Honest

Google Chrome -- Out of Beta But Still Buggy Google Chrome is out of beta stage but still has critical vulnerabilities related to password management in the browser Though Google Chrome might be out of its beta stage, it still has a long and difficult journey ahead. As Guardian's Technology Blog reported, critical vulnerabilities were found in Google Chrome by Chapin Information Systems (CIS). Five popular browsers were tested. Chrome did not perform well in the tests. As per CIS, Google Chrome has critical flaws related to its password management function. CIS had tested Opera 9.62, Firefox 3.0.4, Internet Explorer 7.0, Safari 3.2, and Chrome 1.0. Opera 9.62 and Firefox 3.0.4 faired well in the test by passing seven of the 21 tests, while Chrome 1.0 and Safari 3.2 managed to pass only two. Chrome's password manager had revealed critical flaws in the tests. Hackers can easily obtain user passwords since the browser neither checks password request location nor password sent location. Also, form elements coded to be invisible can trigger password management. Users will have to rely on some other software, web service, or their memory to remember their passwords. CIS says, "These three problems, combined with seventeen others so far identified in Chrome's password manager, form a toxic soup of potential vulnerabilities that can coalesce into broad insecurity." Chrome has a lot to catch up on when it comes to community-based development; after all, browsers become better and faster after developers learn from the mistakes of others. Courtesy : Techtree

Unfair to suggest admin charges for highest 3G bid: COAI Moneycontrol l 15 Dec Cellular Operators Association of India or the COAI has written a strongly worded letter to the department of telecommunication criticizing TRAI’s plans of levying an annual administrative charge of 2% on the highest bid for 3G. The COAI (Cellular Operators Association of India) has informed the Department of Telecom (DOT) that the imposition of additional administrative charge of 2% is a retrograde step. It said the step is 'illogical, incorrect and unfair' to recommend administrative charges. The TRAI had proposed an annual 2% administration charge on the highest bid for 3G. This charge would add to the cost of service. Recovery of the charge would be through auction price and spectrum usage charges. The move would amount to thousands of crores over the license period and add to the cost of service. The sector is “already burdened with a plethora of duties and levies adding upto as much as around 30% of the revenues,” the COAI believes. The COAI has suggested that the charges for the 3G spectrum be recovered through auction price and a spectrum usage charge as originally planned. If an admin charge is to be imposed, it should be in place of the slab system of spectrum usage charges. According to the DoT, the 3G auction yield could fall by Rs 5000 crore due to 2 % admin charge. Its initial estimates of yield were at Rs 35,000-40,000 crore. It has left the final decision on this levy to Full Telecom Commission.

3G spectrum to be introduced in 29 cities of AP: BSNL Press Trust of India l 15 Dec l Hyderabad Chief general manager, AP telecom circle BSNL, T N Sudhindra Kumar said 3G Spectrum-- or radio bandwidth-- will pave way for several value added services mostly in entertainment and video conferencing. He said that it will be a value added service and both BSNL and MTNL are likely to capture the market in the segment. There are plans to provide 3G or thrid generation mobile phones in 29 cities of Andhra Pradesh, Kumar said. The 3G spectrum, which is likely to be launched by March, will increase bandwidth and help in video screening in mobile in a better manner than televisions with a faster pace and better quality. He said that presently AP telecom has 27.4 lakh mobile customers with a market share of 18.9 percent. Presently the equipped capacity is 19.6 lakh connections. Additionally connectivity planned is 15 lakh new connections for the financial year, he added. About their increased market share he said that the BSNL is doing its best to increase the market share. "Presently we have some excellent plans including power pack plan and were able to sell 1.5 lakh connections last month itself in the prepaid seg ments," said Kumar. About the proposal to have a portable migration facility in mobile as earlier recommended by TRAI ,which facilitates a user to switch to any service provider of his choice with the same number, he said that providing such facility is still under consideration and yet to be introduced.

^^^ Very correct my dear Saurav, Reliance love these tactics.

Standard battery of 880mAh is not sufficient for this handset my dear friends. This kind of handset should have atleast 1000mAh battery. Regards.

Yes my dear friends, my problems too has been solved from Reliance CC within 48 hours of my complaints. But the Network problem which I'm facing right now at my place is not been resolved by them. Each and every time I got the reply from them that your problem related to network is been solved. But the problem still exist. Now I'm going to right to the Nodal Officer and if the nodal officer too do not help in this matter then I will right to the Appealeate Authority of Reliance. Lets see what happens next. Regards.

^^^ Congratulations my dear Sonam for your new purchase. Hope you will enjoy with your new mobile. We are eager to have some reviews from your side. So do post the reviews after you use the handset for a couple of days. Regards.

@Amit Actually as per Acer, their laptops provides maximum of 2 hours battery backup at the optimal usage. You are getting 1.45 hours that is good enough. You can try Battery Management or Power Settings also as Dhiraj said above. I think by managing Power Settings you can get above 2 hours battery backup. Regards.

Thanks for the info my dear Amit.

Leaked: Nokia E72 Candybar and E75 Slider Both with QWERTY keyboards We've got a leak folks! The victim being Nokia -- a person going by the forum handle of Dnlcerqueira at Symbian Freak has found several videos on YouTube that show not one, but two upcoming Nokia QWERTY phones. The Nokia E72 is a candybar QWERTY and the E75 is a slider form factor, with a sliding QWERTY keyboard. It would be interesting to see how S60 platform favours the side sliding E72. The E72 looks like a big-brother to the E71 and hopefully gets some screen upgrades. Courtesy : Techtree

GSM players seek clarity on non-voice revenues Moneycontrol GSM-based mobile operators have approached the Government seeking permission to separate their non-voice revenues and club it under an Internet Service Provider’s licence. The move is aimed at taking benefit of the differential revenue share for various types of telecom licences. While mobile operators at present pay between 6 per cent and 10 per cent of their annual revenues as licence fee, companies operating under an ISP licence do not pay anything to the Government. Since cellular operators also have an ISP licence, they will get a huge benefit if DoT allows them to segregate the revenue from data services. The Cellular Operators’ Association of India, in a letter to the Department of Telecom, has pointed that some of the CDMA mobile players were already showing their non-voice revenues under ISP licence. “We now understand that it might be permissible to separate the non-voice revenues and categorise and report them under an associate company whether it be an ISP or any other. We believe that this is being done by one of the larger CDMA service providers. We request clarification from the Department at the earliest so that we can advise our members to act suitably to safeguard their competitive position in the market,” the COAI said in its letter to DoT. Main reason GSM operators referred to a report from UBS Investment Research according to which Reliance Communications reported revenues of Rs 3,160 crore to the telecom regulator in June 2008 but showed revenues of Rs 4,118 crore in its financial statements. “The main reason for the discrepancy between RCom reported revenues and the TRAI reported revenues is that RCom reports all its non-voice revenues through one of its subsidiaries that has an ISP status. The revenue categories that are included in this are related to R-World, Content, Net Connect, Wireless terminals, rural direct exchange lines, SMS etc,” said the UBS report. RCom officials said the company was complying with all the rules. They said that services such as R-World are based on a Web portal and, therefore, they were justified in showing the earnings as revenue from ISP licence. Operators are increasingly using the differential revenue share to save on the licence fee. Integrated telecom players such as Bharti Airtel have found a smart way to save at least Rs 1,000 crore a year. While long distance telephony operators are required to pay only 6 per cent of the annual revenues mobile operators have to pay total levy of 12 per cent (including spectrum charges). Bharti is saving on the net outgo to the Government by loading higher revenue to its long distance licence.

DoT all set to bring RCOM book under CAG scanner Economic Times l 15 Dec l New Delhi The department of telecom (DoT) is set to ask the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) to appoint a special auditor to examine the books of Reliance Communications (RCOM) over allegations that the telco in FY08 diverted revenue earned from its mobile services to a subsidiary in an attempt to bring down the total amount it had to pay to the government as licence fee and spectrum charge. These two payouts are calculated as a percentage of the total revenue earned by a telecom company and if a company reports less revenue, its outgo decreases proportionately. RCOM has vigorously denied any wrongdoing on its part. In an internal DoT note, telecom secretary Siddharth Behura wrote, “A number of complaints have been received on the aggregate gross revenue reported by Reliance. Trai has also provided their preliminary findings on it. In these conditions, we may invoke clause 22.6 of the licence agreement to conduct a special audit. The CAG will be approached to appoint a special auditor”. Mr Behura was replying to the DoT’s licensing finance wing, which had sought a CAG audit into RCOM’s books. His reply also adds that the audit could be extended to examine the books of Reliance’s Internet subsidiary. Last month, DoT had asked Trai to examine the issue after a report by Kotak Institutional Equities said that there were major differences between the revenue reports that RCOM had submitted to the stock exchanges and the regulator. In its 22-page submission to DoT, Trai said its analysis “indicates that Reliance is involved in cross booking of wireless revenue in its subsidiary”. Following the Trai report, the licensing finance wing of the DoT had recommended that the government invoke a special clause under which it can conduct an audit of the telco’s books. This wing of the DoT had also suggested that the ‘special audit’ may be conducted by ‘auditors nominated by the CAG’. Under India’s telecom policy, all telecom companies have to pay to the government 6%-10% of their annual revenues to the government as licence fee and another 2%-6% of their annual revenues as spectrum charge. Both these components are not applicable to ISPs. Therefore, it is being alleged that by ‘cross booking’ its revenue to the ISP subsidiary RCOM is trying to bring down its licence fee and spectrum charge. Last week, in a written reply to ET, Reliance Communications had slammed the Trai report and said that the regulator’s analysis was flawed. “It seems that Trai has not taken cognisance of different entities, their activities, nature of income and the licenses each of the entities hold. If Trai would have asked for details or further clarification, they would not have arrived at wrong analysis and conclusion of cross booking of Wireless revenue in its subsidiary,” the company said. RCOM also said that there it was not involved in cross booking of wireless revenue while adding that the company had paid all the necessary the necessary license and spectrum fee as applicable.

BPL Brings Call Centre On Your Mobile Have queries answered without calling You might have seen the recent media blitz about BPL's new "call centre on mobile" initiative. Launched on November 25, the service aims to bring to Mumbaikars the "luxury" of not having to call up and wait for a service rep to answer their questions or to activate/deactivate a service. You can now actually dial in a couple of codes and quickly have many of your queries answered without having to call. Airtel also has a similar service for its postpaid subscribers. However, the BPL initiative prima facie seems to offer slightly more functionality than the Airtel one with options to activate or deactivate services, which is missing in Airtel's *121# service. BPL users can dial *800# (Postpaid) or *555# (Prepaid) to access various services, which provide information on service activation, NDNC (National Do Not Call Registry), billing-airtime usage, outstanding amounts, VAS-activation of GPRS, MMS, and Caller Ring Back Tone. Other services like itemized bill, international roaming, etc. are also available. Courtesy : Techtree

^^^ My dear Hritik, actually different operators provide different standard of services. Hope this service from BPL would be better then Airtel. Regards.

Nokia to get into USB modem dongle business in early 2009 Market for 3G USB modems is fast growing, and Nokia isn’t about to let market leader Huawei take home all of the benefits. Though it should be working closely on its Symbian Foundation OS for smartphones and the ultimate iPhone killer, Nokia has announced its plans to enter the dongle business early next year. A report from Reuters cites Tapio Markki, vice president for hardware platform components at Nokia, as saying that “Nokia will start to ship its first Internet stick in early 2009, aiming to benefit from its know-how and experience in developing 3G technologies.” Markki further comments: “Leveraging these capabilities, we believe we are well-positioned to become one of the winning providers for HSPA modem solutions. The market for HSPA modems is expected to grow very rapidly during the coming years,” These will be sold mostly through operators and bundled with services, according to Nokia. At the moment, Nokia hasn’t specified how much it plans to sell these external USB modems, otherwise known as dongles, and it is not known whether these will be cheaper or more expensive than the competition. But knowing from first hand experience that Nokia devices with HSDPA capabilities are truly speedy and reliable, these upcoming products should be interesting to watch out for. Courtesy : Unwiredview

^^^ My dear Shabz, this service is available only for BPL Mumbai subscribers.

^^^ Thats good to hear my dear hritik.

Vodafone in response to this threat has slashed its SMS price for prepaid customers in Mumbai circle from Rs. 1.50 to Re. 1.. Still Re. 1/- for a SMS is high my dear friends. They should reduce it to a minimum of 0.30 paise. When they can allow calls at 0.15 or 0.30 paise, then why not SMS ?

Der Aaye Durust Aaye. Woh paidal (Walking Walking) Chalkar Aa Rahe Thhe Na, Isliye Itna Time Lag Gaya Meherbaa Ko Aatey Aatey.

3G In India: MTNL Inks Mobile TV Deal With Aksh Optifibre; What About Apalya? Aksh Optifibre has announced a partnership with MTNL to launch Mobile TV services in Delhi and Mumbai. These services will essentially be delivered over 3G networks. Remember that there are two ways for mobile devices (whether handsets, TV sets in cars etc) to receive TV content - via the mobile operator or as a terrestrial, satellite or hybrid broadcast. Aksh’s deal is essentially for content delivery over the mobile network. Aksh will offer high quality MPEG 4 content at high resolution. They’ve already got content from DD, Neo Sports, CNN and NDTV, and plan to also include music channels. While the consultation process for Mobile TV is over, the policy is yet to be announced. We believe the battle over Mobile TV has not yet begun, and it will take at least six months, if not over a year for the policy to be finalized. Franchise Route To Mobile TV? What About Apalya Technologies? MTNL already provides quite a few channels over the 2.75 G networks, powered by Hyderabad based Apalya Technologies (now rebranded as MiMobi.tv). The Apalya powered service includes channels like Zoom, Times Now, Aaj Tak, NDTV 24×7, NDTV India, Bindass, NDTV Profit, Headlines Today, CNN, BBC World, FTV, India TV, among others. So happens to Apalya’s service, now that Aksh is launching the same? Is MTNL taking the franchise route to Mobile TV? Aksh already has franchise agreements with MTNL for IPTV (iControl) and Voice Over Internet Protocol (Pigeon) with MTNL, but these are landline based services. Smart Broadband (HFCL), IOL Netcom and Time Broadband are other IPTV service providers with franchise agreements with MTNL and BSNL. I don’t agree with the idea of having franchise deals for content services from a single operator - it leads to a lack of standardisation in what the telco is marketing as its own service. Courtesy : MediaNama

Huawei: Chinese solutions are cost-effective not cheap Telecom equipment sector was dominated by American and European players till the late 90’s. But the new century saw this scenario change dramatically with entry of Chinese players in the market and to its credit, one such China headquartered international company, Huawei Technologies takes pride in changing the market dynamics and forcing rivals to rework on their marketing mix. In an interaction with Telecom Tiger at the India Telecom 2008, where Huawei was participating, Mr. Lin Yan Qing, Director- Marketing Huawei Technologies said "Chinese solutions are cost effective not merely cheap. We offer customized solutions to operators even in India and that is a testimony to the company's product mix capability as well as R&D competency." ” We have registered revenues of $23 billion at a growth rate of nearly 50 percent across the globe this year. For India the revenue is about $ 1.8 billion with a threefold increase within a single year,” added Lin Yan Qing. The company is upbeat on the potential of India market and mulls expansion plans in the country which is its largest focus market outside China. The company is focusing on offering pure IP solutions keeping the future migration as well as next generation service offerings of the operators in mind. According to Lin Yan Qing, IP creates flat network architecture. The IP environment perfectly suits operators offering mobile, fixed line, multimedia as well as enterprise services” Huawei is also confident of replicating its success on the 3G services front as well. Lin Yan Qing confirmed that Huawei is well positioned and geared up to tap the market. The company is expecting orders from new operators as well. Courtesy : Telecomtiger

Nokia Announces E71 and E66 Nokia has introduced the latest in their Eseries range - the Nokia E71 and Nokia E66. These e-mail optimized devices come fully equipped for easy-to-install and easy-to-use professional and personal email. People who use Microsoft Exchange at work can access their email using the Mail for Exchange mobile email client, which comes pre-loaded with both the devices. Users can get real-time access to their email, calendar, contacts and tasks, as well as download attachments like Word, Excel, Powerpoint or PDF files directly to these devices. The E71 and E66 support the Nokia Intellisync Wireless Email solution as well as third party email solutions like System Seven and Visto Mobile. Both devices come with the new switch mode that allows people easily to switch between personal and work home screens. The E71 comes in a stainless steel case, with etched graphics and will be available in two colors - grey steel or white steel. The Nokia E66 too comes in a stainless steel shell and shares the same key features as the Nokia E71, including an enhanced calendar, contacts and customizable home screen modes. The E66 also offers additions like an orientation sensor that automatically optimizes itself for full screen viewing or silences the ringer when the device is turned over. The device will be available in grey steel or white steel. "The Nokia E71 and Nokia E66 were designed for people who lead a mobile lifestyle and want quick and easy access to their personal and work email. With both of these devices, we have responded to consumer feedback by making calendar and contacts available at the touch of a button," said Søren Petersen, Senior Vice President, Devices, Nokia. "Equally important, people want well-crafted devices that are as beautiful to use as they are to behold. Stainless steel was chosen as the core material for these devices, giving them additional strength and a touch of class. Furthermore, the Nokia E71 and Nokia E66 offer all the latest multimedia features that people desire." The E71 and E66 support the latest Ovi services including maps, music and media sharing. This includes seamless browsing with HSDPA, wireless LAN and 3G connectivity, Assisted GPS (A-GPS) and Nokia Maps for navigation, a music player with support for up to 8 GB expandable memory and a 3.2 megapixel autofocus camera. The devices also come fully equipped with a suite of enterprise grade features, including a built-in encryption functionality for both the device memory and for the memory card. They include integrated mobile VPN support that gives mobile professionals access to their company intranet, and device lock and wipe to protect corporate information. The E71 and E66 are expected to begin shipping in key markets in July and retail at at EUR 350, before applicable taxes and subsidies. Courtesy : Tech2

Tanla Solutions to provide 3G products to MTNL Business Line l 12 Dec l Hyderabad The Hyderabad-based Tanla Solutions is all set to provide 3G products to state-owned Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd which launched its 3G services recently. In a telecon with Business Line, Mr Sriram V.S, Vice-President (Sales and Operations– India), Tanla Solutions, said that initially they would be providing four 3G VAS products. “The four products are video portal with sections on music and entertainment, video alerts with two or four alerts per day, video SMS where in a person can send video messages to others and video dialling where operators use to promote their services or products,” he added. Mr Sriram said that in future sections on travel, recipes, yoga and exercises, premier reviews, nightouts among others which are lifestyle and fashion related will be added as the products are custom made for Delhi users. “The age bracket of 16 to 32 would be the addressable market for these products and this category of users has been used to voice VAS products. With the emergence of 3G in the country, we will see a migration of these customers to more sophisticated content type like video,” he said. The company is also in talks with other service providers to offer similar 3G products once they are ready to launch their 3G services. Marketing plan Speaking on the marketing, Mr Sriram said the services with MTNL would be the first in the country, but in the UK they have been successful in working in a 3G environment for over three years now. “In India, we launched the Network Aggregation and telecom products and services only in the last quarter, so it is too early to comment on the revenues expected.

^^^ My dear friend, whatever it will be, whether Reliance GSM could beat other Operators or not, but one thing is for sure that we can atleast get BETTER HANDSET OPTIONS in GSM which are not their with Cdma. Thats the main reason for me considering to shift to GSM. Regards.

RCOM diverting mobile revenues, says TRAI Economic Times l 13 Dec l New Delhi The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) has endorsed an accusation that top CDMA telecom operator Reliance Communication (RCOM) has been passing its mobile revenues as income from subsidiaries. The regulator was told to examine the issue by the Department of Telecom (DoT), after a a recent report by Kotak Institutional Equities suggested that RCOM could be passing its mobile revenues as those incurred from internet services operations so as to escape the 6-10% licence fee and 2-6 spectrum charges that telcos pay. In its 22-page submission to DoT, Trai its analysis “indicates that Reliance is involved in cross booking of wireless revenue in its subsidiary”. It accused RCOM of providing incorrect replies to some of its queries and said the telco’s answers were “highly unprofessional and misleading”. However, RCOM has denied this. “Our response was complete and to the point against the query raised by Trai. It is incorrect analysis of Trai to state that our response is not correct or we have attempted to divert the issue,” the company said in a statement. Asked for its reactions, RCOM said in a statement: “Revenues reported to Trai include revenues of RCOM-standalone and RTL only, while wireless revenues published for shareholders not only include wireless revenues from the company-standalone and RTL but also include revenues accruing from other activities including treasury activity, sale of internet services, India Calling cards, etc which are handled by other subsidiary companies of RCOM (both Indian & foreign subsidiaries), which are part of consolidated results. It seems that Trai has not taken cognizance of different entities, their activities, nature of income and the licenses each of the entities hold. If Trai would have asked for details or further clarification, they would not have arrived at wrong analysis and conclusion of cross booking of wireless revenue in its subsidiary.” Trai had told DoT that RCOM’s responses to the issue of cross revenue and expenditure in its other telecom subsidiaries were “without any justification and documentary evidence”. It said the company’s submission was not correct and that the company had attempted to divert the issues raised in the Kotak report. The Kotak report had pointed out that RCOM had submitted completely different numbers for the January-March 2008 quarter to the Trai and the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE). An Internet service provider (ISP) does not need to share any revenue with the government, while mobile companies pay 6-10% of their aggregate revenues as licence fee and they also pay additional 2-6% of their revenues towards spectrum charges.