Google+ arrives, takes aim at Facebook

Google on Wednesday announced its much-awaited social networking service, which aims to dent Facebook's popularity. According to Vic Gundotra, a senior vice-president at Google, the company's latest social networking service called Google+ Project consists of Circles, Hangouts, Sparks and Mobile.

"Online sharing needs a serious re-think, so it's time we got started," he wrote on the official Google blog while announcing the limited availability of the service.

In the lengthy post, Gundotra implies that sharing, or in other words, social networking as we know it on the Facebook is "awkward" or "even broken" because it doesn't give due regard to privacy as well as doesn't allow users to have complete control over their social circle.

According to Google, Circle will allow users to create different groups of friends or relatives. This will make sure that the information you share with one set of group doesn't reaches the other group. Sparks will allow users to access the content in which they are interested from across the web through Google while Hangout will allow them to video or text chat with anyone willing to do so.

Google's +Mobile will be offered through, initially only Android, smartphones so that users can share pictures taken with their phone within their Circle or post messages to their friends.

To those who are interested in trying out Google+, Gundotra said, "We're beginning in field trial, so you may find some rough edges... and the project is by invitation only."

The popularity and growth of Facebook, which has over 600 million users, have alarmed Google. While the company still leads in overall search market on the web, Facebook this year has become biggest player in display advertising. According to eMarketer, a research firm, Facebook has over 17% share in display advertising on the web. In comparison Google has a 12.3% market share.

Google, which came to the social networking party late, had launched Buzz in 2010. But the service failed to take off. It also tried Wave but that too failed to win many users, forcing the company to shut down the service last year.

Surat businessman buys Sachin's red Ferrari

The ''360 Modena Ferrari'', which once occupied pride of place in batting icon Sachin Tendulkar's fleet of premium cars, is now a prized possession of a city businessman.

Jayesh Desai, Chairman of Raj Hans group, said he purchased the car a fortnight ago.

"I have bought the 360 Modena Ferrari car directly from Sachin Tendulkar with all legal documents," Desai told PTI, but declined to reveal the price.

"It was my dream to drive a Ferrari and now my dream has come true," Desai, who has a passion for driving luxury cars, said.

The Ferrari, which was presented to Tendulkar by racing legend Michael Schumacher, will be the first racing car in his fleet of luxury vehicles, Desai said, adding that his latest acquisition was a prized possession as it was owned by the batting great.

"Kindly ask me only about the car and nothing about Sachin," he said when asked if he and Tendulkar were friends or had known each other.

The Ferrari had got mired in a controversy in 2003 after it was reported that Tendulkar had requested for a customs duty waiver despite getting it as a gift and not winning it as a prize in a tournament.

In August 2003, the finance ministry had exempted Tendulkar from paying around Rs 1.13 crore (approximately USD 245,000) towards import duty for the vehicle, valued at Rs 75 lakh (approximately USD 162,600).

The car was gifted to him by FIAT, which manufactures the premium Ferrari cars and endorsed by Tendulkar, after the Indian batting legend equalled Don Bradman''s tally of 29 Test centuries.

Ferrari''s Formula One driver Schumacher presented the car on behalf of the company to Tendulkar when the two met in 2002 at Silverstone, England.

Tendulkar has taken a break from cricket after playing in IPL and is away on a vacation in England with family.

Monsoon Glory Part-II

Week Top Downloads

Firefox 5 Now Available with 1,000 Small Improvements, Better Tab Closing (Windows/Mac/Linux/Android)

Mozilla has released Firefox 5, the first update for its new rapid-release three-month development cycle. Firefox 5's new features include support for CSS animations, do-not-track on Android, and faster canvas graphics. Perhaps our favorite Firefox 5 feature: You won't have to jump around so much with your mouse next time you start closing tabs. Firefox has adopted Chrome-like tab closing, in which tabs stay the same size while you're closing them.

The Best Photo Management App for Windows (Windows)

Windows has its fair share of photo management programs, but we've chosen Picasa as the best for its impressive feature set and relative ease of use.


Get Chrome's Features in Your IT-Mandated Internet Explorer, No Admin Rights Necessary (Windows)

If you're stuck on an office computer and forced to use Internet Explorer because your system is locked down, Google has your back. The new version of Chrome Frame brings the features of Google Chrome to IE and doesn't need administrative rights to your PC to install.

uTorrent 3.0 Adds Instant Media Streaming, Drag-and-Drop File Sharing to Our Favorite BitTorrent Client (Windows)

The newest version of our favorite BitTorrent client, uTorrent, brings a host of awesome features to file sharing on Windows, including streaming media as you download, a new remote control interface, and drag-and-drop file sharing.

iMuscle Teaches You to Stretch and Exercise by Literally Showing You the Muscles in Action (iOS)

Most fitness apps for iOS will teach you to stretch and exercise through specific demonstrations, but iMuscle takes it a step further by actually showing you the muscles in action. It works by providing a ton of animated diagrams that are accessible with just a touch.

The Best Photo Management App for Mac OS X (Mac)

There aren't many Mac photo management apps that aren't somewhat specialized, but among the few we think iPhoto is the best for it's simplicity, rich feature set, and good integration with popular online services.


USB Alert Makes Sure You Never Leave Your USB Drive Behind Again (Windows)

Everyone who's ever used a USB drive knows the horror of looking for it when you need it only to realize that you left it behind plugged into the last computer you used. With USB Alert, you'll get a warning when you shut down to unplug your USB drive before you go.

Overlap Wallpaper Displays a Second Image on Top of Your Wallpaper, Keeps You Organized (Windows)

Changing up your desktop wallpaper can be really fun, but if you want a certain image on your desktop at all times, Overlap Wallpaper takes any image on your computer and displays it over your desktop.

Zetro Brings Windows 8's Metro-Style Interface to Windows 7 (Windows)

Microsoft's Metro UI, which graces both Windows 8 and Windows Phone, is pretty snazzy, and if you're sick of the Aero look, you can bring the Metro UI to Windows 7 with the Zetro theme.


YouTube Options for Google Chrome Disables Ads, Hides Comments (Chrome)
YouTube is great, but some of its features are annoying. With the YouTube Options for Google Chrome extension, you can suppress in-video ads, remove comments, disable annotations, and more. The extension allows you to completely change the look and feel of YouTube.

Nokia’s first Windows phone is N9 redux

Two days ago, I suggested that Nokia’s newly introduced N9 phone based on the MeeGo zombie OS was released to generate buzz around the features and form we could expect from the Finnish company’s first handset based on the Microsoft’s Windows phone OS.

It turns out I was right, literally. CEO Stephen Elop naively or more likely, coyly, offered a large crowd a sneak peak of handset codenamed “Sea Ray” running the Mango iteration of Windows 7 phone OS on condition it was kept secret. To no one’s surprise, it wasn’t, and in due course a video of Elop’s top secret meeting appeared on YouTube.

While little is know about the guts of the Sea Ray, the exterior looks identical to the N9, save for an extra button to operate the same 8 megapixel Carl Zeiss lens found on the N9 and different placement of an LED light on its back.

The question now is why Nokia bothered announcing the MeeGo in the first place when it could have teased the masses with Elop’s little kept secret to arguably greater effect.

New iPhone

Apple plans to launch a new iPhone with a faster chip for data processing and a more advanced camera in September, Bloomberg said. The new iPhone will include the A5 processor along with an 8-megapixel camera, the report said, quoting two people familiar with the plans. Apple is also testing a new version of the iPad that has a higher resolution screen, the report said, adding a cheaper version of the iPhone aimed at developing countries is also in the works.

A U.S. judge rejected Samsung’s request for a peek at Apple’s unreleased iPhone and iPad, brought in the course of high-stakes patent litigation between the two companies. Apple sued Samsung in April, claiming Samsung’s Galaxy line of smartphones and tablets infringe several patents and trademarks. Samsung counter-sued, asserting its own patents against Apple. In the ruling, the judge said Apple’s legal claims are only based on its products that have already hit the market.

A senior Chinese official said there is no cyber warfare taking place between China and the United States. The two countries might suffer from cyber attacks, but they were in no way directed by either government, Vice Foreign Minister Cui Tiankai said.

Online video site Hulu has been approached by a potential buyer and is weighing whether to sell itself, according to a person familiar with the matter. Hulu is jointly owned by News Corp, Walt Disney, NBC Universal and Providence Equity Partners. The approach presents another decision point for the company, which has shown an unclear strategy and last year spent six months planning an initial public offering before dropping the plan. The acquisition approach has not been made by any of the current equity holders, the person said. The buyer is expected to be either a strategic buyer or private equity.

Shazam, whose technology lets people use their mobile phones to learn the names of catchy songs, raised $32 million in funding to bolster expansion plans and move the company closer to a potential public stock offering.

Digitimes reported that Amazon will launch its own line of tablet computers as soon as August or September, according to Taiwan-based component makers.

A T-shirt that charges cell phones amid blaring music!

Festival-goers can now head-bang all night long at concerts without worrying about their mobile batteries getting exhausted.

Telecom giant Orange has unveiled a prototype of a t-shirt, which uses noise-responsive technology to charge the phone. Louder the music, quicker the phone gets charged.

The futuristic garment uses an A4-size piece of piezoelectric film in a T-shirt to absorb pressure from sound waves. It converts these into an electrical charge, which it then transfers from its battery into a lead that fits most phones.

Users just need to plug their phones into the T-shirt for a quick top-up charge whenever they need it.

"Sound vibrations, particularly bass frequencies, will create enough shaking to produce electricity from a material as simple as piezoelectric film," the Daily Mail quoted Tony Andrews, co-producer of the Spirit Of 71, as saying.

"It looks like it could provide a real solution to mobile charging and I'm interested to see how the Orange Sound Charge performs in a live testing environment such as Glastonbury," he added,

Andrew Pearcey, sponsorship head at Orange UK, said: "In a vibrant festival environment such as Glastonbury, sound is such an obvious medium that it seemed like a natural fit to use it in the development of this year's prototype."

Are Indians still the imitators, not the innovators?

Are we still copying the West? Aren't we grown up to be called as innovators rather than imitators? This remains to be a hot topic of discussion as many feel that innovations in India are not a very rare activity rather they often go unrecognized while others argue that the habit of imitating the West still haunts India and this will block the Indian minds to venture into real innovative activities.
Are Indians still the imitators, not the innovators?

India is fast growing to a phase where it's already termed as a global innovator for high-tech products and services; however, the innovative potential of the country is largely relatively underperformed. According to the marketing advisory firm Zennov, there has been an 11 percent increase in creating Intellectual Property in India. Indian researchers and companies have been filing 36,000 patents annually. However, the study reveals that India is trailing behind China files around 4,00,000 annual patents which is a clear sign that our immediate neighbor is far ahead of us in innovations despite the fact that large number of patent holders and applicants globally are Indians.

It's an indisputable fact that India's rapid economic growth is giving a great boost to its efforts to create its own innovations and not just relying on imitation. The notion that Indians are imitating than innovating is quite an outdated view and the fact is that the country is updating its technologies quite fast which will undoubtedly boost innovation. Although China and the West seems to be much ahead of India in terms of technological innovations, India stands tall in frugal-innovations - in ultra low-cost products and services for the poor.

The rush of Western MNCs like Google, Microsoft GE, and Cisco, to India will definitely enhance innovation further as they increase their R&D spending to stay in forefront in this huge emerging market. The country should look ahead to benefit from the increasing competition by producing stronger skills, better infrastructure to unleash innovation. More early stage funding will enable the bright minds to materialize their innovative ideas. Lastly, but most importantly the diaspora needs to be tapped more effectively. Inclusive innovation should be the ideal goal where R&D efforts for poor should be scaled up and the ability of informal enterprises to be improved further to exploit existing knowledge, which would be backed by realistic and time bound implementation plan.

Infy, Tata beat global majors to emerge as top brands in India

IT giant Infosys and salt-to-software conglomerate Tata have emerged as the Top 2 brands in India, beating global majors like Google, Nokia and Facebook, in a new index.

According to TLG''s Index of emerging market ''Thought Leaders'', seven out of the top ten brands in India were indigenous firms.

TLG, in partnership with international research consultancy firm GlobeScan, launched the index wherein government ministers, directors of blue chip companies and newspaper editors were asked to identify corporate brands with the power to change the attitudes and behaviour of consumers, employees or politicians -- defined as "Thought Leaders".

The list of top 20 firms was peppered with Indian brands including Larsen & Toubro (5th), State Bank of India (7th), Life Insurance Corporation of India (12th), Bharti Airtel (13th), Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (14th), Aditya Birla Group (15th), The Oberoi Group (16th), HDFC Bank (17th), Dr Reddy''s Laboratories (18th) and Ranbaxy Laboratories (19th).

"... Absence of many ''Western'' major brands from the top 20 may concern CEOs who are trying to crack the BRICs. They need to refocus their energies on telling their leadership story," TLG Founder Malcolm Gooderham said.

The Top 10 features two joint ventures between local and overseas companies. The JVs are Maruti-Suzuki (4th) and Hindustan Unilever (9th).

Commenting on the findings, GlobeScan Research Director Oliver Martin said, "As the public''s faith in corporate leadership is declining in India, companies must excel in business innovation and progressive CSR to retain a Thought Leadership position." The top-ranked foreign firm is Google, which enters the index at number three, followed by Nokia at sixth rank and Facebook at eighth position.

"Western firms that succeed (Google, Nokia and Facebook) are those that adapt their models to local conditions, or ones that form JVs with locals in the driving seat (Suzuki, Unilever)," the report said.

Google, through its YouTube platform, streams live Indian Premier League cricket matches, while Facebook offers mobile access for a special rate of 1 rupee a day.

Interestingly, Apple, which leads the pack in Britain and America, failed to corner a place for itself in the top 20 list in India. Apple''s failure to adapt its business model to local tastes and budgets was vastly responsible for its inability to crack India.

"Indian consumers can buy a new Tata Nano car for the same price as three Apple iPhones," the report said.

Android ‘Angry Birds’ Malware Contains Bot-like Code

Most of yesterday, Threat Research Analyst Armando Orozco and I took a closer look at a piece of malware discovered by a university security researcher, Xuxian Jiang of North Carolina State. The malicious code, which the malware creator named Plankton, is embedded into a number of apps that were briefly posted to Google’s Android Market earlier this week, then rapidly pulled down after the researchers informed Google of their initial findings.

The Plankton code appears in a number of applications that were all focused on the popular game series Angry Birds. Some of the samples we looked at came as Android apps with names like Angry Birds Rio Unlocker v1.0, Angry Birds Multi User v1.00 or Angry Birds Cheater Trainer Helper V2.0.

When executed, the program displays the following text on the screen:

Welcome!

Simply click on the button below to unlock ALL levels in Angry Birds Rio. This will not delete your scores but might change the number of pineapples and bananas you have

None of the programs function as advertised. Instead, the malicious apps install additional code into the Android device into which they’re installed. These additional functions provide remote access and control of the Android device to, presumably, the distributor of the malicious apps, whose identity remains unknown at this time.

Welcome! Simply click on the button below to unlock ALL levels in Angry Birds Rio. This will not delete your scores but might change the number of pineapples and bananas you have

It’s nice that the creators of the Trojan labeled their code so distinctly. We can filter them off an infected device like a whale slurps krill.

Unlike several recently-disovered malicious apps, these Android Trojans don’t invoke various exploits on the Android device in order to obtain root, or administrative, access to the operating system. Instead, the remote commands simply give an unknown criminal access to what some may consider sensitive data on the phone, including the browser history, bookmarks, and homepage settings in the built-in Android browser.

When executed, the app also contacts a command-and-control server, which sends back instructions for the app to download an additional Java .JAR file. The app pulls down the .JAR file and installs it quietly in the background. We’re currently working on an analysis of these payloads; Early reports from the university researchers indicate that the payloads are simply reworked versions of the remote access code embedded in the Trojan, modified so they’re slightly harder to detect using existing antivirus signatures.

As we have following previous disclosures about novel Android malware, such as the recently discovered DroidKungFu, we’re currently protecting Android devices that have our Webroot Mobile app installed from Trojans such as Plankton.

And of course, Android users can protect themselves by using a little common sense when they download apps: Does the app sound like what it promises to do is too good to be true? Does it ask for all kinds of permissions that it shouldn’t need to fulfill its mission? Did you get it from the official Market or a legitimate app store such as Amazon, or from some random app collection? If you can answer yes to any (or all) of these questions, just don’t install the app.

Real Beauty of Kerala

Kumarakom

By early June the southwest monsoon breaks and there are three months of wind and water with short spells of sharp, glittering sunshine that thrilled children snatch to play with. The countryside turns an immodest green. Boundaries blur as tapioca fences take root and bloom. Brick walls turn mossgreen. Pepper vines snake up electric poles. Wild creepers burst through latente banks and spill across the flooded roads. Boats ply in the bazaars…thus Arundhati Roy begins her Booker Prize winner – The God of Small Things. Although the novel - which is set in Ayemenem village adjoining Kumarakom - does not render the unspeakable beauty of Kumarakom, aren’t the aforementioned words enough to lure you to the most beautiful place in Kerala (arguably)? And If I say Kumarakom is the capital of the God's own country, will you disagree?

It had been raining all these four times, maybe, to make me realize that the beauty and majesty of Kumarakom are at its best during monsoon.

Houseboats are big barges with five-star amenities –air conditioned bedrooms with contemporary bathrooms, modular kitchens that prepare the choicest Kerala-style food, home theatre and whatever else you want. Some of them have as many as five bedrooms, some have conference halls and some are even double-storied.

Every here and there you see a fisherman, hounding for Karimeen (pearl spot). The boat captain excitedly explained to us four different methods to catch a pearl spot fish and how clinically they do it. Interesting!

At the prow of the houseboat sits Sreehari, 15, after whose name the boat is named. He doesn’t just share his name with the boat, but he owns it! The young guy too has his share of knowledge to impart – about Tiger Prawns, another taste of the Kumarakom. He flashes his torch into the water, toward the stone wall of the canal’s side and I see two small bulbs flashing between two stones. And he says those are the eyes of a Tiger Prawn. Wow!

It may be the company of boatmen, the palatable Karimeen (pearl spot) fry, mouth-watering tiger prawns curry, a bottle of chilled beer from the boatmen’s icebox, a romantic night with your other half, or the cruise across the Vembanad Lake, Kumarakom guarantees you something to cherish for a lifetime.

Nokia launches N9 Smartphone and Series 40 Devices

Nokia launches N9 Smartphone, Three New Series 40 Devices

Mobile phone-maker Nokia today announced the "beginning of a new era" for the company with the launch of four new mobile phones, including a full-screen touch-based smartphone. "Earlier this year, we outlined a comprehensive strategy to change our course," said Stephen Elop, the president and CEO of Nokia. "Innovation is at the heart of our strategy and today we took important steps to demonstrate a new pace of innovation at Nokia. It''s the beginning of a new era for Nokia," he added.

Nokia revealed its latest smartphone, the Nokia N9, an all-screen device that will allow user to navigate the phone by swiping on the screen. "The phone application will follow direction of the finger on the screen," Nokia Senior Vice-President, Design, Marko Ahtisaari said.

The company will announce the price of the N9 close to its launch.

Nokia introduced two dual SIM phone Nokia C2-03 and Nokia C2-06 and a single sim phone, Nokia C2-02. All three models are built on the Symbian operating system S 40. (Text courtesy - PTI )

The estimated retail price of the Nokia C2-02 and C2-03 is approximately 75 euros (USD 105) and for the Nokia C2-06, it is 80 euros (USD 112). All of the C2 series devices are expected to hit the market in the third quarter of 2011 while the N9 smartphone will be launched by the company at the end of this year.

Nokia today announced its own internet browser and these phones have the Nokia browser loaded on it. "Nokia browser can compress data size up to 90 per cent. All phones to be shipped in future will Nokia browser loaded on them," Nokia Executive Vice-President, Mobile Phones, Mary McDowell said.

Sakshat Tablet to be Launched in June 2011

The Sakshat tablet, which was once launched as the 1500 Rupee laptop will be launched sometime in June 2011, and been termed the Indian iPad,gives you the Sakshat tablet specifications.

Remember the Rs. 1500 Indian laptop? The one that got the world making fun of India in general and me never having faith in Kapil Sibal again?

The one that actually turned out to be an expensive storage device, and then somehow metamorphosed into a tablet?

It's being announced that the "Sakshat" (which sounds conspicuously dirty in Americanese), the $35 tablet codenamed 'Sakshat' is expected to launch by the end of this month.

While the Indian media is huffing up the desi-pride angle with talks of "Indian-iPad". there's very little for a complete tablet experience. And there's nothing desi about it; the tablet is made by Canadian firm Datawind Ltd.

The7-inch touchscreen tablet features a inbuilt keyboard, video conferencing facility, multimedia content, Wi-Fi, USB port, 32GB hard drive and a 2GB RAM. There's support for Open Office, SciLab and Internet browsing.

However, this means nothing for the aam-aadmi it was intended for, but there is a desi crop of real tablets worth checking out.

10,000 Sakshat tablets will be shipped to IIT Rajasthan by June-end, following by the launch of over 90,000 tablet units in the next 4 months.

Sakshat: Other Specifications

.QWERTY keyboard, mouse and a minimum display of 7” colour LCD/TFT (touchscreen optional)

.2 USB 2.0 ports and USB hosts

.three hours

.batteryless device

.SD card slot (8GB expandable memory)

.Support to connect LCD projector

.Support for external hard disk drive (Minimum 32 GB)

.Ethernet port

.WLAN

.80% shock resistant

While the tablets will be priced at Rs 2,200, there are reports of plans for later subsidies of 50%. The 1500 Rupee tablet might go for Rs. 1100, and has been developed as a part of the National Mission on Education through Information and Communication Technology to bring together 25,000 colleges and 400 universities in the Asian subcontinent in an e-learning initiative.