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.

Fujitsu Launches New Lifebook Models

Fujitsu has announced two new additions to its SOHO and business user lines: the Lifebook S6510 and the Lifebook S2710. These laptops are designed with both security and performance in mind for the road warrior or the busy executive.

The 14.1-inch widescreen LifeBook S6510 weighs just 4 pounds and packs an array of features ranging from a choice of speedy Intel Core 2 Duo processors (ranging from 2 GHz to 2.4 GHz clock speed), up to 4GB RAM, a combo DVD/CD-RW or dual-layer DVD writer, a selection of shock-mounted hard drives ranging from 40GB to 120GB, a magnesium-alloy body, turbo memory, 1.3-megapixel webcam for videoconferencing, 802.11a/b/g/n Wi-Fi, and Windows Vista Business or XP operating system.

The S7210 boasts the same features as the S6510, but includes a dedicated smartcard slot, an ExpressCard/54 slot and an option of using Windows Vista Home Premium in addition to Vista Business or XP.

In terms of security, Fujtisu has provided a biometric fingerprint reader, TPM, a theft-deterrent security panel with more than 800,000 passwords, and the optional Computrace LoJack service, which tracks and recovers lost or stolen notebooks when they connect to the web.

The Fujitsu LifeBook S6510 ($1,529) and LifeBook S7210 ($1,329) are now available in retail channels.

'Friends of Friends' Feature on XBL This Fall

If you’ve been hoping for DivX support in the Xbox Live update, you’re in for a disappointment. If you need to share your sorrow but don’t have too many people on your friends list, the good news is that after the update you’ll be able to share it with your friends’ friends too!

The update that’ll debut on December 4th will have a ‘Friends of Friends’ feature that’ll allow you to connect with the people on your friends’ lists.

Thankfully, the service will be tweakable to allow or disallow this feature, or simply allow people on your friends list to see other friends of yours. Those over 18 years of age will have this feature on by default, while those under 13 will have this feature locked (in the name of safety).

Microsoft has always talked of XBL as a gaming community service; I guess this takes it a step further into social-networking territory, which is a good thing. But quite frankly, I’d prefer DivX support!

[Via ShackNews]

Transcend Reveals 4GB MP3 PlayerTranscend Reveals 4GB MP3 Player

Transcend is out with yet another slim DAP (Digital Audio Player) in their T.sonic range – the T.sonic 650. This lightweight player (30g) is flash-based with 4GB of internal memory. It also has a feature the compnay calls ‘Voice Activation Detection’. We don’t have any definite idea what that means exactly but perhaps the name is a clue itself. The player supports MP3, WMA, WMA-DRM10 and is also equipped with an integrated FM radio as well. Like most models this T.sonic also has an OLED display.

The price has not yet been disclosed nor has any release date been made evident.

Deus Ex 3 Confirmed!

Eidos celebrated the opening of their brand new studio in new Montreal with an announcement that’s gonna make you scream… are you ready for it, huh? … are you..?

Bah! Who am I kidding? This build-up’s definitely not working (since you’ve already read the headline) so I’ll give it to you straight – Ladies and Gentlemen, Deus Ex 3 is officially in development (*applause*)!

Rob Murphy, Managing Director of Studios at Eidos, had this to say:

"This is a very exciting day for Eidos."

"Deus Ex is one of our finest franchises, often cited as one of the best PC games of all time. By developing this game at our new cutting-edge Montreal studio we have the opportunity to really push the boundaries of expectation for Deus Ex 3."

There’s no doubt that the original was amongst the finest games ever; Deus Ex 2: Invisible War was a complete crapfest though, and I sure as hell hope that they don’t make the third iteration anything like it. Either way, here’s wishing the guys at Eidos new Montreal luck, and hoping that they give us great games for many years to come.

[Via 1up.com]

40 GB PlayStation 3 Officially Launched Here

The 40 GB PS3 was finally announced (officially) at the PlayStation Experience Expo, and it’s priced somewhat reasonably at Rs. 24,990. However, this price drop comes at a cost –

"The new model is no longer backwards compatible with PlayStation 2 titles, reflecting both the reduced emphasis placed on this feature amongst later purchasers of PS3, as well as the availability of a more extensive line-up of PS3 specific titles (a total of 65 titles across all genres by Christmas)."

Here’s what Atindriya Bose, Country Manager of Sony Computer Entertainment, India:

"The introduction of high definition gaming and entertainment systems among the Indian audience is a result of extensive research which has resulted in creating an entire new dimension to the overall entertainment experience".

Even at 25k the PS3’s Indian price is significantly higher than the Rs. 16,000 approx. (USD $399) US price tag.

On a side note, we’ll tell you more about the PlayStation Experience Expo in our feature tomorrow. Stay tuned.

LG Launches 2 Entry Level Handsets

LG Electronics India Pvt. Limited (LGEIL), has launched two new mobile handsets - KG 288 and KG 285. These handsets are an addition to LG’s entry portfolio and are targeted at the entry-level customer. Both models are loaded with an anti-theft tracker and have features like Sudoku and in the case of the KG288, a hot key for FM radio.

Anil Arora, Business Group Head, GSM said, “LG has always been on the forefront in launching new technology and wrapping it up with the style quotient. In our latest offering, we have continued with this trend by providing the customer attractive features at unbeatable prices.”

The KG 288 and 285 are equipped with TFT 65K Color Displays; 300 entry phone book memory and 100 SMS memory. Both models also have speaker phones and are dual band handsets. Other features include a stopwatch function, calendar and an alarm. The KG 288 also comes with an inbox headset for listening to FM.

The KG 288 and KG 285 will be available in the market for Rs. 1,949 and Rs.1,649 respectively.

Pentax Optio M40 Launched in India

India Digital Life Style Distributors Pvt. Ltd (IDLDPL) has launched the Pentax Optio M40 compact digicam in the Indian market recently. According to the company, the biggest feature of Pentax Optio M40 is that it is an 8.0 mega pixel point and shoot camera. Besides, it has a 3X optical zoom lens and 2.5 inch LCD screen. The Pentax Optio M40 measures 18mm in depth and is encased in an aluminum cover and features digital shake reduction and face recognition technologies (AF and AE). It also comes with 16 shooting modes including the new 'natural skin tone', 'pet' and 'food' modes. The lens has an equivalent focal length of 36 to 108mm. Besides, The Pentax Optio M40 has 21.9 megabytes of internal memory and comes with a special carry-case.

Surinder Saini, VP-Sales, IDLDPL, said, "It is so easy to operate as you need not to be an expert to capture good quality images. Pentax Optio M40 is intelligent enough to capture the best quality photograph. Who does not want to have a digital camera now-a-days? But, one wants it to be hassle free, stylish, and easy to carry with a high quality image output. I think Pentax Optio M40 possesses all the qualities and it is the best one can have, to experience the magic of digital photography at an affordable price. We are really proud to be associated with Pentax brand and our efforts will be to push this product aggressively in the Indian market and garner very good market share"

Pentax Optio M40 further is compatible with PictBridge, DPOF functions; Exif Print, PRINT Image Matching III and Auto Picture mode automatically determines the best settings for the shooting conditions.

The camera is priced at Rs. 15490.

MS India to Launch 6 GFW Titles in November

Microsoft India is all set to warm your PC up this holiday season with six Games for Windows titles that’ll be available all over India 27th of November 2007 onward and they go something like this:

Zoo Tycoon 2 Extinct Animals Expansion pack - Rs 1,149/-
Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties – Rs 1,149/-
Age of Empires III Gold – Rs 1,649/-
Flight Simulator X Expansion Pack – Rs 1,649/-
Gears of War – Rs 1,649/-
Viva Piñata – Rs 1,649/-

Opera Mini Now on Tata Indicom Handsets

Opera Software has announced an initiative with Tata Teleservices to provide Opera Mini on its upcoming BREW-enabled handsets. The browser will be made available first on the Huawei C2900i, a mass market BREW-enabled handset.

This is the first delivery of Opera Mini on a BREW-enabled handset and marks Opera's entry into the Indian market.

According to Gartner India's mobile phone market is set for a period of rapid growth, with revenue from cellular services expected to jump by more than 18 per cent year on year for the next five years. Indian mobile data revenue is expected to outpace that of voice services and contribute to about a fifth of total revenues by 2011, doubling year on year.

A report by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, (TRAI) the Indian telecom industry watchdog, suggests that the number of Indian consumers connecting to the Internet via mobile handsets has more than doubled in just over a year - to 38 million from 16 million.

Mobile web browser Opera Mini, will provide users with access to the Web on the go. Opera Mini will also support local language Web sites such as BBC Hindi, Dainik Bhaskar and others and will include bookmarks, secure access to e-mail and online banking.

"We are bringing the world's best mobile Web browsing experience to India and are the first operator to enable this experience for Indian consumers. Mobile Web on affordable mobile devices will open up the power of the Internet to a huge base of consumers, in a language of their choice. Tata Indicom's superior CDMA capabilities, coupled with Opera Mini's unique capabilities, will bring a delightful browsing experience to our customers," said Pankaj Sethi, President, VAS & Enterprise Marketing, Tata Teleservices Ltd.

"India continues to be an important market for Opera and we are excited to partner with Tata Teleservices to offer the full power of the Internet to mobile users in India. Opera's focus on innovation is what differentiates the company in the market today. The new Opera Mini on BREW solution clearly demonstrates our vision and commitment to providing an outstanding Web browsing experience on mobile phones to customers in India," says Jon von Tetzchner, Chief Executive Officer, Opera Software.

SMS Acer to Find The Closest Retailer

Acer India has announced a new initiative for customers to find the closest Acer authorized retailer in their locality.

Customers can now use Acer's SMS Locator to find Acer malls and Acer points, closest to them, by just sending an SMS to 53030. Acer also provides its customers the option of availing a list of all the Acer branded stores in their city by typing on their mobile phones and sending it to 53030.

S Rajendran, GM, Sales & Marketing, Mobility and Display Products Group, Acer India, said, "Life is Busy, Acer makes it Easy. The SMS dealer locator is designed at making it easier for customers to own an Acer product by helping them get to the nearest Acer brand store with minimum effort."

The 'SMS Dealer Locator' facility is being offered to Acer's customers across Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkatta, Chennai, Bangalore, Pune, Hyderabad, Ahemdabad, Chandigarh and Jaipur.

Orange Box (PS3) Might Be 'Unplayable'?

If you’ve been looking forward to playing the Orange Box on your beloved PS3, you might be in for a big disappointment. At least that’s what 1up.com’s preview says. Here it is in their words:

"After spending a significant amount of time with a near final version of the PS3 game, it's apparent that this version suffers from a number of technical flaws, which at best merely hinder game play and at worst make the experience downright unplayable."

At yesterday's PlayStation Experience event at Taj Land’s End, Mumbai (which rocked by the way; we’ll have an article up to tell you what went down at the event), we had a chance to get our hands on an early build of Portal and it didn’t frame that badly. The textures did seem a little off though, but I guess they'll fix that in the final build.

For those of you that don’t already know, the Orange Box is being ported for the PS3 by EA's internal studio since Valve didn’t want anything to do with it. If you remember, Valve Software’s founder Gabe Newell called the PS3 "a waste of everybody's time"; I guess his attitude’s reflected in the kind of treatment the Orange Box’s getting on the console.

[Via Joystiq.com]

Mobile-based Security for BPO Employees

Even as the rape and murder of a Pune call center employee by her cab driver is fresh in everyone's minds, a software analyst has developed a mobile phone-based system that may provide better protection to BPO staff in transit.

"After two cases of rape and murder of female call centre employees, BPO firms have an uphill task so far as security is concerned. And here comes our system - simple and effective," said Chennai-based V M Sankaran Nampoothiri, who is currently associated with the software firm LatticeBridge in Chennai.

"The GPS-based systems are not adequate as India have not developed maps for every single nook and corner of our cities. However, our system 'Webtra' will work everywhere as it is mobile technology-based," he added.

As soon as an employee gets into a cab, he/she will log on to the mobile phone and send an SMS to a centralised number and after five minutes, a message automatically goes to the employee.

"If he or she does not respond to the message, a call will follow after five minutes. If the person fails to respond, the system will declare a crisis alert. The transport department will then call the family or any close friend of the person and all other employees who are slotted in the cab," he said.

"It is really foolish to expect that a person in trouble will be able to call any helpline or office. For us, it's not communication but break of communication that is a good alert."

Nampoothiri claimed that two BPOs - one each in Bangalore and Chennai - were currently using his system, but scores of others were in talks with him.

Earlier this month, a Wipro call centre employee in Pune was found raped and murdered by her cab driver. Last year, a Bangalore-based woman employee had faced a similar fate and the culprit was again the cab driver.

Nampoothiri said there were six reasons for delay in arriving in office or reaching home - traffic, mechanical failure, diversion from original path (indicator of a possible crime), bad health, accident and delay by staff.

"Our system has a data base of thousands of hospitals across the country and this can help employees and companies rush them to a nearby hospital in case of emergency," said the analyst, who was in Delhi to meet some leading BPO firms in the national capital region.

When asked about false alerts and subsequent chaos that the system may create, the analyst said: "Since these employees are young, you can expect them to ignore messages but they will be on their toes. Due to their negligence, the system may sound 90 percent false alerts but the remaining 10 percent will be of great help."

The analyst, who has been associated with the industry for 16 years, said the cost of installing the system could be around Rs 350 per person per month.

"If a company wants to install the system with speech detectors, the cost will be more. A speech detector could translate at least 10 languages and scores of regional accents into English. This will help in deciphering the voice and language of a cab driver and employees," said Nampoothiri.

Vertu Launches Ascent Ti in India

Amidst music, dance and a fabulous light show, Vertu launched another mobile in the Indian market: the Vertu Ascent Ti. The Ascent Ti is a quad-band 3G handset with a 3 megapixel camera with flash – the first in the Vertu series to have one. Vertu's motto "precision engineered for strength and balance with a distinctly masculine edge" seems a fitting description of this very high-end phone.

Says Frank Nuovo, Vertu Principal Designer: "From the start the Vertu Ascent has been heavily influenced by the power, energy, and sheer precision of a beautiful car. With the Ascent Ti, this vision has been developed further using the high grade materials, design detail, technical superiority and unsurpassed performance associated with the luxury sports car industry. The result is a highly crafted handset of precision, balance and strength."

The Vertu Ascent Ti is handcrafted in England and looks as if it’s been designed to a 'boys-and-their-toys' motif. And while the exteriors may embody some of the most brilliant automobiles ever designed, the software provides users with the same feel.

The Vertu is crafted out of Titanium, which explains the ‘Ti’ suffix (chemical symbol for Titanium). For those who came in late, Titanium is a non-corrosive element with the highest strength-to-weight ratio of any metal and an ability to withstand extreme temperatures.

The top rear of the instrument is covered in cowhide and it’s available in three colors: black or red leather with a black ceramic pillow, or brown with a silver ceramic pillow. It also has a scratch-resistant sapphire crystal face made from the same material that's used for the camera lens.

The Ascent Ti has a S40 interface – the latest version of course – and it’s complemented with applications specific to these phones. For example, 'Vertu Fortress' technology allows the remote synchronization of contacts, calendar, notes etc. and backs up all stored data to a high security server maintained in an ex-military bunker at a secure location in the English countryside. Customers can access their private data via a personal account on vertu.com. If a customer loses an Ascent Ti phone, all data can be quickly reinstated to a new mobile phone.

The Vertu Ascent Ti is available in India at a not inconsiderable price of Rs 3,26,000 (RRP).

'Hanuman Returns' on Mobile Phones

India's original mythological hero - Hanuman - would be available on mobile handsets as well when the animated sequel 'Hanuman Returns' hits the theaters in December.

Mobile games developer Jump Games has signed a two-year exclusive worldwide contract with entertainment company Percept Picture Co (PPC) to launch mobile games based on the film.

Hanuman's human avatar will be zipping past meteors and demons with his mighty weapon both on the silver screen and on mobile screens.

"The first game of the Hanuman series is titled 'Hanuman Returns' and features Hanuman in his human avatar who is reborn on earth with the blessings of Lord Brahma. This game will be released in December 2007 in India," said Salil Bhargava, CEO, Jump Games.

"If Hanuman was a mythological character-based animation film, 'Hanuman Returns' goes a step forward - it shows the character as a mythological super hero."

Fast-paced and packed with smashing animation, 'Hanuman Returns' takes the player on Hanuman's exotic journey across jungles, outer space and far-fetched cities.

Speaking on the tie-up, Bhargava said: "Hanuman Returns is a brilliant game that will appeal to audiences globally. The games recreate the experience of the animated film on to the mobile platform. We're in the process of creating a series of games based on the animated film in association with Percept Pictures."
"Hanuman has the potential to be a globally recognized brand and thus we intend to release it not only on a national scale but also in various international languages to ensure everyone gets an opportunity to view this visual treat," said Preet Bedi, CEO, PPC.

Half Life 2: Episode 2 Demo on Xbox Live

Valve’s allowing Xbox 360 owners a sneak peek at their most excellent compilation, The Orange Box, in the form of a single player demo of Half Life 2: Episode 2. While we haven’t tried the demo ourselves, we do know that it weighs in at around 730 MB, and that demos of Portal and Team Fortress 2 are expected in the near future.

The PC version of the Orange Box has been available for a while now for just Rs 999, while the Xbox 360 version has just hit retail this week for Rs 1999. PS3 owners, on the other hand, will have to wait till the second week of December to get their hands on this compilation.

Head right here for our Orange Box review.

Unreal Tournament 3 (PS3) Goes Gold

Barely a week after its PC counterpart hit the stores, we get word that Epic’s Unreal Tournament 3 has finally gone gold for the PS3 and should be on the shelves by December 10.

Unreal Tournament 3 marks the return of the premiere tournament-style first-person shooter. It unleashes the full power of Unreal Engine 3, taking graphics, gameplay, and challenge to a whole new level. Players engage in intense and hyper-real battles with other human players online or against incredibly realistic Unreal AI. Over two dozen weapons and vehicles have been upgraded and enhanced for maximum killing potential. Take on all comers in a variety of game modes, including Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, Capture the Flag, an all-new Warfare mode, and more.

Hitman Movie hits Theatres Today

Everyone’s favorite assassin has finally made the transition to the silver screen, with his very first motion picture that’s set to open worldwide today. The movie stars Live Free or Die Hard’s Timothy Olyphant as the silent assassin and chronicles his violent journey through Europe as he does a number on a variety of people.

I’ve seen the movie’s posters at Inox so I’m guessing the movie’s going to release in India as well.

Transfer iPod Music Without a PC

Imagine if you will, you have an iPod. That wasn’t too hard now was it? Now imagine if your friend has one too and has some music you really want. The problem is you’ll have to take your iPod to their PC connect it and transfer files onto your iPod. What potentially could go wrong is if you end up syncing it to that PC by mistake, you’ll lose all your data. Now imagine you’re hiking though the hills and are nowhere next to a PC, particularly your friends PC.

A company called miShare has developed a tool for just such quandaries. It's small enough to fit in your pocket and is equipped with two Apple iPod ports at either end. The iPods simply need to be hooked up to the said ports and files can be transferred between the two devices. In order to begin the transfer process the center buttons need to be pressed. The miShare runs on a Linux platform and it offers a choice between images, movies or music to be transferred.

It has its own power source through an internal battery that can be charged with an AC adapter. The price nor release date has not been disclosed yet, however it is expected to be out sometime in December.

Via Engadget.

Sony Ericsson P1i Gets BlackBerry Connect

Sony Ericsson and Research In Motion (RIM) have announced out-of-the-box availability of BlackBerry Connect software v4.0 on the Sony Ericsson P1i in various countries in the Asia Pacific region, including Australia, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand.

BlackBerry Connect will be pre-loaded on the Sony Ericsson P1i and supports push-based wireless email services, including attachment viewing and wireless email synchronization, in conjunction with both BlackBerry Enterprise Server and BlackBerry Internet Service.

The P1i is Sony Ericsson's fifth-generation P-series smartphone and combines a stylish, premium finish with a pocket-sized form factor. It lets the user choose how they interact with the phone by using its three-way input interface, as well as manage new business contacts through the 3.2 megapixel camera with auto focus that doubles as a business card scanner. The Sony Ericsson P1i operates on hi-speed UMTS and supports Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and VoIP.

Existing Sony Ericsson P1i users can download the BlackBerry Connect v4.0 software from the Sony Ericsson website at www.sonyericsson.com.

Yahoo! Mail Now Fully Accessible

Yahoo! India Research & Development has made its new Yahoo! Mail "fully accessible" to people with different disabilities.

The company maintains that with this, people with visual and other disabilities will be able to use Yahoo! Mail Classic with similar ease as other users and that it will work on all standard screen reader software.

Assisted by Yahoo! Accessibility Guru Victor Tsaran, the Yahoo! India R&D team in Bangalore played pivotal role in making the new Yahoo! Mail fully accessible. The company maintains that it has a dedicated team of accessibility experts who ensure that Yahoo! products benefit all users with disabilities but it istill is important that users familiarize themselves with the screen reader and screen magnifier software before using Yahoo! products with Accessibility features.

With basic Internet connectivity, any user with physical disabilities can experience the new Yahoo! Mail, said the company.

XFX Introduces 8800 GT "Alpha Dog Edition"

XFX has announced its edition of the 8800 GT chipset, namely the "8800 GT Alpha Dog edition". This new card features a unique thermal fansink design that allows a punch up in its core clock from the industry standard 600 MHz to 625 Mhz. This allows it to be up to 8 degree cooler in 3D applications. In addition to that other technical improvements have been made that include enhanced fan speed and improved air flow. This ensures that this 8800 GT runs cooler than other products in this range. Apart from the improved core clock, selected factory over clocked Alpha dog cards are also available in XXX and XT versions.

The card comes in a sleek glossy black finish and features an aluminum stress bar to help stabilize the PCB. The card is HDTV-, SLI-, HDCP- and RoHS-ready. It offers 512MB of DDR3 RAM and has support for Dual Dual-Link DVI. This enables the 8800 GT to drive the industry’s largest and highest resolution flat panel displays, supporting digital output of up to 2560x1600 on not one - but two - displays.

This card is available at Rs. 14,500 + taxes.

HCL Ties up With Chennai Colleges

HCL Technologies has signed an MoU with six colleges in Chennai, starting its first campus initiative.

This initiative includes 'GoPro' - a career development program to develop the next generation of corporate community and tie-up's with women's colleges to encourage and widen the gender representation in the corporate world.

The 'GoPro' program aims at training in non-technical and soft skills in preparing a student to become a professional, to increase their 'employability' quotient. The training module would include soft skills, communication, etiquette and attitudinal and behavioral skills. The initiative is also structured to encourage 'innovation and creativity' among students. Varied competitions and campaigns on innovation and creativity would be rolled out.

Apart from tie-ups with Engineering colleges, this initiative includes tying up with women's colleges from arts & science backgrounds to encourage gender representation and diversity in the professional workforce. HCL will also set up 'Technology Labs' to facilitate training and research work for students and introduce 'Faculty Enablement Program' for the faculty, to engage them to interact with experts in certain areas of technology.

The colleges that HCL is signing this MoU with are the Chennai based Ethiraj college for Women, MOP Vaishnav college for Women, Stella Maris, SSN College of Engineering, Sri Venkateswara College of Engineering and Thiagarajar College of Engineering from Madurai.

Ravi Shankar, Global Head - Talent Management Group said, "It is important for students to be developed in all aspects of a profession, apart from expertise in a particular field. This is a first step in our engagement with educational institutes to equip students to face the challenges of the corporate. Going forward HCL plans to associate with various other colleges across the country including in Delhi and Bangalore. Our training programme is designed essentially to help the young graduates to imbibe qualities as per the present industry requirement and learn to experiment and innovate for their future growth."

Genius Announces New iPod Speakers

Taiwan based Genius has extended its line of speakers for the iPods with the 2.1 iTempo 800CD equipped with an incorporated subwoofer, CD player, iPod dock, AM/FM tuner, USB flash disk slot and SD/MMC card slot.

The audio system has two built-in 2" full-range drivers and one 4" woofer, delivering up to 20 watts real RMS output power.

iTempo 800 CD ropes USB disk (USB 1.1 and 2.0) and SD/MMC card to playback files and show the ID3 tag on the LCD display while the AM and FM Tuner have 20 preset stations each. The speakers also include two line-in jacks for connecting to other audio sources, one headphone jack and a clock and alarm with wake up and sleep features.

Sandeep Ramani, Country Manager, KYE Systems (India) said, the Genius iTempo 800CD is an ultimate iPod speaker system which promises to go well along with all the features of entertainment and a rare alarm clock feature with wake up and sleep features. I am sure it will be a hit among many music enthusiasts & lovers. It also reflects our commitment to research and our passion for offering people new ways to enjoy."
The Genius iTempo 800CD, is available with Transtek, Ingram Micro and Redington, the authorized distributors for Genius in India for Rs. 13500 and comes with one year warranty.

Buffalo Brings Wi-fi Gaming Device to India

Buffalo Incorporation, developer and manufacturer of wired and wireless networking, storage and memory solutions, has brought their game-centric device, Buffalo Wi-Fi Gamers (WCA-G), to India.

This device supports Nintendo Wii, DS, DS Lite, Sony PSP, and Playstation3 consoles and allows users to access online games with the push of a button. Buffalo's AirStation One-Touch Secure System (AOSS) provides instant connection to the internet, stores security settings and allows linking of devices.

As small as a playing card box, the device plugs into an available port on an existing LAN. Once connected, users can connect the device to the Internet . After pressing the corresponding AOSS button on the Wi-Fi Gamers and gaming console screen, users can play online games. It also manages the different levels of support security amongst different gaming consoles.

An embedded LCD monitor shows current set up status, the status of AOSS, wireless network and connection status. Other features include Wireless Channel Display, Auto Channel Selection, Manually Change Wireless Channel, Show Connected Devices and a Firmware Upgrade.

"We wanted to give a wireless gaming experience to the users with the high performance abilities," said Morikazu Sano, Senior Vice President, Global Sales and Marketing at Buffalo. "User needs not to take manual steps for establishing a secure wireless connection and it does save the security key for you after the first entry so users can just start you game", he added.

With a limited two-year warranty, Buffalo's Wi-Fi Gamers (WCA-G) will be available at the end of the month at Rs. 2400 through retailers, online resellers and Buffalo's Web site www.buffalotech.com.