Get Samsung's YP-P2 PMP on Amazon.com

For those of you who have been eagerly anticipating the arrival of Samsung’s YP-P2 PMP, here’s some good news – it’s now available on Amazon.com.

Just to reiterate some of the specs, the P2 supports Bluetooth with A2DP compatibility, has a 3-inch touchscreen, FM radio, text viewer, and also supports MP3, WMA, subscription music, MPEG4, WMV, and JPG formats. It’s available in 8Gb capacity.

However, Amazon doesn’t seem to have it in stock yet, so it’s on pre-order. However, there's a distinct possibility that if you do order it, by the time you get it the device could be out in a shop near you. You might want to ponder on that.

The YP-P2 is priced at Rs. 10,120 ($249.99).

Apple Cuts Cost of iPod Nano Parts

Apple's new iPod Nano portable music and video player boasts lower component costs than the previous version, market research firm iSuppli said on Wednesday.

The bill of materials for the iPod Nano was $58.85 for the version with 4 gigabytes of flash memory and $82.85 for the model with 8 gigabytes of memory, iSuppli said.

The two models retail for $149 and $199, but the report only measured the cost of the Nano's parts and did not include other costs such as manufacturing, packaging or research and development, iSuppli said.

Total component costs for the 4-gigabyte Nano were nearly 19 percent lower than the previous version released in late 2006, iSuppli said.

The new devices, which went on sale earlier this month as part of a pre-holiday overhaul of the iPod line, also featured parts from several new suppliers, most notably U.S. memory chip maker Micron Technology Inc.

Other new suppliers included Intersil Corp and Synaptics Inc, while components from NXP Semiconductors and Cypress Semiconductor Corp were dropped, iSuppli said.

"Such wholesale supplier swaps are not unusual for Apple, which frequently switches its component partners. With Apple, it seems, no supplier is safe, and no slot is a given," iSuppli said.

Apple continued to use an audio and video processor from South Korea's Samsung Electronics Co Ltd, iSuppli said.

iSuppli said it expected Apple to sell 23 million Nanos this year and nearly 28 million in 2008.

Soothing Sleep on a Musical Mattress

Ever imagined sleeping on a mattress with speakers enclosed in your pillow? Here is a product called 'Musical Mattress' from a company called Umax that allows you to do just that.

The Musical Mattress is currently in the research and development stage, and the company is studying how receptive the Indian market is in accepting a product like this.

The Musical Mattress can be connected to a computer, television or music system. It even has a remote, and the speakers have an output of 20W RMS. It is also compact enough to be folded and kept in your car.

"The musical mattress is very comfortable as you can watch video and listen to music as you lie down," said a sales executive at a store in Mumbai where the product is being tested.

Sources at Neoteric, the authorized dealer of Umax products in India, have confirmed that this will be a lifestyle product. However, the company refused to disclose the price; it seems to be unsure when the product will be released in the market.

Victor Soto Designs iRing Concept For iPods

Victor Soto, artist extraordinaire, has designed a concept he calls the iRing. Yet another Apple iPod fan, it would seem.

The Concept itself looks like an extremely cool gadget slash working fashion accessory. Aside from being that, it’s an idea that makes your iPod function very easily, literally at your fingertips.

The iRing Concept is a Bluetooth device meant for the iPod or iPhone, and seems to be primarily designed for music control for both devices. It has an OLED display with touch-sensitive keys and a key lock feature.

The Concept can control volume and has Play, Pause and skip functions as well. It comes with its very own specially designed charger.

As of now the Concept is still in the initial stages but it seems like an awesome idea with a very cool appeal. Apple lovers keep your fingers crossed.

Transcend Launches Digital Photo Frame

Transcend, a company that's noted for manufacturing Flash memory products such as portable drives and memory cards, has just added a digital photo frame to their repertoire.

The T.photo 710 digital photo frame has an inbuilt memory of 1GB. It has a 7 inch TFT flat panel display with a resolution of 480 x 234 pixels.

The T.photo comes equipped to read various memory cards - SD cards (SDHC/SD), MMC cards, MS cards, and CF cards. It also supports music playback (MP3) and digital camera formats (JPG, BMP, motion JPG) that can be viewed as a slideshow.

The frame has an image rotation feature for landscape and portrait shots. It can be hooked up to a PC via USB for image and music file transfer. It even has a calendar and digital clock, and comes with a fully functional remote control.

The T.photo 710 will retail for a suggested Rs. 4,787 (US$119) pretax, according to the company.

Indonesians Tune in to Digital Koran

With her tiny earphones and slim digital player, Jakarta office worker Mira Indriarti looks like any other young music lover – only she's not listening to the latest tunes, but to a recording of the Koran.

Digital Koran is increasingly popular in Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim country, where such gadgets sell especially well during the fasting month of Ramadan when religious fervor is high and reading the scripture is an essential part of the observance.

Indriarti said she bought the gadget because she wanted to study the Koran to be a better Muslim.

"I can listen to the recital or read the verses and the translation anywhere," she said. "It's uncomfortable if I read a Koran book on the bus and people around may look at me in amazement."

The device, the size of an iPod digital player, carries the entire text of the Koran, in Arabic with an Indonesian translation, and its audio recitation. Fans say it provides a handy alternative to the bulky printed version of the holy book.

"Sales have been good this month. On average we sell 50 a day," said Arief Syaifullah, who sells the digital Koran. "Indonesian Muslims are becoming more technology savvy in their religious activity," he added.

Many Indonesians traveling on the haj pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia carry the device because it contains prayers to be recited during the annual ritual, he added.

The Koran is in Arabic, a language most Indonesians do not understand, and to memorize the verses students must recite them repeatedly.

The most popular voice in the digital Koran is that of Sheikh Abdul Rahman al-Sudais, the imam of the Grand Mosque of Mecca known for his precise and emotional recital of the holy verses.

Many of the digital Koran sold in Indonesia are made by a South Korean company, which also markets the products in the Middle East, Britain and the United States.

Prices of the gadgets, sold under the brand name Iqra'a, range from 900,000 rupiah ($98) to 1.9 million rupiah, which is equivalent to a month's salary for many Indonesians.

For a similar price, Indonesians can buy a PDA, or personal digital assistant, or mobile phone that can be installed with Koran software, some of which can be downloaded for free on the Internet.

The latest digital Koran produced by the Korean company looks like an iPod and has similar features to the popular music player, including a full color LCD screen and a video player.

In addition to the Koran, translated into nine different languages, it includes the sayings of the Prophet Mohammad, prayers, prayer time and the direction toward Mecca that Muslims face to pray.

YES Launches Touch Screen PMP

India Digital Life Style Distributors Pvt. Ltd. (IDLDPL), announced the launch of the latest model of their YES MP4 player in the Indian market. The YMP45 is equipped with a 2.4 inch TFT LCD touch screen that sports 262k colors. It weighs in at just 60g and has language support for English, Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese, French, German, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish and Japanese. Sadly no Hindi. The YMP45 also has an integrated FM radio, a voice recorder and an image viewer. This PMP comes with a 5 band EQ for music control. The player supports MP3, WMA, JPG, WAV, AVI, AAC, and OGG file formats. It also has an E-Book reader. The YMP45 comes with 2GB of internal memory and an option to increase memory using microSD/Transflash cards as well.

Deepakraj Singh, Retail Chain manager at IDLDPL said, "YMP45 is just not an MP4 player, it is a perfect and complete entertainment gizmo. Not only can you watch movies but also listen to your favorite music, share photos with your friends etc. It is a really cool product for the young generation of today. As the market is growing rapidly for the MP4 players, I believe this product will have a very good acceptance in the Indian market."

The YMP45 is going to be available with a price of Rs. 6499/- from October exclusively at IDLDPL.

Move With the New MuVo

Creative has announced the launch of its new MuVo T100, an easy-to-use MP3 player that sets everyone free to enjoy music, wherever they go. This tiny MP3 player is finished in black, white or vibrant pink and works like a USB flash drive.

It plugs directly into a PC or notebook (no cables required) and is instantly ready to go. It allows music, files, and photos to be dragged and dropped straight to it. Users can listen to music when they’re on the move, then open and use their data files on arrival.

"The MuVo T100 makes it easy to store and carry files and music," said Eoin Leyden, European Brand Manager for MP3 with Creative. "We wanted to come up with a tough, compact and good-looking player that was easy to use, with great audio quality, and we also found room to add a neat Bass Boost feature that makes MP3 and WMA music sound really 'big'!"

Users can choose between the MuVo T100 with 2GB memory, which can store up to 1000 songs; and the 4GB model, which can store up to 2000 songs. The rechargeable battery gives up to 10 hours of playtime.

Though the product has been released in the UK, the device will hit the stores in India only next week. Watch this space for the price!

Computer Kitchen Offers Venzero's Range of MP3 Players

Bangalore-based Computer Kitchen, has announced an exclusive tie-up with Venzero, a mobile consumer electronics manufacturer of British-German origin, to sell its entire range of products in India.

Venzero’s current product range for the Indian market includes Venzero One (an MP3 player with FM Radio, Microphone and Pod cast playing and sharing feature, namely Shareport), Venzero X1 (MP3 player with soft touch surface and stylish green LCD backlight, that works as an SD card reader, has five equalizer presets and three playback modes), Venzero Mini (MP3 player with video display, digital voice recording and music recognition technology namely, Musicmarker) and Venzero Slickr (MP3 player that supports viewing of pictures in JPEG format, reads text in txt format, with games pre-installed, FM Radio, and Musicmarker)

Venzero’s products integrate features like an FM transmitter, which enables car radio/PMP (portable media player) correlation, and built-in Wi-Fi to stream online radio stations. The Shareport feature integrated into the Venzero ONE, and the unique music recognition service Musicmarker are two of Venzero’s original product features.

Rahul Gupta, Director of Computer Kitchen said, "The partnership with Venzero is in-line with Computer Kitchen strategy of providing premium digital lifestyle products of international repute to trade customers and e-channel marketers. We hope to explore new opportunities with Venzero to build a strong brand and create visibility for the company in India. We are sure that the Indian market holds a great potential for Venzero’s unique products."

Armin G. Schmidt, Managing Director, Venzero said, "Working strongly with Computer Kitchen in India shows the continuous growth of the brand Venzero worldwide. We are happy to announce this extensive partnership with this great company and to work with its dynamic team."

New-Age Tech Sites Sweep Journalism Awards

Two cutting-edge technology savvy websites have won this year's coveted Knight-Batten awards for Innovations in Journalism. The $10,000 Grand Prize winner is TechPresident.com, a data-rich, politically neutral group-blog that covers real-time, online activity of the 2008 American presidential candidates and archives online content from voters who will elect them.

TechPresident.com invites regular people to help break campaign news and tracks voter-generated videos on YouTube, candidate 'friends' on MySpace and Facebook, blog mentions on Technorati, voter demands for appearances on Eventful, and voter-generated photos on Flickr. TechPresident.com currently has an Alexa ranking of 1,42,562.

"The site not only reports but also encourages citizens to participate more directly in the political process," said the panel of judges. "It’s an amazing source of information from a non-traditional news outlet." The site is published by the Personal Democracy Forum.

The Wild Card Award was won by Reuters' Second Life Virtual News Bureau. The bureau, operating in the popular online 3D-world Second Life, applies Reuters’ journalistic techniques to social networking, e-commerce and user-generated content for more than 7 million users. "It’s a place for the audience that newspapers don’t have to gather," the judges said. Reuters' Second Life Virtual News Bureau is headed by bureau chief Adam Pasick whose Second Life avatar is 'Adam Reuters'.

The Knight-Batten Awards for Innovations in Journalism honour the late James K. Batten, former CEO of Knight Ridder newspapers. Since 1950, The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation has granted awards to advance quality journalism and freedom of expression.

Americans Giving up Friends, Sex For Web

Surfing the net has become an obsession for many Americans with the majority of U.S. adults feeling they cannot go for a week without going online and one in three giving up friends and sex for the Web.

A survey asked 1,011 American adults how long they would feel OK without going on the Web, to which 15 percent said a just a day or less, 21 percent said a couple of days and another 19 percent said a few days.

Only a fifth of those who took part in an online survey conducted by advertising agency JWT between Sept 7 and 11 said they could go for a week.

"People told us how anxious, isolated and bored they felt when they are forced off line," said Ann Mack, director of trend spotting at JWT, which conducted the survey to see how technology was changing people's behavior.

"They felt disconnected from the world, from their friends and family," she told Reuters.

The poll, released on Wednesday, found the use of cell phones and the Internet were becoming more and more an essential part of life with 48 percent of respondents agreeing they felt something important was missing without Internet access.

More than a quarter of respondents - or 28 percent - admitted spending less time socializing face-to-face with peers because of the amount of time they spend online.

It also found that 20 percent said they spend less time having sex because they are online.

Cell phones won out over television in a question asking which device people couldn't go without but the Internet trumped all, regarded as the most necessary.

"It is taking away from offline activities, among them having sex, socializing face-to-face, watching TV and reading newspapers and magazines. It cuts into that share," said Mack.

"I don't suppose their partners are too pleased about it."

Mack said a clear trend to emerge from the survey was the increasing need for mobility with people no longer satisfied with just broadband access from home and wanting hand-held devices like iPhones and BlackBerrys.

JWT, whose parent company is WPP, has come up with a new advertising category for people whose lives are so tied up with new technology.

"We are calling them 'digitivity denizens,' those who see their cell phones as an extension of themselves, whose online and offline lives are co-mingled and who would chose a Wi-Fi connection over TV any day," said Mack.

"This is how they communicate, entertain and live."

New Social Networking Site for Grownups

In these days when Orkut and Facebook are ruling the online social networking scene, a group of people have come together to form iYomu .

This month-old international social networking site claims to target those who feel they are too old for Orkut or Facebook. It was started by David Wolf-Rooney and Frances Valintine with a view to creating a platform for grownups in the sphere of social networking.

iYomu users can enjoy a "vault" with 1 GB of free online storage for documents, photos, videos, e-mail and music. Users have the option of buying additional storage space in their vault. iYomu promises users privacy in terms of their saved content.

"iYomu stands for I, You, Me and Us, suggesting the type of relationships people can form using iYomu . The name is designed to appeal to people internationally in any market or language," said co-founder David Wolf-Rooney.

As part of its promotion, iYomu recently announced that it will ask its online community to choose one member to receive $1 million in the iYomu.com Challenge. After completing a series of puzzles and tasks to earn points, three finalists from anywhere in the world will explain why they should receive $1 million and how it will change their lives.

The ultimate decision will be made by online voting in the iYomu community. The iYomu.com Challenge began on August 13, and points can be accumulated until December 31.

NBC Announces Own Download Service

After pulling the plug on its collaboration with iTunes (read more about it here), NBC has announced its own download service. The company is going to start testing a new NBC Direct service in October with full, free downloadable episodes which can be stored up to seven days on PCs.

ABC and BBC already have similar systems in place where users can download and keep TV series' episodes for a stipulated period of time. There's no news yet whether they'll be available for Mac and Linux.

The episodes will be available for free download immediately after they have been aired on NBC and will come with embedded advertisements - unskippable embedded advertisements, I might add. The idea is to eventually make its service a full-blown iTunes competitor.

NBC's Jeff Gaspin went on the record to say that they "did this to eliminate the middleman".

NBC says that in due course of time, it will upgrade this service to a pay-to-download service without ads or term stipulations, although DRM-related stuff would stick.

We wonder how long it will take the prodigious few among us to break through and upload these series free of any restrictions whatsoever.

India May Miss 20 Million Broadband Target

The Indian government’s goal of achieving 20 million broadband users by 2010 may be a bit over-ambitious. The US-based online research agency eMarketer has released the ‘India Online Overview’, which says broadband Internet households in India are expected to be just 10.5 million by 2011, or 5.1 per cent of the total households. This is only half the target number.

According to TRAI, broadband connections in the country numbered 2.47 million at the end of July 2007. With just 2.3 per cent of the Indian population online in 2006 and 2.9 per cent being the projection for 2007, India’s Internet penetration is the lowest in the Asia-Pacific region, as per the report. In contrast, China’s Internet population was 10.2 per cent in 2006 and South Korea’s was 70.5 per cent.

The report also predicts that the online population in India will reach 33.2 million in 2007 and 71.6 million by 2011. It says that the number of home Internet users in India grew 19 per cent between April 2006 and April 2007, and three out of four urban Indians now have broadband. The report warns that for India to reach its online potential, the government needs to liberate the telecommunications sector, though wireless access technologies may also provide momentum

The Indian government declared 2007 to be "Year of Broadband," setting a goal of achieving 20 million broadband connections by 2010. However, the eMarketer survey showed that India may reach just over half that target, or 10.5 million broadband households, by 2011.

Have You Chatted with this Man Recently?

New York's Norman Perez gave his fingers the workout of his life. Trying to establish a new Guinness world record for the longest time continuously typing, he ended up making a lot of friends online.

"The only thing I have to do is kind of focus. The hardest thing I'd probably say is like talking to 20 different people at one time," says Perez.

A lot of the people that he was chatting with proved very friendly, with one woman even proposing marriage, but with the bouquets have come the brickbats.

"Marriage for one. Other ones are just plain not nice," he said. "There are people just saying 'I hope you lose', or 'I hope you don't fall asleep on the keyboard'."

"But there is a lot of encouragement. That's kind of surprising to me. Coming into this, I thought people would say 'Oh yeah, this is a waste of time'. But I got a lot of people helping me out," Perez said.

Perez started typing continuously on a Monday, taking only five-minute breaks every hour. Five days later, he had clocked up 96 hours at the computer – that's over 19 hours a day.

He is now awaiting a nod from the Guinness Book to crown him the world typing champion.

Internet Security Threat Report 2007 Released

Cyber predators are increasingly exploiting trusted environments to target their victims, according to Symantec's latest Internet Security Threat Report.

The report reveals that between January 1 and June 30 this year, attackers increasingly targeted victims by exploiting vulnerabilities in trusted environments, such as popular financial, social networking, and career recruitment websites.

Symantec also reported that 61% of all vulnerabilities disclosed were in web applications. Once a trusted website has been compromised, criminals can use it as a base for distributing malicious code to users visiting the site.

Today, the threat landscape is more dynamic than ever. Identity theft is an increasingly prevalent security issue, particularly for organizations that store and manage information that could facilitate identity theft.

Compromises that result in the loss of personal data could be quite costly, not only to the people whose identity may be at risk and their respective financial institutions, but also to the organization responsible for collecting the data. Data breaches that lead to identity theft could damage an organization’s reputation, and undermine customer and institutional confidence in the organization.

Underground economy servers are used by cyber criminals to sell stolen information. This data can include government-issued identification numbers such as social security numbers, credit cards, bank cards, personal identification numbers (PINs), user accounts, and email address lists.

The report says that social networking websites are particularly valuable to attackers since they provide access to a large number of people, many of whom trust the site and its security. These websites can also expose a lot of confidential user information that can then be used in attempts to conduct identity theft, online fraud, or to provide access to other Web sites from which attackers can deploy further attacks.

The threat report also noted that cybercriminals are continuing to become more professional and some are even commercializing their efforts. They're taking a business approach to the development, distribution, and use of malicious code. The cost to obtain credit card details is $0.50-$5, bank account details are available for $30-$400, e-mail passwords cost $1-$350, while identity thefts cost $10-$150!

The most commonly advertised goods for sale on underground economy servers were credit card details, making up 22 per cent of all advertised goods.

The advertised price for bank account credentials varied widely and was dependent on the funds available in the account. Bank accounts that included higher balances were worth considerably more. Furthermore, bank account information that included personal information of the victim was more highly valued.

Email passwords were the third most common item advertised for sale, making up eight percent of all advertised goods. In addition, the value of the account was also based on the username in the email itself; email accounts with usernames that were standard English terms were generally highly priced.

Other findings in the report include:
Stolen credit card numbers were the most commonly advertised commodity on underground economy servers, making up 22% of all advertisements; stolen bank account numbers were a close second with 21%.
Symantec researchers documented 237 vulnerabilities in web browser plugins in the first half of the year. The report noted that it's a significant increase over the 74 discovered in the second half of 2006, and the 34 in the first half of 2006.
Theft or loss of computer or other data storage equipment made up 46% of all data breaches that could lead to identity theft.

Symantec also reported an increase in multistage attacks, which include an initial attack designed to deploy other attacks. A downloader, for example, is malicious code that infects a computer. It's designed to pull other code down from the Internet to further infect the machine. Symantec reported that 28 of the top 50 malicious code samples were staged downloaders.

India has been ranked 14th worldwide when it came to hosting phishing websites. Mumbai hosted 30% of the total phishing sites in India, Delhi 29%, and Bangalore and Chennai accounted for 12% each of the total sites.

Thailand Seeks to Block YouTube Videos

Thailand is seeking to block clips on YouTube that accuse the chief royal adviser of masterminding last year's bloodless coup, a top Justice Ministry official said on Friday.

The government, which lifted a five-month ban on YouTube in August after it agreed to block clips deemed offensive to revered King Bhumibol Adulyadej, was seeking a court order to block two video clips posted recently on the video-sharing website.

"In the next couple of days, we will seek a court order to block those links deemed to cause public confusion and threaten national security," said Yanaphon Youngyuen, head of the Justice Ministry's Internet crimes unit.

"While awaiting the court order, we are seeking cooperation from Internet service providers to block those links," he said.

The two-part postings, entitled 'The Crisis of Siam', and running 10:42 minutes and 6:06 minutes, accuse former Prime Minister Prem Tinsulanonda of plotting the September 2006 coup, not the generals who took credit.

Such allegations against Prem, now Privy Council chief, have been made by supporters of ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra during demonstrations and denied repeatedly by the generals and the government they appointed.

"Pa has been through such allegations many times and everyone knows what the truth is," Prem's spokesman, Vice Admiral Prajun Tampratheep, said of the 87-year-old former leader.

Last month, the Communications Ministry lifted a ban on YouTube after its owner, Google, installed filters to stop Thais from accessing clips deemed to insult 79-year-old King Bhumibol, a serious offence in Thailand.

YouTube said in May it had decided, after an agreement with the Thai government, to block some offending clips but took several months to implement it.

Thailand sent YouTube's management a list of 12 video clips it deemed offensive. Six of the clips were removed by their creators or because they violated YouTube's 'code of service', YouTube said in a statement.

YouTube was not available for immediate comment on Thailand's latest attempt to block access to some of its clips.

Orkut Most Popular Among Indians

What do Indians do when they are hooked on to the Net? Most of them are either busy writing or receiving emails, dating online or socializing on networking sites such as Orkut.

That’s the finding of India Online 2007, an Internet users’ behavior survey conducted by online research solutions consultancy firm JuxtConsult.

According to the survey, online matrimonial search has established itself as a 'mainline' online activity in India with almost half the online urban Indians (48 per cent) undertaking it. Over 12 million online urban Indians are using online matrimonial search, making it the 13th most popular online activity.
In comparison to matrimony, dating or friendship is a more popular online activity, keeping 51 per cent of Internet users occupied. It ranks 10th in terms of popularity.

The latest entrant, social networking sites such as Orkut and Facebook among others, has already rallied up 44 per cent of Internet time with over 11 million Indians getting hooked to it.

Giving a demographic profile of internet users in the country, the survey points out that South India leads in online activity.

The survey was conducted both online and offline covering more than 36,000 respondents from 31 cities spread across the country.

Another activity which is the second most preferred by online users is job search. Searching jobs online is no more limited to big cities; only four out of 10 online job seekers in urban India come from the top 10 metro cities, the survey adds.

The top three most preferred activities by online users as per the survey are emailing (95 per cent), job search (73 per cent) and instant messaging (62 per cent).

Couple Divorces via the Internet

In what's perhaps the first-of-its-kind legal procedure in India, a Chennai court on Wednesday granted divorce to a couple, both software engineers, after confirming their consent over webcam.

The divorce order was sent to the man in the US, and the woman, who is working in Australia, immediately by email, and copies were given to their relatives who were present in the court. The entire legal proceeding was over in 15 minutes.

The couple got married under the Hindu Marriage Act soon after they met in 2005, but were separated in 2006. They filed for divorce without any claims six months ago.

As both were in different countries, they pleaded their inability to be physically present in the court. The girl had given power of attorney to her uncle, and the boy to his father.

Since the court did not have videoconferencing facility, the girl’s uncle gave his laptop, microphone and webcam to Judge R Devadoss. The couple was asked to log in at the designated time.

The judge read from a questionnaire separately to the couple: Do you have any children? Do you have any claims? After getting replies in the negative, 'incompatibility' was stated as reason for divorce, and the procedure wrapped up.

University Services Go Online in Maharashtra

With the introduction of a 16-digit Permanent Registration Number (PRN), college students across Maharashtra will now have access to various online services regarding university education and related services at their finger tips.

The Digital University software suite through the e-Suvidha scheme of the Maharashtra Knowledge Corporation Limited (MKCL) was launched by Sharad Pawar, union agriculture minister on Friday.

Through the scheme, more than 25 lakh college students will be able to access information about any university and its departments, officials, committees and related information. Accreditation and recognition status of affiliated colleges/ institutes of any university will be available at the click of a button.

In addition, faculties, courses and syllabi of all state universities along with the admission procedure, fees, scholarships, educational loans, and concessions offered by the government will be displayed on the portal.

The 10 universities, including Mumbai University and SNDT University, can now offer online personal profile updates, eligibility processing, application for examination, examination schedules, venues and examination hall tickets to the students.

E-statements of marks, verification and re-valuation, convocation, migration certificates, e-transcript, status of various applications, progression records from admission to convocation are the added advantages of making the university online.

Besides the syllabi, lists of recommended books, references, contact session time-tables, personalised alerts, notices, calendar, messaging services among students and teachers, selection of contact session centre, complaint registration and redressal will also be available online.

Each student will have a Login ID and a password to avail of the services on the Digital University Portal of his/her university. After successful registration with the university, the student will get a unique 16-digit permanent registration number.

Services offered through the project will also be available at the Student Facilitation Centres (SFCs) established at University campuses, sub-campuses, and at specific colleges at district and tehsil levels.

Sabeer Bhatia Launches Social Networking Site

After Reliance's BigAdda, Sabeer Bhatia has entered the Indian social networking rat race with the launch of ApnaCircle. A creation of Apnacircle Infotech Pvt. Ltd, ApnaCircle helps people to make new friends and professional acquaintances and thus make their social life more active, interesting and more fruitfully rewarding. ApnaCircle's social network helps maintain known relationships with scraps, uploaded photos, customized messages and establish new relations by reaching out to people they've never met before, all through ApnaCircle.

ApnaCircle is being promoted by Sabeer Bhatia, one of the co-founders of Hotmail and Yogesh Bansal, founder and CEO of ApnaCircle.

Online PCs Safer in India than in China: Study

A study reveals that computers used in government sectors such as aviation and healthcare in India are less prone to Internet viruses than those in China, the second-largest broadband user in the world after the US.

China has emerged as the second-largest nation in terms of the number of computers with multiple infections in government and critical infrastructure sectors, according to a study by US-based Internet security software maker Symantec Corp. The high number of attacks originating in China was due to the rapid growth of broadband.

India is ranked sixth in the world for computers with multiple infections mentioned in the Government Internet Security Threat Report. The US tops the list.

Aerospace, telecom, healthcare, financial services, and agriculture were included among critical infrastructure sectors by the study. Telecom accounted for 90 per cent of all malicious activity originating from critical infrastructure sectors, and hacking was responsible for 73 per cent of the identities exposed.

China was among the top three countries in five metrics – malicious activity, target of denial-of-service (DoS) attacks, bot-infected computers, origin of attacks, and computers with multiple infections.

The report pointed out that the Rontokbro worm was more prevalent in India though the infected email was of Indonesian origin. "Rontokbro sends email messages to all the addresses it gathers from files on a compromised computer. It stands to reason that this worm was sent to many Indian users from business contacts in Indonesia," the report said. Rontokbro is one of the top ten malicious code samples resulting in potential infections in the EMEA region.

The US accounted for 30 per cent of all malicious activity while Israel had the highest malicious activity per Internet user. China, which accounts for 13 per cent internet users across the world, had the highest number of bot-infected computers – 29 per cent of the worldwide total.

The percentage of bot-infected computers in China had come down in the first half of 2007, compared with the same period a year ago, indicating a rise in security awareness among Internet users there.

The report noted that the higher attack origins in the US and China indicated that computer crime laws were not effectively deterring computer criminals and attackers.

Amazon Unveils Early Version of Music Service

Amazon.com launched an early version of its highly anticipated digital music download store, which is seen as a potential rival to Apple's dominant iTunes system.

Amazon's store, named "Amazon MP3," allows users to buy music without copy protection technology, so that the songs can play on a variety of devices including Apple's iPod.

Most songs are priced from 89 cents to 99 cents, with more than half of the 2 million songs priced at 89 cents, the online retailer said in a statement.

Many Web start-ups have proposed business models to take on iTunes, which has a 70 percent market share of digital music sales. Many have also failed as they get caught up in negotiations with the music companies.

For weeks Amazon had been expected to launch its iTunes rival after signing deals with Universal Music Group, which is owned by French media giant Vivendi, and EMI.

U.S. music companies, concerned about piracy enabled by file-sharing Web site, are mulling new business models with a goal of increasing digital revenue as CD sales drop more sharply than anticipated.

They also hope to create alternatives to iTunes to boost their negotiating power against Apple when licensing contracts are renewed.

Video Game Teaches Kids About Diet

With child obesity rates rising, the U.S.'s biggest health maintenance organization on Tuesday launched an online video game to teach kids what to eat - and then shut down after 20 minutes.

Kaiser Permanente said "The Incredible Adventures of the Amazing Food Detective" was designed to teach 9- and 10-year-olds about healthy eating and exercise.

But rather than keep children in front of the computer for hours, the title aims to get kids moving. It has a function that locks players out after 20 minutes - and another that won't let them back in until for another 60 minutes.

"Kids in America spend too much time in front of the TV, and the messages they get there about eating, activity, and role models are all the wrong (ones)," said Ray Baxter, senior vice president for community benefit at Kaiser Permanente.

"Finger-wagging and telling kids to eat more green vegetables is not going to work. You've got to change the environment and change the message."

The game includes printable scavenger hunts that teach kids to make sense of food labels, experiments that show kids how to measure sugar in drinks, healthy recipes, muscle-building exercises and family activities to promote better eating.

The new game is part of Kaiser's campaign to combat childhood obesity, rates of which have tripled in the past 15 years.

Nearly 20 percent of children in the United States are now obese, fueling concerns about shorter life-expectancy and the soaring cost of caring for adults with diabetes and other obesity-related diseases.

The state of West Virginia, which has the worst childhood obesity problem in nation, helped pioneer the use of video games in the battle of the bulge when it made Konami Corp's "Dance Dance Revolution" dancing game part of the curriculum in public schools.

"Because obesity that begins in childhood is associated with more severe adult obesity, the effective prevention and treatment of childhood obesity is a critical strategy to control the rise in medical costs," said William Dietz, a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention expert on obesity and nutrition.

Over the past six years, Kaiser has partnered with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control in developing an anti-obesity strategy.

Kaiser's game is available free of charge in English and Spanish versions at www.kp.org/amazingfooddetective and through the CDC's site at www.cdc.gov.

Kaiser and publisher Scholastic Inc also will distribute the game, along with teacher lesson plans and parent guides, to more than 5,000 public schools nationwide.

Microsoft in Talks to Invest in Facebook

Microsoft is talking to Facebook about buying a minority stake in the fast-growing online social network that could value the company at $10 billion or more, the Wall Street Journal reported on its Web site on Monday.

Citing people familiar with the matter, the Journal said the world's largest software company sought to buy a stake of up to 5 percent in Facebook for $300 million to $500 million.

Facebook, led by its 23-year-old founder and Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg, may insist on a valuation as high as $15 billion and is considering raising up to $500 million in cash to expand its operations, according to the Journal.

Such a deal could help Microsoft better compete against Web search leader Google Inc for a growing base of online advertising and put one of the Internet's hottest names firmly in Microsoft's camp.

Google has also expressed an interest in investing in Facebook, the Journal report said.

"It would probably be pretty good for Microsoft since it has not had the best success in creating really hip, young-people-grabbing stuff on the Web," said Kim Caughey, a senior analyst at Fort Pitt Capital Group, which oversees more than $1 billion, including Microsoft shares, for clients.

Microsoft would not comment on the report, while Facebook representatives were not immediately available to comment.

Facebook, which allows members to seek out a circle of friends and share online activities, has seen speculation over a potential partnership or buyout intensify as it rapidly expands its base of users and advertisers.

It has grown to 39 million members, up nearly 63 percent from 24 million in late May, and is quickly gaining ground against larger rival MySpace, bought by News Corp in 2005 for what is now seen as a bargain price of $580 million. MySpace now has more than 200 million users.

Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft already has an exclusive agreement until 2011 to broker display advertisements for Facebook. The Journal said Microsoft and Facebook are discussing expanding that agreement beyond the United States.

After relinquishing an early advantage in the lucrative paid search market to Google and Yahoo Inc, Microsoft is trying to catch up by clinching deals to broker display advertising to some of the leading names in "Web 2.0."

Web 2.0 is a catch-phrase for a new generation of Internet services that run on interactive software and typically rely on content generated by users to attract more visitors to the site. Microsoft also has an agreement with popular news site Digg.com.

Bluetooth Enabled Devices Unsafe: Symantec

Security giant Symantec Corporation has cautioned users of the possible dangers of using Bluetooth-enabled devices. Users of these devices are susceptible to several attacks such as Bluespamming (sending spam to a Bluetooth enabled device, Bluejacking (sending a message from your Bluetooth enabled device PDA to a stranger who also has a Bluetooth enabled device. It can also be used to flirt with someone or play a practical joke), BlueSnarfing (copy address information like business card data from a person's Bluetooth phone in the vicinity) and BlueBugging (this vulnerability allows the hacker to initiate phone calls, send and read SMS, read and write phonebook contacts, eavesdrop on phone conversations, and connect to the internet)

However, Symantec noted that Bluespamming does have a low-level security risk. Blusnarfing is also quite dangerous as it could allow attackers to sneak into an unfortunate user’s phone and scan through the data.

Bluebugging, according to Symantec is the biggest threat, where hackers can remotely control a handset while making calls without permission.

Security Firm Spots Hole in AOL's IM

A security hole in widely used versions of AOL's instant-messaging program could let a crook grab control of a victim's computer, according to a security firm that says AOL's steps to repair the problem don't go far enough.

Core Security Technologies says it notified AOL LLC, part of Time Warner Inc., about the programming flaw in late August, and AOL contends the problem has been fixed. But Core Security's chief technology officer, Ivan Arce, said the solution should be considered temporary because of the underlying design of AOL's market-leading Instant Messenger service, better known as AIM.

''I would say this is critical, this is very serious,'' Arce said. It's unclear whether the hole has been exploited.

The flaw exists in the most recent versions of AIM 6.1, and in 6.2, which is still in beta-test mode. Core Security also found it in the business-focused AIM Pro and in AIM Lite. The problem does not crop up in AIM 5.9, an older edition that many users still have, or in version 6.5, which also is in beta mode.

The security hole arose because of the way the vulnerable versions of AIM let instant-messaging chatters augment their conversations with various fonts and pictographic ''emoticons.'' The flawed versions of AIM do this by using Microsoft Corp.'s Internet Explorer program to render images.

The problem, Core Security contends, is that AIM was enabling full access to all of Internet Explorer's functions, including its ability to carry out programming commands and direct a computer to Web sites. So by embedding certain commands in an IM session, an attacker could direct a victim's computer to do lots of regrettable things, such as visiting a malicious Web site where even more bad code would be installed.

AOL spokeswoman Erin Gifford said her company had resolved the issues Core Security raised. As a result, she said, AIM users should consider themselves ''completely safe.''

Gifford would not detail the steps AOL had taken, other than saying that AOL was blocking malicious programming code and other suspicious content from being transmitted in IM traffic.

Arce responded that an attacker has a decent chance of getting around the blockade.

''That filtering mechanism, it doesn't remove the bug from the IM client. It just prevents people from exploiting it. If someone finds a way to bypass the filter, the problem still exists,'' he said. The filtering approach also wouldn't save AIM users who ''direct connect'' with other IMers to share files, a process that skips AOL servers.

His advice: Switch to the Web-based AIM Express, AIM 5.9 or AIM 6.5, though corporate technology staffs often consider beta versions off-limits.

AIM users should also consider rejecting incoming messages from anyone not on their ''buddy lists,'' though Arce advises that is an uncertain protection, since a friend's computer might have been corrupted through this hole. In that scenario, an attacker could conceivably instruct the buddy's computer to send malicious code to his friends.

The security firm also said other programs with built-in access to Internet Explorer could fall prey to the same vulnerability. Core Security says it does not believe that flaw exists in the second- and third-most popular IM programs, from Yahoo Inc. and Microsoft, though Core Security has not fully tested that idea.

Office 2008 for Mac Set for January Release

Microsoft Corp. said it will release three versions of its Office 2008 for Mac suite in January, with the most expensive of the bunch aimed at creative professionals overwhelmed by the task of organizing their digital media files.

Office 2008 for Mac Home and Student Edition, which includes three licenses for Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Entourage, an e-mail/calendar/contacts program, will cost $150, Microsoft said.

A $400 version aimed at professionals who use Apple Inc. computers, simply called Office 2008 for Mac, includes the same programs as Home and Student, plus the ability to connect to a Windows Exchange server.

A third version, the $500 Special Media Edition, adds features to the $400 configuration, including Expression Media, a program that helps computer users organize and manipulate digital photos, video and other files.

Microsoft sells Expression Media, one of several new tools for graphic designers and other creative professionals, for $299.

All three versions work on Intel-based Macs and older PowerPC machines. The software maker planned to announce the lineup and pricing Tuesday at Apple Expo in Paris, France.

Apple announced in August that it added a spreadsheet program to iWork, the company's own productivity software suite. Apple sells individual licenses for $80 and family packs, which allow users to install the programs on five different computers, for $100.

Amanda Lefebvre, marketing manager for Microsoft's Macintosh business unit, said Microsoft's offering is ''a really robust suite compared to iWork.''

For Apple users who don't want to wait until next year for Office, Microsoft is offering an upgrade program. For the price of shipping, handling and taxes _ an estimated $10 in the U.S. _ the company will send a comparable 2008 suite to people who buy the Standard Edition or the Student and Teacher Edition of Office 2004 for Mac through March 14.

Stay in India For Free Via Blogger Web Site

Hotel rooms in India tend to be expensive and hard to find, but a new Web site is helping visitors find a bed, with a warm conversation thrown in, all for free.

While most hosts on www.extrabed.in offer a spare bed and an Internet connection, some offer sightseeing tours, endless cups of coffee or even a game of Scrabble to add that personal touch.

The Web site was born after its founder, Kiruba Shankar, randomly contacted bloggers in Mumbai to see if anyone would put him up. He found several.

"The blogger I stayed with had a small house and he could only offer me a mat to sleep on," said Shankar, 34, who had tired of staying in hotels during his travels.

"But we had a lot of fun and ended up playing videogames all night. I preferred sleeping on the ground at this guy's place rather than stay in irritatingly clean and inhuman hotels."

Shankar floated the Web site in January and immediately found takers for the free hospitality network service. The site is similar to www.couchsurfing.com, which also offers travellers the use of a spare bed or couch for free and which has more than 300,000 members globally, with thousands more signing up weekly.

Indian hotel industry officials say a booming economy has led to a severe shortage of hotel rooms across all price brackets and an exponential rise in tariffs as well.

ExtraBed is only for bloggers, and hence users wary of giving strangers access to their homes can read the potential visitors' blogs to understand them.

"It's better than reading their CV to form an opinion," Shankar said. "The fact that a guy has a blog gives you a comfort feeling about his character."

While non-smokers and teetotallers tend to be popular guests on ExtraBed, one optimistic host on the Web site has set an unusual condition - prospective visitors should agree to babysit his young child. And since the hospitality is free, guests often find ways to express gratitude: they help with household chores or bring a gift. And users are raving about the service.

"We had a lot of ideas to share about filmmaking," said Ganesh A.P.P, a 21-year-old engineering student who hosted a blogger from Singapore for a fortnight in Chennai.

"We learnt from each other and he even taught me a new camera technique," said Ganesh whose guest shared his interest in filmmaking.

Jimmy Wales, the founder of Wikipedia, was Shankar's guest for three days during a trip in February.

"When I used ExtraBed to find a place to stay, I was excited to have the opportunity to meet a new family, a new friend," Wales told Reuters via email.

"The blogging community in India and around the world is all about people sharing knowledge with others, and now, a little bit of hospitality as well."

Yahoo to Silence Podcast Service

Yahoo Inc. will jettison a little-used service for finding and rating audio programs known as ''podcasts,'' the latest casualty of the Internet company's rejuvenation effort.

The podcast section will be silenced Oct. 31, according to a notice posted on Yahoo's Web site. It joins several other features that Yahoo has scrapped as it tries to snap out of a financial funk that has depressed its stock price and triggered a reshuffling of top management.

Yahoo spokeswoman Carrie Davis said the company still hopes to blend its index of podcasts into another part of its Web site.

The latest retrenchment comes near the end of 100-day review of Yahoo's operations that co-founder Jerry Yang announced in mid-July, a month after he replaced Chairman Terry Semel as the Sunnyvale-based company's chief executive.

Yahoo is expected to dump more services before the overhaul is completed, with its music subscription service frequently mentioned as one of the most likely targets.

Some shareholders have suggested the company also could boost profits by closing the Santa Monica offices that serve as the hub of its news and entertainment division.

Yang has revealed little about what else might be cut, saying only that there would be no ''sacred cows'' as he explores ways to revive Yahoo's earnings growth. The company's profit fell by 7 percent during the first half of this year.

Yahoo launched the podcast service two years ago in a bid to capitalize on the growing number of people transferring audio files to Apple Inc.'s iPod and other portable media devices, but the feature never attracted much interest.

In August, the podcast service was the least trafficked section of the 32 Yahoo-owned properties monitored by the research firm Hitwise. The number of August visitors dropped by 20 percent from the same time last year, according to Hitwise.

Yahoo's stock has sagged along with the company's financial performance during the past two years. Yahoo shares fell 43 cents Thursday to finish at $26.27, down by more than 30 percent from the price at the end of 2005.

Myanmar Crisis Exploited to Spread Trojan

Hackers are shamelessly exploiting the crisis in Myanmar to spread a Trojan horse via an email that links to the Dalai Lama's genuine website with a malicious attachment.

Taking advantage of international concern regarding the daily demonstrations in Burma, IT security and control firm Sophos has cautioned computer users to be wary of a malicious email claiming to be a message of support for monks and other protesters in Burma from the Dalai Lama. This however carries a malicious attack designed to infect the recipient's PC.

The email reads as follows:

Dear Friends & Colleagues, Please find enclosed a massage from His Holiness the Dalai Lama in support of the recent pro-democracy demonstrations taking place in Burma. This is for your information and can be distributed as you see fit.

Best wishes.

Tenzin Taklha
Joint Secretary
Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama

When users open the attached document (filename: hhdl burma_001.doc), it attempts to exploit a Word vulnerability which in turn tries to drop a Trojan horse onto the victim's PC.

Sophos experts note that to add even more credibility to the message and to encourage a greater number of victims to open the attachment, a link to official website of the Dalai Lama was included.

"The Burmese regime is said to have tried to stop news from coming out of the country by shutting down internet cafes and controlling computer users' access to the net. People around the world are hungry to hear about the latest situation in the country and support the pro-democracy movement, and may be tempted to read this so-called letter from the Dalai Lama," said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at Sophos. "Using topical news stories to trick unwary computer users into opening and downloading malicious code is one of the oldest tricks in the book, but it's obviously still working or the hackers wouldn't waste their time on it. We should all use our common sense and question the legitimacy of emails sent out of the blue."

Google Acquires Mobile Social Network Zingku

Google has now entered the mobile arena with the acquisition of mobile social network Zingku.

Zingku is a mobile social network that started in 2005 as a private beta in the US. This service gives users the ability to send and receive text and picture messages between friends. Users can send invitations using the standard text messaging service that is available on all mobile devices as well as on the internet.

Zingku's features include sending and receiving mobile photos and text reminders with alarms, text messaging, instant messenger and the internet. In addition, you can obtain news feeds to mobile phones via SMS.

NY Attorney General Subpoenas Facebook

New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has subpoenaed Facebook after the company did not respond to "many" complaints by investigators who were solicited for sex while posing as teenagers on the social-networking site.

Investigators set up profiles as 12- to 14-year-olds, and the decoys were quickly contacted by other users seeking sex, Cuomo said. On several occasions, Facebook did not respond to written complaints, he said.

Cuomo joins several state attorneys general in raising questions about social-networking sites and how well they protect users from predators. Connecticut's Richard Blumenthal has said civil lawsuits against MySpace, Facebook and others are possible.

The New York investigators said Facebook did, in some instances, take down pages in response to their messages about inappropriate communications and content. But other complaints about user groups hosting "hardcore pornography" were ignored, Cuomo said.

"My office is concerned that Facebook's promise of a safe Web site is not consistent with its performance in policing its site and responding to complaints," he said. "Parents have a right to know what their children will encounter on a Web site that is aggressively marketed as safe."

Facebook spokesman Brandee Barker said the states' concerns are being taken "very seriously."

"As our service continues to grow so does our responsibility to our users to empower them with the tools necessary to communicate efficiently and safely," Barker said. "We strive to uphold our high standards for privacy on Facebook and are constantly working on processes and technologies that will further improve safety and user control on the site."

On Monday, Cuomo released a letter to Facebook over its safety claims. Those concerns are based on several "undercover tests" in recent weeks, he said. The subpoenas seek copies of complaints made to the company as well as its relevant policies.

Blumenthal said Cuomo's work "advances our common effort because it will likely produce additional information."

MySpace did not return a telephone call seeking comment.

Microsoft Revamps Windows Live Search

eeking to narrow the gap with Google, Microsoft Corp unveiled a retooled Web search service that aims to deliver more relevant results and combines text, video and other information onto a single page.

Microsoft, the world's largest software maker, said Windows Live search is now on an even technology footing with offerings from rival search engines after years of playing catch-up since it started developing its own Web search in 2003.

Its new presentation is in line with an industry trend to step beyond traditional text links, with unified search results that offer Web sites, news, pictures and video on one page.

Rivals Google Inc and Ask.com made similar changes this year, and Yahoo Inc is moving in that direction.

"Microsoft is realistic. It doesn't think it's going to wake up tomorrow and overtake Google," said Allen Weiner, an analyst at research firm Gartner. "Right now, Microsoft wants to establish itself more firmly with its existing users."

Microsoft ceded a head start to Google in Web search and then watched it create a multibillion-dollar business on the back of selling advertisements tied to search results.

Google is now one of its main rivals, using its Web ad money to invest in threats to Microsoft's core desktop software business by offering Web-delivered software as a "service."

Last quarter, Google earned net income of $925 million, almost entirely from ads. That lagged Microsoft's $3 billion overall profit, but Microsoft online services business posted a loss and the unit's revenue grew at a third of Google's pace.

Microsoft ranks a distant third in Web search, with just 11.3 percent of the U.S. search market in August versus 56.5 percent for Google and 23.3 percent for Yahoo, according to research firm ComScore. Yet analysts note Microsoft is one of the few companies with the wherewithal to close that gap.

"It's very, very challenging but Microsoft is one of the few companies that is in a position to take a really long-term view of this whole game," said Greg Sterling, founding principal of research firm Sterling Market Intelligence.

MSN Launches Cool Hotmail

MSN India has launched Cool Hotmail, a service where email users can choose from 250 domain names and create an email ID that best describes them. So in case you are a fan of the Indian cricket team captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, you can have an e-mail id with the domain name @clubdhoni.com. The domain names are placed in five categories – Where I live, Who I like, Who I am, What I like and I don’t fit.

The email platform for Cool Hotmail is Windows Live Mail, which provides 5GB storage and access to a 500MB online storage vault called Sky Drive. The company will also roll out its TVC in two days, with the punch line ‘No more same pinch’.

MSN India had earlier experimented with custom domains when it launched lokhandwalarocks.com for resident of Lokhandwala in Andheri West, a suburb in Mumbai. India is the first country where MSN has launched custom domains on a large scale and its success will decide the company’s plans to launch the service in other countries.

Jim Carrey Backs Aung San Suu Kyi Via YouTube

Using the Internet to put the spotlight on Burmese leader Aung San Suu Kyi's 18-year house arrest (since 1989) and calling her an 'unsung hero', actor Jim Carrey has posted a personal video appeal on YouTube seeking the world’s help for the Nobel Peace Laureate.

Suu Kyi is a pro-democracy activist and leader of the National League for Democracy in Myanmar. She is a noted prisoner of conscience and advocate of nonviolent resistance. Suu Kyi won the Rafto Prize and the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought in 1990. In 1991 she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her peaceful and non-violent struggle under a military dictatorship. She is currently under detention, with the Myanmar government repeatedly extending her detention.

According to the results of the 1990 general election, Suu Kyi was elected as prime minister of Myanmar, as leader of the winning National League for Democracy party. However, her detention by the military junta has so far prevented her from assuming her elected role. Suu Kyi’s political party won a landslide election, but the junta ignored the results and has ruled as an outlaw regime ever since.

According to the UN human rights expert in Myanmar, the ruling military junta has burned down and destroyed over 3,000 villages in eastern Myanmar, forcing over 1.5 million people to flee their homes.

Carrey’s YouTube post has seen 197,000 hits in six days. Suu Kyi is often referred to as the modern-day Gandhi or Nelson Mandela. However, most Americans have not even heard of her.

The significance of Carrey’s post is to raise awareness, especially in the United States, about the junta, their lawless and violent rule, and the detention of Suu Kyi.

Carrey’s appeal is in collaboration with the Human Rights Action Center and the US Campaign for Myanmar. It is believed that he most likely timed this video to coincide with George Bush's trip to the APEC summit in Sydney, Australia.

Microsoft Excel Fails Math Test

Microsoft's Excel 2007 spreadsheet program is going to have to relearn part of its multiplication table.

In a blog post, Microsoft employee David Gainer said that when computer users tried to get Excel 2007 to multiply some pairs of numbers and the result was 65,535, Excel would incorrectly display 100,000 as the answer.

Gainer said Excel makes mistakes multiplying 77.1 by 850, 10.2 by 6,425 and 20.4 by 3,212.5, but the program appears to be able to handle 16,383.75 times 4.

''Further testing showed a similar phenomenon with 65,536 as well,'' Gainer wrote Tuesday.

He said Excel was actually performing the calculations correctly, but when it comes time to show the answer on the screen, it messes up.

Gainer said the bug is limited to six numbers from 65,534.99999999995 to 65,535, and six numbers from 65,535.99999999995 to 65,536, and that Microsoft is working hard to fix the problem.

HANNspree Launches High-end LCD Monitor

The Exquisite Measures (XM) series of HANNspree LCD Monitors has a new model - the new Boston. An addition to HANNspree’s exclusive range of designer monitors, the Boston is a modern, high-quality and stylish display inspired by one of America’s oldest cities.

The Boston XM adopts the grain patterns of wooden furniture and boasts of high-tech specifications. With functionality and originality claimed to be top of the agenda, the new Boston looks to be a welcome addition to any office environment.

It has a 19” widescreen Anti-Glare LCD display featuring a 700:1 contrast and a fast 5ms response time. An HD resolution of 1440×900 makes it ideal for the new hi-def era and ensures fluid, dynamic images on all the latest HD games and movies. It also features two 1.2W multimedia speakers.

The Boston XM is available now in the UK from www.misco.co.uk for RRP £134.99 Inc VAT and includes a three-year onsite swap-out manufacturer’s warranty as standard. So all you importer freaks can start making the calls.

New Infotainment Options to Ease Road Rage

Manufacturers are looking at new ways of combining infotainment features in cars so that drivers can use time spent in a traffic jam more effectively.

Car parts supplier Siemens VDO is presenting systems linking the mobile phone, MP3 Player or mobile Internet with vehicles' onboard computers at the Frankfurt Motor Show from September 13 to 23.

The features enable drivers to call up and answer emails or simply choose entertainment.

External infotainment systems are linked to the car's onboard computer via a Bluetooth connection or USB sockets. The driver operates the system from the steering wheel.

BMW said it was working on a personalized radio function that would enable drivers to receive a vast array of radio programs from all parts of the world.

Part of the vision involves bringing together content – such as news bulletins, sports programs and audio books – and mixing it with the driver's choice of music to create a personal radio program that is accessible anytime, anywhere.

The effort is expected to alleviate the frustration drivers often feel in rush-hour traffic.

Power Consumption on LCD

Excessive power consumption by LCD screens is becoming a serious problem, and is surely going to attract the dreaded consumption tax, or whatever they call it. LCD manufacturers are beginning to feel the heat and are seeing the need to take appropriate action.

It may be recalled that the UK government has been considering a ban on plasma TVs.

An answer to the problem could come from Japan, where it all began: traditional rivals Sony, Sharp, and Hitachi have agreed to jointly investigate new technologies, with the intention of reducing power consumption to half of current levels by 2011.

Meanwhile, Europe is destined to become the most important TV market in the world.

Audioengine to Pump in India

Remember you read it here first: October will see the entrant of a new speaker brand called Audioengine, a new company from the US. It is headed by some of the biggest names in the AV manufacturing industry. They manufacture powered speakers: two models by the name of AE2 and AE5.

Designed for optimal ease of setup and versatility, the Audioengine 5 has a built-in power port for iPod charging while listening to your music, watching movies, or playing games. Plug an Apple Universal Dock or iPod directly into the Audioengine Combo Port, and you're ready to rock (or roll).

The Combo Port charger is compatible with the Nano and the video iPod, and other products that charge via USB.

An AC power jack in the Audioengine 5 rear panel allows you to stream music from your Mac or PC directly to the speakers from Apple's Airport Express, or with other wireless systems such as Sonos, Squeezebox, or Roku Soundbridge.

The AC outlet is also ideal for powering other portable and home A/V equipment. A second auxiliary mini-jack is at hand for audio input from Airport Express or other audio products.

The products seem very reasonably priced. The AE 2 will be available for about Rs. 12000, while the AE 5 will cost around Rs. 18000.

Haier to Launch CRT and LCD TV Range

Haier plans to release its new range of LCD TVs with DSM Technology. The range will be available in 19”, 32” and 42”. The company also announced the launch of new models in the Flat Color TV segment with its TDX Plus Technology. Available in 29”, 21” and 15”, the TDX plus range has 9 models in the Flat televisions range and 3 models in the curved television range all priced between Rs. 4890 and Rs. 19,990. Pricing for LCDs is not fixed yet.

The DSM Technology is a Digital Streaming Media that lets you seamlessly integrate with any digital Input media. The DSM High Definition system enables sharper, crystal clear viewing experience.

"People today are looking out for a fusion of style, technology and innovation in the products that they buy. The pioneering features like High Definition Multimedia interface and increased sharpness of the picture once again, reflect Haier’s commitment to the customer and the growing LCD market in India," said Mr. Rajan, Vice President, Haier Appliances (India) P. Ltd.

The new offering is armed with other features like: W-LAN, USB, and Direct Print. The LCD models have a USB port which can also be connected to a printer to enable the customer to take out hi-definition pictures from the USB or any other storage device at the mere click of a button on the remote. The W-LAN lets the customer synchronize ultra modern digital gadgets to the LCD TV and gives the customer a Wi-Fi experience.

Samsung Launches 'Easy View' Flat TVs

Samsung India announced the launch of its new 'Easy View' range of Flat TVs that has especially been developed for the Indian market. Available across the popular 21" and 29" screen categories, both in Ultra/Slim and regular Flat series, Samsung's 'Easy view' technology has been developed by the Company's Hardware R & D team and Samsung India Software Centre (SISC), the Company's Software Centre for Audio Video and Digital Media products, located at Noida.

The 12 new 'Easy View' Flat TV Series from Samsung are differentiated as much on account of their design as for their enhanced performance with the Easy View technology. The Easy View features include Channel Minimizer (On Screen Menu Display for easy channel surfing), Channel Scheduler (Switch from one program to another at a preset time), Channel Grouping (Group your favorite channels/programs on categories) Half Mute (Reduce Volume to half at one touch) and Music Mode (Listen to audio with display off).

R. Zutshi, Deputy Managing Director, Samsung India said, "The Easy View feature was developed by our Software and Hardware R & D teams, purely based on consumer and dealer feedback, over a period of around 8 months. At Samsung, our consistent efforts in terms of R&D have been to introduce technology innovations, not only in the premium end but also in the mass, volume driven categories like Flat CTVs".

The flagship model in the new 'Easy View' series is the 29Z57 that has a premium Flat panel looking Slim design, Easy View technology and 350 W PMPO Sound output. The High glossy finish available in the 29Z57 is also available in the 21Z57, the 21" screen version. Apart from the Easy View feature, the new Flat TV range also comes with advanced features like Samsung's patented DNIe technology, DVD Component in, 5 Band Graphic Equalizer and a superior sound quality.

The Company has launched 3 Slim TVs and 9 regular Flat TVs with 'Easy View' technology in the market .The new 'Easy View' range of Samsung televisions is priced in the range between Rs. 10,000 to Rs. 22,500. With the introduction of the new range, Samsung's Flat TV range, comprising of 11 Slim/Ultra Slim models and 30 regular Flat TV models, is available in the 15" to 29" screen size category, priced between Rs. 6400 to Rs. 29,900. Samsung India is aiming at notching up a 25% market share of the fast growing Flat TV market in India this Year.

IXOS Releases Affordable HDMI 1.3 Cable Range

Cables are the unsung components that enhance the quality and functioning of an HT. IXOS, who are considered the gurus in cable construction, are releasing the IXOS Studio XHT288 range in the UK next month.

The range starts from £45 for a 1m run, and tops out at £80 for a 5.0m cable. All the cables meet the latest V1.3 1080p HDMI specification, and have been certified by the HDMI LLC.

The key construction features of the XHT288 cables are:
Proprietary nitrogen gas-injected polyethylene dielectric
Massive insulation to significantly reduce dielectric constant
Triple shielding for greater protection against EM and RF interference
IXOS TRU-HD certified High Definition 1080p digital video transmission
Hard gold-plated connectors and patented cable technology that, according to IXOS, provide "the finest signal transfer".
For the Indian market an official release is unlikely. As the market is too niche, no official dealers are available. Of course, you can try the street, approach Home Theater consultants, or order online.

Sony Launches the A700 D-SLR Camera

Sony is expanding its Alpha digital SLR system with the introduction of the D-SLR A700 camera, which is aimed at photo enthusiasts or serious photo hobbyists.

The new model features advanced imaging technologies and ultra-responsive operation, as well as a lightweight, dust- and moisture-resistant, magnesium alloy construction common to enthusiast-class D-SLR cameras.

Like Sony’s mainstream D-SLR A100 model, the new A700 unit incorporates Super SteadyShot Inside image stabilization in the camera body and is compatible with most Minolta Maxxum mount lenses in addition to Sony lenses.

"Discerning photo enthusiasts will be impressed with the rugged construction and outstanding performance of the A700," said Phil Lubell, director of marketing for digital cameras at Sony Electronics. "We also expect that this new camera will redefine the post-capture experience with HDMI output for high-quality playback of images on high-definition televisions."

The camera’s new 12.2-megapixel Exmor CMOS sensor conducts analog-to-digital (A/D) signal conversion and dual noise reduction right on the sensor itself. Noise reduction is applied to analog signals before A/D conversion and the resulting digital signals are then subject to a second round of noise reduction.


A newly developed, auto-focus system features 11 wide-area sensors, including a center dual cross sensor comprising two horizontal and two vertical line sensors for exceptional AF precision. An F2.8 line sensor leverages the brightness of fast aperture lenses for even greater precision.

The A700 model features an HDMI output for connection to HDTV sets, putting a high-resolution spin on the conventional photo slideshow. When connected to an HD television, photos are optimized for viewing with the new "PhotoTV HD" mode.

The D-SLR A700 camera body, DT 16-105 mm lens, and DT 18-250 mm lens will be available for about $1,400, $580 and $550, respectively. The DSLR-A700K kit with an 18-70 mm lens will be available for about $1,500, and the D-SLR A700P kit with the 16-105 mm lens will be available for about $1,900. The camera body and D-SLR A700K kit will ship in October and the D-SLR A700P kit in November.

There is no news about the Indian launch and pricing yet.

Nextbase Releases All-in-one Music System

NEXTBASE, a comparatively unknown brand in India, has released a useful device called Media 22 Entertainment Center. It's a single, remote-controlled component with the following features :
iPod dock
USB portable audio device/Flash memory playback
DVD/CD player (with DivX and MP3 format compatibility)
Bluetooth-streaming option (for playback of music stored on Bluetooth-equipped mobile phones)
FM radio
3.5in portable TV with analog TV tuner
Five-driver, 2.1-channel speaker system
2 x 12w stereo output plus 20w to subwoofer

Notably, all of this capability comes in a single compact case. And unlike many portable audio devices, the NEXTBASE Media 22 has been designed to deliver excellent sound quality rather than maximum sound pressure levels. To that end there are five drive units within the case: two treble drivers, two midrange units, and a single subwoofer. All the drivers and electrical components are housed in a solid wooden structure around which is wrapped a smart gloss black plastic skin.

To make navigating the unit’s functions easier there’s also a simple icon-driven OSD (onscreen display) visible on the 3.5-inch screen. The price is about 300 pounds; we're watching the radar for an Indian launch. The product currently retails in online stores such as www.askdirect.co.uk

Hasselblad Launches 39 Megapixel Cam

Just when you thought 12 megapixels seems like a lot of resolution to play around with, along comes someone (namely Hasselbald) and ups the insanity bar with a 39 megapixel D-SLR camera!

Here’s what Let’s Go Digital has to say about the H3D II:
A complete DSLR that is much more than the sum of its parts, the H3D II is peerless in terms of its combined image quality and flexibility. While retaining its full digital lens line and the choice of 22, 31 or 39 megapixel capture units using CCD image sensors up to 48x36 mm – the largest currently available and more than twice the size of even the largest 35mm camera sensors – the Hasselblad H3D II now has a large, bright 3-inch display, which affords both improved viewing of captured images and lower power consumption.

Currently selling for €17,900, I seriously doubt if this will go "consumer" anytime soon. Read all about it here.

iPhone to Launch in UK on November 9

Apple Inc.'s iPhone will go on sale in Britain on Nov. 9 have the O2 network as its exclusive carrier, Apple CEO Steve Jobs said Tuesday.

The 8-gigabyte model will sell for $536 (269 pounds), Jobs said at a news conference in London.

"We can't wait to let people here get their hands on it and see if they love it as much as we do," Jobs said.

Apple cut the price of the 8-gigabyte iPhone in the U.S. from $599 to $399 and discontinued the $499 (360 euros) 4-gigabyte version. It apologized to those who had paid full price and offered $100 credits to early buyers.

Apple's announcement in London was bound to spur speculation about further launches in Europe, though Jobs declined comment.

"We're announcing the U.K. today. We've said we'll be in a few countries in Europe next quarter. As we roll those out, I'm sure you'll hear about it," he said.

For months, rumors have circulated that Germany's Deutsche Telekom AG has been in talks to carry the iPhone in Germany through its T-Mobile wireless unit, while Spain's Telefonica - the parent of O2 - and France's Orange have been touted as likely candidates to offer the device in Spain and France.

None of those companies has confirmed if they have even been in talks with Apple.

Cupertino, Calif.-based Apple announced last week that it had sold one million iPhones in the United States in 74 days after the combination cell phone-iPod went on sale there - and less than a week after its price was cut by a third.

Jobs said the iPhone was scoring higher on customer satisfaction than any previous Apple product, with more than 90 percent of buyers saying they were "very happy" and 85 percent saying they would enthusiastically recommend the phone to a friend.

He said Apple chose to team with O2 "because they were the best culture fit with Apple in the U.K."

Asked about media reports that some British phone companies felt Apple had played them against each other, Jobs said, "You want to go on a few dates before you get married."

"Yes, we dated a few people but we didn't get married," he said. "But we found one we wanted to get married to, and we did. So there's a few upset girlfriends out there."

Nokia Launches E51 Business Phone

Nokia has extended its Eseries portfolio of business devices with the introduction of the new Nokia E51 device. Nokia E51 users with Nokia mobility solutions can experience mobile telephony, mobile email and messaging, office phone functionality, and cost savings – with the convenience of one phone number, one voice mailbox, and one dial plan – in a single device.

The Nokia E51 also extends business value to end-users and businesses through through Nokia Mobile Unified Communications solutions such as Nokia Intellisync Call Connect for Cisco and Nokia Intellisync Call Connect for Alcatel. These solutions deliver desk phone calling features – such as extension dialing, hold, transfer, and conferencing – to a single mobile device.

Companies can also reduce international call charges by routing calls over the corporate IP network.

The Nokia E51 comes equipped with an integrated FM radio, multimedia player and a 2 megapixel camera. It supports Wi-Fi and EDGE, as well as Bluetooth with A2DP compatibility, Infrared and VoIP.

The phone has a 2.2 inch TFT display with a resolution of 240 x 320 pixels with 16m colors. It has 130MB of internal memory and also supports microSD cards for external memory.

The E51 will be globally available during the fourth quarter of 2007 for an unsubsidized retail price of approximately Rs. 19,650 (350 Euro).

Bharti Airtel Signs Network Deal With Huawei

Bharti Airtel Lanka Private Limited, a subsidiary of Bharti Airtel Limited, today announced that it has signed a managed networks deal for its Sri Lanka operations with Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd.

The three-year deal is valued at approximately $150 million and includes telecom applications and software. With the network deal in place, customers in Sri Lanka can look forward to a host of products and services at an affordable price.

The technology from Huawei is expected to reduce Bharti Airtel’s total cost of ownership (TCO), as well as enhance its competitive edge. Specifically, Huawei's Distributed Node B will enable Bharti to deploy the network faster and more cost-effectively.

Bharti Airtel was recently awarded a license to provide 2G and 3G mobile services in Sri Lanka. Under the agreement, Huawei will deploy and manage Airtel’s core network, Node-Bs and BTSs and comprehensive end-to-end 2G/3G network solutions.

"Bharti Airtel is committed to creating a state-of-the-art mobile network and offering world-class and affordable 2G and 3G services to customers in Sri Lanka. Huawei has established credentials as a global company producing high quality products and solutions. We are delighted to be partnering Huawei in this endeavour," said Sanjay Nandrajog, executive director, international operations and managed services, Bharti Airtel.

Max Yang, CEO, Huawei India said, "We're extremely proud and happy to partner with Bharti Airtel. We look forward to continuing this strategic partnership by providing innovative and customer-oriented solutions and services including wireless solutions."

Windows Mobile Sales Touch 1,00,000

Microsoft’s Windows Mobile (WM) has achieved record sales of 1,00,000 units in just over 15 months of its launch in India, making it the fastest growing mobile operating system in the country.

This has been a result of WM's powerful value proposition that allows consumers to remain connected while on the move and work anytime, anywhere. WM devices provide an integration of enterprise as well as consumer features at affordable prices and are therefore widely embraced within all segments.

Over the last year, WM has had a growing partnership with leading smartphone manufacturers such as HTC, HP (iPAQ), Imate, O2 and Motorola , and has significantly increased its portfolio of form factors. Today, WM offers India’s widest portfolio of form factors with close to 35 models (including 20+ touchscreen phones) at prices starting from Rs. 11,990.

"The one lakh mark is a significant achievement for any player in the messaging space. We are greatly enthused by the response we have received, and at crossing this important milestone. We aim to touch the two lakh figure by end of FY08," said Sumeet Gugnani, director, mobile communications business, Microsoft India.

Windows Mobile, which had achieved a record market share of 30.5% in Q1 2007 (according to IDC quarterly tracker) maintained its shipment level this quarter as well as shipping more than 20,000 units of WM-based phones, underlining its leadership position in the messaging segment.

According to IDC Worldwide Converged Mobile Device 2006-2011 Forecast and Analysis, May 2007, Windows Mobile is expected to see a CAGR of 57.0%, the highest rate of growth among the top five platforms through 2011.

"Mobility is a key focus area for Microsoft, both in India and globally, and we have over 1300 gold certified partners working just in this area, developing applications for the Windows Mobile platform. We believe in empowering our consumers with powerful software which can enable them to remain connected anytime, anywhere – and Windows Mobile is one such significant innovation which makes this possible," added Gugnani.

Microsoft has recently launched the next iteration of Windows Mobile platform – Windows Mobile 6 – which is currently available on models such as HTC Touch, HTC S710, HP iPAQ 512, and O2 Zinc.

Microsoft Windows Mobile smartphones offer a high value proposition to users – such as Office on the move, push mail, line-of-business applications, and multimedia functionality. They also offer security features most requested by enterprise customers, such as data and password protection, and remote and local wipe, which allows them to have complete control of their vital information.

5MP K850i Mobile from Sony Ericsson

Sony Ericsson has finally launched its 5 megapixel, autofocus Cybershot camera – the K850i . This phone is equipped with 16x digital zoom and incorporates a feature called BestPic that allows clicking as many as nine images at once so you can select the best from those images.

Another feature incorporated into the K850i is the Photofix feature, which automatically adjusts the combination of light, contrast and brightness to provide the best images. The camera is also compatible with PictBridge.

The K850i is also designed to be a fully functional multimedia device for music, videos and podcasts. It’s equipped with a 2.2 inch crystal bright display that’s also scratch-resistant, with 262K colors and a resolution of 240 x 320 pixels.

The phone is well-equipped for various types of connectivity, so you get 3G capabilities, HSDPA, EDGE, Bluetooth with A2DP compatibility, and USB supports as well.

The camera is equipped with a Xenon flash and an auto lens cover with three LEDs for shooting in video mode. It has a secondary VGA camera for video calling. Among other features is an integrated FM radio with RDS and TrackId for music recognition. There’s also a motion sensor with an auto rotate feature that displays images in the correct aspect – portrait or landscape – irrespective of the orientation it was taken in.

Even though the phone has just been unveiled officially, it doesn't come with a price tag of any sort yet. But it is expected to start shipping in the fourth quarter of this year.

Hutch is Now Vodafone

Come September 21, 2007, Hutch will be renamed Vodafone. Vodafone had acquired 67 per cent in Hutchison Essar from Hong Kong-based Hutchison Whampoa a few months ago, in a bid to enter the fast-growing Indian market.

Global player Vodafone completed the acquisition of Hutchison Essar in May 2007 and the company was formally renamed Vodafone Essar in July 2007.

Asim Ghosh, MD, Vodafone Essar, says, "We’ve had a good innings as Hutch in India and today marks a new beginning for us, not as a departure from the fundamentals that created Hutch, but an acceleration into the future with Vodafone’s global expertise."

This transition is estimated to touch over 35 million customers across 400,000 shops and thousands of Hutch’s own employees, as well as employees of its business associates. This makes it the largest ever transformation for Hutch, considering the fact that in India, the brand itself has undergone several changes in the past.