currently available can hop over the entire range of the 5 GHz band. This is because, the complete 5 GHz band has been delicenced in many countries. If Indian operators were to buy this equipment from vendors abroad, it would not be possible to restrict its usage to just 5.8 GHz frequency,” he added.
WiMAX, which is considered as an alternative to cable and DSL, for data transfer, is a standards-based broadband wireless access technology for enabling the last-mile delivery of information. WiMAX can offer fixed, nomadic, portable and mobile wireless broadband connectivity without the need for direct line-of-sight connection between a base station and a subscriber station in a typical cell radius deployment of 3 to 10 Km.
sourc: Economic Times
The move assumes importance as the global WiMAX forum has identified three frequency bands — 5.8 GHz, 2.5 GHz and 3.5 GHz — to deploy systems using this technological platform. Of these three frequencies, the world over, only the 5.8 GHz is a licence-exempt band, and therefore the Department of Telecom’s move to delicense this frequency puts India in line with global standards. DoT has already initiated moves to get spectrum vacated for WiMAX services in both the 2.5 GHz and 3.5 GHz frequencies, currently in use respectively for INSAT series of satellite communications and satellite television broadcast.
When asked on the commercial implications of the move, Rajesh Chharia, president of Internet Service Providers Association of India told ET, “A lot of ISPs are likely to offer services in this frequency as it is now free. However, if a large number of ISPs switch, then this frequency can get choked, as only a total of 50 MHz (from 5.825 to 5.875 GHz) has been delicensed. This can result in poor quality of services.”
Explained an executive with another leading ISP, “Globally, since this is a license-exempt band, the equipment that are available on this frequency have not received any certification. Identifying the right equipment for using and launching services in this frequency can be an issue.” Additionally, the spokesperson of another ISP said that players would be able to derive maximum commercial benefits only if the government were to delicence the entire 5 GHz band, and not just the 5.8 GHz band. “Most of the equipment that is currently available can hop over the entire range of the 5 GHz band. This is because, the complete 5 GHz band has been delicenced in many countries. If Indian operators were to buy this equipment from vendors abroad, it would not be possible to restrict its usage to just 5.8 GHz frequency,” he added.
WiMAX, which is considered as an alternative to cable and DSL, for data transfer, is a standards-based broadband wireless access technology for enabling the last-mile delivery of information. WiMAX can offer fixed, nomadic, portable and mobile wireless broadband connectivity without the need for direct line-of-sight connection between a base station and a subscriber station in a typical cell radius deployment of 3 to 10 Km.
sourc: Economic Times
Friday, February 16, 2007
Wi-Max live field trials on Aircel network
India is on its way to deploying Wi-Max, which will bring high speed wireless broadband, with the C-DoTAlcatel -Lucent Research Centre successfully completing the country's first live Wi-Max field trial on Aircel's network. The trials were conducted using the 2.5 Ghz band. Wi-Max is set to be a disruptive technology that claims to deliver data speeds much higher than third generation services.
Speaking to Business Line, Mr Andre Mechaly, Product Marketing Vice -President, Alcatel-Lucent said, "Alcatel-Lucent is investing hugely on Wi-Max technology. This is a disruptive technology that is being deployed across the globe especially in emerging markets".
Mr Mechaly said that initially the technology will be taken up by fixed line operators who want to offer wireless broadband services.
He also said that low cost Wi-Max devices are being developed that will be launched in the second phase.
"Wi-Max technology is likely to become a widely used high-speed Internet access technology like DSL and cable modem access.
By offering customised, cost effective enterprise solutions using next generation technologies such as Wi-Max, Aircel aims to become the service provider of choice," said Mr Jagdish Kini, Group Chief Executive Officer, Aircel.
source: Hindu
Speaking to Business Line, Mr Andre Mechaly, Product Marketing Vice -President, Alcatel-Lucent said, "Alcatel-Lucent is investing hugely on Wi-Max technology. This is a disruptive technology that is being deployed across the globe especially in emerging markets".
Mr Mechaly said that initially the technology will be taken up by fixed line operators who want to offer wireless broadband services.
He also said that low cost Wi-Max devices are being developed that will be launched in the second phase.
"Wi-Max technology is likely to become a widely used high-speed Internet access technology like DSL and cable modem access.
By offering customised, cost effective enterprise solutions using next generation technologies such as Wi-Max, Aircel aims to become the service provider of choice," said Mr Jagdish Kini, Group Chief Executive Officer, Aircel.
source: Hindu
Free Gmail account for all
Now anyone in India will be able to go to Gmail.com and create a free account. Until today, Gmail was an invitation only service. Google also launched a new downloadable Gmail for mobile application. From a user perspective the experience is very similar to using Gmail on a computer. Gmail for mobile is automatically synchronised with a user's Web-based Gmail account. The application is free-of-charge. One will need a Java-enabled handset and GPRS to use this service.
source: Hindu
source: Hindu
Thursday, February 15, 2007
Airtel, Reliance Curb roaming Tariffs
According to reports, both Bharti Airtel and Reliance Communications have reduced roaming tariffs and also scrapped rental rates for roaming services with effect from today, following the guidelines issued by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) last month.
Bharti Airtel, which has slashed roaming charges by 56 percent as compared with the current market rates, hopes that this move will definitely benefit its over 33 million subscribers.
After the reduction, a mobile user on roaming would be charged at Rs.1.40 per minute for making a local call as against existing rates of Rs.2.89-3.09. The charges for making STD calls on roaming would come down to Rs.2.40 per minute and that for incoming calls while roaming will be charged at Rs.1.75 per minute. The current charge for receiving incoming calls and making STD calls while roaming stand at Rs.3.54-3.99 respectively.
Moreover, Bharti Airtel has also waived off the roaming rental of Rs.49 per month along with the charges of the outgoing SMS while roaming that would now cost Rs.2 as against Rs.3.45.
Speaking at the occasion, Sanjay Kapoor, Joint President - Mobile Services, Bharti Airtel, said that they now usher in an era of simplified roaming tariffs wherein all Airtel mobile users will benefit from their seamless network and have the opportunity to make calls while traveling anywhere in India.
In a similar development, Reliance Communications has also reduced roaming charges by up to 44 percent on its pre-paid connections.
After the reduction, the company's local outgoing calls for roaming on mobile and fixed lines stands at Rs.1.40, inter circle outgoing at Rs.2.40, and incoming on roaming at Rs.1.75 per minute. However, Reliance Communications does not charge any roaming fees from their post-paid customers.
It is, meanwhile, learnt that the reduction in tariff is in line with pricing changes ordered by the TRAI in January this year, under which a reduction in roaming tariff of up to 56 percent had been stipulated for operators, besides an abolition of roaming rental charges and surcharge on national roaming services.
source: Techtree
Bharti Airtel, which has slashed roaming charges by 56 percent as compared with the current market rates, hopes that this move will definitely benefit its over 33 million subscribers.
After the reduction, a mobile user on roaming would be charged at Rs.1.40 per minute for making a local call as against existing rates of Rs.2.89-3.09. The charges for making STD calls on roaming would come down to Rs.2.40 per minute and that for incoming calls while roaming will be charged at Rs.1.75 per minute. The current charge for receiving incoming calls and making STD calls while roaming stand at Rs.3.54-3.99 respectively.
Moreover, Bharti Airtel has also waived off the roaming rental of Rs.49 per month along with the charges of the outgoing SMS while roaming that would now cost Rs.2 as against Rs.3.45.
Speaking at the occasion, Sanjay Kapoor, Joint President - Mobile Services, Bharti Airtel, said that they now usher in an era of simplified roaming tariffs wherein all Airtel mobile users will benefit from their seamless network and have the opportunity to make calls while traveling anywhere in India.
In a similar development, Reliance Communications has also reduced roaming charges by up to 44 percent on its pre-paid connections.
After the reduction, the company's local outgoing calls for roaming on mobile and fixed lines stands at Rs.1.40, inter circle outgoing at Rs.2.40, and incoming on roaming at Rs.1.75 per minute. However, Reliance Communications does not charge any roaming fees from their post-paid customers.
It is, meanwhile, learnt that the reduction in tariff is in line with pricing changes ordered by the TRAI in January this year, under which a reduction in roaming tariff of up to 56 percent had been stipulated for operators, besides an abolition of roaming rental charges and surcharge on national roaming services.
source: Techtree
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
Yahoo! Messenger in Yahoo! Mail
According to reports, Yahoo! is planning to incorporate the Yahoo! Messenger Instant Messaging (IM) service into its email service, Yahoo! Mail.
Yahoo! IM will soon be made available on Yahoo! Mail, just the way rival Google has made Google Talk available on Gmail.
This will enable Yahoo! users to run the two programs on the same browser, eliminating the need to download the Yahoo! IM software.
The company had publicly given the first demonstration of the combined service at the Web 2.0 conference at Garlinghouse. The demonstration showed how the combined service works. When users open the Yahoo! account and insert an e-mail address, an icon appears showing if the person is online or offline.
In case of reverting back to e-mail, users will be able to choose to send an IM or not. Additionally, if the IM option is selected, a window for the IM conversation appears within the e-mail client, and the user can continue the conversation there.
While the existing version of Yahoo! Messenger offers Web-calling capabilities, the company is still considering on whether to include the feature in the combined service.
Reportedly, the combined service by Yahoo! will have a single interface, as opposed to that of Google which uses two separate interfaces.
The combined service is based on AJAX technology, and is expected to debut early 2007.
source: Techtree
Yahoo! IM will soon be made available on Yahoo! Mail, just the way rival Google has made Google Talk available on Gmail.
This will enable Yahoo! users to run the two programs on the same browser, eliminating the need to download the Yahoo! IM software.
The company had publicly given the first demonstration of the combined service at the Web 2.0 conference at Garlinghouse. The demonstration showed how the combined service works. When users open the Yahoo! account and insert an e-mail address, an icon appears showing if the person is online or offline.
In case of reverting back to e-mail, users will be able to choose to send an IM or not. Additionally, if the IM option is selected, a window for the IM conversation appears within the e-mail client, and the user can continue the conversation there.
While the existing version of Yahoo! Messenger offers Web-calling capabilities, the company is still considering on whether to include the feature in the combined service.
Reportedly, the combined service by Yahoo! will have a single interface, as opposed to that of Google which uses two separate interfaces.
The combined service is based on AJAX technology, and is expected to debut early 2007.
source: Techtree
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
wi-fi Rajdhanis & Shatabdis
TRAVEL by train and remain connected would be the next punchline of Indian Railways to pamper high-end passengers from airlines. All Rajdhani and Shatabdi trains would soon be equipped with wireless Internet service to enable passengers access Internet while on the move. An announcement to this effect is expected in the forthcoming Railway Budget.
“The service will be provided free of cost to all passengers in the high-end trains,” a senior official in the Rail Bhawan said. The wireless services would only be provided in Rajdhanis and Shatabdis, in step with the passenger profile of the trains.
“Some preliminary tests have been conducted in several trains to ensure effectiveness of the technology. As per results, its is possible to have an uninterrupted Internet access in the trains. The number of trains to be included in the service will be announced in the budget,” said the official.
Rail Bhawan has decided to enable the wi-fi service at major railway stations in the metropolitan cities. Apart from wi-fiing trains, the Railways have also earmarked 500 stations to be wi-fied in three years. RailTel, the railways telecom wing, has tied up with the US-based Pronto Net works for providing the service. This will enable passengers access Internet while waiting for trains.
Private companies would be roped in to implement the technology inside trains. RailTel would soon invite expression of interest from interested companies, the official said. The new facility would, however, not have a major bearing on the fares.
“The passengers will have to bear with only the security concerns as they board the train. The Internet connectivity and speed would be fast enough to get instantly logged on,” the official explained. The wi-fi communication box would be kept in a specialised AC coach in the train. The railways in the US and Europe already have wi-fi systems.
source: Economic Times
“The service will be provided free of cost to all passengers in the high-end trains,” a senior official in the Rail Bhawan said. The wireless services would only be provided in Rajdhanis and Shatabdis, in step with the passenger profile of the trains.
“Some preliminary tests have been conducted in several trains to ensure effectiveness of the technology. As per results, its is possible to have an uninterrupted Internet access in the trains. The number of trains to be included in the service will be announced in the budget,” said the official.
Rail Bhawan has decided to enable the wi-fi service at major railway stations in the metropolitan cities. Apart from wi-fiing trains, the Railways have also earmarked 500 stations to be wi-fied in three years. RailTel, the railways telecom wing, has tied up with the US-based Pronto Net works for providing the service. This will enable passengers access Internet while waiting for trains.
Private companies would be roped in to implement the technology inside trains. RailTel would soon invite expression of interest from interested companies, the official said. The new facility would, however, not have a major bearing on the fares.
“The passengers will have to bear with only the security concerns as they board the train. The Internet connectivity and speed would be fast enough to get instantly logged on,” the official explained. The wi-fi communication box would be kept in a specialised AC coach in the train. The railways in the US and Europe already have wi-fi systems.
source: Economic Times
Friday, February 9, 2007
Nokia Announces smart2go Mapping
Nokia has announced a navigation platform called smart2go mapping, which according to the company, is the most comprehensive map coverage offered on a mobile device. Nokia has also announced a mobile search application for content stored on devices.
Nokia's smart2go mapping platform allows for mapping and routing in over 150 countries, and has support for full turn-by-turn satellite navigation in over 30 countries.
The application allows people to locate their position on a map, search for points-of-interest (POI) around them, and create routes to get there free of charge. The platform shows over 15 million points of interest that help people explore the most interesting sights, restaurants, or accommodations around them, and send them to friends via MMS, Bluetooth, infrared, or e-mail.
Users can also send map excerpts and routes, or save screen shots on the device. Besides, recognized brands like McDonald's will have the option of placing their icons on maps across the world.
The smart2go is a hybrid map solution: map data from Tele-Atlas and Navteq can be downloaded directly via wireless network (GPRS/3G/WLAN), and stored on the memory card of the device. Once all the desired map data is stored, no network connection is required for mapping, routing, and navigating.
Moreover, smart2go comes with the option to upgrade to full fledged turn-by-turn navigation, where just a few clicks can turn the device into a voice guided navigation system by purchasing a navigation license. There are licenses available for various terms from one week to three years.
Initially, the company plans to start offering the application for free: from February 10th on select Nokia S60 and Windows Mobile 5.0 devices. Later, there are plans to support most of the major mobile OS platforms, including Nokia S60, Series 40, PocketPC, Linux, and other Windows Mobile devices. Moreover, the company plans to pre-install the smart2go mapping and navigation application on all future Nokia Nseries multimedia phones under the name "Nokia Maps".
For those who already own Nokia devices, "Nokia Maps" will be available for free download from www.smart2go.com on the supported devices. Interestingly, the non-GPS enabled mobile device can also enjoy the new navigation experience on a broad range of Nokia devices.
Nokia also announced its Mobile Search application for content stored on devices.
With this application, content such as email, text messages, and calendar entries to videos and music files stored on compatible Nokia devices can be found using Nokia Mobile Search indexes.
Mobile Search with 'My Content search' supports the Nokia N95, N93i, N93, N92, N91, N91 8GB, N80 Internet Edition, N80, N76, N73 Music Edition, N71, E70, E62, E61, E60, and 3250 devices, and is available as a free download for compatible devices at www.nokia.com/mobilesearch.
source: Techtree
Nokia's smart2go mapping platform allows for mapping and routing in over 150 countries, and has support for full turn-by-turn satellite navigation in over 30 countries.
The application allows people to locate their position on a map, search for points-of-interest (POI) around them, and create routes to get there free of charge. The platform shows over 15 million points of interest that help people explore the most interesting sights, restaurants, or accommodations around them, and send them to friends via MMS, Bluetooth, infrared, or e-mail.
Users can also send map excerpts and routes, or save screen shots on the device. Besides, recognized brands like McDonald's will have the option of placing their icons on maps across the world.
The smart2go is a hybrid map solution: map data from Tele-Atlas and Navteq can be downloaded directly via wireless network (GPRS/3G/WLAN), and stored on the memory card of the device. Once all the desired map data is stored, no network connection is required for mapping, routing, and navigating.
Moreover, smart2go comes with the option to upgrade to full fledged turn-by-turn navigation, where just a few clicks can turn the device into a voice guided navigation system by purchasing a navigation license. There are licenses available for various terms from one week to three years.
Initially, the company plans to start offering the application for free: from February 10th on select Nokia S60 and Windows Mobile 5.0 devices. Later, there are plans to support most of the major mobile OS platforms, including Nokia S60, Series 40, PocketPC, Linux, and other Windows Mobile devices. Moreover, the company plans to pre-install the smart2go mapping and navigation application on all future Nokia Nseries multimedia phones under the name "Nokia Maps".
For those who already own Nokia devices, "Nokia Maps" will be available for free download from www.smart2go.com on the supported devices. Interestingly, the non-GPS enabled mobile device can also enjoy the new navigation experience on a broad range of Nokia devices.
Nokia also announced its Mobile Search application for content stored on devices.
With this application, content such as email, text messages, and calendar entries to videos and music files stored on compatible Nokia devices can be found using Nokia Mobile Search indexes.
Mobile Search with 'My Content search' supports the Nokia N95, N93i, N93, N92, N91, N91 8GB, N80 Internet Edition, N80, N76, N73 Music Edition, N71, E70, E62, E61, E60, and 3250 devices, and is available as a free download for compatible devices at www.nokia.com/mobilesearch.
source: Techtree
MTNL Debuts Broadband with Wi-Fi
The company said these Wi-Fi services are enabled with CPEs (Customer Premises, Equipment) with a speed of up to 2 mbps. Using these CPEs, subscribers will now be able to create their 'Private hot spots' covering a range of 40 meters in their homes and offices. And they can also create 'Private public hot spots' through MTNL's prepaid broadband service.
Speaking on the occasion, A K Arora, Executive Director, MTNL, said, "Broadband with Wi-Fi is an initiative to create ease and comfort for our consumers while at home or work. With 2007 being declared as the 'Year of Broadband' MTNL's contribution to help increase Internet penetration and usage will be significantly driven by these kinds of services."
'Broadband with Wi-Fi' will bring convenience to consumers to the level that multiple computers, laptops, and PDAs can operate simultaneously. This will help household consumers who have more than one device at their residence. This service will also help educational institutions such as Engineering, Management, Medical and Research Institutes to save cost, and provide better work as well as learning environment.
Besides, convention centers like auditoriums, conference halls, seminar rooms can also be helped through this connection by providing better service, and in turn, they will be able to enhance their turnover.
The tariff plan for 'Broadband with Wi-Fi' includes registration fee of Rs 500, non-refundable security for modem of Rs 800, installation and testing for Rs 300, and monthly rental for modem Rs 150. And customers can choose any existing Broadband tariff plan for usage.
Meanwhile, existing customers will pay additional security of Rs 300, and monthly rental for Modem Rs 150 in place of Rs 50. They can also get this service by dialing 1500 or 22221500.
source: Techtree
Speaking on the occasion, A K Arora, Executive Director, MTNL, said, "Broadband with Wi-Fi is an initiative to create ease and comfort for our consumers while at home or work. With 2007 being declared as the 'Year of Broadband' MTNL's contribution to help increase Internet penetration and usage will be significantly driven by these kinds of services."
'Broadband with Wi-Fi' will bring convenience to consumers to the level that multiple computers, laptops, and PDAs can operate simultaneously. This will help household consumers who have more than one device at their residence. This service will also help educational institutions such as Engineering, Management, Medical and Research Institutes to save cost, and provide better work as well as learning environment.
Besides, convention centers like auditoriums, conference halls, seminar rooms can also be helped through this connection by providing better service, and in turn, they will be able to enhance their turnover.
The tariff plan for 'Broadband with Wi-Fi' includes registration fee of Rs 500, non-refundable security for modem of Rs 800, installation and testing for Rs 300, and monthly rental for modem Rs 150. And customers can choose any existing Broadband tariff plan for usage.
Meanwhile, existing customers will pay additional security of Rs 300, and monthly rental for Modem Rs 150 in place of Rs 50. They can also get this service by dialing 1500 or 22221500.
source: Techtree
Thursday, February 8, 2007
Supersonic cruise Brahmos
Brahmos, a supersonic cruise missile developed under an Indo-Russian joint venture project, has been successfully test-fired from the Integrated Test Range(ITR) at Chandipur-on-sea, about 15 km from Balasore, Orissa.
The army version of the missile, with a range of 290 km, operating on the principle of fire, with a capacity of carrying a conventional warhead upto 200 kg, was testfired from the ITR launch complex at 12:15 PM.
The nine-metre-long missile could be carried aboard a ship or a sebmarine with some modification. The missile can fly upto a height of 14 km at twice the speed of sound when fired from a ship.
It was charged by a solid propellant and has a preset trajectory and could change its course to strike 20 km from the target.
ITR sources said this would the 9th BrahMos missile test fired. The last BrahMos was test fired on 30th November, 2005
The army version of the missile, with a range of 290 km, operating on the principle of fire, with a capacity of carrying a conventional warhead upto 200 kg, was testfired from the ITR launch complex at 12:15 PM.
The nine-metre-long missile could be carried aboard a ship or a sebmarine with some modification. The missile can fly upto a height of 14 km at twice the speed of sound when fired from a ship.
It was charged by a solid propellant and has a preset trajectory and could change its course to strike 20 km from the target.
ITR sources said this would the 9th BrahMos missile test fired. The last BrahMos was test fired on 30th November, 2005
'Indian' gets web check-in facility
Bird Information Systems (BIS), a leading provider of automated travel solutions, has announced use of its Web check-in application service for the national carrier, 'Indian'.
Indian will adopt this state-of-the-art BIS technology, and will brand it as "i Check-in" service.
It is learnt that the "i Check-in" service will allow passengers holding e-tickets to check-in from the comfort of their home or office, thereby saving a lot of their time.
The service works by presenting the passenger a simple user-friendly Web check-in option on the Internet booking engine of 'Indian' (www.indianairlines.in).
The passenger needs to enter basic booking details, and with a few clicks he/she can avail the boarding pass right from his desktop. As such he/she can save time by directly going to the security gate at the airport.
Talking about this service, Ankur Bhatia, Executive Director, Bird Information Systems, said, "We are committed to offer the latest technology solutions to 'Indian', be it e-ticketing through Amadeus (BIS affiliate) in the past, or the latest Web check-in service.
The Web check-in facility will enhance the overall efficiency of 'Indian' enabling them to streamline operations and ultimately deliver a matchless experience for end travellers."
Commenting on the partnership, Vishwapati Trivedi, Chairman and Managing Director, Indian, said, "We have committed ourselves to redefine air travel in India by offering the very best on ground and on air.
This facility will greatly help all our domestic travelers who in today's day and age have very little time at hand to handle check-in facilities. This facility would save time, increase productivity, and offer seamless service to our clients."
source: msn
Indian will adopt this state-of-the-art BIS technology, and will brand it as "i Check-in" service.
It is learnt that the "i Check-in" service will allow passengers holding e-tickets to check-in from the comfort of their home or office, thereby saving a lot of their time.
The service works by presenting the passenger a simple user-friendly Web check-in option on the Internet booking engine of 'Indian' (www.indianairlines.in).
The passenger needs to enter basic booking details, and with a few clicks he/she can avail the boarding pass right from his desktop. As such he/she can save time by directly going to the security gate at the airport.
Talking about this service, Ankur Bhatia, Executive Director, Bird Information Systems, said, "We are committed to offer the latest technology solutions to 'Indian', be it e-ticketing through Amadeus (BIS affiliate) in the past, or the latest Web check-in service.
The Web check-in facility will enhance the overall efficiency of 'Indian' enabling them to streamline operations and ultimately deliver a matchless experience for end travellers."
Commenting on the partnership, Vishwapati Trivedi, Chairman and Managing Director, Indian, said, "We have committed ourselves to redefine air travel in India by offering the very best on ground and on air.
This facility will greatly help all our domestic travelers who in today's day and age have very little time at hand to handle check-in facilities. This facility would save time, increase productivity, and offer seamless service to our clients."
source: msn
Tuesday, February 6, 2007
Tata Indicom launches USB modem
Tata Indicom today announced the launch of a USB modem that fits into standard port available in most desktops as well as laptops and can be used anywhere in the country. It connects to Internet without the need of any telephone line or external modem.
It features include a multi-purpose wireless network card, a modem and a mobile phone and enables users to send and receive e-mail, connect to a corporate network, make and receive voice calls without the need of a network cable or phone call.
The USB modem is priced at Rs 3,850.
source: Hindu
It features include a multi-purpose wireless network card, a modem and a mobile phone and enables users to send and receive e-mail, connect to a corporate network, make and receive voice calls without the need of a network cable or phone call.
The USB modem is priced at Rs 3,850.
source: Hindu
A car that runs on compressed air?
Chennai Feb. 5 A car that runs on air and has zero emissions! That must seem like a prototype straight out of a Steven Spielberg sci-fi movie. But, surprisingly, in reality it isn't a lot of hot air.
A number of technology outfits have tried their hand at developing engines that run on compressed air.
One company MDI or Moteur Developpment International of France has successfully developed such engines and has been testing them in a number of cars. Tata Motors, which has been keen to expand its technological expertise, has just signed a technology licensing agreement with MDI for co-developing and applying the latter's innovative technology for engines powered by air.
The agreement between the two companies envisages the Tata's supporting further development and refinement of the technology, and its application and licensing for India.
The MDI Group is headed by Mr Guy Negre, who founded the company in the 1990s.
How it works
The engine works on what is known as CATS or compressed air technology system, whereby typically a two-stroke engine is fed compressed air, which has been stored in fibre-glass tanks at high bar pressure (approximately 150 to 200 times the pressure in car tyres).
The compressed air expands in the engine's chamber and drives the pistons and a single crankshaft to create movement that is then transferred to the wheels. Relevant changes to the pistons, connecting rod and other engine components are made to enable the engine to run on just compressed air..
Compressed air can be filled into the car or other vehicle's tanks from what is called a roadside Air Station or the car can be plugged into a household electric socket for running the on-board air compressor motor that compresses ambient air and stores it.
MDI has also built a number of vehicles that feature the air engine. Many of them have features that may be a good fit with Tata Motors' plans for future vehicles. It is not clear though if the current licensing arrangement will include allowing Tata Motors access to those vehicles and their designs.
source: Hindu
A number of technology outfits have tried their hand at developing engines that run on compressed air.
One company MDI or Moteur Developpment International of France has successfully developed such engines and has been testing them in a number of cars. Tata Motors, which has been keen to expand its technological expertise, has just signed a technology licensing agreement with MDI for co-developing and applying the latter's innovative technology for engines powered by air.
The agreement between the two companies envisages the Tata's supporting further development and refinement of the technology, and its application and licensing for India.
The MDI Group is headed by Mr Guy Negre, who founded the company in the 1990s.
How it works
The engine works on what is known as CATS or compressed air technology system, whereby typically a two-stroke engine is fed compressed air, which has been stored in fibre-glass tanks at high bar pressure (approximately 150 to 200 times the pressure in car tyres).
The compressed air expands in the engine's chamber and drives the pistons and a single crankshaft to create movement that is then transferred to the wheels. Relevant changes to the pistons, connecting rod and other engine components are made to enable the engine to run on just compressed air..
Compressed air can be filled into the car or other vehicle's tanks from what is called a roadside Air Station or the car can be plugged into a household electric socket for running the on-board air compressor motor that compresses ambient air and stores it.
MDI has also built a number of vehicles that feature the air engine. Many of them have features that may be a good fit with Tata Motors' plans for future vehicles. It is not clear though if the current licensing arrangement will include allowing Tata Motors access to those vehicles and their designs.
source: Hindu
Water woes? Call the pump now!
Necessity is the mother of invention worldwide but in India, it's the mother of innovation.
Tired of living in the dark, a farmer in Nalgonda district of Andhra Pradesh, Valishetty Narendra, invented an amazing way to water his fields at any time, with his cellphone!
The irregular power supply meant he had to dodge snake bites and walk to the water pump to get the water flowing again.
So he decided to make a call, not to the local authorities but to his water pump. He invented a device that allows him to operate his pump with a phone call.
"We farmers have to worry about the water supply at odd hours. Now with mobile phones, things will change for the better at the farm," said Narendra.
The device works using two mobile phones. While Narendra connects one phone to this motor pump, he dials the number from his cellphone, activating the motor pump, releasing water into his 3-acre farm.
The 29-year-old farmer can now monitor the watering of his fields from the comfort of his home.
He doesn't have a fancy degree but his interest in gadgets and circuits spurred him to come up with this innovation, a classic example of necessity being the mother of invention.
With only a minimal investment of about Rs 2000, other farmers like Narendra are glad that such technology will ease their problem of nocturnal trips to their fields to water their crop.
“It is of great help. Other farmers can also benefit and they don't need to go to the fields in the night anymore," said his neighbour, Rajesh Srimala.
For six months, all he did was dabble with different circuit charts, cellphones and wires, painstakingly trying out various methods to get the gadgets to work in tandem.
Narendra now plans to stake claim on his innovation and apply for patent. If approved, he hopes that his novel idea can become an answer to every farmer's woes
source: CNN-IBN
Tired of living in the dark, a farmer in Nalgonda district of Andhra Pradesh, Valishetty Narendra, invented an amazing way to water his fields at any time, with his cellphone!
The irregular power supply meant he had to dodge snake bites and walk to the water pump to get the water flowing again.
So he decided to make a call, not to the local authorities but to his water pump. He invented a device that allows him to operate his pump with a phone call.
"We farmers have to worry about the water supply at odd hours. Now with mobile phones, things will change for the better at the farm," said Narendra.
The device works using two mobile phones. While Narendra connects one phone to this motor pump, he dials the number from his cellphone, activating the motor pump, releasing water into his 3-acre farm.
The 29-year-old farmer can now monitor the watering of his fields from the comfort of his home.
He doesn't have a fancy degree but his interest in gadgets and circuits spurred him to come up with this innovation, a classic example of necessity being the mother of invention.
With only a minimal investment of about Rs 2000, other farmers like Narendra are glad that such technology will ease their problem of nocturnal trips to their fields to water their crop.
“It is of great help. Other farmers can also benefit and they don't need to go to the fields in the night anymore," said his neighbour, Rajesh Srimala.
For six months, all he did was dabble with different circuit charts, cellphones and wires, painstakingly trying out various methods to get the gadgets to work in tandem.
Narendra now plans to stake claim on his innovation and apply for patent. If approved, he hopes that his novel idea can become an answer to every farmer's woes
source: CNN-IBN
Monday, February 5, 2007
The seven hues of Yahoo! India
Bangalore: Yahoo! India, the largest Internet brand in the sub-continent, has begun offering web services in seven Indian languages to access a host of contents by netizens.
The netizen-centric search engine-cum-web portal www.yahoo.co.in enables Internet surfers to browse rich content-related features in Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam, Punjabi, Tamil and Telugu.
Users can also stay up-to-date on news, trends and buzz about the goings on in the world by clicking the language tab of choice.
"The latest offering is aimed at serving the existing users and the 200 million Indians expected to get online in the next five years. Innovation is the key driver for our product development to add value and excitement to our users and advertisers," Yahoo! India managing director George Zacharias said on Friday.
Besides regular features, the website will have daily horoscopes and astrology, vastu for better living, cookery section with various recipes, health section covering therapies, infotainment on Bollywood and region specific news, previews, reviews and a dedicated "literature" section with stories, poems, reviews and autobiographies.
"The localisation of the Yahoo! India portal will revolutionise user experience and invite more users to access information on a daily basis for news, reviews and events happening around them," Zacharias said in a statement.
Users can visit the main website (www.yahoo.co.in) and use the regional language buttons on the top navigation bar to access the site of their language.
Yahoo! India has also updated its popular Yahoo! Messenger (Indichat) to facilitate chatting in nine regional languages, including Bengali and Marathi, besides the seven languages in which it has launched the access service.
As a leading Internet portal focused on India, the company provides online products and services, besides a range of tools and marketing solutions for businesses to connect with users worldwide having special interest in India.
source: CNN-IBN
The netizen-centric search engine-cum-web portal www.yahoo.co.in enables Internet surfers to browse rich content-related features in Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam, Punjabi, Tamil and Telugu.
Users can also stay up-to-date on news, trends and buzz about the goings on in the world by clicking the language tab of choice.
"The latest offering is aimed at serving the existing users and the 200 million Indians expected to get online in the next five years. Innovation is the key driver for our product development to add value and excitement to our users and advertisers," Yahoo! India managing director George Zacharias said on Friday.
Besides regular features, the website will have daily horoscopes and astrology, vastu for better living, cookery section with various recipes, health section covering therapies, infotainment on Bollywood and region specific news, previews, reviews and a dedicated "literature" section with stories, poems, reviews and autobiographies.
"The localisation of the Yahoo! India portal will revolutionise user experience and invite more users to access information on a daily basis for news, reviews and events happening around them," Zacharias said in a statement.
Users can visit the main website (www.yahoo.co.in) and use the regional language buttons on the top navigation bar to access the site of their language.
Yahoo! India has also updated its popular Yahoo! Messenger (Indichat) to facilitate chatting in nine regional languages, including Bengali and Marathi, besides the seven languages in which it has launched the access service.
As a leading Internet portal focused on India, the company provides online products and services, besides a range of tools and marketing solutions for businesses to connect with users worldwide having special interest in India.
source: CNN-IBN
Fly from India to US in 45 minutes?
New York: From New York to Mumbai in 45 minutes—an American company has developed an aircraft that it claims can do that in a years time.
The Silver Dart hypersonic glider, developed by Chicago-based PlanetSpace, will be used to commercialise space travel and revolutionising air travel.
Potentially, this would mean that the daylong journey between, say, New Delhi and New York could be cut down to under an hour on the Silver Dart, which functions like a space shuttle.
“It can glide anywhere from any point on the earth, for example, from New York to Bombay in 45 minutes and it's very stable. Also, what's very important from a technological point of view, on re-entry its deacceleration is one earth gravity. What that means is it approaches the speed of a normal jet plane on landing and basically can land on any runway that a 737 can run on. So, it's an ideal vehicle for intercontinental travel,” says Chairman, PlanetSpace, Chirinjeev Kathuria.
Chirinjeev Kathuria has prior experience in similar ventures. He was the Founding Director of MirCorp when it sent Denis Tito as the first space tourist on April 4, 2000. Tito paid 20 million dollars for the privilege.
PlanetSpace plans to start accepting space tourists for the Silver Dart towards early 2009. That will cost each citizen astronaut $200,000. But Kathuria sees a cost-effective future for the venture.
“The Internet opened up the world to rapid information, communication within second and business transactions within minutes. Suborbital space flight and point-to-point travel will do the exact same thing. Eventually, in five to 10 years, the cost of a suborbital flight will be able to compete with a regular flight for jet plane travel,” Kathuria says.
Between 2009 and 2012, PlanetSpace hopes to have demonstration flights delivering crew and cargo to the International Space Station as well as the point-to-point travel within the globe.
This may sound like science fiction right now but there's a real possibility that a few years down the line, your drive into an Indian airport may actually be longer than your flight into the United States.
source: CNN-IBN
The Silver Dart hypersonic glider, developed by Chicago-based PlanetSpace, will be used to commercialise space travel and revolutionising air travel.
Potentially, this would mean that the daylong journey between, say, New Delhi and New York could be cut down to under an hour on the Silver Dart, which functions like a space shuttle.
“It can glide anywhere from any point on the earth, for example, from New York to Bombay in 45 minutes and it's very stable. Also, what's very important from a technological point of view, on re-entry its deacceleration is one earth gravity. What that means is it approaches the speed of a normal jet plane on landing and basically can land on any runway that a 737 can run on. So, it's an ideal vehicle for intercontinental travel,” says Chairman, PlanetSpace, Chirinjeev Kathuria.
Chirinjeev Kathuria has prior experience in similar ventures. He was the Founding Director of MirCorp when it sent Denis Tito as the first space tourist on April 4, 2000. Tito paid 20 million dollars for the privilege.
PlanetSpace plans to start accepting space tourists for the Silver Dart towards early 2009. That will cost each citizen astronaut $200,000. But Kathuria sees a cost-effective future for the venture.
“The Internet opened up the world to rapid information, communication within second and business transactions within minutes. Suborbital space flight and point-to-point travel will do the exact same thing. Eventually, in five to 10 years, the cost of a suborbital flight will be able to compete with a regular flight for jet plane travel,” Kathuria says.
Between 2009 and 2012, PlanetSpace hopes to have demonstration flights delivering crew and cargo to the International Space Station as well as the point-to-point travel within the globe.
This may sound like science fiction right now but there's a real possibility that a few years down the line, your drive into an Indian airport may actually be longer than your flight into the United States.
source: CNN-IBN
Thursday, February 1, 2007
Net via power lines may be a reality
Transmission of voice and data through electricity lines may be a reality soon. The department of information technology (DIT) is currently considering four proposals for funding pilot projects that will check the feasibility of the new broadband over power lines technology in the country.
The technology will enable customers to plug a modem into any electric outlet to access the internet. Broadband over power lines (BPL) is a cost-efficient alternative to cable-modem or digital subscriber lines services as it doesn’t require new infrastructure.
While BPL has already been tested worldwide and deployed at some places, India has only recently initiated pilot projects with the advent of upgraded modems that are required for transmission via electricity lines.
Of the four proposals that are being considered by DIT, power discoms, namely New Delhi Power and Calcutta Electric Supply Corporation, have initiated two. The Central Power Research Institute in Bangalore has also proposed to undertake a project.
The cost of the projects being considered could be anywhere between Rs 1 crore and Rs 5 crore, according to a government source. The projects would require equal participation of internet service providers and power discoms. “The pilot projects are also meant to study the feasibility of the technology for economy of scale,” said a source from Scheinder Electric India, an electric distribution and industrial customation specialist.
The BPL system uses existing electric power lines connected to homes and business houses to deliver high speed data through an ordinary wall socket. BPL is also considered a feasible option in remote rural areas where there are high costs associated with upgrading existing infrastructure.
source: Indiatimes
The technology will enable customers to plug a modem into any electric outlet to access the internet. Broadband over power lines (BPL) is a cost-efficient alternative to cable-modem or digital subscriber lines services as it doesn’t require new infrastructure.
While BPL has already been tested worldwide and deployed at some places, India has only recently initiated pilot projects with the advent of upgraded modems that are required for transmission via electricity lines.
Of the four proposals that are being considered by DIT, power discoms, namely New Delhi Power and Calcutta Electric Supply Corporation, have initiated two. The Central Power Research Institute in Bangalore has also proposed to undertake a project.
The cost of the projects being considered could be anywhere between Rs 1 crore and Rs 5 crore, according to a government source. The projects would require equal participation of internet service providers and power discoms. “The pilot projects are also meant to study the feasibility of the technology for economy of scale,” said a source from Scheinder Electric India, an electric distribution and industrial customation specialist.
The BPL system uses existing electric power lines connected to homes and business houses to deliver high speed data through an ordinary wall socket. BPL is also considered a feasible option in remote rural areas where there are high costs associated with upgrading existing infrastructure.
source: Indiatimes
In search of a fast net connection
A few weeks ago the Indian broadband scene witnessed a breakthrough of sorts. Bharat Sanchar Nigam, more commonly known as BSNL, announced upgrades that quite possibly had even the technology enthusiasts’ eyebrows raised. The company raised the connection speed being offered in almost all its tariff plans to 2 Mbps. Other internet service providers were forced to follow suit and pull up their socks. Consequently, broadband in India stands in a much better position than it did only a couple of weeks ago.
Broadband, unlimited
An unlimited connection on the other hand is one that has no restrictions on downloads or uploads. There’s no catch save for the fact that most unlimited connections are slower than those with bandwidth restrictions and are more expensive as well. ISPs such as BSNL justify this move by mentioning that without restrictions ‘errant users’ will dominate the lines and slow down the speed for others. If you find yourself to be an ‘errant user’ according to BSNL’s categorisation of its customers, then it makes sense to cough up more money and choose a plan with unlimited access. Tata Indicom for instance, has a 256 Kbps unlimited connection for Rs 1,200 a month. For more details you can check on its website, www.tataindicombroadband .in. If in a day, you spend several hours on the internet—that is, visit multimedia websites like youtube.com, download music and videos and even play multiplayer computer games online like World of Warcraft—then don’t think twice and choose an unlimited connection. On the other hand, if you want searing speeds in order to do your work quickly and you don’t download much, then a 512 Kbps connection with a 1 GB traffic limit will serve you fine.
The fine print
For the best of both worlds, read the fine print on the ISP’s plans. Many ISPs, in spite of quota restrictions, have ‘free hours’ every night where one can download as they please. BSNL for instance marks its night unlimited hours from 2 am to 8 am. This means that even though you may have a 500 MB limit per month, whatever you transfer between those hours won’t be counted by the service provider. Keep a check on your traffic each day if you have a quota based account. You can do this by logging into the website using the username and password provided to you. This will help you evaluate how much data you consume each day. As a reference, about 30 minutes of voice chat using Google Talk or Yahoo Voice Chat will result in approximately 5 MB of usage. An hour of surfing news and visiting other websites is about 10 MB. Finally, once you have chosen the scheme appropriate for you, decide on the type of installation you want. You can go for a standard modem that will connect to your computer using the Ethernet port or go for a wireless modem. If you own a notebook which has Wi-Fi, a wireless modem is useful. Expect one of these to cost anything between Rs 2,000 to Rs 3,000.
source: Indiatimes
Broadband, unlimited
An unlimited connection on the other hand is one that has no restrictions on downloads or uploads. There’s no catch save for the fact that most unlimited connections are slower than those with bandwidth restrictions and are more expensive as well. ISPs such as BSNL justify this move by mentioning that without restrictions ‘errant users’ will dominate the lines and slow down the speed for others. If you find yourself to be an ‘errant user’ according to BSNL’s categorisation of its customers, then it makes sense to cough up more money and choose a plan with unlimited access. Tata Indicom for instance, has a 256 Kbps unlimited connection for Rs 1,200 a month. For more details you can check on its website, www.tataindicombroadband .in. If in a day, you spend several hours on the internet—that is, visit multimedia websites like youtube.com, download music and videos and even play multiplayer computer games online like World of Warcraft—then don’t think twice and choose an unlimited connection. On the other hand, if you want searing speeds in order to do your work quickly and you don’t download much, then a 512 Kbps connection with a 1 GB traffic limit will serve you fine.
The fine print
For the best of both worlds, read the fine print on the ISP’s plans. Many ISPs, in spite of quota restrictions, have ‘free hours’ every night where one can download as they please. BSNL for instance marks its night unlimited hours from 2 am to 8 am. This means that even though you may have a 500 MB limit per month, whatever you transfer between those hours won’t be counted by the service provider. Keep a check on your traffic each day if you have a quota based account. You can do this by logging into the website using the username and password provided to you. This will help you evaluate how much data you consume each day. As a reference, about 30 minutes of voice chat using Google Talk or Yahoo Voice Chat will result in approximately 5 MB of usage. An hour of surfing news and visiting other websites is about 10 MB. Finally, once you have chosen the scheme appropriate for you, decide on the type of installation you want. You can go for a standard modem that will connect to your computer using the Ethernet port or go for a wireless modem. If you own a notebook which has Wi-Fi, a wireless modem is useful. Expect one of these to cost anything between Rs 2,000 to Rs 3,000.
source: Indiatimes
MIT: Gets the Tech edge (free study materials online)
Sapient helped Massachusetts Institute of Technology develop an electronic publishing model that supports the university’s mission of advancing knowledge and educating students in science, technology, and other areas of scholarship
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) wanted to develop an electronic publishing model to support the university’s mission of advancing knowledge and educating students in science, technology, and other areas of scholarship that will best serve the nation and the world in the 21st century. With a proven track record of delivering large-scale content-management solutions that improve business processes, increase customer and employee satisfaction, and reduce maintenance costs, Sapient was the clear partner for this initiative.
Together, Sapient and MIT designed and developed MIT OpenCourseWare (MIT-OCW), a web-based publishing initiative that provides free, searchable access of nearly all of the university’s undergraduate and graduate course material to anyone around the world. Leveraging Sapient’s unique, collaborative approach and fixed-price, fixed-time model, the Sapient team helped MIT to rollout MIT-OCW in less time, at less cost, and with less risk than any other available option.
Content dissemination goes innovative
While many universities offer some courses online, MIT is the first institution to promote free and open sharing of all course content for non-profit educational and research purposes. Not only does MIT-OCW represent a major innovation in how educational content is disseminated, but it is also one of the largest Microsoft content-management systems ever deployed. The supporting technology infrastructure was designed using Microsoft Content Management Server 2002 and .NET technologies. The MIT-OCW system provides a scalable base for managing up to one million resources and will enable open access to the course materials from virtually all of MIT’s 2,500 courses.
The system’s authoring site is currently being used by 50 people and handles an average of 4,500 transactions per day. The external site (ocw.mit.edu) is used by hundreds of thousands of users worldwide and handles millions of page views per month. The system allows MIT to organize significant amounts of course materials—including lecture notes, problem sets, streaming video, multimedia simulations, exams, and reading lists—in a way that is easy for educators, students, and self-learners to navigate through and adapt according to their individual needs. It offers a single, searchable organizing structure intended to eventually cover all of the university’s courses, including uniform metadata about the site’s content. In addition to strategy, program management, technology development and implementation and content migration expertise, Sapient’s application management services are being utilized to provide 24-hour email and customer-service support for MIT-OCW.
source: Indiatimes
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) wanted to develop an electronic publishing model to support the university’s mission of advancing knowledge and educating students in science, technology, and other areas of scholarship that will best serve the nation and the world in the 21st century. With a proven track record of delivering large-scale content-management solutions that improve business processes, increase customer and employee satisfaction, and reduce maintenance costs, Sapient was the clear partner for this initiative.
Together, Sapient and MIT designed and developed MIT OpenCourseWare (MIT-OCW), a web-based publishing initiative that provides free, searchable access of nearly all of the university’s undergraduate and graduate course material to anyone around the world. Leveraging Sapient’s unique, collaborative approach and fixed-price, fixed-time model, the Sapient team helped MIT to rollout MIT-OCW in less time, at less cost, and with less risk than any other available option.
Content dissemination goes innovative
While many universities offer some courses online, MIT is the first institution to promote free and open sharing of all course content for non-profit educational and research purposes. Not only does MIT-OCW represent a major innovation in how educational content is disseminated, but it is also one of the largest Microsoft content-management systems ever deployed. The supporting technology infrastructure was designed using Microsoft Content Management Server 2002 and .NET technologies. The MIT-OCW system provides a scalable base for managing up to one million resources and will enable open access to the course materials from virtually all of MIT’s 2,500 courses.
The system’s authoring site is currently being used by 50 people and handles an average of 4,500 transactions per day. The external site (ocw.mit.edu) is used by hundreds of thousands of users worldwide and handles millions of page views per month. The system allows MIT to organize significant amounts of course materials—including lecture notes, problem sets, streaming video, multimedia simulations, exams, and reading lists—in a way that is easy for educators, students, and self-learners to navigate through and adapt according to their individual needs. It offers a single, searchable organizing structure intended to eventually cover all of the university’s courses, including uniform metadata about the site’s content. In addition to strategy, program management, technology development and implementation and content migration expertise, Sapient’s application management services are being utilized to provide 24-hour email and customer-service support for MIT-OCW.
source: Indiatimes
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