India launch of Microsoft Windows Phone 7 this year

Microsoft plans to launch its Windows Phone 7 and search engine Bing in the Indian market this year, an official said here on Wednesday.

The software major's India development centre has fine-tuned the innovative applications of Bing for its launch in India.

"Windows Phone 7 will be launched in a few months but the date has not yet been decided," Amit Chatterjee, managing director of Microsoft India Development Centre (MSIDC), told reporters.

He did not agree that Windows Phone 7 already launched abroad is heavy and slow. "A number of products are to suit the demands of a billion satisfied customers all around the world. We are making all efforts to give them a brand new visual experience," he said.

He said the device allows Microsoft to bring together its assets like Office, Explorer and search engine Bing. The applications range from simple to those with more work flow.

Windows Phone 7 has already been launched in the US and other countries with its global partner HTC. Windows Phone 7 and Bing are two of the focus areas of MSIDC.

Chattterjee, who recently succeeded Srini Koppulu as the MD, termed Bing as a decision engine, quite different from the other search engines.

Nokia drops new Meego phone, bemoans plight

Nokia has ditched plans for a new smartphone and compared the company's plight to an oil platform on fire just days ahead of a key strategy presentation, according to industry sources.

The sources said the Finnish firm had dropped its plan to launch a phone based on the MeeGo operating system, increasing the possibility it might switch systems. Such a switch is seem by some investors as the best option for troubled Nokia.

In a leaked internal memo, Chief Executive Stephen Elop hinted at the move, writing: "We thought MeeGo would be a platform for winning high-end smartphones. However, at this rate, by the end of 2011, we might have only one MeeGo product in the market."

In the same memo posted on Nokia's internal website this week, Elop comparing its position to a man on a burning oil platform, wondering whether he dares to jump. Industry sources said the memo, published in full in the Financial Times on Wednesday, was genuine.

A spokesman for Nokia declined to comment. MeeGo, seen key to Nokia's battle in the high-end smartphone market, was created last year by the merger of Nokia and Intel's

Linux-based platforms Maemo and Moblin. Nokia, the largest handset maker by volume, has seen industry newcomers Apple and Google sweep up most of the profits in the wireless industry in just few years after their entrance to the sector.

Vatican bans confession by iPhone

The Vatican put its foot down today over the idea of "confessing" by iPhone, after news that US users can now download an application for the Apple gadget that helps the faithful gain absolution.

"It is essential to understand that the rites of penance require a personal dialogue between penitents and their confessor... It cannot be replaced by a computer application," Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi told journalists.

"I must stress to avoid all ambiguity, under no circumstance is it possible to 'confess by iPhone'," he said.

"Confession: A Roman Catholic App," is the first programme for the Apple devices created by a South Bend, Indiana-based company called "Little iApps" and sells for 1.99 dollars (1.45 euros) on iTunes.

The app guides the faithful on their path to confession by checking whether their behaviour conforms to the rules of the Scriptures with questions such as "have I been involved in occult practices?"

Its developer, Patrick Leinen, said the app was designed to be used in the confessional and was intended "for those who frequent the sacrament and those who wish to return."

"Our desire is to invite Catholics to engage in their faith through digital technology," Leinen said in a press release on his littleapps.com website.

Disclaimer: All information on this news has been compiled from their respective official websites or through public domain sites and leading newspapers. Although, we have taken reasonable efforts to provide you with accurate information, but we assumes no responsibility for the accuracy (or inaccuracy) of the Information and would advise you to verify it from the official product provider. We cannot guarantee that the information on this page is 100% correct. If you would like to advertise on our site please contact us

Facebook readies room to grow while Google eyes LA

Seven-year-old Facebook is already fast outgrowing its Silicon Valley abode. The world’s largest social network will shift its corporate headquarters starting this summer to a 57-acre campus with 1 million square feet of office space in Menlo Park, California, making its second move in less than two years.

The move, which will see Facebook swap its Palo Alto address for a home base in a largely undeveloped area near the entrance to a busy Bay Area bridge, will give the company much-needed room to grow, even if the new location lacks some of the glamour of other corporate real estate deals. Google, which is increasingly vying with Facebook for engineering talent, announced on Tuesday that it had leased an iconic building for its staff in Santa Monica. Google’s headquarters is in Mountain View , California. Facebook executives said the company, which turned seven on Friday, is seeking the space beyond its nearby Palo Alto base to contain its explosive expansion.

The company has seen its payroll swell by about 50% annually in past years to about 2,000 now, a pace it expects to sustain in coming years. Its new Menlo Park location can house about 3,600 people, executives said. Facebook leased the campus — the former headquarters of Sun Microsystems which Oracle took over in 2010 — and will begin moving in June or July. The site, a cluster of nine blockish buildings and wide, open spaces wedged between the freeway and the San Francisco Bay, is known locally as “Sun Quentin” for what insiders say is a passing resemblance to the state prison 50 miles north.

John Tenanes, Facebook’s director of global real estate, offered a more metropolitan analogy for the company’s new home at a briefing with reporters at Menlo Park City Hall on Tuesday, noting that the various parts of the campus were connected by a courtyard. “That’s how we plan to look at this, like an urban street, or an urban setting. We think this is going to be kind of the glue that holds the buildings and people together,” he said.

No time to visit church? Confess via iPhone

Users of iPhone can now perform contrition and other religious rituals without visiting church, thanks to a new online application.

"Confession: A Roman Catholic App", created by a US-based company called Little iApps, is designed for Apple devices such as iPhone, iPad and iPod, the Telegraph reported.

The application costs $1.99 in Apple's iTunes store.

It offers password protected customised profiles, a guide to performing the sacrament as well as a list of acts of contrition.

"Individuals who have been away from the sacrament for some time will find Confession: A Roman Catholic App to be a useful and inviting tool," its developer, Patrick Leinen, was quoted as saying.

He said the application has received the imprimatur from Bishop Kevin Rhoades of the Fort Wayne- Indian-based diocese, the first programme to receive the stamp of the church.