Honest

^^^ Yes my dear Amit, Acer could slash the prices here in India too. But still their is no confirmation. Regards.

Reliance ADAG still eyeing MGM: Report The Times of India l 30 September 2008 Reliance ADA group has restarted talks over a potential buyout or equity investment in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, the New York Post reported. Several sources involved or close to the discussions told the paper that the talks were "exploratory," and that Reliance's bankers at UBS were trying to come up with a deal structure "that makes the numbers work." Former Yahoo Inc and Warner Bros Entertainment CEO Terry Semel and News Corp have also expressed interest in MGM, the paper said. Earlier this month, DreamWorks reached a deal with Reliance ADAG for $1.2 billion in new financing to leave Paramount and produce movies as an independent studio. Reliance's talks for MGM were put on hold while it finalized its deal with DreamWorks, but it is still keenly interested, the paper said. An outright purchase of MGM would trigger change-of-control provisions in the studio's credit lines that the lending banks could use to withdraw funding, the paper said. "Reliance would want to bring that credit with them to help with leverage and in determining how much money to put in," the Post quoted a source close to MGM as saying. Reliance, which is controlled by billionaire Anil Ambani, in May signed deals with eight Hollywood production houses run by A-list actors, including George Clooney and Brad Pitt. Reliance ADA and News Corp did not immediately return calls seeking comment. Terry Semel was not immediately available for comment.

No 3G bid sans Indian partner: DIPP 30 Sep, 2008, 0515 hrs IST, ET NEW DELHI: The home ministry and the department of industrial policy and promotion (DIPP) have shot down DoT’s plans to let foreign telcos bid for 3G spectrum without an Indian partner. Telecom secretary Siddarth Behura had recently said that foreign telcos would be allowed to participate in the upcoming 3G auctions on their own, and added that successful bidders would be given time to find JV partners and get the mandatory clearance from the foreign investment promotion board (FIPB). The FDI policy allows only 74% foreign investment in telecom. Therefore, foreign companies cannot do without Indian partners. DIPP officials say that allowing a foreign company to bid on its own amounts to allowing 100% FDI in the sector, thereby violating the 74% FDI norm. “This kind of flexibility is not provided in any sector and it should not be done in a sensitive sector like telecom,” DIPP sources told ET. The home ministry is of the view that spectrum cannot be allocated to any player without security clearance for all the partners. Home ministry sources also said that the allowing stand-alone foreign firms to bid as 100% entities would imply a blanket (or blind) security clearance for both the company as well as its potential partners. “Once spectrum is allotted, it could become messy if the foreign company or its partner(s) are considered ‘undesirable’ by the government from the security point of view,’ home ministry sources said. They also added that since security screening happens at multiple stages now––first when FDI is cleared by FIPB and again when spectrum is allocated–– it would not be possible to give this leeway to foreign telcos. The objections from both the DIPP and the home ministry is set to put DoT in a fix. It may also impact the participation of foreign telcos in the upcoming auctions. Importantly, lesser or lower participation by foreign telcos can also impact the revenues the government plans to garner from the 3G spectrum auctions. The DoT had agreed to give this leeway to foreign telcos in a bid to speed up their entry into the Indian market. This is because, with the first round of 3G spectrum auction just a month or two away, several international communication majors had said that it would not be possible to enter into JVs with Indian partners at such a short notice. Foreign telcos had also said that they want to avoid the possibility, where after having tied up with Indian partners, they fail to bag 3G spectrum and then disband their JVs.

Fake handsets posing threat to mobile majors 26 Sep, 2008, 0000 hrs IST, ET Next time you buy a handset be careful of the model number. You could easily end up paying a bomb for your Nokia dream handset, which is actually a fake. And by the time you realise that your new mobile N95 is actually N95 ‘g’, it could be too late. Over a million fake handsets are being sold in India every month and branded mobile makers, including Nokia, Sony Ericsson and Samsung, could be losing a whopping Rs 400 crore to duplicates, according to the Indian Cellular Association (ICA), the representative body of mobile manufacturers, distributors and retailers. This translates into annual loss of over Rs 4,800 crore, nearly a billion dollars, and the number is growing by the day. Market share of handset vendors is adversely affected due to duplicate devices. Fakes of batteries, earphones and chargers are also available in plenty in India. The sale is done through not only local mobile phone shops but also some specialised retail chains, who stock them discreetly. Duplicates are sourced from China and Taiwan and don’t have even half the features that they proclaim. Model name and numbering on handsets are almost similar to that of the established players. Like a fake of Sony Ericsson W960 is available as Soni Ericsson W960. India is adding over 9-million wireless subscribers every month. Buyers in tier II towns and villages, who are driving the current wave of subscriber addition, are falling easy prey to duplicates because of lack of awareness as well as lower prices. “A large chunk of duplicate handsets are being sold in small towns. The pricing is less than that of the originals. They also claim to have features that are actually not present in the handset. So customers end up being duped,” ICA president Pankaj Mahindroo told ET. Every genuine handset has an international mobile equipment identity (IMEI) number, which is unique. It is printed on the phone underneath the battery and is used by the GSM network to identify valid devices. Duplicate phones, on the other hand, come without an IMEI number and, of course, without a bill and warranty. Further, they don’t have the ICA hologram, which stands for quality and reliability. “Cheap duplicates from China are a security risk. The government should keep taxes and duties down to encourage sales of originals. When government increases taxes and duties, the grey market gets a boost and fakes have an easy time,” a top Nokia India official said. “The industry is losing nearly Rs 400 crore every month because of the sale of fake devices. The numbers have gone up substantially ever since the Chinese government delicensed the manufacturing industry,” Mr Kapoor said. Specific absorption rate (SAR) is an indication of the amount of radiation that is absorbed by body while using a cellphone. “Branded cellphones comply with global emission norms but duplicates pose health risks,” he added.

Govt plans to ring in fake-mobile count Economic Times l 30 September l Mumbai Intelligence agencies along with the department of telecom (DoT) and the ministry of consumer affairs (MCA) are planning to undertake audit of duplicate mobiles and take stringent steps to curb the import of fake devices, which are posing a threat to national security. These duplicates, which cannot be tracked due to the absence of a valid international mobile equipment identity (IMEI) number, are being used by anti-national elements as well as unsuspecting customers. The increased emphasis on IMEI number and the drive to track duplicates comes in the wake of serial blasts in Jaipur, Bangalore, Ahmedabad and Delhi in the past few months. “The government is planning to conduct an audit of over one crore subscribers who are using duplicate handsets,” sources told ET. To begin with, import of handsets are being checked more stringently. Low-cost Taiwanese and Chinese handsets are flooding India, which is adding over 9 million subscribers every month. Till now, it was not necessary to declare the IMEI number at the time of shipping devices into India. Now, all traders, manufacturers, importers and custom house agents importing mobile handsets have been asked to declare IMEI number, as appearing on the mobile sets, at time of filing of the bill of entry (a list of goods received at a customhouse as import or for export), said sources. This directive from the Commissioner of Custom (Import) was issued on September 12 and came into immediate effect. “Intelligence agencies are concerned because they can’t trace subscribers using duplicate handsets. These are sold without any invoice or IMEI number. Also, multiple sim cards are used on some of these handsets, making it difficult to track the user,” said sources. While Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Motorola as well as Samsung import handsets into the country, the main cause of worry are the unbranded handsets. It has been estimated by the Indian Cellular Association that nearly a million users are buying these duplicate handsets every month, causing loss of around Rs 400 crore to the branded players.

^^^ My dear Shyam, try Manish Market and you will definetely get the same their. Regards.

Coming soon: Phones with Radioactive Sensors Your phone will soon be able to sniff out nuclear weapons and dirty bombs That's correct. Phones of the near future might double-up as bomb sniffers and radioactive material detectors. This is not because existing technology is not "advanced" enough to detect radioactive stuff out on the loose. Rather, cellphones being mass produced devices will serve as an excellent platform to bring these sensors to the masses -- where no present-day sensors can go. Previous generation sensors installed at sensitive locations had one major problem: They were sensitive to any kind of radiation. For example, a sensor was not able to detect the difference between harmless radiation from Bananas (yes, bananas) and the genuinely scary stuff that comes off of Uranuim and Plutonium. Sensors triggering false alarms were common -- for example, a patient undergoing chemotherapy would have been identified as a "potential threat". With close to 350,000 radiation therapy patients just in Europe, false alarms had become commonplace. As technology improved, so did the sensors. Enter spectroscopic sensors. The newest kid on the block, it can determine if radiation is really harmful, thus reducing the chances of false alarms. However, there is a catch. The equipment used to detect are expensive and they can be installed only at entry and exit points of sensitve locations, which make their use restricted to commercial buildings; making them difficult to act as an effective anti-terrorism tool. China had installed many such sensors during the Beijing Olympics. So, how will your cell phone help detect radioactive material? Researchers at Purdue University have decided to "reinvent the wheel" and are on the lookout for cheap sensors that can be fitted inside cell phones. The project is known as "Distributed Nuclear Detection by Ubiquitous Cell Phone" and is designed to help detect "dirty" bombs and nuclear weapons by triangulating the source of the radiation. More the number of cellphones, the better the accuracy of detection. The best part is that locations where terrorists are likely to strike are cities, which also happen to have the greatest concentration of cell phones. As for the cost, it is estimated that the sensors would add less than $100 to the cost of the phone. The project is still in its infancy and for widespread deployment, an approval from the US congress would be required. The first operational system is being designed by Simon Labov, a researcher at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in northern California and is expected to be ready within 18 months. Courtesy : Techtree

^^^ Dear Mufaddal Sahab, is it a CRIME to hope anything for better. I don't think so at all. ^^^ No, sir, its not a war like situation at all. We all are friends here. The matter here is that the members are not agree with each other's views. And there's is no harm if a debate goes on in a HEALTHY MANNER. ^^^ Point noted my dear Dhiraj. Regards.

^^^ My dear Dheeraj, I think members here are smart enough to evaluate that who's using DOUBLE STANDARDS. There is no need to clarify this atleast by me. Our words reflects our image on the forum my dear friend. Actually, we all are free to post our views on the forum. We are not at all bound to agree with all that any member say / post. In this case it seems, your EXPECTATIONS are much higher that every member here should AGREE with your point of view. That's not possible my dear friend. You can't force any member to agree with your point of view. But your suggestions are always welcome. Although your opinions and views on the forum are good and appreciable always. Regards.

My dear friends, I too just called the CC of Reliance and they told me that although we can use any open market handset with Reliance but we won't be able to use Rworld in that handset. They told that Rworld can only be used with the handsets which are programmed by Reliance. Regards.

^^^ My dear Shashank, I think it should be of Reliance Gsm only. Regards.

Topic Title Updated.

^^^ My dear Dheeraj. Reliance allows to use open market handsets also. That's not at all ILLEGAL if we use Chinese handsets with Reliance. Although it could be surely ILLEGAL if anybody misuse any service provided by Reliance. And you better knows whats legal or illegal my dear friend. Regards.

^^^ Very correct my dear Mufaddal Sahab. Thats what I'm trying to say in all my posts in this thread......apni apni soch hai. Regard.s

^^^ My der friend, we could not blame all Chinese Handset Manufacturers for such a kind of activities. As all of them are not same at all. Some reputed chinese manufacturers doesn't fall in the above category. And that makes the difference. We are not against the new technology or the R&D by some big manufacturers but at the same time we should not say that only biggies do the R&D. Instead we should hope that in the near future we could get much better technology through Chinese handsets also. And their is no BOTTOMLINE for almost anything in this world. Sky is the limit. Regards.

^^^ Very correct my dear Prakash. Spending huge amount specially on Cdma handsets seems not to be good at all. And its not justified at all to stop using Chinese handsets just for a CAUSE. Regards.

Hmmm. The inerior is just like the same as Lg Rd3000. Thats not good at all. They should have come with some changes. Regards.

My dear Ani, now a days Sagem is selling handsets in the name of BLEU. Its their new brand name. Regards.

^^^ My dear Kumaar, my experience with Vodafone is just different. I too was not getting proper signal at my residence. Every now and then the network jumps to different cell sites. I registered the complaint, their technical team visited our area, and I was told that I will get fluctuating network only as Vodafone doesn't have any plans for a new cell site near my residence. I gave them the threat to surrender my number. Then I received the call from retention department and they promise me very soon they will come with a new cell site near my residence. And see, within 2 months they installed a cell cell site just adjacent to our society. Regards.

^^^ Lets hope for the best my dear Kumaar. Regards.

Reliance Communications moves SC in a tax matter 21 Sep, 2008, 1834 hrs IST, PTI NEW DELHI: Anil Ambani-promoted Reliance Communications has moved the Supreme Court challenging the imposition of VAT by the Andhra Pradesh government on its recharge vouchers and value added services. The Supreme Court will hear the plea on September 29. The telecom company has challenged an Andhra Pradesh High Court order that asked it to pay one third of Rs 43 crore, the alleged incurred tax liability, on or before September 30. The Andhra Pradesh government has imposed 12.6 per cent VAT on Get Started Kits (GSKs) and recharge coupons, and 4 per cent VAT on SMS, ringtones, and games by treating these services as 'goods'. It has also asked Reliance to shell out more than Rs 42.93 crore under AP VAT Act. Though the single bench of the HC had stayed the recovery of VAT from Reliance, the division bench had modified the order to an interim stay. The bench held that the interim stay would continue only if Reliance pays one-third of the incurred tax liabilities on or before 30th September and the same would stand vacated in case of any default. Challenging the levy of VAT, Reliance said that GSKs are also paper vouchers like recharge vouchers and were meant to activate the account and connection of the subscribers. It becomes a waste paper after activation and, therefore, it was identical to recharge vouchers and hence cannot be treated as 'goods'. Recharge vouchers and GSKs cannot be considered as 'goods' as the same are merely advance collection for the fee charged by the service provider and would not fall within the meaning of 'goods' as defined in AP VAT Act, according to petition. Value added Services like SMS, ringtones, games etc are pure services and beyond the comprehension of the term 'goods', it said.

^^^ My dear Sadik Bhai, I think they had already started dominating the mobile market in India. And thats good also. Let these biggies have a tough competition with them. Its their choice my dear friend. We can't stop them if they are happy with Chinese handsets. Instead we hope that some of the reputed Chinese Handset manufacturers should come with the latest technologies in the near future which could surely challenge these biggies like Nokia. You are right here my dear Sadik bhai. Some ringtones are really irritating sometimes. But again it depends upon the type of ringtone a user has assigned on his handset. Otherwise many chinese handsets come with really great ringones and produce really melodeous sounds through inbuilt Woofers. If I was in your place, then I would never suggest anyone to buy nokia, instead suggest him to join our beloved RIMWEB and download some COOL RINGTONES from here. Actually these chinese manufacturers should provide better OS and UI. People won't mind paying some extra for even better features in these Chinese handsets. Regards.

^^^ Yes my dear friend, that's what I too said in my reply that let the end user decide which handset to buy or not. Regards.

Big Boss is Watching You Through telepresence your boss could never leave the office. How's that for a scary thought? Remember the days when you heaved a sigh of relief when you heard someone say "the boss isn't comin in today!"? Well, those good ol' days could soon be sweet memories thanks to teleconferencing. But wait, we hear you say, we have teleconferencing here and now and we do get to see the boss' monotonous face on the cheap laptop screen even when he is out on "business". Well, relish those moments nevertheless, because a company called Robo Dynamics has created an even uglier incarnation of your boss complete with cameras for eyes, and wheels for boots, so that your boss can wheel around, in his machine-form and take a look at what exactly is going when he's not around. This robotic avatar, TiLR (pronounced Tie Ler), will be able to move about the office, interact with the boss' favourite secretary and hear everything in stereo. To make things worse, you will also be able to see your boss' face in full glory on an 8-inch screen. Telepresence, they call it. For those looking for a loophole... well, this thing runs Windows XP Pro. Courtesy : Techtree

Sony Ericsson's Biodegradable Phone A concept phone that aims to ring in the green Sony Ericsson is looking to inject some green blood into the lifestream of its products. With a view to more environmentally-friendly product design, the company recently announced its GreenHeart concept phone. The concept introduces several eco-friendly features: a bio-degradable housing, electronic manuals (no paper), plastic keypads which are recycled, eco-friendly packaging, and a zero-waste charger. The charger will reduce the energy drain that takes place when a phone's charger is disconnected from the device but the charger is still plugged into the mains. Sony Ericsson will present its ideas to its partners and consumers with the aim of coming up with a solution that is suitable for all; most of all, the earth. Courtesy : Techtree