News Snippets

[csmart 472]

Apple launchea new iPad with high resolution screen, multi touch photo editing,.2mp camera etc.

Sent from my SPH-D700 using Tapatalk

Edited March 7, 2012 by csmart

[csmart 472]

U.S. to sue Apple, 5 e-book publishers in collusion case

Source

The Justice Department has warned Apple and five major U.S. publishers that it plans to sue them, accusing them of colluding to raise the prices of electronic books, a person familiar with the probe said on Thursday.

Several parties have held talks to settle the potential antitrust case, said the person, who was not authorized to speak publicly on the matter. It is not yet clear what such a settlement might look like.

The five publishers facing possible Justice Department action are Simon & Schuster Inc., a unit of CBS Corp ; Lagardere SCA's Hachette Book Group; Pearson Plc's Penguin Group (USA); Macmillan, a unit of Verlagsgruppe Georg von Holtzbrinck GmbH; and HarperCollins Publishers Inc., a unit of News Corp.

U.S. and European officials have been investigating whether publishers and Apple acted together to drive up prices in the

booming electronic book industry, blocking rivals such as Amazon from offering cheaper e-books.

Antitrust rules forbid price-fixing agreements designed to shut out competitors or drive up what consumers pay.

E-book publishers adopted an "agency model" in 2010, about the time that Apple launched the iPad.

That model allowed publishers to set the price of e-books and in turn, Apple would take a 30 percent cut. The Apple agreements with publishers effectively barred them from allowing rival retailers to sell the same books at lower prices.

The strategy upended the "wholesale model" in which retailers pay for the product and charge what they like. Amazon , which got a headstart in the e-book market with its Kindle e-reader, had used the wholesale model to generally charge $9.99 for its e-books.

The Wall Street Journal first reported the Justice Department's lawsuit warning to Apple and the publishers.

An Apple spokeswoman declined to comment, as did a Justice Department spokeswoman. HarperCollins and MacMillan did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Penguin and Simon & Schuster declined to comment.

Hachette Books chief Arnaud Nourry said yesterday that he was not going to comment on ongoing legal proceedings. "We have obviously decided to cooperate with the authorities on both sides of the Atlantic, and we believe that we have committed no objectionable acts."

Private suit

Apple and the publishers face a parallel class-action lawsuit now in a Manhattan court that was brought on behalf of e-book customers.

The class-action suit, filed last year by law firm Hagens, Berman, Sobol, Shapiro, LLP, accuses Apple of being a "hub" for collusion.

Jeff Friedman, a partner at Hagens Berman who helped file that suit, said it was prompted by a sudden increase in the price of e-books that was not matched by any cost increases.

"The case is about ... a radical industry shift that simultaneously resulted in a 30 percent to 40 percent price increase across the industry overnight," Friedman said.

Apple asked the court last week to drop the class action suit, saying it did not collude with a group of publishers.

"Before Apple entered the eBook market, one competitor, Amazon, the nation's largest bookseller, had taken 90% of the market by pricing key eBooks below their wholesale cost," Apple said in the filing.

"Having no desire to incur the losses that would flow from retailing in such an environment, Apple individually negotiated separate vertical agreements with each of the publishers to serve as a distribution agent in exchange for a 30% commission on eBook sales," the company said in its motion.

Digital growth

The e-book industry has exploded in recent years, growing from $78 million in sales in 2008 to $1.7 billion in 2011, according to Albert Greco, a book-industry expert at the business school of Fordham University.

Greco estimates e-book sales will be $3.55 billion in 2012.

Apple, which launched a new version of its iPad tablet computer on Wednesday, competes aggressively against Amazon's Kindle and Barnes & Noble's Nook e-reader.

Barnes & Noble in particular has made a big bet on electronic books. The No. 1 U.S. bookstore chain has relied on digital books and readers to offset shriveling sales at its brick-and-mortar stores.

Mark Coker, founder of e-book distributor Smashwords, blamed big publishers for pricing books too high and warned that any Justice Department action that hurts the agency model would benefit Amazon.

"I'm incensed over this whole thing," Coker said. "It would be so bad for the future of books if the DOJ does anything to limit the agency model. They are either wittingly or unwittingly acting as Amazon's lapdog."

EU probe, Jobs' words

The European Commission said in December that it was looking at the same five publishers for potential violations of antitrust law in how e-books were priced.

The decision by the European Commission to open an investigation followed raids on the companies in March 2011.

Apple's push for agency pricing was detailed in Walter Isaacson's biography of Apple founder Steve Jobs.

The book says that Jobs, who died in October, was aware of publishers' frustration with Amazon. It quotes Jobs as saying: "So we told the publishers, 'We'll go to the agency model, where you set the price, and we get our 30 percent and yes, the customer pays a little more but that's what you want anyway.' ... So they went to Amazon and said, 'You're going to sign an agency contract or we're not going to give you the books.' "

Edited March 9, 2012 by csmart

[csmart 472]

Verizon new iPad works on AT&T 3G..

http://arst.ch/sxa

Sent from my SPH-D700 using Tapatalk

[csmart 472]

HP merges printer unit with PC business

Source

32-year HP veteran Vyomesh Joshi is out at the company amid a shakeup that will combine PCs and printers into one unit.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Hewlett-Packard is shaking up its business yet again, combining its printer and personal computer divisions. One of HP's longest-tenured and most-admired executives is retiring as a result.

HP's printing group was once its shining star, returning ridiculously high profit margins on ink cartridge sales. But that business stagnated over the past decade and particularly slumped in the last few years. HP's printing profit fell 10% last year as sales remained flat.

The holiday season was particularly tough. Ink sales fell 6%, office printers fell 5% and consumer printer sales tumbled 15% in the company's fiscal first quarter, which ended in January.

As it lumps printers and PCs together, HP (

HPQ, Fortune 500) said that imaging and printing group chief Vyomesh "VJ" Joshi was stepping down. Joshi, the division's leader for the past decade, served in various roles at HP throughout his 32-year career there. His tenure dates back to the golden years of "Bill and Dave," when Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard still had active roles at the company they founded.

"VJ embodies the spirit of HP and his impact on the company has been tremendous," HP CEO Meg Whitman said in a written statement. "We wish him the very best as he embarks on a new chapter in his life."

After Ann Livermore stepped down as HP's enterprise chief last year, Joshi was the last remaining top HP executive to have ties to the Bill and Dave era. He is well-respected throughout the industry and had long been considered a superstar executive.

Joshi was forced off of Yahoo (

YHOO, Fortune 500)'s board in that company's shakeup last month. He had been a Yahoo director for seven years.

The merging of the printing and PC units means HP Personal Systems Group executive Todd Bradley will now oversee two struggling businesses. HP

considered spinning off its PC unit last year. The board later decided that it would hang onto the business-critical but low-margin unit.

The overall PC industry is stuck in neutral, but HP, the world's largest computer maker, is

traveling at high speed in reverse. PC sales fell 3% last year and 15% during the holiday quarter, with consumer computer sales tumbling 25%.

Whitman said on recent conference calls with investors that she hopes to streamline HP's businesses and ensure that individual business groups work together in the future. She also said that the company's divisions have been too separate in the past, leading to too much competition within the ranks.

[rajanmehta 4,056]

Dear HTCSense.com customer,

HTCSense.com is undergoing a renovation to improve the services and value we deliver to customers like you.

Until the new services are ready, features previously available on HTCSense.com will be shutting down. If you have been using HTCSense.com to sync your Contacts, Messages, Footprints or Call History, you can download your data through April 30, 2012. After April 30, your data will no longer be accessible and will be deleted.

Download your .zip file by following these steps:

• Visit http://htcsense.com
  
• Log in with your HTCSense.com username and password
  
• Click the 'Download' button in the Account Overview section
  
• A .zip file containing your data will download to your computer for easy viewing
  

[csmart 472]

9-yr-old disabled boy gets patent for 6 players' chess

Source

JAIPUR: A nine-year-old wheelchair-ridden boy suffering from a rare genetic disease has set an exemplary example by getting a patent for his invention of six-player circular chess here.

Despite suffering from duchenne muscular dystrophy, a progressive degenerative disorder of muscle tissue which affects only males, Hridayeshwar Singh Bhati - a class-IV student of Delhi Public School - has made an innovative version of circular chess for two, three, four and six players.

"So far, four-player circular chess was available. Hridayeshwar is the youngest disabled person in the world to get the patent for invention," his father S S Bhati said.

He said that Hridayeshwar developed liking for the game when he began his studies.

"I wanted all my friends to play chess at one time so I asked my father to buy me another chess board for this purpose. He said no such chess board was available so I conceived the idea for developing such chess board," the kid said.

Hridayeshwar's father, a math teacher, assisted him in developing the design.

"The idea and design is created by my son. He applied his own thought but as a math teacher, I assisted him geometrically," Bhari said.

"We are now working on a chess board on which 60 players can play together. Commercialisation is not the motive...it is aimed at inspiring others that despite worst condition, one can give best results," he said.

[sujit_k 141]

^^ I must say.. WOW

And talent is still there in young ignited minds.. _/||\_

[Karthik R 246]

Samsung – No plans for 3D in upcoming phones

There have been quite a few rumors, “leaks”, and speculations on Samsung’s upcoming Galaxy S III will employ a 3D display. Responding to the possibility that the highly anticipated handset may sport 3D; Samsung issued a statement to Engadget saying,

Although Samsung Electronics is constantly exploring new technologies for our mobile devices, we have no immediate plan to include displays featuring 3D technology in our upcoming smartphones.

So there it is, straight from the horse’s mouth – the Galaxy S III won’t be sporting a 3D screen

[hiteshkkk1 327]

Know the Running Status and Location of Indian Railways Trains -

Source: http://www.labnol.org/india/train-running-status-location/21125/

05 APR 2012

Track your Train’s Location on the Indian Railways Website The new train enquiry website of Indian Railways offers the live running status of trains and you can also track the location of trains online.

The Indian Railways operates nearly 11,000 trains everyday and you can use their website – trainenquiry.com – to know the current running status of any train. You can either enter the the name of the train, or the train number if you remember it, and the system will tell you whether that particular train is delayed or running on time.

That’s good to know but where exactly is your train?

CRIS, the IT wing of Indian Railways, is beta testing an improved and clutter-free version of the Train Enquiry website that is far more useful than the existing one. The new website will not only provide the running status of trains but will also help you track the exact location of trains across the country.

There are plenty of new features to appreciate about the new website. You no longer have to remember train numbers –just enter any two station names (like Delhi to Hyderabad) and it will bring all the trains available on that route. The Indian Railways website is using AJAX probably for the first time and thus you get search results as you type which is very handy.

Once you spot your train in the search results, you can learn about the train’s departure time at the previous two stations that the train has crossed, how far are the next two stations on the route and what’s the expected time of arrival at these stops. All these details will help you better plan your visit to the station.

The new website should go live in the next few weeks but if you would like to try it right now, go trainenquiry.com/searchtrain.aspx and choose the New Look option. It’s still in beta so you may encounter a few bugs but great effort overall.

The website is not exactly mobile-friendly at this time but you get the details on a mobile as well. Also, I think it would be more useful if the same information could be visually presented on a Google Map. Thank you Sunil Bajpai.

Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk 2 Beta-5

[rajanmehta 4,056]

Kabhi Khushi..

Samsung has posted record profits, which come close to doubling its earnings from the same period in 2011.

The company beat the expectations of analysts by announcing a $5.1 billion (£3.2bn) profit for the first quarter of 2012, up from $2.95 billion a year earlier (1.85bn).

The figures have been propelled into record territory by sales of the Galaxy range of smartphones and tablets, particularly the Galaxy S2 handset and the Galaxy Note hybrid device.

Kabhi Gham

HTC, the top smartphone producer in Taiwan, reported its lowest first-quarter net profit figures since 2006, posting a decrease of 70% from Q1 2011 on Tuesday, according to various media outlets.

According to Forbes Staff Writer Brian Caulfield, the company reported a net income of $151 million (NT$4.46 billion) over the first three months of 2012, compared to $503 million (NT$14.83 billion) during the same period last year. During that time, revenue decreased 35% to $2.3 billion (NT$67.8 billion) from $3.5 billion (NT$104.2 billion) during the first quarter of 2011.

[parin 857]

In Mobile Now 2 Companies which Stand Ahead

1. Apple
   
2. Samsung
   

[Genius 817]

Wondering what those galloping horses are doing above Google search box today? The horses in Google doodle -- that come to life the moment one clicks on the play button -- celebrate the 182nd birth anniversary of legendary photographer Eadweard James Muybridge.

Born in England, Muybridge, who was of Dutch ancestry, spent a large part is life in the United States. He is revered for his pioneering work in animal locomotion which used multiple cameras to capture motion. He is also remembered for his Zoopraxiscope, a device for projecting motion pictures that pre-dated the flexible perforated film strip.

The galloping horse shown in today's doodle was part of an experiment called 'Sallie Gardner at a Gallop'. The purpose of the photograph was to put to rest the debate over whether a horse's all four hooves get off the ground at the same time while it trots. Muybridge proved this through his series of 24 photographs shown on his Zoopraxiscope.

Known by several names, Muybridge was born as "Edward James Muggerid". He changed his name several times, before finally settling for "Eadweard J Muybridge".

In 1874, he killed his wife's lover. He was put on trial for the murder, however, was later acquitted as jury ruled his behaviour as "Justifiable Homicide." The Opera 'The Photographer' is believed to be based on his murder trial and was made by Philip Glass in 1982.

Google doodles are the decorative changes that are made to the Google logo to celebrate holidays, anniversaries, and the lives of famous artists and scientists. The first doodle was created by Larry Page and Sergy Brin in the year 1998 to mark the celebrations of the Burning Man Festival.

[Karthik R 246]

Facebook is buying the Instagram, mobile photo-sharing application, for about $1 billion in cash and stock.

[abhi.r 95]

Facebook is buying the Instagram, mobile photo-sharing application, for about $1 billion in cash and stock.

That's a confirm news, Zuckerberg already his Easter shopping, and bought Instagram for $1Bn.

Vadde vadde Log.. Vaddi Vaddi shopping.

This was probably to stop Google to buy Instagram first.

Tho Facebook confirmed that they will keep Instagram independent, and wont merge it into FB now.

BTW Zuckerberg should have bought couple of IPL teams instead of Instagram.

Now our whole life is now sandwidched between Microsoft, Google, Facebook and Apple!!!

Edited April 10, 2012 by abhi.r

[digitalnirvana 646]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-17666032

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/9194883/Facebook-buys-Instagram-full-statement.html

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/facebook/9195380/Whos-getting-rich-from-Facebooks-1bn-Instagram-deal.html

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/facebook/9194989/Facebook-buys-Instagram-inflating-the-new-tech-bubble.html

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/finance/jeremywarner/100016108/another-dot-com-gold-rush-is-under-way/

[ni0987 179]

Now our whole life is now sandwidched between Microsoft, Google, Facebook and Apple!!!

I use Linux.

Depend on google for searches/email/calender/shared doc. I use duckduckgo also for searches.

I am not on facebook or any other 'social networking' sites.

Never bought and will never buy any apple product.

[csmart 472]

Using Aadhaar as KYC norm can save telcos Rs 1,000 cr

Source

Telecom companies in the country can save over Rs 1,000 crore (Rs 10 billion) every year provided they use Aadhaar authentication to verify identity and address of their prospective subscribers, a study has said.

"Adopting Aadhaar authentication can result in substantial savings of over Rs 1,000 crore (Rs 10 billion) annually for the telecom industry," a study 'Leveraging Aadhaar in Telecom Sector' conducted by the Unique Identification Development Authority of India [ Images ] said.

Aadhaar authentication is an online real-time service and only responds with a yes or no.

The Unique Identification of Authority of India is a body which is implementing Aadhhar project under which every resident of the country would be given a unique number.

The authority has been entrusted the task of enrolling 60 million residents. It has enrolled 20 million residents.

According to UIDAI's study, the discussions with industry experts indicate that paperless know your customer using Aadhaar can save substantially per subscriber by avoiding TERM fines and paper-based backend processes.

The TERM fines are imposed on operators who fail to verify subscribers identity and address as per prescriber norms.

According to the annual report of department of telecommunication for 20102011, the Telecom Enforcement Resource and Monitoring cell imposed a penalty of Rs 700 crore (Rs 7 billion) on telecom operators related to subscriber verification.

The estimate indicate that the telecom operators are issuing over 30 million mobile phone connections every month.

[KapilAgrawal 340]

Indian Government (Congress) is f***ed. They never thought 2G scam would go such big & SC will cancel the licenses. Now the scam has gone International. Russia had already Questioned Indian Govt for licence cancellation.

Now Telenor, Norway is going to file case against Unitech in International courts.

Govt. has moved "Presidential Reference" seeking Clarity & Question SC. to save their A, lets see what is the outcome.

[KapilAgrawal 340]

As per this POST it seems like Govt, thru President has told SC that they have no right to act as an appellate authority to examine the correctness, suitability and appropriateness of a policy.

In simple words A. Raja did correct allocating the spectrum at any price he wished to. His only guilt/mistake is Bribe.

[SUDYEcaZ 67]

TRAI updates reporting norms for telcos

http://www.moneycontrol.com/news/economy/trai-updates-reporting-norms-for-telcos_692020.html

TRAI has updated the rules that govern the manner in which telcos report their revenues and accounts, reports CNBC-TV18. The new accounting and reporting norms, that will replace the rules announced in 2004, are applicable to all service providers with revenues of over Rs 100 crore.

Among the changes is a clear direction that on-net and off-net calls be identified clearly and that postpaid and prepaid revenues be reported separately. Voice and video calls will also have to be reported separately.

The new norms also mandated classification of services, products and has revised network elements. Fixed line and fully mobile services are to be reported separately. There is an one-time fee for rentals and activation has been qualified as a separate product.

SMS and MMS services are to be reported as separate sub-product categories.

[SUDYEcaZ 67]

Android phones: RCom, Google in exclusive tie-up

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tech/news/telecom/Android-phones-RCom-Google-in-exclusive-tie-up/articleshow/12646883.cms

MUMBAI: Every Google-endorsed Android smartphone that is sold in the country will now come bundled with a Reliance Communications mobile connection as the Anil Ambani company targets high-end users to ramp up subscribers.

RCom and Google have entered into a two-year deal according to which all Google-endorsed android mobile devices from companies like Samsung, HTC, Sony Ericsson and LG will come with the telco's third generation, or 3G, mobile connection with 1 GB of free downloads for the first six months.

But these devices will work on networks of all other mobile operators and consumers will have the option to switch to other operators.

Industry experts estimate that more than 200,000 such phones will be sold in India over the next two years and that RCom will be able to retain two-thirds of these customers on a long-term basis.

"RCom would be able to retain more than a fair share of these customers on its network," said Prashant Singhal, Partner at Ernst & Young Global's Indian affiliate. "The intangible brand benefits from such an exclusive tie-up will exceed the monetary benefits in the two years."

Singhal said the number of subscribers that the company will add because of the tie-up will not make a substantial difference to its overall user base or to its revenues. But it will help RCom in positioning itself as a network for premium users, enhancing its current image.

As part of the agreement, RCom, the country's second-largest telco by subscribers, will launch a 30-crore campaign for Google Android products starting Saturday.

Google has also committed to an equivalently valued campaign on its online platforms. The advertisement, that depicts the android logo Green Bot going blue, will include platforms like augmented reality and will continue till the T20 World Cup.

"We are creating a dedicated help desk to which any android phone bought under this agreement will be mapped automatically," said Sanjay Behl, group head, brand and marketing, Reliance Communications.

The two companies are assigning two dedicated marketing people each for the initiative, he added.

"We confirm the collaboration with Reliance to market Android devices," said a Google spokeswoman.

This will be Google's fourth such deal globally. It has similar agreements with Verizon in the US, Telstra in Australia and one in Japan.

The Android platform was created by Google, but has since been made open, or publicly available. Manufacturers using Google's android version carry a Google logo and the Green Bot on them.

These are Google-endorsed. Others who are using the publicly available version of android like the ZTE and Huawei phones do not have the Google logo. In India, Idea Cellular offer packs with Android-based handsets from ZTE and Huawei.

In the past, Aircel and Bharti Airtel had exclusively launched Apple's iPhone in India as part of similar tie-ups. Airtel retained a sizeable number of the customers that bought the phone, while many who bought it from Aircel switched to other networks.

Average monthly bills of customers using data-oriented phones like Google Android devices is estimated to be around 250-300, while the average monthly bill of a Reliance Communications customer is around 100.

[csmart 472]

^^^^ hope they dont dump the old instruments with new name. going by the RCOM reputation, no surprises if old Nexus sold as new high end phone.

[rajanmehta 4,056]

Jai Ho Google Maharaj Ki. (OR Shall we say, Modern Version of Manmohan Desai) Padhte Padhte Meri To Aankhe Nam Ho Gayi..

Little Boy Lost Finds His Mother Using Google Earth After 25 Years

[rajanmehta 4,056]

Unfortunately, it is US only right now..

Google Opens New ‘Devices’ Section In The Google Play Store To Sell The Unlocked Galaxy Nexus For US $ 399

And just like that, Google is selling smartphones again. Andy Rubin, Google’s SVP of Mobile and Digital Content, just officially pulled back the curtains on a new section in the Google Play Store where Google will offer hardware directly to customers. The first device to go on sale is the unlocked GSM version of Samsung’s venerable Galaxy Nexus, which will sell for $399 but only in the U.S. (for now, anyway).

With a new section in the Google Play Store meant specifically for hardware now open, it’s hard not to think of recent rumors that Google will soon be offering a slew of co-branded tablets directly to consumers. It seems unlikely to me that Google would carve out a space in the Google Play Store if their intentions were to simply sell an unlocked Galaxy Nexus and nothing more — after all, it’s called the Devices section.

[phonegeek 588]

Google Drive is LIVE

https://drive.google.com/