01/01/11| Technology News and Gadgets Updates

Saturday, January 1, 2011

Verizon iPhone due within weeks, says Bloomberg

A report from Bloomberg Businessweek says that not only is the Verizon iPhone likely to appear by Valentine's Day, but that Apple will probably hold "one of its splashy product introductions" announcing the new product — and the end of AT&T iPhone exclusivity.
The report also does away with the notion that Verizon would announce its iPhone at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas next week, or that Steve Jobs would make Vegas-bound reporters add a Cupertino, Calif. leg to their journey on Monday or Tuesday, for a pre-CES launch.
While Bloomberg reports all of this citing only "a person familiar with Apple's plans who is not authorized to discuss them publicly," it makes sense — especially since reporters haven't received any such calls to Apple headquarters, and it's the Thursday before a holiday weekend.
It does present a bit of a problem for Verizon, however. They will be at CES in full force to talk about their 4G LTE network, and they will even be introducing LTE-compatible phones, including the rumored HTC Thunderbolt, that will ship in the first half of next year. Executives will be on hand giving interviews about future phones, but will not also be able to discuss the iPhone, which will likely be offered to consumers a lot sooner than any LTE phones.
By all accounts, the iPhone will not be an LTE phone — like its AT&T counterpart, it will run on a 3G network — but it will be by far the most alluring, and probably most popular, phone sold by Verizon in 2011. It's just a shame that Verizon will come all that way to Las Vegas, and spend all that money on fanfare, yet be gagged from talking about its flagship device.

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Japan's DoCoMo aims to take on iPad with new tablet: Report

Japan's top carrier NTT DoCoMo is to launch a tablet computer running Google software to challenge Apple's hot-selling iPad , a report said on Saturday.

DoCoMo will marry the new Google-backed Android operating system with a device made by South Korea's LG Electronics to launch the product in Japan by the end of March, the Nikkei business daily said, without naming sources.

Users will be able to get on the Internet via DoCoMo's cellular connections, it said, adding pricing and other details were yet to be decided.

Google is expected to release a tablet-friendly operating system worldwide in early this year.

Kindle best-selling gadget in Britain, US

Kindle, that allows users to download and read digital copies of books and newspapers, is the most popular product of all time on Amazon - selling an estimated eight million in Britain and the US in 2010.

It appeals to consumers whose priorities are convenience and portability, and follows the success of the Apple iPod, which lets users carry around their entire music collection in a compact package, reports Daily Mail.

Critics doubted the same could be done with a book, where many get enjoyment from leafing through the pages of treasured volumes. But now the device threatens to consign printed books to history.

The Kindle has proved a hit, becoming Amazon's best-selling product ever. Sony has also enjoyed success with a similar device, the eReader, and Apple's popular iPad offers electronic book applications and downloads.

The previous best-selling product on Amazon was JK Rowling's novel Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows, released in July 2007.

The third-generation Kindle, which was launched five months ago and costs 149 pounds, can carry up to 3,500 books in a slim package that weighs just 247gm - less than one paperback.

Using the device's internet connection, via either wi-fi or the 3G mobile phone network, ebooks can be downloaded in just 60 seconds.

On Christmas Day, more people activated new Kindles, downloaded Kindle applications and bought ebooks than on any previous day.

But despite the soaring popularity of electronic book readers, opinion remains divided about whether ebooks will ever replace paper and ink volumes.

One of the criticisms of the gadgets has been the suggestion that the bright light of the screen can tire the eyes, making reading a chore.

But the Kindle incorporates technology called 'E Ink', which manufacturers claim reduces glare and reads like a printed document, even in bright sunlight.

Traditionalists have also made the point that a real book never runs out of battery.

Amazon says the Kindle 3 can run for up to one month on a single charge with the wireless internet connection turned off, and 10 days with the wireless on constantly.

For many, part of the fun of going on holiday is rifling through the books in the airport shops to find a trashy novel or murder mystery for the beach.

Kindle's answer to this is to allow downloads via wi-fi and the internet from some 100 countries and territories around the world, the Mail reports.

Amazon's online store sells digital versions of 500,000 books, including bestsellers and new releases, and a range of UK and international newspapers and magazines.

More than one million free books are also available. And the Kindle will even read text aloud to owners who get tired of flicking through the electronic pages.

Selling virtual books via the internet wipes out the costs associated with production, transport and dealing with waste copies.

In theory, this should mean the product that reaches the consumer via the Kindle should be much cheaper than the real version.

However, this is not always the case. The Kindle version of Stephen Fry's The Fry Chronicles is listed at 12.99 pounds on Amazon, while the same website prices the hardback at just 8.20 pounds. Similarly, Jilly Cooper's Jump is 5.98 pounds on Kindle, compared to 5.19 pounds in paperback.

The figures suggest the arrival of ebooks is a huge money-spinner for Amazon, the publishers and, potentially, the authors.

Outsourcing, just a phone call away, is the norm now

The deal was in the works for all of 24 months. When it was finally made public in March 2004, the telecom world watched in shock and awe. Sunil Bharti Mittal had outsourced the very heart of the telecom business — technology and networks.

In a 10-year, $750million outsourcing arrangement, Bharti, India's largest mobile telecom operator, gave out technology to IBM. Network expansion was given away in a three-year deal to Nokia and Ericsson .

That time Bharti had 8.4 million subscribers, and all projections said the company would expand to a subscriber base of 50 million in the period of the deal. Bharti today boasts of more than 150 million subscribers, much beyond what anyone imagined.

Both the technology and network outsourcing deals have been re-worked to cater to the galloping growth of Bharti. The telecom major has partnered with IBM even in 16 African countries –taking its outsourcing model global. That includes doing billing, customer relationship management, applications development, network expansion and keeping Bharti up-to-date with any new technology deployment.

The Bharti model has been followed by Vodafone India , Idea Cellular, Aircel, Maxis, Videocon, Uninor and others. The telecom outsourcing arrangement is a Harvard Business case study and globally more than 50 boardrooms have discussed the Bharti model.

“It was the most sophisticated deal and taught the country what outsourcing is all about at a time when foc US was on offshoring,” says Nasscom president Som Mittal.

While it was easy to understand why business was being sent from the US and rest of the world to India–to cut costs due to labour arbitrage advantage–no one gave a shot to outsourcing locally.

What could a company gain by this? Says telecom consultancy Com First director Mahesh Uppal: “It freed up Bharti's senior management bandwidth to focus on what they know best—build the brand, customer acquisition and strategy. And the partners delivered on signed service levels.”

Today, IBM manages around 100 technology vendors for Bharti. “The onus of efficiency is on IBM. If Bharti had done technology and networks inhouse it would have needed more than 2,000 engineers, besides the headache of managing global vendors. Now, Bharti spends time in building the brand and effective governance,'' says Ramesh Awtaney, who led IBM India's telecom business when the deal was signed.

“The value of the model is now obvious to most peers and competitors,” adds Uppal. The multi-year deal is now more than $2 billion and a benchmark on how to outsource.

Smartphones ruled Indian market in 2010

Slim is in, not only in the fashion world, but also in the tech world, with gadgets ranging from smartphones to personal computers adopting a sleeker avatar in 2010.

The growing desire of consumers to carry their world in their pockets has not only forced handset-makers to come up with slim and sleek phones, but also personal computer-makers to innovate and come up with a different form factor for PCs.

2010 saw the launch of new tablet devices, which added to the excitement.

Although Apple's iPad is yet to arrive in India, the Dell Streak, Olive Pad and Samsung Galaxy Tab were launched in the second half of the year.

The competition was not just about going sleek, but getting smarter as well. In 2010, smartphones continued to attract more share of the average Indian's wallet, a trend that was seen in previous years as well.

"Smartphones are the fastest growing market segment, registering over 50 per cent growth in 2010 over 2009. Smartphone sales are expected to grow 60 per cent in 2011 over 2010," global IT research firm Gartner's Principal Analyst, Anshul Gupta said.

Going by analysts, the availability of a plethora of operating systems for smartphones will further bring down prices and even make the gadgets a mass-market product.

Moreover, the emergence of new and low-price brands -- especially in growing markets such as India and China -- has also resulted in higher sales of smartphones.

The new features in smartphones include 3G, or third-generation, data transfer capabilities and versatile applications, such as pre-loaded e-book readers.

Sales of mobile phones in India are expected to reach 155 million units this year and jump further to over 225 million units in 2014.

Currently, Samsung, LG, Nokia, Asus, HTC, Blackberry, HTC and Dell offer smartphones in India, with a price tag ranging from Rs 6,500 to Rs 31,000.

As per global IT and telecommunications research and analysis firm International Data Corporation (IDC), emerging mobile phone-makers in India accounted for 33.2 per cent of total handset shipments in the April-June quarter of 2010.

With the latest features and innovations being made available even on low-price handsets, the thin line between a basic and a smart handset is also blurring.

A mobile today has become the 'Swiss Knife' of the modern world, because while it might not have a corkscrew or a nail cutter, it is a phone, a data-handler and a one-stop gadget for all entertainment and communication needs.

BlackBerry says India can't access encrypted data

Denying reports that it has agreed to allow access to its encrypted corporate data to Indian authorities, BlackBerry maker Research In Motion (RIM) has said unscrambling encrypted email on its devices is simply not “technologically feasible.”

India has been seeking access to all encrypted communications as the terrorists involved the 2008 Mumbai attack communicated with their handlers by using sophisticated technology. It wants the Canadian company to install a server in India to monitor this service.

However, RIM, which has got two reprieves since August and assured a solution by January 31, is not willing to compromise on the privacy of this encrypted service which has made its smart phones a darling of businesses.

Reacting to the report from New Delhi that it has agreed to installation of a ‘network data analysis system’ in India to let security agencies check secure BlackBerry data, RIM said it is ‘inaccurate and misleading.’

The report conveys the impression as if it is “somehow enabling access to data” transmitted through its business server system, RIM told the Canadian Press.

“This is both false and technologically infeasible,” it said. This so-called “network data analysis system” is just a tool required to allow carriers in India to provide lawful access to its consumer services, including its instant messaging service, RIM was quoted as saying.

“This is not new information as RIM has repeatedly confirmed that it is co-operating with the government of India and enabling carriers to lawfully access consumer services to the same degree imposed on RIM’s competitors in India.”

The Canadian wireless giant has said in the past that it doesn’t have a ‘master key’ to get a third party access to encrypted corporate data under any circumstances.

According to RIM, India’s demand for installing servers in the country is meaningless as all data remain encrypted at all times through all points of transfer between the BlackBerry enterprise server and client smart phones.

The company said it was working with Indian authorities for allowing them access to its consumer services, including the highly popular BlackBerry messenger service.

New device to accelerate cleanup of N-contaminated sites

Cleanup of sites with radioactive contamination is set to become faster, more accurate and less expensive, thanks to Oregon State University researchers who have invented a new type of radiation detection and measurement device.

A patent has been granted on this new type of radiation spectrometer, and the first production of devices will begin soon.

The advance has also led to creation of a Corvallis-based spinoff company, Avicenna Instruments, based on the OSU research. The market for these instruments may ultimately be global, and thousands of them could be built, said researchers.

"Unlike other detectors, this spectrometer is more efficient, and able to measure and quantify both gamma and beta radiation at the same time," said David Hamby, an OSU professor of health physics.

"Before this two different types of detectors and other chemical tests were needed in a time-consuming process.

"This system will be able to provide accurate results in 15 minutes that previously might have taken half a day. That saves steps, time and money," said Hamby.

The spectrometer, developed over 10 years by Hamby and Abi Farsoni, an assistant professor in the College of Engineering, can quickly tell the type and amount of radionuclides that are present in something like a soil sample-contaminants such as cesium 137 or strontium 90-that were produced from reactor operations.

It can also distinguish between gamma rays and beta particles, which is necessary to determine the level of contamination.

"Cleaning up radioactive contamination is something we can do, but the process is costly, and often the question when working in the field is how clean is clean enough.

"At some point the remaining level of radioactivity is not a concern. So we need the ability to do frequent and accurate testing to protect the environment while also controlling costs," said Hamby.

Website aims to be Facebook for gays in military

After nearly two decades of hearing "don't ask, don't tell," gay U.S. military men and women are now hearing, "do ask, do tell," and even, "find a friend" from a new social network website, Out Military.

Launched just over a week ago at outmilitary.com, the site comes on the heels of U.S. President Barack Obama signing a new law repealing the so-called "don't ask, don't tell" rule, established in 1993, that prevented gay men and lesbians from openly serving in the armed forces.

To date, Out Military -- a sort of Facebook for gay and lesbian military men and women -- has only 53 members, but its backers think that will change in the months ahead as the law's repeal takes effect.

Currently, the U.S. military is drafting rules to implement the new policy, and a specific date for implementation has not been set. Even so, some members say they aren't waiting and do not fear the possibility of losing their military job.

"It gives people a social platform to communicate," Kristin Orta, a private first-class serving with the Florida National Guard, said about the site, which she joined last week after seeing an ad on Facebook.

Orta, who enlisted in August, said joining the military during the U.S. congressional debate on repeal of "don't ask, don't tell," was a coincidence. She called the repeal a step in the right direction of allowing members to serve openly.

Another Out Military member, Vietnam veteran Bill Royal, claimed he was the victim of sexual abuse during his time in the military and said he hoped the site would help others suffering the same experience.

"I joined, more than anything, so that I could maybe help someone else," explained Royal.

Out Military creator and web designer John McKinnon said he built the site to support others who may be looking for friends or for a network of gay and lesbian service members and supporters.

"I think a social networking site specifically for that niche of gay and lesbian service members is a natural fit," McKinnon said.

Based in Bangor, Maine, McKinnon had been following the "don't ask, don't tell" debate since former President Bill Clinton created the policy. He dreamed up the social networking website when the debate was resurrected in recent months.

He is, of course, encouraging people to join, but while some military members like Orta do not fear being outed, McKinnon discourages posting revealing information before the repeal comes into effect.

"(The site) might be just a little bit early, but it's not too early to join," he said.

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