Line Phone, the next generation concept phone

I have seen a lot of concepts phone, but some concepts are just mind blowing, like the Mozilla seabird concept phone. Today, I will show you another concept phone, and I am sure that this phone is going to blow your mind away. Presenting the Line Phone and this concept phone is made in China. Most of the people think that Chinese stuff is just lame, but folks this one is really heart touching. The phone also won a gold award of Digital Product and Service Design Competition at the 2010 Furong Cup in the Republic of China. So folks, watch the video after the break and tell us what you think about the concept phone. Have a look:

Facebook now has Pirate-speak as a Language Option!!

What be troublin' ye? Maybe it'd help if you Blabber t' yer mates about it so they can see it on their Home Port, or their bottle o' messages. Your blabberings are now going to Arr'd a lot more and you can even check out the sorry louts who think they're yer mates! Thar be more to it, as you can now scour fer mateys or customize yarr vessel.

Confused? Well, long story short, Facebook now has Pirate Speak as one of the language options for its users. Likes are now Arrs and you can reply to event invitations with Aye, Nay and Mayhaps. An additional English language option has also been added, which lets you read everything Upside Down. Your friends' names are still going to be upright though, so that's a bit useless.

I love the pirate speak though. It makes a website that I consider pretty boring infinitely more entertaining. Most of my scallywag mateys are now Cap'ns and are now wagging their scurvy tongue at, or admin' stuff on each other's Litany of Misdeeds.

I don't think I'm ever going to go back to the original because I Arr this too much, so I hope this isn't just a limited time thing.
original post by: Sriram Gurunathan

Number of Internet users worldwide reaches 2 billion: UN

The number of Internet users worldwide has mushroomed to reach the two billion mark, the head of the UN's telecommunications agency, Hamadoun Toure, said on Wednesday.

The number of mobile phone subscriptions also reached the symbolic threshold of five billion, the secretary general of the UN's International Telecommunications Union (ITU) told journalists.

"At the beginning of the year 2000 there were only 500 million mobile subscriptions globally and 250 million Internet users," he said.

"By the beginning of this year 2011 those numbers have mushroomed to over five billion mobile users and two billion subscribers to the Internet," Toure added.

An ITU statistician told AFP that the figure for mobile telephones related to subscriptions.

Fresh data posted online by the agency showed that the estimated number of Internet users had reached 2.08 billion by the end of 2010, compared to 1.86 billion a year earlier.

The estimated number of cellphone subscriptions worldwide reached 5.28 billion at the end of the last year, compared to 4.66 billion at the end of 2009.

"The very high growth in mobile (phones) is slowing and we're reaching the end of double digit growth in mobile," Susan Teltscher, ITU head of market information and statistics, told AFP.

With the world's population exceeding 6.8 billion, nearly one person in three surfs online.

Fifty-seven percent of the users are in developing countries, three years after the ITU reported that Internet use there overtook developed nations.

The number of fixed broadband internet subscriptions in the world passed the half a billion mark for the first time in 2010, reaching 555 million, while the number of mobile broadband subscriptions surged to 940 million.

Meanwhile, fixed telephone landlines declined for the fourth year in a row, dropping just below 1.2 billion.

Asia and the Pacific spearheaded the shift into cyberspace, adding more than 100 million internet users to the global tally to bring the number of Internet users in the region to 857 million -- largely due to China, Teltscher noted.

But the highest density of online surfers in the population is found in Europe, followed by the Americas, former Soviet states and Arab nations, according to the ITU data.

The most rapid online growth in recent years has occurred in the latter two regions.

In Arab states, the estimated number of Internet users has reached 88 million, doubling in the space of about five years.

Growth in Commonwealth of Independent States was even faster: 127 million people used the Internet there last year, compared to 51 million in 2007 according to the ITU estimates.

"They have been catching up because they had lower penetration rates before," Teltscher explained

Now smell the games you play on TV!

'Smell-O-Vision' is a plug-in device for computer games that emits a variety of odours, depending on the scenario.
If your character is crawling around the jungle, it whiffs out the unmistakable smell of pine.

Should you find yourself at sea, the smell of the water will be instantly delivered by the 'personal scent delivery system'.

The ScentScape has around 20 pre-loaded smells and is programmed to respond to exactly what is happening on screen, the Daily Mail reports.

But its makers hope that the in-built editing application will allow gamers to make their own scents and share them with other users.

The $69.99 device from California-based Scent Sciences has a 'volume control' feature to ensure you are not overwhelmed by the fumes.

Additional 'smell cartridges' such as holiday and summer mean it will also be possible to add smells to home videos. Other cartridges could be created for aromatherapy and other applications.

"ScentScape is an innovative digital scent delivery system, which provides extra dimension of scent to gaming, entertainment and other consumer markets," Scent Sciences says on its website.

"Simply connect the Plug-N-Play unit to any compatible PC or gaming console for an instant experience of sight, sound and smell."

Technicians have for years tried to find a way to combine smell with vision, often with ridiculous consequences.

Airtel Announces Prices For Its 3G Data Plans

Airtel has already kicked off its 3G services on Karnataka, with the rest of the 3G circles in India being targeted within the next couple of months. At the launch event, it detailed the plans that will be available to the customers.

In slides that were acquired by Telecom Talk, Airtel has decided to offer plans that fit the heavy as well as light data users. The 3G data plans start from Rs. 9 for 10MB with 1 day validity and go all the way upto Rs. 750 for 2GB with 30 days validity. Apart from these, Airtel also has a flexi-shield plan where users pay Rs. 650 a month, where they are given 1.25GB of free data usage. After the free usage is over, all the 3G data will be charged at Rs. 10p/ MB upto 14GB and after that the speed gets capped to 128kpbs. Unfortunately, Airtel has not announced an unlimited data plan and that is kind of disheartening.

Below is the list of time-based plans for Airtel 3G

Rs. 9 for 10 MB, validity 1 day
Rs. 45 for 40 MB Validity 3 days
Rs. 60 for 65 MB, validity 3 days
Rs. 103 for 100 MB, validity 30 days
Rs. 200 for 250 MB, validity 30 days
Rs. 450 for 600 MB, validity 30 days
Rs. 750 for 2 GB, validity 30 days.

Users can also subscribe to a ‘pay as you go’ plan, where the user will be charged at 30p per 20kb. Those who want to activate the 3G service on their Airtel Mobiles need to send an SMS with the message ‘3G’ to 121, after which a confirmation will be send to the subscriber. Any 2G services that were active during that time will be deactivated.

Mark Zuckerberg's Facebook Page Hacked

It looks like even the best are vulnerable to being hacked. News broke out today that Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg’s own Facebook page was taken control of by a hacker who was able to gain access and started posting updates and message on the wall.


An update on Mr. Zuckerburg’s wall said the following “Let the hacking begin: If Facebook needs money, instead of going to the banks, why doesn’t Facebook let its users invest in Facebook in a social way? Why not transform Facebook into a social business the way Nobel Prize winner Muhammad Yunus described it?"

The post also contained a shortened URL which led to a Wikipedia page for ‘social business’. Just before the page was taken down by Facebook, it gathered over 1806 ‘likes’ from various followers. Mr. Zuckerberg page has been redirected to a new URL and is now up and running for all to see.

It is not yet known how the breach occurred, but it’s still bad news for Facebook, which has been in the limelight recently for its decision to use a person’s activity as advertising or wanting to share your information with third party apps which it later backtracked on.

Nokia most trusted brand in India

Nokia has emerged as the most trusted brand in India ahead of homegrown Tata, while master blaster Sachin Tendulkar has been ranked ahead of Mahatma Gandhi by a survey.  The survey titled The Brand Trust Report, India Study 2011, released on Wednesday, puts Japan’’s Sony in the third position, ahead of Korean consumer electronics and appliances makers LG and Samsung that are ranked at number four and five.

MNP – Mobile Number Portability goes live !

After years of waiting and with numerous delays for mobile number portability, it will finally be available all over India from this January 20 2011.

Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal said,
“We’re very happy that we are going to launch it nationally. It’s a great step forward for the consumer. It enhances his choice.”

What is MNP?

Ever frustrated with your current service provider? Want to move a better service provider by keeping your present number..? This is just the right time. There are millions of cell phone users in India, So with MNP it gives you freedom to shift to a better service provider with less hassle. This service is applicable to both the Prepaid as well as the Postpaid customers.

Procedure

   1. To shift, send an SMS “PORT” followed by your mobile number from your phone to 1900.
   2. Your service provider will reply with a unique porting code.
   3. Use that code while filling out a detailed form for the new service provider you want to shift to.
   4. Within 48 hours, your service will be activated, a nominal fee of Rs 19 will be charged for the same.

More on MNP Process

    * Your cell number will be switched off for only one hour. All bills after that, are paid to your new service provider. You’ll be stuck with them for at least 90 days before you can shift again.
    * While you can shift from a GSM service to CDMA or vice versa, you cannot shift from one circle to another. If you do, roaming charges will be applied as usual.
    * When you port your number, you also need to change your SIM
    * For a prepaid number, carry forward of any balance to the new service provider is not permitted.

Meanwhile, for more info, these service providers below have given their toll free numbers as follows :

    *Aircel - 9802098020
    *Airtel -18001031111
    * BSNL-18001801503
    * IDEA MNP Helpline: 1800-270-0000
    * MTNL Mumbai-1800221503
    * TATA Docomo MNP Helpline: 1800-266-0000
    * Vodafone MNP Helpline: 1800-1234567

I hope that clears most of the confusion. Do comment if you have any more doubts on the same.
original post by ArunD

Samsung Galaxy Player is Available for Pre-Order

Hot on the heels of the Cowon D3 rumors is one more  that states that Samsung will be unveiling its own Android-based PMP - the Galaxy Player. The device is expected to be showcased at CES 2011.

The device apparently “takes inspiration” from the Galaxy S and boasts very similar specs to it – except the phone functionality, of course. This bears a very striking resemblance to the iPhone and the iPod Touch – the device it’ll go head-to-head against.

The PMP will run on Android 2.2 Froyo and will feature a 1GHz CPU, a 4-inch Super Clear LCD screen at 800x480 (WVGA), dual cameras with the rear-facing one at 3.2 megapixels, HD Video Playback, microSD card slot, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS and access to the Android Market and Samsung Apps platforms. To top it all off, the device will even feature a 1200mAh removable battery.

We can’t wait for more information on this device, or to get our hands on the actual device itself. Seeing that it’s going to provide some much-needed competition to the iPod Touch, it might even revitalize the whole PMP segment. Good going Samsung, now we just hope this device delivers.

Samsung Hub is reporting that the PMP is already available for pre-order in France. To add to that, Engadget has spotted the device up for pre-order on Amazon UK, which suggests the device is priming for a release this very month. The 16GB version is priced at around Rs. 12,500 (£180) and the 8GB version is going for approximately Rs. 10,400 (£150). Hopefully it hits Indian shores soon.
original post by Sriram Gurunathan 

Apples App Store about to hit 10 Billion downloads!

As of today, nearly 10 billion apps have been downloaded from the App Store worldwide. Which is almost as amazing as the apps themselves. Download the 10 billionth app, and you could win a US $10,000 iTunes Gift Card. Just visit the App Store, and download what could be your best app yet.

At Las Vegas, everybody bets on Android

LAS VEGAS: From massive screens to show off their product capa-bilities to dancers on a makeshift stage, companies use all kinds of gimmicks to draw footfalls to their booths at the Consumer Elec-tronics Show - one of the world's largest annual technology fairs, in Las Vegas, Nevada.

But there's one company that hasn't bothered to take a booth and is yet making headlines. Google. The company's Android software is everywhere - with every other smartphone or tablet being launched running on different versions of its Android operating system. Sony Ericsson, Samsung, Motorola, LG and Dell were just some of the companies that unveiled Android-based products.

Google's operating system - which is provided to companies for free so that they can build on it in any way and then install it on their gadgets - has given phone and laptop manufacturers, who were be-sieged by Apple's iPhone and iPad, a new lease of life. Other smartphone makers like Research In Motion, which makes Black-berry, have also closed software that they do not share. Microsoft also charges for use of its Windows Phone software. So Google's free and flexible platform has allowed companies like Sony, LG, Mo-torola and Samsung to step up and compete with Apple.

At CES 2011, there was a lot of excitement at the Motorola booth where the company unveiled two new Android-based smartphones - the Atrix 4G and the Droid Bionic. Atrix 4G is powered by An-droid 2.2 (Froyo), but will be upgradable to Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) later this year.

Samsung, which already has Galaxy S smartphones that run on Android, introduced the Infuse 4G, a super-thin Android 2.2-based 4G smartphone. Sony Ericsson unveiled the Xperia arc based on An-droid 2.3, the latest version of Google's open mobile platform.

Acer introduced a new line of Liquid Mini Android phones. It fea-tures Acer's customised user interface, which sits on top of An-droid 2.2.

Taiwan-based HTC launched three smartphone - ThunderBolt, Evo Shift and Inspire - all on Android 2.2 or Froyo.
In the tablet space, Motorola announced its Xoom tablet that runs on Android 3.0 also known as Honeycomb, the latest version which has been developed exclusively for tablets. LG launched its G Slate, a 4G tablet which also runs on Honeycomb, and is likely to hit the US in 2011. Dell launched the Streak 7, a tablet with 4G connectivity, a dual processor and of course, Android 2.2 upgradable to Honey-comb.

While Samsung only announced an upgrade on its Galaxy Tab - a WiFi only version will be available soon - the company did say that the Android platform has helped them enter the tablet and smartphone space. Samsung's chief strategy officer Omar Khan said that using an Android platform with access to a number of apps has "led to sales of 1.5 million units of the earlier version of the Galaxy Tab, which had both 3G and WiFi capabilities".

Samsung also unveiled the Galaxy Player, which it calls the "first Google-certified Android-based smart player", and a rival to Ap-ple's iPod. The Player was introduced in Korea last year and runs on Android 2.2, with access to 120,000 apps on the Android platform.

It wasn't just smartphones and tablets. Android also made its pres-ence felt in the car space. At the automotive section, there were a number of applications on Android for smarter cars. For instance, automotive parts supplier Continental showed a head unit called AutoLinq with a range of apps that ran on Android. The device, still a
prototype, has applications such as navigation with real-time traf-fic; a vehicle diagnostic system that can tell a driver exactly what's wrong with his car, like low-coolant or brake fluid, rather than just flash a check-engine light; speed limit data and safety features.

Other parts suppliers also demonstrated systems based on Android, like Audiovox's Android-powered headrest-based entertainment system where people can connect to their Facebook pages, watch videos on YouTube and go online, all from the backset of their car.

While a lot of these systems are only prototypes, there seems to be a growing interest in connected car systems, as was clear from the huge space that cars got at CES 2011, and the flexibility of the An-droid platform will probably interest automakers too.

Whether smartphones, tablets or other applications, Google seemed to have its advertising being done for it very well by its users. Other smartphone manufacturers, which run on their own operat-ing systems, such as BlackBerry did have a presence but made no major announcements. Blackberry showcased its Playbook but didn't give any details about the launch dates or pricing. Microsoft only showed its Windows Phone 7 launch devices and not much more. So this year, CES seemed to belong entirely to Android.
news courtesy: Times of india

Japanese firm invents mirror to spot the flu

A Japanese technology firm on Tuesday unveiled a mirror-like thermometer that can identify a person who is feverish.

"Thermo Mirror," which looks like a table mirror, measures the skin temperature of the person looking into it, without the need for physical contact, said the firm, NEC Avio Infrared Technologies.

The person's temperature is displayed on the surface, and the device has an alarm that will beep when detecting a subject who is feverish.

With two versions priced at 98,000 yen and 120,000 yen ($1,180-$1,440) each, the product costs less than 10 percent of thermography cameras used at airports to screen for people who might have communicable diseases, the company said.

"We foresee uses at corporate receptions, schools, hospitals and public facilities," NEC Avio said in a statement.

The company said it aimed to sell 5,000 units in one year.

Country's first GPS-based auto fare calculator launched

A Kochi-based firm Wednesday launched what it claimed was India's first multi-platform auto fare calculating application that uses GPS.

MindHelix Technologies claimed that its "Tuk Tuk" meter, a mobile phone application, will enable the commuter to get accurate fare from auto-rickshaws thus puting a stop to their being cheated on false fare claims.

The meter is the first multi-platform application in India that can dynamically calculate the distance travelled using Global Positioning System (GPS) and the fare due, a company official said.

The space-based GPS satellite navigation system, provides precise location and time information anytime anywhere on Earth. The system, developed by the United States Department of Defense, is freely accessible by anyone with a GPS receiver.

The new application runs on smart phones with Android, Blackberry or Symbian operating systems without any need for manual entry of distance or fare. It can be downloaded free from www.tuktuk.mindhelix.com, Christin Emmanuel George, co-founder and CEO of MindHelix Technologies, said.

It can be started as one enters the autorickshaw and the meter in the phone will run alongside the auto's meter. Using the GPS, it can double-check the distance travelled as shown in the auto and calculate the exact fare, explained George.

"The 'Tuk Tuk' meter does not require an internet connection or service provider. It functions even in remote areas. The application has a simple user interface that consists of a Start-Stop button and can be customised for any location by entering the fare details," George said.

MindHelix Technologies is a start-up company formed in December 2010. The company focuses on mobile applications development.

ASUS Retcon their CES Tablet Launches

Let’s flash back to CES 2011 for a second. ASUS at the event launched three Android 3.0 Honeycomb-based tablets  - the Eee Pad Slider, the Eee Pad Transformer and the Eee Pad MeMO. Now it turns out a few of the details revealed were a lie and a “mistake”.Speaking to The Inquirer, John Swatton, ASUS  Marketing said the company could not confirm if the tablets would be running Honeycomb because it has no idea on the detailed technical specifications required for the operating system. Instead, the tablets will ship with Android 2.3 Gingerbread at launch. He also mentioned that the expected launch window is Q3 2011, which is later than the announced launch window of Q2 2011.

The Eee Pads will also be missing phone features, so they most likely won’t be able to access the Android Market as is dictated by Google policy. So it looks quite possible that ASUS will have to develop their own App Store for the devices. However, the Samsung Galaxy Player has gone ahead and become the first Wi-fi only device to support the Android Market, so a lot may change before the tablets eventually release.

Anyway, that’s a major snafu on ASUS’ part. To screw up on a massive stage like the CES has to be really embarrassing for the company, so they’ll be hoping to wipe this incident from people’s memories as soon as possible.
(Original post by Sriram Gurunathan )

State Bank of India and Airtel announce joint venture for mobile banking

State Bank of India (SBI) and Bharti Airtel have announced a joint venture to offer banking services to consumers who don’t have access to traditional banking services.   Consumers can open a bank account with SBI at Airtel’s customer service points and avail banking services.We are really trying to get more information how this tie-up with actually work and what part of it is mobile banking. But for now we only have the official statement.

Find the press release below

SBI and airtel join hands to usher in a new era of financial inclusion for unbanked India

- Form joint venture to target financial inclusion on the ubiquitous mobile platform -

New Delhi, 12th January 2011: State Bank of India, the country’s largest commercial bank, and Bharti airtel, India’s largest telecommunications company, today announced that they have entered into a Joint Venture (JV) agreement to make available banking services to India’s unbanked millions. The newly formed entity, will harness the power of State Bank’s strengths and airtel’s mobile telephony to add value to the banking and financial services sector and empower millions of financially excluded in the country to enhance their livelihood and quality of life. The Joint Venture will become the Business Correspondent of SBI and offer banking products and services at affordable cost to the citizens in unbanked and other areas.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr. O. P. Bhatt, Chairman, State Bank of India said, “State Bank of India has always been in the forefront of Financial Inclusion initiatives. More than 67% of its massive (13,000) branch network is in rural and semi urban areas. In the last four years, the bank has set up more than 15,000 Customer Service Points of Business Correspondents as well as 13,000 Business Facilitators, to increase its outreach. The Bank has already reached out to more than 1 lakh unbanked villages. This joint venture which brings together the commitment of two of India’s greatest institutions, one in the financial services sector known for its innovation and dedication to the under privileged sections of the society, the other in mobile telephony whose drive for growth and excellence is unmatched, will enable the bank to fulfil its mandate of reaching out to every Indian leveraging the distribution network of airtel to provide banking services in a cost effective and secure manner. With this, we look forward to taking the benefits of banking to the Indian masses and building a more inclusive society thereby carrying forward State Bank’s vision of being the Banker to every Indian”.

Commenting on the partnership, Mr. Sunil Bharti Mittal, Chairman and Managing Director, Bharti airtel said, “This historic collaboration between SBI and airtel brings together two sectors that have made the most impact in addressing inclusive growth. The services offered by the JV will enable financial inclusion and economic empowerment for people across India. This will be a complete game changer, leveraging SBI’s expertise in the banking sector along with airtel’s 150 million strong customer base and ecosystem of over 1.5 million retailers and distributors across India. Together, we will create a scalable operation that will address the banking requirements of millions of Indians through the mobile platform.”

With the penetration of mobile teledensity standing at a strong 60 percent, the market possesses great potential for a collaboration that combines the strengths of both banking and telecom sectors.

airtel is the country’s largest telecom operator, present across 5,101 towns and more than 500,000 villages, with its network covering 85% of India’s population carrying an average of over  200 billion minutes per quarter. airtel will leverage its strength in distribution, highly scaled product and service design, low-cost operations and technology in making inclusive financial services a viable model.

SBI is the largest commercial bank in India with more than 13,000 branches (8,800 in rural/semi urban areas) serving 210 million accounts  and peak transactions of about 43 million per day. SBI is rightfully ‘the banker’ to every Indian, has the consumer’s trust and has been at the forefront of driving inclusive growth.

The JV as Business Correspondent will engage airtel’s retailers as Customer Service Points (CSP) all over India in a phased manner. With this, existing and new airtel mobile customers will be able to visit these outlets and open new SBI bank accounts and avail of other banking products and services available at the CSPs. Additionally, existing SBI customers will also get serviced at these outlets.

This partnership between India’s leading mobile and banking service providers represents a first-of-its-kind collaboration aimed at making the concept of inclusive banking a reality for customers in India.

The JV incorporation between SBI and airtel will be concluded by 31st March, 2011.
Orginal post by Mr.Varun Krish

Will Reliance or Tata Indicom get the CDMA iPhone 4 ?

 Yesterday, Apple launched a CDMA version of the iPhone 4 and they might just as well bring its CDMA iPhone services to Asia. There are chances that Apple and Reliance or Tata could get together and bring a CDMA iPhone to India.
What’s interesting about Verizon iPhones is that these phones are not exclusive. This means, that Apple can team up with other carriers in the US or with other services in other parts of the world.
Presently, only the iPhone 3GS is available (legally) with Airtel and Vodafone and they are GSM locked versions. As per sources, Apple might launch their CDMA iPhones in India sometime in mid 2011.
If this does happen, you will see many more users around in India carrying iPhones. There’s no confirmation about this, so it’s advised that you don’t get too excited right now.

70% less data consumption with Nimbuzz for Nokia Symbian

Get ready to consume up to 70% less data with the new Nimbuzz 3.0.1 for Nokia Symbian phones.
With the new update we have enabled a new way to compress the data packages using zlib encoding. We expect that on average you will consume 50% less data, and depending on how you use Nimbuzz, this could get save you an amazing 70% in data used.
Also your login speed will be faster .
Besides these amazing news we also have three additional features you should definitely check out:

1. Invisible mode – so you can appear invisible to your Nimbuzz contacts.
2. Allow chats only from friends – so you won’t be bothered by people that are not on your list.
3. Updated status icons – for Online, Away, Busy and Offline modes.

And here is how to activate the new options:
To appear invisible to your Nimbuzz friends you need to click on your profile (top of the contact list),  then on your status (usually it’s online) and choose Invisible.

To allow chats only from your Nimbuzz contacts go to: Options > Settings > Nimbuzz account > Allow chats from: Contacts only.