Connect to the Internet With iPod Touch

One of the greatest features of the iPod Touch is the ability to connect to the Internet via Wi-Fi. All that is required is for you to be in range of an access point. Then, with minimal configuration on the iPod Touch, you will be surfing the Internet using the built-in Safari web browser. Follow these steps to connect to the Internet (should also apply to the iPhone).

1:Tap the “Settings” application to open it.
2:Look at the top of the list for “Wi-Fi” and tap it (the iPod Touch will begin searching for networks in range).
3:In the list of networks that appears, tap the network to which you wish to connect.
Optional: If the network you are connecting to is secure (contains a lock icon to the right of the name), you will be prompted to type in the password.

If all is well, you will be connected to the network and presumably ready to surf the web. There will be an icon appear in the upper-left corner of the iPod Touch screen to indicate network connection and signal strength.

Connecting to a secure network connection can be tricky. When connecting, you will be prompted for the WEP or WPA password, depending on which is used. The trick is that you will not be able to see the characters you are typing in. The password is masked. It would seem like good security to mask a password, but it is not necessary for an iPod Touch. Masking will only protect you from unwanted eyes peering over your shoulder. Since the iPod Touch is extremely portable, you can avoid peering eyes by walking away or turning a different direction. Therefore, masking is not really necessary. In fact, it can be a nuisance on the iPod Touch. Especially, if you have a long and secure password. You will just have to carefully type in your password.

Surfing the web using a real browser is a fantastic feature for the iPod touch and the iPhone. With a few easy steps, you can enjoy great, mobile web surfing.

Unleash The Force On Your N-gage

Nokia, THQ Wireless, Lucasfilm, and LucasArts today revealed that Star Wars: The Force Unleashed is coming to N-Gage, Nokia's next generation mobile gaming platform in 2008.

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed casts players as Darth Vader's "Secret Apprentice" and promises to unveil new revelations about the Star Wars galaxy. The game's story is set during the largely unexplored era between Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith and Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope.

The mobile version of Star Wars: The Force Unleashed is in development by THQ's Finland-based studio, Universomo. Using Cell Weaver technology, the game lets the player harness the Force while assisting Darth Vader in his quest to rid the universe of Jedi - and face decisions that could change the course of their destiny. This mobile game provides players with unique community features, including tournaments, score uploads and downloadable content, through N-Gage Arena services.

"We're proud to be able to deliver the next chapter in the Star Wars saga on the N-Gage platform," said Gregg Sauter, Director, Publishing, Nokia. "Star Wars: The Force Unleashed Mobile game will take advantage of the N-Gage platform's robust native development environment to provide the ultimate mobile gaming experience, including powerful graphics, connectivity and community elements."

Nokia Reveals Eco-friendly Mobile

For those of you mobile maniacs who are also concerned about the environment (and we all should be) Nokia has, at their event in Amsterdam, announced a new Eco-friendly mobile phone – The 3110 Evolve. By Eco-friendly, we mean that its covers are made out of Bio-Sourced material i.e. 50% renewable material.

The 3110 Evolve is also quite a fully loaded device that supports Bluetooth withA2DP, infrared, has an integrated FM radio, a 1.3 megapixel camera, MP3 player and supports external memory with microUSB cards up to 2GB. It also supports EGPRS and according to the 3110 Evolve spec sheet it also uses a High Efficiency charger that's quite energy efficient as well. It runs on a Series 40 UI.



The 3110 Evolve is expected to be launched somewhere in the first quarter of 2008.

Gmail Integrates AOL's AIM

Gmail users who love the ease of chatting with their buddies from right within the Gmail interface have one more reason to be happy. Starting today Gmail users can sign into their AIM accounts via Gmail chat and talk with AIM buddies just as they do with their Google Talk friends.

Apart from that, features such as chat history and automatic sorting of buddies based on frequency of communication, will work seamlessly across Google and AIM buddies. This roll out today is in the newest English version of Gmail and will be available in other languages soon.

Gmail users can just click on the upside-down triangle next to "set status here" in their Gmail chat and select "Sign into AIM" from the drop down menu. Once they've entered their AIM log-in information, their AIM contacts will appear intermingled among Gmail contacts, and they can select an AIM contact and chat with them directly.

In February 2006, Google integrated real-time chat into the Gmail email service letting users switch between email and instant messaging without having to think about which they were using. Google also allowed users to keep a history of chats and emails together in conversation threads.

Transcend Launches Digital Photo Frame in India

In September of this year, Transcend announced that they were entering the Digital Photo Frame business with the launch of their T.photo 710 Digital Photo Frame. At the time there was no word about an India launch, until now. The T.photo 710 Digital Photo Frame has now been launched in India as well.

T.photo 710 has a 7-inch TFT flat-panel display with a resolution of 480 x 234 pixels. and has 1GB of internal memory. The T.photo 710 automatically calculates the best way to display photos based on the information within each digital image, and will preserve the original aspect ratio of your pictures. It supports JPG, BMP and Motion-JPG formats, and you can choose to view photos one at a time, in slideshow view, or tiled thumbnail view – all with background audio from its built-in speakers. You can even plug-in a pair of headphones and use it as an MP3 player. It features a multi-card reader that instantly shows all pictures on SD cards (SDHC/SD), MMC cards, MS cards, and CF cards as soon as you plug them in. It could also be used as a card reader to attach to your PC. On top of that, the USB host connector allows you to plug-in USB flash drives.

The T.photo 710 comes with a fully functioning remote. Other features include Clock and Calendar mode that displays a photo or slideshow of your choice on one half of the screen, while showing a digital clock and monthly calendar on the other half. The Frame lets you to set music as alarm clock sounds and during holidays like Christmas, New Year's and Valentine's Day, you can even choose special themes for the pictures. The T.photo 710 is also wall mountable.

The T.photo 710 comes with a two year warranty and a one-year stuck pixel guarantee. It’s priced at Rs. 5,500 (MRP).

Epson Unveils Mid-Range All-In-One Printer

Epson India has announced the launch of the Epson Stylus CX8300. The two-tone black AIO (all-in-one) features very high print, scan and copy speeds, a large tilt-able LCD viewer, optional high capacity black ink cartridge and improved DuraBrite Ultra inks.


The new AIO is designed for the home and office user who demands advanced digital imaging capabilities with the assurance of extraordinary ease-of-use.

The convenience of the Epson Stylus CX8300 doesn’t come at a loss of speed or quality. The new AIO is equipped with the new improved DuraBrite Ultra inks which are specifically formulated to produce sharp quality document prints comparable to monochrome laser printers and even glossier photo prints.

Together with 4R printing speeds of 19 seconds, it produces high copy speeds of up to 30 cpm (copies per minute) and scanning resolutions of up to 1200dpi (dots per inch.

The AIO is priced at Rs. 8,299 and will be available from December 2007. Standard ink cartridges are priced at Rs. 460 while the high capacity ink cartridges are priced at Rs. 640.

Lenovo to Launch $200-Computer in India

Chinese computer maker Lenovo said Tuesday it would soon launch a new computer priced at $200 (about Rs.8,000) in India.

"We will launch the product in China first. After getting a feedback, we will roll out the device in the Indian market," Lenovo Group USA President and Chief Executive Officer William J Amelio said on the sidelines of India Economic Summit currently underway here.

Although Amelio did not specify a time for the product's launch, he indicated that the computer would be Internet-enabled.

He added that the firm could produce five million computers every year in India and may export computer parts and other hardware from the country.

Lenovo is also planning to export notebooks from its Baddi, Himachal Pradesh plant.

Amelio pitched a liberal and uniform tax regime for it to conduct its business in India and provide opportunity of greater investments.

Nokia Introduces Internet Radio Service

With Nokia's Internet Radio service now available and downloadable for free from http://www.nokia.com/internetradio, users can discover and listen to radio shows broadcasted over the internet.

The station directory of Nokia Internet Radio makes music discovery easy, as users can base their search on station name, genre, country or language and can find out what hits are hot around the world with hourly updates of the top ten most popular internet radio stations available on the station directory. Users can also access their favorite stations quickly by adding them to the list of 'Favorites'.

"Most new music discovery occurs while you’re listening to the radio" said Tommi Mustonen, head of the Nokia music business. "By offering the Nokia Internet Radio service on mobile devices, the radio experience becomes more accessible, giving people new ways to find music"

The Nokia Internet Radio application is currently available for download to the following devices: Nokia N82, Nokia N91, Nokia N95 and Nokia N95 8GB. The application is planned to be available later on further devices and will be embedded in selected upcoming Nokia S60 3rd edition devices.

LG Shine Now in Titanium

Following the success of the LG Shine handset within the Black Label Series, LG has unveiled a new addition - the LG Shine Titanium color variant in bar and Slider form factors. LG Shine Titanium boasts of being the only phone in the market sporting a Titanium finish metal body. It incorporates the same features as the original LG Shine handset.

Anil Arora, Business Group Head, GSM said, “The new colours of Shine Slider will extend our success of the Shine series and will appeal to consumers who want their phone to say something about their personality. LG Shine color variants will magnify the modern style and chic image of the consumers, while the forthcoming premium handsets with unique design variations promise to be even more desirable, adding technology enhancements to unbeatable design.”

The LG Shine with new color variants has a 2 mega-pixel auto focus camera certified by Schneider Kreuznach and an expandable memory up to 1 GB with microSD cards. Access to Shine’s menu system is by an easy-to-use multi-function scroll key. It has a wide 2.2-inch mirror LCD screen and supports GPRS and EDGE network compatibility, Bluetooth with A2DP and USB connectivity. It also has applications like Yogasanas for health conscious people, E2E dictionary, E-mail and Document Viewer.

LG Shine Titanium Shine Bar will be available for Rs. 8,290 and the slider variant will be available for Rs. 12,490. Also the shine silver bar variant is now available for Rs. 7,990 and silver slider for Rs. 11,990.

Nokia Files Patent Application For New N Series

According to Nokia’s latest patent application filing, it seems they intend to add another N series device to their existing range. There also seems to be a few detailed drawings that were provided with the application. According to those drawings, the new phone will not be just another slider, but will also have the camera portion, located above the display, rotate 90 degrees.

There’s no official information on what the megapixel count on the camera will be and not much information on the other specs either. However, by looking carefully at the sketches, one would notice that it would appear to have either a 6 or 8 megapixel branding. Then again it’s just an unclear image so we’ll just have to wait and see. It’s quite likely that the official announcement of this device, if any, will be out only sometime next year, so stay tuned. When we know you’ll know.

Via Intomobile.

Mass Mailers Top November Security Threats

Fortinet, network and Internet security agency has released a list of the top 10 security threats that plagued networks and users for the month of November. As the data list below shows, it was a collection of Mass Mail virii that have topped the charts. The rise of Mass mailers can be directly linked not only the upcoming holiday and shopping season but also a general increase in online advertising. This lead to the emergence of Virii like Clicker.AC, which has code that is specifically designed to bypass browsers' pop-up blocking technology.

Another example of the increasing sophistication of malware is Stration.JQ, which relies on an advanced social engineering strategy based on dual attachments. While the email received by end users aims at misleading them by providing instructions for personal account access, the innovation lies in the attachments: an "authorization module", which is in fact Stration.JQ, coupled with a PDF attachment containing financial information such as an invoice, a fee analysis, etc. The content of the email and PDF are both intended to stir the user's curiosity and make the request sound legitimate, therefore tremendously increasing the click-through rate of the mass mailer. Unfortunately, any user opening the "authorization module" will turn her/his computer into a bot.

"Hacking legitimate site content to host malicious code has become very common. This month, many trusted Internet sites were unwittingly 'hosting' flash advertisements injected with encrypted redirects, forcing users to visit other sites once the ad was displayed. More determined efforts to conceal malware using trusted sources are likely to be made as we enter into the busy holiday season of December," said Derek Manky, security research engineer at Fortinet. "Examples of adware such as Clicker.AC illustrate the trend in what is becoming the blend between malware and grayware and further emphasizes the need for threat awareness, not only from the end user's perspective, but also for corporations and their affiliates.".Rank Threat Name Threat Type % of Detections
1 W32/Netsky!similar Mass mailer 10.87
2 HTML/Iframe_CID!exploit Exploit 8.21
3 HTML/Clicker.AC!tr Trojan 6.60
4 W32/ANI07.A!exploit Exploit 5.14
5 W32/Stration.JQ@mm Mass mailer 3.11
6 W32/MyTob.CJ@mm Mass mailer 2.42
7 W32/Bagle.DY@mm Mass mailer 2.25
8 W32/Grew.A!worm Worm 2.09
9 Adware/TCent Adware 1.86
10 Adware/Bdsearch Adware 1.71

Nat Geo, Zapak.com Launch Interactive Website

Taking off from National Geographic Channel's new series 'My Brilliant Brain ', Nat Geo and Zapak.com have created an interactive website called Brilliantbrain.

While the TV series celebrates the power of the human mind and examines three groups of genius to answer questions about the origins of genius, the website, www.brilliantbrain.in, features mind-tickling features for viewers to have fun with their mind, check their Genius Quotient and win loads of prizes. These features include mind-games, brain-teasers, multiplayer games where you can chat with other users while playing, blog, ask the expert section, videos of the international and local geniuses featured in the series and more.

The highest scorer on the website will win the My Brilliant Brain grand prize, which is a trip for 2 to Washington DC to visit the National Geographic Museum. Besides the grand prize, there are also Nat Geo goody bags along with limited edition Nat Geo telescopes to be won every week on the website.

Rajesh Sheshadri, Senior Vice President - Content and Communication, National Geographic Channel, India said, "My Brilliant Brain is a celebration of the incredible powers of the human mind. The focus of the promotional activities is to stimulate and challenge the minds of viewers nation-wide in an exciting and engaging format, with interactivity being the key. Our online initiative with Zapak.com is our way to reach out to our viewers in an innovative manner. Zapak.com is the ultimate destination for on-line gaming and an association with them has helped us create a unique My Brilliant Brain experience for the netizens."

My Brilliant Brain premieres on the National Geographic Channel on December 10 at 10 pm and will feature international and Indian content. The Indian film titled, 'India's Geniuses' will feature four Indian geniuses and will be hosted by actor, Konkona Sen Sharma.

Intel India Receives Helen Keller Award

Intel India has received the Helen Keller Award for its contribution in using technology to transform the lives of the intellectually challenged.

The award, presented to Intel on the eve of World Disability Day, December 2, 2007, acknowledges the company's efforts towards helping intellectually challenged individuals to learn technology skills, thereby generating employment opportunities for them, through the Intel - AMBA Centers for Economic Empowerment of the Intellectually Challenged (CEEIC). The national level Hellen Keller Award recognizes the initiatives undertaken by companies to promote employment opportunities for persons with disabilities.

In a first-of-its-kind initiative globally, Intel India in collaboration with its NGO partner AMBA founded the Intel - AMBA Center for Economic Empowerment of the Intellectually Challenged in 2004, a technology training lab for persons with intellectual disabilities over 16 years of age. The Intel - AMBA CEEIC has designed a methodology that uses repetitive PC-based training to enable students with very low IQs to recognize alphabets and words as 'objects' and learn simple data entry skills. The model uses the collective abilities of each individual beneficiary, teaches them a trade within their area of ability and ensures that they contribute collectively to the whole requirement of the mainstream work. Apart from this, most of the training is also imparted by the intellectually challenged themselves and they are able to run the center with minimal supervision. From a modest installation of 10 computers with software and peripherals, this unique technology training lab has today evolved into four centers across the country.

Rahul Bedi, Director, Corporate Affairs, Intel South Asia and India Business Operations Manager, said, "Intel India has been an enthusiastic supporter of the CEEIC project, with the differently abled being a special interest group for us. Along with our NGO partner AMBA, we sought to provide these youths with a fair opportunity to earn a livelihood and lead a life of acceptance and dignity. This award is not only a recognition of Intel and AMBA's efforts, but also an achievement for the special young people who have now become more economically productive members of their family."

The Intel - AMBA CEEIC has a specialized job center where the trained students work independently on actual job projects in a protected environment, enabling them to earn a monthly income. This center also coordinates with external clients and persuades them to provide jobs such as data entry to the trained youths on a regular basis.

Sugandha Sukrutaraj, Author Trustee, Board Member and Director of Social and Economic Empowerment, AMBA, said "Intel's support was amazing and significant in setting up the Intel - AMBA CEEICs. The intellectually challenged community need a fair opportunity to showcase their ability. We hope to work together in the future, to take this initiative to greater heights. Such a corporate – NGO partnership is the logical and most effective way to enhance the lives of the community around us."

New Windows Genuine Advantage to Roll Out

Microsoft Corp. is pulling back from a system that disables programs on users' computers if it suspects the software is pirated, opting instead for a gentler approach based on nagging alerts.

Microsoft said late Monday it will roll out the new version of Windows Genuine Advantage with the first service pack for Windows Vista, due in the first quarter of 2008.

When computer users activate a copy of Windows Vista or try to download certain software from Microsoft's website, the Windows Genuine Advantage system scans their PCs for signs of pirated software. As of now, if the tool finds an unauthorized copy of Vista, the glassy Vista user experience disappears and other features are suspended.

In the new version, PC users found to have a pirated copy of Vista will continue to be able to use their computers, but with unmistakable signs their operating system is a fake. The desktop wallpaper will turn black, and a white notice will appear alerting users to the problem. Each time they log in, they will be prompted to buy legitimate software, and every hour, a reminder bubble will appear on the screen.

Users with a high tolerance for irritation can put off switching to genuine software indefinitely, but those who relent and buy a real copy of Windows can do so at reduced prices – $119 for Windows Vista Home Premium, half the regular retail price.

"We want to make sure unwitting victims get a great treatment," said Mike Sievert, a corporate vice president in Microsoft's Windows marketing group.

Windows Genuine Advantage collects several pieces of information about a PC during the check, including the serial number on the hard drive and its IP address, but Sievert says none of that can be used to identify individual PC users.

In August, the Windows Genuine Advantage team at Microsoft accidentally updated its servers with computer code that wasn't quite ready for prime time. As a result, Microsoft said "fewer than 12,000" people who tried to validate software over a two-day period couldn't.

Some found legitimate copies of Windows hobbled after the tool labeled them pirated, and an outcry spread across Web forums and technology news sites.

Sievert said the glitch in August was unrelated to the change in how the Windows Genuine Advantage tool will work.

"Microsoft realizes it has to take a different approach with their customers," said Chris Swenson, a software industry analyst for market researcher NPD Group. "If you shut down someone's computer, you're going to anger customers."

Microsoft also said Monday the package of Vista updates will fix two holes in the operating system that have allowed pirates to create counterfeit copies – one that mimics the activation of software by computer makers before a PC is sold, and one that extends a grace period given to people who install new software, before they must activate it.

Sievert said Microsoft plans to offer an update for Windows Genuine Advantage that will run the piracy check regularly without the computer user initiating the process.

Get Paid To Get Spammed

In a bid to make spam actually pay us for a change, an enterprising site by the name of Boxbe has introduced a new concept by which anyone utilizing their services will be able to select the kind of advertisements they receive and will actually be paid for doing so. This will be achieved by means of a dashboard through which the end-user can select the kind of advertising he/she wants to receive.

The best part of this service is the fact, that it will be integrated with a lot of popular services such as Yahoo/Gmail and will therefore be able to make use of an existing inbox. One does not need to migrate to another service.

Nvidia To Introduce GeForce 9 Cards Next Year

According to Digitimes, Nvidia who is currently dominating the GPU market is all set to unveil its newest series of cards in Feb 08. This new series will begin the GeForce 9 series of cards and will be built on a 65nm process, feature DX10.1 support and Shader model 4.1. Furthermore in June 08, Nvidia will extend this range by introducing a new series of mid-level cards that will be manufactured on a 55nm process.

The release of these products will mark the beginning of the DX10 wars. AMD has already introduced its own version of DX10.1 cards and with Nvidia looking to jump onto the bandwagon soon, its good news for consumers.

WinMob v6.0 to Support 480 x 800 Resolution

Newer Windows Mobile Devices will be upgraded in terms of display resolution. Currently almost all Windows mobile devices support resolutions of 320 x 240. With the new Windows Mobile v6.0, a new update has been introduced that will help make the Windows Mobile experience a little better in terms of viewing quality

The update will help support resolutions of up to 480 x 800 (DVD-like) pixels and using accelerometers the devices will be able to detect portrait or landscape orientation changes to make the appropriate changes to the display. But we still have to see this in action to let you in on exactly how it looks. Stay Tuned.

Via Intomobile.

Vivendi Games, Activision to Combine

Vivendi said Sunday that it plans to acquire a controlling stake in Activision Inc. and combine the company with Vivendi Games in a deal that would create a rival to Electronic Arts Inc. as the world's largest video game publisher.

The combination of Santa Monica-based Activision, whose titles include "Guitar Hero," "Call of Duty" and the "Tony Hawk" series, and Vivendi Games, which publishes "Crash Bandicoot" and owns the online role-playing franchise "World of Warcraft," would create the world's largest pure-play online and console game publisher, the companies said.

Vivendi Games will convert its equity into Activision shares valued at $8.1 billion (5.49 billion), and Vivendi will buy an additional $1.7 billion (1.15 billion) of stock, for a total of $9.8 billion (6.64 billion), giving Vivendi a 52 percent stake in a new company to be called Activision Blizzard. On that basis, Activision and Vivendi valued the combined company at $18.9 billion (12.8 billion).

"This transaction has always stuck out as the way to become the number one most successful video-game publisher," Activision Chief Executive Bobby Kotick said in an interview.

Vivendi's Irvine, California-based Blizzard Entertainment is behind the top multiplayer online role-playing game franchise, "World of Warcraft," which the company says more than 9.3 million subscribers worldwide. Blizzard's Warcraft and Diablo series are two of the top-selling video game lines of all time.

Jean-Bernard Levy, chairman and chief executive officer of Vivendi, pledged the deal "will unlock the value of Blizzard."

Kotick, who will stay on as president and CEO of the new company, said the deal had been in negotiations since January.

Under the agreement, shares of Vivendi Games will be converted into 295.3 million new shares of Activision common stock at a price of $27.50 per share, for a value of $8.1 billion (5.49 billion), the companies said in a statement.

Vivendi, based in Paris, France, also will purchase 62.9 million newly issued shares of Activision common stock at a price of $27.50 per share, or $1.7 billion (1.15 billion), giving Vivendi its 52 percent stake.

Activision Blizzard will continue to operate as a public company traded on the Nasdaq Stock Market under the ticker ATVI.

After the transaction closes, expected in the first half of 2008, Activision Blizzard will launch a $4 billion (2.71 billion) all-cash tender offer to purchase up to 146.5 million Activision Blizzard common shares at $27.50 each. Vivendi also has agreed to acquire an additional $700 million (474.22 million) of newly issued Activision shares, giving Vivendi about a 68 percent stake in Activision Blizzard if the tender offer is fully subscribed.

The offer price is a 24 percent premium to Activision's closing price Friday of $22.15 per share.

Activision Blizzard's board of directors will be comprised of six directors designated by Vivendi, two Activision management directors and three independent directors who currently serve on Activision's board of directors.

Vivendi Games CEO Bruce Hack will serve as vice chairman and chief corporate officer of Activision Blizzard.

The merger will provide Activision Blizzard with the most diversified and broadest portfolio of interactive entertainment assets in the industry, according to the statement.

The companies said the transaction would be accretive to earnings for both companies' shareholders in the first year after the deal closes. The combined company is targeting pro forma operating income of $1.1 billion (750 million) and pro forma earnings per share of more than $1.20 in calendar year 2009.

Gibson Announces World's First Robotic Guitar

What could be more interestingly bizarre than a musical instrument that plays itself? Soon they will begin to compose, and take people like music director Sandeep Chowta out of business. Speaking of Sandeep Chowta, ironically it's Gibson Guitar and he who are partnering to bring the world’s first guitar with robotic technology, the Gibson Robot Guitar, to life on Tuesday, December 4, 2007. Tech2 will be there to check it out for sure.

The music director will demonstrate and perform with the world’s 1st run limited edition version of the Gibson Les Paul Robot Guitar.

After checking out the performance, we learn that its a self tuning guitar, and doesn't really play itself. This, according to us is a brilliant piece of innovation, and seeing it pstrut its stuff was very impressive. After playing teh instrument for while, tunig it back is as simple as turning a knob and strumming the strings once or twice.

It has preset tunings, and quite a large variety of them, which trigger the mechanical tuning keys at the head of the guitar to turn around like little robots. Sound wise the guitar is awesome, no compromise there.

Across the Globe, the Gibson Robot Guitar goes on sale at 5pm on Friday, Dec. 7, 2007 with a very limited number of guitars at each of the participating dealers. The price is $2500 odd, and will be available in India in 2008, when Gibson comes down here and starts retailing.

Creative To Launch 32 GB Zen

We reported in October that there was a new Creative PMP out in the market simply named - The Creative Zen. The two models 4Gb and 8GB were priced at Rs. 9,999 and Rs. 13,999 respectively and are available in India.

According to a CNET report, this same player is apparently getting an upgrade to include a whopping 32GB of internal memory. The current version also has an SD/MMC card slot in case users wish to up the memory. The newer 32GB version will not be hard drive based but flash based and would, we’re presuming, be a little bigger. There’s no word yet on the release date or any price tag.

Stay Tuned for the Creative Zen review this week.

New Application Tracks Personal Carbon Footprint

Scientists at a European commission research centre have developed a mobile phone application that allows users to see how their daily choices impact climate change.

The technology, called mobGAS, can calculate daily emissions of three major greenhouse gases -- carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide -- caused by an individual, said the commission Friday.

Information about everyday activities such as cooking, transport, lighting and electronic appliances is put into the application to calculate emissions.

A user diary of daily, weekly and yearly emissions can be registered on a secure website, allowing a comparison with national and world averages.

The application also includes an animation reflecting the user's contribution to the Kyoto Protocol emission reduction targets.

The application is available in all 21 EU official languages and can be downloaded free of charge into mobile phones of individuals.

The commission, the executive body of the EU, hopes that the application can raise awareness of climate change among individuals.

Individual behaviour, such as how people travel, the appliances they use or the food they eat, can make a real difference to greenhouse gas emissions, the commission said.

The application will be showcased at the UN climate change conference in Bali, Indonesia, next week.

The EU is championing global efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions so that global warming will not become disastrous.

EU leaders have pledged to unilaterally reduce emissions by at least 20 percent below 1990 levels by 2020, and by 30 percent provided that other developed countries agreed to make similar efforts.

The EU is also actively engaged in efforts to launch global negotiations for climate change commitments after the Kyoto Protocol provisions expire in 2012.

BioShock DLC Next Week

The BioShock downloadable content we told you guys about a while back, will be hitting the Xbox 360 and PC next week. Apart from new plasmids, 1UP.com brings word that you’ll also get an option to turn off Vita-Chambers to make death a more permanent thing in Rapture. Issues like the widescreen problems amongst other bugs will be addressed with the patch too.

I’m surely going to dive into Rapture once again after the DLC hits the PC.
[Via 1UP.com]

AOL Uses Amazon for Video Sales

AOL on Friday scrapped its year-old pay-for-download service in favor of Web retailer Amazon.com Inc.'s technology for selling movies and TV shows online.

Financial terms of the deal were not available, but Amazon said it will share revenue with AOL.

"It's really about focus," said Fred McIntyre, senior vice president of AOL Video, which is owned by Time Warner Inc. "AOL, as a company, is in the process of shifting our focus for our primary business and everything we do towards an advertising business."

McIntyre would not say whether the pay-to-download video business met or missed the company's expectations.

AOL started selling video online last October, but on Friday, its site displayed a large banner promoting Amazon's Unbox service.

For Amazon, which launched the Unbox video downloading service in September 2006, the AOL deal is its second high-profile win in recent months. NBC Universal decided in September to sell episodes of its newest TV shows through Unbox, after failing to reach an agreement with Apple Inc. to offer them on iTunes.

Amazon launched Unbox in September 2006. It offers thousands of television shows, movies and other videos from more than 30 studios and networks. TV shows cost $1.99 per episode, and most movies cost $7.99 to $14.99.

AOL isn't the only Web player to cut the pay-for-download video model and focus instead on ad-supported video. In August, Google Inc. stopped selling and renting movies and TV shows, in favor of promoting YouTube, the viral video sharing site it bought last year.

Fable 2 in Late 2008

In an interview with Eurogamer, Lionhead Studios' Peter Molyneux said (indirectly) that you can expect Fable 2 in late 2008. In his words -

“Maybe when the leaves have a slight brownish tinge - but are still on the trees, if you see what I mean.”

Fable was a great mass-appeal RPG that was critically acclaimed. Let’s hope that Fable 2 lives up to and exceeds its predecessor in every way. I, for one, can’t wait to find out more details about the game, let alone get my hands on it at the end of next year. We’ll be waiting, Molyneux!

[Via 1UP.com]

Sony PS3 Outsells Nintendo Wii in Japan

Monthly sales of Sony's PlayStation 3 in Japan topped the Nintendo Wii for the first time since the gaming consoles debuted late last year, according to a November survey.

In the four weeks ending Nov. 25, Sony Corp. sold 183,217 PS3s in Japan, while Nintendo Co. sold 159,193 Wii consoles, market researcher Enterbrain reported Friday.

The improved sales of the PS3 follow price cuts in Japan and elsewhere. There have been no price cuts on the Wii, which go for $249.99 in North America, 249 euros ($370) in Europe and 25,000 yen ($230) in Japan.

Tokyo-based Sony slashed the price of the PS3 with a 20-gigabyte hard drive by about 10 percent to 44,980 yen ($409) from 49,980 yen ($454). Another model, with a 60-gigabyte drive, saw its price fall from 60,000 yen ($545) to 54,980 yen ($500).

Sony also introduced a 39,980 yen ($363) 40 GB model.

Sousuke Kamei, spokesman for Sony Computer Entertainment, declined comment on the Enterbrain data. But he said sales of the 40-gigabyte machines were brisk in Japan.

"Sales are gaining momentum as we head to the year-end, and the availability of more game software for the PS3 is also helping boost sales," he said.

Although the PS3's predecessor, the PlayStation 2, dominated the gaming market, the PS3 has struggled against the Wii.

The Wii has succeeded in drawing people not usually accustomed to playing electronic games by offering easier-to-play games that use a wandlike, motion-sensitive controller.

By October, Nintendo, based in Kyoto, had shipped 13.2 million units worldwide of the Wii. Nintendo, which also makes Pokemon and Super Mario games, is expecting to sell 17.5 million Wiis by March 31, the end of its fiscal year.

Sony sold 5.6 million PS3s worldwide as of the end of September.

The PS3 also has lagged behind the Xbox 360 console from U.S. software maker Microsoft Corp. Microsoft has sold 13.4 million Xbox 360 consoles over the last two years.

Askville.com Now Open to All

Open to a select number of users since its initial beta launch last December, Askville.com is now available to all Amazon.com's customers around the world.

Askville.com is a website where users can ask and answer questions, and discover answers to questions on everything from how to buy an HDTV to the best way to lose weight.

Askville.com users who share their knowledge by answering questions will receive Quest Gold, which, for a limited time and while supplies last, can be redeemed for $100 or $50 Amazon.com Gift Cards. The amount of Quest Gold a user earns is tied to how well they answer questions on Askville.com and what level of expertise they have reached in a particular topic (users earn experience points in specific topics when they answer questions and are promoted to higher levels within each topic as they continue to submit high-quality answers in those topics).

"Finding information or getting good advice is hard enough when you are searching the Internet by yourself," said Joseph Park, Director of Askville.com. "Askville.com allows you to ask a question to a community of users who are willing to help you find that information or give you advice from their own personal experiences, which makes the discoverability of information much more efficient. Plus, it is a lot more fun interacting with real people versus looking at a list of website links from a search engine." "Not everyone finds what they are looking for on the web," said Park. "We believe Askville.com can help users find information while also making it a fun experience by sharing your knowledge with other curious, like-minded people."

Users who are not Amazon customers and have a cell phone in the U.S. and Canada can still gain access to Askville.com by authenticating themselves via mobile phone.

Askville.com plans to launch another website called Questville.com where users will be able to use their Quest Gold for various activities and a chance to get other rewards.

ASUS Launches 2 PDAs in The Indian Market

Asus today unveiled its mobile communication product strategy for India. The formal initiative to enter the Indian market has been kick-started with the launch of two of its Windows Mobile 6 professional PDA phones for business professionals – The P526 and M530w. ASUS India has announced that India Digital Lifestyle Distributors Pvt Ltd (IDLDPL) will distribute PDA-phones to large format and mobile phone retailers across the country.

The company is also in talks with various mobile telecom service providers to bundle Asus PDA phones with their new subscribers. ASUS plans to initially target the top five metros - Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Kolkata, and Mumbai for the PDA phones. The company plans to establish a strong brand presence in these five metros followed by other cities and towns across India.

“We see a huge potential going forward in the PDA Phone market in India.”, said Mr. Benson Lin, General Manager, ASUS Asia Pacific region. “India can expect to see a whole range of premium Asus PDA phones being launched in the next few months,” he added.

The P526 is equipped with GPS capabilities and a host of messaging enhancements to allow users to experience Windows Live with improved stability and speed. It has a 2.6" TFT display that supports 65K colors and has a 240 x 320 pixel resolution. The media player supports MPEG4 (supporting 30 FPS QCIF video) MIDI/MP3/WMA/WAV/AAC/ AAC+/AMR and other music formats. The device is also has a 2 megapixel camera. The P526 is also equipped with 128 MB Flash and 64 MB SDRAM. It supports Micro-SD cards for external memory and supports USB v1.1/ Bluetooth 1.2.

Apart from these features the device also has some very Asus specific apps like Remote Presenter to allow users to control PowerPoint presentations stored on a notebook or PC via a Bluetooth connection, ASUS Meeting Planner and ASUS Secret function that encrypts and protects sensitive documents.

With the ASUS M530w smartphone the first thing you'll notice is the QWERTY keypad of course. The integrated 2 Mega Pixel Auto-Macro camera is equipped with a flash while the Windows Media Player application supports full screen movies and music broadcasts. It has a 2.4" TFT display with 65K colors and a 320 x 240 pixel resolution, built-in 256 MB of Flash memory and a 64 MB SDRAM and supports microSD cards for external memory. It supports Wi-Fi, Bluetooth v2.0, USB v1.1 and supports Push-Mail. The ASUS M530w also has business card reader application and it also supports 3G video calling. The funny thing is that this mobile runs on Windows Mobile 6.0 standard.



These phones are available in the market and priced at Rs. 16,990 and Rs. 20,900 respectively.

WD Introduces New My Book Products

Western Digital looking to extend the popularity of its NAS range of products, has introduced four new additions to its My Book range of products namely the My Book Home Edition, My Book Office Edition, My Book Essential Edition and My Book Studio Edition. These new products come in capacities ranging from 320 GB to 1 TB and depending on product offer a different set of features for various users. For example the My Book Home Edition offers easy automated backup features for home users where as the My Book Office Edition offers remote access and quota setting for use in a corporate environment.

The My book Studio Edition specifically comes with automatic and continuous backup software that works in the background and also allows users to back up important projects to multiple destinations such as file servers, portable drives and other My Book storage appliances. These drives come with a USB 2.0 Interface and Smartpower feature that can monitor and adjust the drive's status depending on if a PC is powered on or switched off.

Sharad Srivastava, Director Sales (India and South Asia), Western Digital said "With the new My Book family, we aim to deliver new meaningful features such as continuous backup and remote access while enhancing the qualities of elegance and simplicity that made this family of products so popular."

The new My Book product family is available through WD distributors - Champion Computers, Inspan infotech and Venktron Digital - at a price ranging from Rs 6,000 to Rs 34,000 depending on the model and capacity.

Facebook Revamps New Advertising System

Seeking to keep the peace in its popular online hangout, Facebook Inc. has overhauled a new advertising system that sparked privacy complaints by turning its users into marketing tools for other companies.

Under the changes outlined late Thursday, Facebook's 55 million users will be given greater control over whether they want to participate in a three-week-old program that circulates potentially sensitive information about their online purchases and other activities.

Facebook provided two different opportunities to block the details from being shared, but many users said they never saw the "opt-out" notices before they disappeared from the screen.

With the reforms, Facebook promised its users will now have to give their explicit consent, or "opt-in," before any information is passed along.

The concessions were made after more than 50,000 Facebook users signed an online petition blasting the system, called "Beacon," as a galling intrusion that put the Palo Alto-based startup's pursuit of profit ahead of its members' privacy interests.

More than 40 different Web sites, including Fandango.com, Overstock.com and Blockbuster.com, had embedded Beacon in their pages to track transactions made by Facebook users.

Unless instructed otherwise, the participating sites alerted Facebook, which then notified a user's friends within the social network about items that had been bought or products that had been reviewed.

Facebook thought the marketing feeds would help its users keep their friends better informed about their interests while also serving as "trusted referrals" that would help drive more sales to the sites using the Beacon system.

But thousands of Facebook users viewed the Beacon referrals as a betrayal of trust. Critics blasted the advertising tool as an unwelcome nuisance with flimsy privacy protections that had already exasperated and embarrassed some users.

Some users have already complained about inadvertently finding out about gifts bought for them for Christmas and Hanukkah after Beacon shared information from Overstock.com. Other users say they were unnerved when they discovered their friends had found out what movies they were watching through purchases made on Fandango.

If Facebook adheres to the new "opt-in" standard, "it would be a significant step in the right direction," said Adam Green, a spokesman for MoveOn.org, which launched the petition drive to revamp Beacon just nine days ago. "It also says a lot about the ability of Internet user to band together to make a difference."

The backlash against Beacon illustrated the delicate balancing act that Facebook must negotiate as the company tries to cash in on its popularity without alienating the users fueling its success.

Beacon is a key component in Facebook's "Social Ads" program, which is vying to make more money from the rapidly growing audience that uses the social network's free services as a place to flirt, gossip and share personal passions.

Privately held Facebook already is believed to generate more than $150 million in annual revenue after just three years in business, but it's under pressure to accelerate its growth.

Microsoft Corp. raised the stakes last month by paying $240 million for a 1.6 percent stake. The investment valued Facebook at $15 billion - an assessment that will require the company to become a lot more profitable in the next few years.

Skeptics have questioned Facebook's market value, given the company's brief existence and the inexperience of its 23-year-old chief executive, Mark Zuckerberg, who started the social network in 2004 while he was still a Harvard University student.

This isn't the first time that Facebook has done an about-face after introducing a feature that raised privacy concerns. Last year, Facebook rolled out a "news feeds" tool that tracked changes to users' profiles. After thousands of users rebelled, Zuckerberg issued a contrite apology and added a way to turn off the news feeds.

This time around, a customer support representative expressed Facebook's regrets in a Wednesday night note that foreshadowed the changes made Thursday.

"We're sorry if we spoiled some of your holiday gift-giving plans," Facebook's Paul Janzer wrote in a posting addressed to Beacon's critics. "We are really trying to provide you with new meaningful ways, like Beacon, to help you connect and share information with your friends." Janzer also acknowledged Beacon "can be kind of confusing."

Zuckerberg, whose stake in Facebook is worth $3 billion, thought Beacon's referral system would be seen as friendly product endorsements that generated more sales than traditional advertising. He hailed the distribution of peer recommendations as advertising's "holy grail" when Beacon was introduced earlier this month.

But Beacon may lose some of its luster with the tougher privacy controls. That's because fewer people typically participate in services with opt-in provisions.

Motorola Takes PowerBroadband to Marriott Hotels

Motorola and Marriott International are teaming up to bring enhanced business and entertainment services to Marriott's hotel guests around the world, using Motorola's PowerBroadband system.

Motorola's mT2a PowerBroadband product line was selected because its innovative design provides the performance levels required for next-generation, triple- and quad-play IP services.

The mT2a PowerBroadband system features the m2 Wallplate, which directly snaps on over existing telephone wall plates found in hotel guestrooms, with no additional wiring nor rewiring required. All power and broadband modules are contained within the small Wallplate eliminating the requirement for separate broadband modems and power supplies.

"We are excited about the success we saw with the deployment of Motorola's mT2a system into two of the largest Marriott branded hotels in the Washington, D.C. area and the 2000-room Orlando World Center," stated Lou Paladeau, Vice President Operations Technology at Marriott. "While the primary application supported today is high-speed Internet access, the new broadband infrastructure will enable additional guest services such as IP TV, movie and video downloads voice-over-IP, wireless access and dual-mode cell phones. We will be working closely with Motorola to define some of these new services to create a seamless and enhanced traveling experience for both the business traveler and the guest who is on vacation."

"Motorola's mT2a system has proven its value across multiple deployments ranging from hotels and hospitals to residential apartments," said Greg Ioffe, General Manager, Private Broadband Networks, Motorola Home and Networks Mobility business. "We are especially glad to be working closely with Marriott which has been named the most preferred hotel by business travelers in a survey by Trip Advisor and one of the top ten most innovative users of technology in the U.S. by InformationWeek magazine. With Marriott's focus on guest satisfaction and Motorola's broad array of innovative data, video, and wireless solutions, we look forward to a wide range of new innovative guest services being deployed across all Marriott-branded hotels."

Faster iPhone on Its Way: AT&T

AT&T Inc. says it plans to offer a version of an iPhone next year that runs on a faster wireless network so users can get speedier results when surfing the Web.

The move would address one of the main drawbacks about the smart phone made by Apple Inc. and distributed exclusively by wireless carrier AT&T in the United States.

AT&T Chief Executive Officer Randall Stephenson spilled the news during his appearance at an event late Wednesday at the Churchill Club in Santa Clara.

A spokeswoman for Apple declined to comment Thursday.

Stephenson said he didn't know how much more the new version will cost than the existing model, which sells for $399.

Many industry observers had expected Apple to make the iPhone work on faster 3G networks at some point but couldn't pinpoint when. The current model - Apple's first foray in the cell phone market - runs on 2.5G networks, or in AT&T's case, its relatively slow EDGE network.

The difference in performance is similar to a dial-up Internet connection versus a high-speed broadband connection.

New Software Detects Web Interference

Increasingly worried over Internet providers' behavior, a nonprofit has released software that helps determine whether online glitches are innocent hiccups or evidence of deliberate traffic tampering.

The San Francisco-based digital rights group Electronic Frontier Foundation hopes the program, released Wednesday, will help uncover "data discrimination" - efforts by Internet providers to disrupt some uses of their services - in addition to the cases reported separately by EFF, The Associated Press and other sources.

"People have all sorts of problems, and they don't know whether to attribute that to some sort of misconfiguration, or deliberate behavior by the ISP," said Seth Schoen, a staff technologist with EFF.

The new software compares lists of data packets sent and received by two different computers and looks for discrepancies between what one sent and the other actually received. Previously, the process had to be done manually.

Schoen compared the software to a spelling checker.

"If you really had no idea what you were looking for, this could save dozens of hours," he said.

Increasingly people are contacting the EFF worried that their online activity has been disrupted by their Internet service provider, he said. The goal of the EFF's program is to "help consumers get more clarity about what the ISPs are doing."

An Associated Press investigation, published last month, confirmed in nationwide tests that Comcast Corp., the No. 2 U.S. Internet provider, interfered with attempts by some subscribers to it's high-speed service to share files online. EFF, which had been running its own tests, later said its findings were consistent with the AP's results.

The tests revealed that a PC would see messages from Comcast that were invisible to the user that told it to stop communicating, which would lead it to cancel a download or upload.

The AP's tests helped revive the debate over so-called "'Net Neutrality," how to treat all types of Internet traffic equally.

Comcast says it does not block access to any applications but does use sophisticated technologies to keep Internet connections running smoothly.

Some online activities, like peer-to-peer file-sharing, swallow massive amounts of bandwidth and can slow Internet connections for other subscribers.

Testers See Windows XP Passing Vista

Microsoft Corp.'s Windows XP operating system is about to get faster and Windows Vista isn't, according to a report that caused a stir online this week as industry watchers speculated that a zippier XP could keep customers from upgrading to Vista.

Microsoft, however, said it's too early to evaluate the two service packs it plans to release next year.

Early versions are already in the hands of testers like Devil Mountain Software Inc., which helps big financial services companies track trading-floor computer performance.

Wellington, Fla.-based Devil Mountain Software ran several versions of XP and Vista through a test simulating common desktop computing tasks. It found the original Vista performed 50 percent to 100 percent slower than the prevalent XP Service Pack 2, or SP2.

Vista SP1, due out in the first quarter of 2008, barely improved the operating system's performance.

But XP SP3, scheduled for the first half of 2008, did improve on XP's earlier performance, running 10 percent faster than SP2.

That's a strike against Vista for IT professionals on the fence about switching, according to Craig Barth, the company's chief technology officer.

Kevin Kutz, director of Microsoft's Windows Client group, said the company is working on speeding up tasks like moving files between PCs, but it's a work in progress.

Michael Cherry, an analyst for research group Directions on Microsoft, said it's impossible to say if Microsoft has started tuning Vista SP1 for speed. Even if XP gets faster, consumers and businesses may still switch to Vista.

''It might be an acceptable thing to me if it were slightly slower but more stable,'' Cherry said.

Benjamin Gray, an analyst for Forrester Research, said businesses will upgrade to Vista regardless, to ''stay current with Microsoft's support life cycle.''

Modelabs Helps Tag Heuer Go Mobile

Renowned Swiss watchmaker Tag Heuer has joined forces with Modelabs to start producing a range of mobile handsets.

The latest trend, so it would seem, is either for two completely different companies, from two completely different fields, to get together and develop a product that would of course make everyone in the world look at one another and go – Wha…? Wow! The ‘in’ name these days is French design house Modelabs. As you may recall, they helped design the HT1 Hummer cell phone. Recently they launched the Levi’s mobile handset in Hong Kong. They also are the makers of a few concept mobile handsets.

We are, of course, totally in the dark as to what kind of mobile phone handset a watch company would bring to the table. Then again, there was the Levi’s handset. But if it’s anything like their watches, I’m sure it’ll be stylish, tasteful and yes, probably very expensive. But who knows. The first Tag Heuer phone should be out sometime in the second half of next year. Stay Tuned.

Let’s see who and of course what, the guys at Modelabs will team up with and bring us next.

Via Pocket-lint.

Sony Introduces Wall-Mountable Vaio Laptop

Sony has added to their VAIO notebook lineup with the release of the VAIO LM notebook. The VAIO LM features a panel PC design that is reminiscent of Sony’s BRAVIA LCD TV’s with its 19-inch screen framed by a transparent bezel. For integration, the VAIO LM can be wall-mounted and features wireless keyboard, mouse and remote control.

This product is aimed at at those who want the functionality of a PC in their living area. In this respect the VAIO LM is designed as an entertainment hub that doubles as a TV, with inbuilt TV tuner, built-in 1.3 mega pixel camera with face-tracking software, 2.1-channel speaker system and sub-woofer. It features an Intel Core2 Duo Processor T7250 (2.00GHz), 2GB DDR2 SDRAM, 250GB HDD, Windows Vista Home Premium, and NVIDIA graphics card.

The product also comes the latest VAIO Music Box software, VAIO LM users can define default channel capacity for music in advance, so that the system is able to automatically select signal descriptors for sound classification into 24 channels. The VAIO LM new Movie Story software allows users to create and edit their own video.

The VAIO VGC-LM18 is available across Sony stores for Rs. 109,900.

Sony Plans Online Game Studio in India

Seeing a huge potential market in young people in India, Sony Online Entertainment LLC plans to develop online games here with local content and a local partner.

The company is talking to developers and aims to set up the studio early next year, likely in the city of Bangalore, David Christensen, the company's business development and international operations vice president, said Wednesday.

"We need to have Indian content for our games and we are looking for local partners," Christensen said on the sidelines of a gaming conference in Mumbai, India's finance and entertainment hub.

"We will contribute our technology to the joint venture," he said. The local partner would be expected to provide the creative talent for the games and chip in toward setting up the studio.

Sony recently teamed with Virgin Comics, a Bangalore-based collaboration of self-help guru Deepak Chopra, filmmaker Shekhar Kapur and Sir Richard Branson of Virgin Group Ltd. With Sony, Virgin Comics is developing a multiplayer online game based on "Ramayan 3329," a comic book written by Chopra and Kapur and inspired by a famous Indian epic about a battle against demons.

Online gaming is just catching on in India with about 2.8 million devotees. Developers expect the market to explode as broadband penetration grows. Analyst firm Pearl Research expects the country's online game market to reach $200 million by 2010, up from $4 million now.

The Ramayan comic was released in the United States last year, and Virgin is in talks on a movie version.

"If the game is successful in India, we will take it to Europe and North America," said Christensen. "It is a fresh international story and if it is created into a movie it could be a big global property."

Virgin's president, Suresh Seetharamanin, said the company was in the process of adding to the creative team that would work on the game with Sony.

"It is one of the most exciting things to happen in India with Sony being one of the biggest players in the online game world," he said.

Hungama Mobile Goes Hollywood

Hungama Mobile, has signed an agreement with Paramount Digital Entertainment, a part of Paramount Pictures Corporation, a unit of Viacom, Inc., to localize and distribute Paramount branded mobile and interactive content for the Indian market. With this crucial relationship, an Indian Mobile VAS player will now localize and provide exclusive content directly from Paramount Pictures.

The agreement makes Paramount's wireless and interactive content available to more than 200 million Indian subscribers. The primary intent of the agreement between Paramount Pictures, a global producer and distributor of filmed entertainment and Hungama Mobile, is to combine the strengths and experiences of each company to deliver advanced technology-based, interactive and entertaining mobile content. Services include themed logos, polyphonic ring-tones, animated wallpaper screens, mobile games, video clips, and applications, among others to be based upon Paramount's catalogue. The two companies will work together to execute synergy promotions in the new media space for previous catalog titles as well as upcoming Paramount releases.

"This is the first time that Hollywood content of such diversity, quality and size will be made available to the Indian consumers." said Pradeep Mittur, Paramount Digital Entertainment Vice President, Interactive and Mobile Entertainment, Asia Pacific.

Hungama Mobile will localize and distribute a wide range of mobile and internet based entertainment for a select mix of Paramount's library and upcoming titles.

Defense Ministry Watches Orkut Closely

The defense ministry has taken steps to ensure that military secrets are not leaked through the social networking site, Orkut, though no violations have been reported so far, parliament was informed Wednesday.

"Defense personnel are periodically sensitized to nuances of military security and the implication of sharing classified information with strangers on social networks. They are also aware of the implications of such sharing under the Official Secrets Act," Defense Minister A.K. Antony said in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha.

"No report pertaining to sharing of classified defense information on social networking sites involving defense service personnel has come to the notice of the government," he added.

According to the minister, directions have also been issued to "take stern action against defaulters" using the Internet at large for passing on defense secrets.

Antony also detailed the steps being taken to ensure that foreign intelligence agencies did not gain access to India's military secrets through the Internet.

These included sensitization of defense and civilian personnel at all levels, with special attention paid to new entrants at training institutes; regular policy guidelines being issued for compliance; and checks/audits undertaken by in-house teams to locate any breach, the minister stated.

Google and iPhone, a Perfect Sync

Google has been a busy little bee, what with the new Google Phone news and the development of the Android platform for mobile phones. Another application that’s made the news is GooSync. This service allows you to synchronize your Google calendar with the calendar application on your mobile phone.

What’s making the news is not the application of course but the fact that it is now fully usable for the ‘iPhoners’. The GooSync system is now fully functional with the iPhone so in case you’ve made entries into Google's online calendar software, you can have all of that safely on your iPhone simply by syncing it through the GooSync website and all entries will show up on the iPhone’s calendar application.

Other Google applications that are also compatible with the iPhone besides the Google calendar, include Gmail for mobiles and Google Reader.

Via Intomobile.

Magnum PI Goes Java

For all you '80s TV serial fans out there, you might remember the hit TV show called Magnum P.I. that starred Tom Selleck as Thomas Magnum, an ex navy Seal who fights crime in Hawaii in his brilliant Ferrari 308. In case you’re going ‘Who the heck is that?’, it would be Monica’s (from Friends) huge bearded, older boyfriend Richard. The reason we’re talking abut it is Ojom games has recently launched the Magnum P.I. mobile game.

In his traditional flashy and floral Hawaiian shirts, mobile gamers can now assume the identity of Thomas Magnum, Private Investigator and go around the famous islands solving crime and snatching up the bad guys. There is also assistance offered from the other characters from the show. It’s a strictly 2D java based game, but looks like fun nevertheless.

Via Intomobile.

GTA IV Final Box Art Revealed

After months of silence Rockstar has finally thrown a minor GTA IV update our way in the form of the final box pack. In addition to this they’ve even announced a brand new sparkling trailer called "Move up, ladies." that’s all set to hit the net (and crash it eventually) on the 6th of December 2007.

Must… not get influenced… by the GTA 4 hype once again...!!

Cell Phone College Class Opens in Japan

Japanese already use cell phones to shop, read novels, exchange e-mail, search for restaurants and take video clips. Now, they can take a university course.

Cyber University, the nation's only university to offer all classes only on the Internet, began offering a class on mobile phones Wednesday on the mysteries of the pyramids.

For classes for personal computers, the lecture downloads play on the monitor as text and images in the middle, and a smaller video of the lecturer shows in the corner, complete with sound.

The cell phone version, which pops up as streaming video on the handset's tiny screen, plays just the Power Point images.

In a demonstration Wednesday at a Tokyo hotel, an image of the pyramids popped up on the screen and changed to a text image as a professor's voice played from the handset speakers.

Cyber University, which opened in April with government approval to give bachelor's degrees, has 1,850 students.

The virtual campus is 71 percent owned by Softbank Corp., a major Japanese mobile carrier, which also has broadband operations and offers online gaming, shopping and electronic stock trading services.

The cell phone lectures may be expanded to other courses but for now will be for the pyramids course, according to Cyber University, which offers about 100 courses, including ancient Chinese culture, online journalism and English literature.

Unlike the other classes, the one on cell phones will be available to the public for free, although viewers must pay phone fees.

The catch is the lectures can only be seen on some Softbank phones. The service may be expanded to other carriers, officials said.

Sakuji Yoshimura, who heads Cyber University and gives the pyramids course, said the university provides educational opportunities for people who find it hard to attend real-life universities, including those with jobs and those who are sick or have disabilities.

''Our duty as educators is to respond to the needs of people who want to learn,'' Yoshimura said.

He scoffed at those who question the value of Internet and cell-phone classes, noting attendance is relatively high at 86 percent. Whether students play the lecture downloads to the end can be monitored by the university digitally, officials said.

Although real-time exchange with professors and other students isn't possible in Net classes, social networking and other cyber-discussions are flourishing, said Hiroshi Kawahara, professor in the Faculty of Information Technology and Business.

HP Launches Pavilion Elite m9000 Desktops

HP has unveiled its latest high-end desktop series for the Indian market, HP Pavilion Elite m9000. This new range comes with an eye-catching high-gloss finish and has a full range of matching peripherals i.e. a matching mouse and a wireless keyboard that is dockable beneath the monitor. In terms of design the desktop is accentuated by the signature HP Zen Imprint detailing.

The m9000 series offers a range of powerful processors and add-ons. The machines are built with Intel Core 2 Quad processors, Windows Vista Premium and NVIDIA GeForce 8 series graphics cards. It also comes with a Format Blue Laser Combo Drive - one single drive which can read both Blu Ray and HD-DVD formats. These new machines are also the first Terabyte Home PC in the country with an internal 1TB of HDD space.

“HP is redefining home entertainment with our new power-packed HP Pavilion Elite m9000 series that introduces several firsts, including the first ever high-definition Terabyte PC with one touch back-up. This further consolidates HP’s leadership position in lifestyle computing, to facilitate a paradigm shift in digital entertainment habits of home users. The Indian PC market has witnessed a series of innovations by HP that set the trend for the market, and this will set yet another benchmark for the industry,” said Rajiev Grover, Director – Consumer Products, Personal Systems Group, HP India.

The price for these models, start at Rs. 38,000 and top out at over Rs. 75, 000 for the highest-end versions.

Google To Enter Hosted-Services Market

The rumors about Google's entry into the hosted-services market have been circulating for sometime now. However these rumors may soon become reality, as it has just been reported that Google is all set to unveil a whole slew of services on this front.

This news which has been broken by WSJ is expected to be ready by very early next year and will reportedly include a limited amount of free space with extra space available on payment basis. Over the last year, online storage services are increasingly becoming popular as user-driven content rises and these services make it possible for a user to easily access their content from any browser and a net connection.

However despite this announcement, the fact remains Google is entering the market late. Direct rivals like Microsoft, Amazon and majors like EMC Corp. have already unveiled their own version of these services. Will Google be able to succeed against their altogether larger rivals... only time will tell.

Genius Launches Digital Photo Keychain

Taiwan based Genius has launched the DPF-101K,a Digital photo keychain with photo album. The digital photo keychain is equipped with a 1.0 -inch color screen, and can hold a selection of 80 images with built-in flash memory. Extras include a real-time clock and calendar display. The package includes CD-ROM including photo compression software and a multi-language manual.

Sandeep Ramani, Country Manager, KYE Systems (India) Corp., said, "This is a perfect sentimental gift for your beloved ones. You can even preload precious photo moments on Pocket Album for different entertainment occasions." He also adds, "This pocketable digital keychain photo viewer is the answer to a wallet stuffed full of photos. "

The price of the Genius DPF-101K is Rs. 1399 and is now available with Transtek, Ingram Micro and Redington , the authorized distributors for Genius in India.

Hitachi Announces 320 GB 2.5" HDD

Hitachi has announced that it has started to develop the MHZ2 series of 2.5" laptop HDDs, which will raise the capacity of these drives to 320 GB. They will be able to deliver transfer speeds of up to 300 MB per second as they operate on the SATA 2 interface and operate using the perpendicular method of storage. This new series of drives are designed for use in compact desktop PCs, notebook PCs, and consumer electronics products, such as HDD recorders. Furthermore these drives will have among the lowest levels of power consumption, operating at only 1.9 watts when reading or writing data. Sales of the new series will begin in February 2008.

As laptops are now outselling desktops, they require more capacity and faster drives. As modern day OSs like Windows Vista require nearly 9 GB and the size of digital content grows, the current-day 160 GB just doesn’t cut it anymore.

Dell Launches 15-inch XPS Laptop

Dell seeking to extend the resurgent popularity of its revamped XPS line has introduced a 15.4-inch version of its XPS M1330 laptop. The new laptop which weighs in less than six pounds and featuring a 1-inch profile includes a high definition widescreen 15.4-inch display, slot-load optical drive, DirectX 10 capable graphics, touch sensitive media buttons, and HDMI support. Customers can also personalize their systems with a choice of three colors: standard Tuxedo Black, and optional Crimson Red and Alpine White.

The laptop also comes with an optional Blu-ray drive, noise cancellation earbuds and a travel remote that stores away in the ExpressCard card slot. The laptop also features standard Wi-Fi wireless networking, and optional Bluetooth wireless and mobile broadband with a choice of wireless carriers.

"The enthusiastic reception of the XPS M1330 demonstrates that Dell’s focus on design and performance resonates with customers seeking a premium notebook experience," said Alex Gruzen, Dell’s senior vice president, consumer product group. "We’re building on that success by broadening the product line, and the XPS M1530 will bring the XPS experience to the most popular 15.4-inch widescreen market segment."

The price for this laptop starts at USD$ 999 and is available immediately.

A Talking Library For The Blind

Farook College near Kozhikode, Kerala, has installed a Digital Talking Book Library at their library for the benefit of visually challenged students and aptly named it 'Insight'.

'Insight' helps 32 blind students at the college to delve into the vast world of books without the help of Braille. The library has four computers to help such students.

The facility consists of a few computers, a scanner and a set of speakers and also headphones. Through voice prompts it also helps the user operate the computer.

"Visually challenged students find it very useful. They spend hours at these machines reading books and periodicals," said M. Ayub, the librarian.

"Its operation is simple. You have to just scan the pages you want to read. The computer will convert it into sound bytes. The students have learned to operate the system and they are doing it without help from others," he added.

"We are using the software Jaws and Kurzweil to operate these systems," says Habeeb C., a guest lecturer and a former student of the college, as he operates the system with astonishing ease. He is visually challenged.

He has played a key role in encouraging the authorities to install the facility. A brilliant student and a winner of scholarship from the Foundation for Academic Excellence and Access (FAEA), Habeeb had been familiar with this system from his student days.

The talking library has also come in for praise from a UGC review committee team, which recently visited the college.

"They said they haven't come across such a facility in any other arts and science college in the country," said the librarian.

The college is also planning to provide more help to the visually challenged.

"We are planning to bring out compact discs of lectures and to install a printer which can print scanned materials in Braille. The printer is costly and it has to be imported," adds Ayub.

Farook College, affiliated to Calicut University, is run by the Rousathul Uloom Association.

Google Expands Into Alternative Energy

Google Inc. is expanding into alternative energy in its most ambitious effort yet to ease the environmental strain caused by the company's voracious appetite for power to run its massive computing centers.

As part of a project announced Tuesday, the Internet search leader and its philanthropic arm will pour hundreds of millions of dollars into a quest to lower the cost of producing electricity from renewable energy sources such as wind and the sun.

If Google realizes its goal, the cost of solar power should fall by 25 to 50 percent, co-founder Larry Page said in an interview.

The Mountain View-based company initially hopes to harvest cleaner-burning electricity to meet its own needs and sell power to other users or license the technology that emerges from its initiative, dubbed "Renewable Energy Cheaper Than Coal."

"If we achieve these goals, we are going to be in the (electricity) business in a very big way," Page said. "We should be able to make a lot of money from this."

Google joins a long list of other prominent companies striving to become more environmentally friendly amid mounting concern that pollution from coal, oil and other so-called "dirty" power generation is causing potentially catastrophic climate change.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world's largest retailer, made a major commitment to renewable energy two years ago. And technology leaders like Cisco Systems Inc., Microsoft Corp., IBM Corp. and Intel Corp. are trying to become more energy efficient.

Google's initiative will likely stand out because of its financial muscle and its renowned brand, said Nicholas Parker, chairman of the Cleantech Network, a group that tracks investments in alternative energy.

"This is like a shot across the bow," Parker said. "It shows there are people willing to put their oars in the water to get the job done."

Google ended September with $13 billion in cash - a stockpile that's expected to grow as the company continues to mine growing profits from its search engine, which has become the hub of the Internet's most powerful advertising network.

The notion of an Internet company diversifying into the alternative-energy business isn't as incongruous as it might seem.

Google Chairman Eric Schmidt has often cited the company's ever-expanding power needs as one of his biggest worries, and Page and co-founder Sergey Brin have long been interested in electric cars and other inventions related to alternative energy.

Google's headquarters already draws some of its power from one of the country's biggest solar power installations.

What's more, Al Gore, who won a Nobel Prize for his efforts to educate people about the perils of global warming, has been a Google adviser for several years. Page said the former vice president influenced Google's decision to accelerate its investment in renewable energy.

Just how much electricity Google requires to power the hundreds of thousands of computers that run its search engine and other online services is a closely guarded secret.

But there's little doubt Google's power demands will escalate as the company introduces more free products and services that will require even greater computing capacity.

Next year, for example, the company reportedly will unveil a service that will allow users to store a wide range of their personal files on Google computers. Page declined to comment on the report in The Wall Street Journal, which cited unnamed people familiar with the matter.

"As Google grows, we don't want the business to become part of the problem. We want to be part of the solution," said Larry Brilliant, executive director of Google's philanthropic arm, Google.org.

Toward that end, Google aims to produce one gigawatt of power from renewable energy at prices below the rates of electricity generated at coal-burning plants. One gigawatt power would be enough to supply the needs of a city the size of San Francisco.

Page predicted the goal could be reached in a matter of "years, not decades."

The push into the energy industry serves as another reminder of Google's belief that it can harness technology to make the world a better place.

"We do like to take advantage of our noted ... position to motivate the world and do things that are good," Brin said during a Tuesday conference call with reporters.

Google intends to spend at least $20 million next year to finance renewable energy research and hire more experts in the field. At least 20 to 30 new employees will participate in the project next year, Page said, though he hopes the number will be larger than that.

Google.org will invest "hundreds of millions" in companies specializing in renewable energy, Page said. The philanthropic arm, which sits under the umbrella of the Google Foundation, will draw upon its holdings of nearly $2 billion worth Google's stock, which gained $7.57 Tuesday to close at $673.57.

Google.org already is working with two outside companies: Pasadena-based eSolar Inc., which specializes in solar thermal power and Alameda-based Makani Power Inc., which specializes in wind power.

PAiN Hitting PSN This Thursday

The PlayStation 3 exclusive title PAiN is all set to release this Thursday on the PlayStation Network for $9.99 (Rs 397). In case you haven’t seen this game in action yet, think of all the sadistic mini games from Flatout and then add in some mimes, monkeys, old ladies, horses and cows and you’ll begin to understand what this awesome party game is all about.

Samsung Launches CDMA Phone, MAX

Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., has launched its first open market phone - Samsung MAX in the CDMA segment.

The slider is launched through the company's own distribution network and aiming at the growing CDMA market, will be available to both Tata Indicom and Reliance Mobile subscribers.

Hyundai Kim, Vice President and Head - CDMA Division, Samsung Telecommunications India Pvt. Ltd., said, "We expect to fuel the growth of the Indian CDMA industry through the launch Samsung Max in the open market. Fully feature loaded Samsung Max is launched to serve the Multimedia needs of the CDMA consumer. The availability of CDMA phones in the open market will provide Indian consumers freedom to choose network operator's of their choice".

Samsung maintains that the Samsung Max is a complete multimedia phone localized to suit Indian needs.

The phone sports a 1.9-inch 262k TFT screen and a 1.3 MP camera. It has Bluetooth, R-UIM card support, expandable memory, an integrated FM radio, voice recorder and an MP3 player. Other features include Indian Calendar, Panchang, Mobile Prayer, Cricket Scorer, Hinglish SMS, Mobile Tracker and SOS alert.

The phone also has some additional security features like call lock which restricts others from receiving or making calls from the handset.

Dinesh Sharma, Marketing Head - CDMA Division, Samsung Telecommunications India Pvt. Ltd., said "Samsung aims to roll out Max through open market distribution in a phase wise manner.

Currently, the MAX will be available only in Delhi and Mumbai for Rs. 7,500, but by December 2007 it will be available in several other large cities.

LG Releases New Monitors

LG Electronics India has announced the launch of its new range of LCD monitors, mostly available in 19" wide sizes. Bridging the gap or further creating confusion, whatever you may call it, but these LG products can be used both as TVs or PC monitors, readily.

LG LCD monitors offer a Digital Fine Contrast (DFC) ratio of 5000:1 and response time of 5 ms backed with LG's proprietary f-engine, an embedded picture correction technology. LG LCD TV Monitors come with integrated PAL tuner for TV viewing. These monitors double up as a Desktop TV, without connecting to a computer. When connected to a PC, the consumer can use it for computing applications as a standard LCD Monitor.
The L194WS is a 19" wide model with f-engine and DFC. It is equipped with features like RGB and Intelligent Auto (Auto Resolution) and has a resolution of 1440x900 pixels and 300 nits brightness. The LCD monitor offers contrast ratio of 5000:1 (DFC). It has a viewing angle of 170/170 and 5 ms response time. The L194WS is available in the consumer market for Rs. 12,700.

The L194WT is a 19" wide model with ARC. It is equipped with features like f-Engine, DFC and HDCP Ready and also has a resolution of 1440x900 pixels and 300 nits brightness. It too offers contrast ratio of 5000:1 (DFC), a viewing angle of 170/170 and 5 ms response time. The L194WS is available in the for Rs. 13,700.

The 19" M1921A has a 4:3 aspect ratio and is equipped with features like f-Engine and integrated PAL TV Tuner. The M1921A is available for Rs. 18,900.

The M198WA is a 19" wide screen with 16:10 aspect ratio. This TV Monitor, besides functioning as a Desktop Monitor, can double up as TV ready for desktop viewing. With the integrated PAL Tuner, this TV Monitor can function as a TV without connecting to the computer and is available for Rs. 18,200.

The 20" wide screen M208WA sports a 16:10 aspect ratio and a DFC ratio of 3000:1. This too can function as a Desktop TV without connecting to a computer. This M198WA is available for Rs. 19,700.

Zapak to Host Gaming Summit Tomorrow

Just after the first big expo (PlayStation Experience) in these parts, India's first Gaming Summit will be held tomorrow (which is 28th November, for those who don’t have a calendar), organized by Zapak Digital Entertainment Ltd. and The Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI). The summit will have leading personalities from different fields, including gaming, media and advertising.

The event will be held at Taj Land's End in Mumbai and will be attended by key industry personnel such as David Christensen of Sony Online Entertainment (USA), Desmond Lu Guanghang of Shanda Entertainment (a leading gaming company in China) and Mohit Anand of Microsoft India.

You’re probably wondering why the event’s being held. I’ll let Rohit Sharma, COO of Zapak Digital Entertainment Ltd., answer that:

"India is today getting recognized as a potential market for gaming. We are happy to recognize the need for a separate identity for the industry and bring together leading influential personalities on a common platform. Till date gaming has been seen from limited perspectives. Our endeavor is to create a platform that views this industry more holistically. We are confident that our association with IAMAI and Intel will enhance and highlight the importance of this Summit and add credibility to our efforts."

It’s good to see gaming being recognized as a popular core entertainment medium in India as well. The fact that Shanda Entertainment’s representative’s going to be there suggests that there’ll probably be a lot of talk (and announcements too, may be) about the online gaming scene. Quite frankly, online gaming is one area that can really be capitalized on at this point in the Indian gaming market, so let’s hope that something good comes out of this summit in that respect. We’ll keep you posted with the event’s details once it’s over.