Nokia Launches Affordable Dual-Sim Phones in India

Targeting the middle and low level segment in India, Nokia has launched three new affordable mobiles devices in India. Nokia introduced its first Asha series to the Indian market with Asha 200 and Asha 300 along with an addition to X series, X2-02.

Asha 200 is Nokia’s first dual-sim with QWERTY keypad with 2.4 inch display powered by S40 operating system. Other features like 2 MP camera with 4X zoom, dual-sim capability with dual stand by, Bluetooth, enhanced stereo FM radio with recording. Asha 200 is now available in India at 4349.

It also has dedicated keys for sim management and messaging. With sim management key you can manage and personalize up to 5 sim cards with specific ringtones and themes, by this you can simply change the sim card and no need to set up every time. The dedicated messaging key offers one click access to email and chat through Nokia messaging or social networking sites Facebook.

Asha 300 features 2.4 inch QVGA resistive touchscreen display along with keypad and 5 MP camera, powered by 1 GHz processor, 128 MB RAM, 140 MB of internals storage and it can be expandable up to 32 GB. This touch and type is available at the price of 7,409.

The other mobile Nokia X2-02 is launched along with Asha series, it also offers dual-sim with sim management options as in Asha 200. It also features 2 MP camera and FM radio, 32 GB expandable memory and runs on S40 OS. This device is available for 3,599.

Nokia also offers 3 months subscription to Nokia’s Music Store with the purchase of all these handsets. These three mobiles come with DRM (Digital Right Management) music service which gives access to 40 lakh legal digital sound track from Nokia.

Smartphone Can Save Lives in Natural Disasters

A smartphone software could quickly and accurately locate missing people, identify victims of malnutrition and effectively head people towards safe zones.

The smartphone system developed by Gavin Brown and his team Peter Sutton and Lloyd Henning at the University of Manchester is the 'REUNITE' mobile and web platform.

"Our results have demonstrated that mobile intelligent systems can be deployed in low-power, high-risk environments, to the benefit of all involved," said Brown.

In the aftermath of a major disaster, aid workers typically interview people who have been separated from their families, storing these records on paper documents, which can be lost, damaged or be illegible, according to a Manchester statement.

REUNITE records the initial interview using the smartphone, and uploads these onto a central server. These can then be accessed by trusted aid workers via computers in another location, who gather as much information as they can by liaising with other users in a similar manner to a social network, before passing details onto aid workers on the ground.

The interviews would be quickly transcribed into a web-searchable format which could be downloaded by relief workers on the ground, which can then relay the massage to survivors.

As part of the same research, Brown has also created software called 'Where's Safe', which quickly identifies safe areas for people to go to in the event of a natural disaster or terrorist attack.

Brown's third software solution is HeightCatcher - an innovative tool which can quickly calculate infants who are suffering from malnutrition and work out what quantity of fluids they need.

Top 5 Tech Jobs of 2012

The New Year has turned out to be a good year for most of the job seekers, especially who are willing to work in technical fields. Robert Half Technology had conducted a salary research and found that the demand is expected to grow high in 2012, in the fields of mobile application developers, user experience designers and data warehouse analysts. This growth is because many companies are looking to invest in their information technology infrastructure and digital presence, reports the ITBusinessEdge.

John Reed, Executive Director of Robert Half Technology told that a common feature of high-demand jobs is a large degree of specialization and that professionals with the best prospects have finely increasing the amount of information available to them. Here are the top 5 tech jobs which are in demand in 2012:

Java Developers:

According to the survey conducted on around 1,200 technology hiring managers are of the opinion that hiring the Java developers is their top priority. The demand for the tech professionals with the knowledge of Java has grown up from the past two years, as measured by job postings on Dice.com. Alice Hill, the spokesperson of Dice advised that if any company is waiting to hire a talented Java developer for a longer time, its better not to waste the time as seasoned Java developer clearly has options, reports Jennie L Phipps from MLive.com.

Software Developers:

Software developers are in the second spot in the list of potential employees in demand. This is one of the lucrative careers in the world. At present, in this profession there are around 909,600 employees working all around the world, which is almost double that of any of the other computer careers in the world. Around 57 percent of software engineers around the world design computer applications and the remaining 43 percentdesign system software. Software engineers have the knowledge of advanced math skills which help them to write complex algorithms that is required for developing software, reports TopTenREVIEWS.

Mobile application Developers:

As mobile phones have become universal, the demand for qualified and experienced mobile application developers has raised to a large extent around the world. At present, the mobile manufacturing companies are working harder to reach their consumers on Smartphone, tablets and other mobile devices. To successfully serve the consumer requirements, these companies are in need of more number of mobile apps developers, who have the ability to develop apps for the small screen.

Project Managers:

According to a salary survey conducted by theProject Management Institute, it was revealed that project management is one of the hottest jobs for 2012. The survey also mentioned that the salaries of project managers around the world continue to climb, which indicates that the project managers are in strong demand and many companies are recognizing the value of trained project managers to their overall business goals, reports Alison Doyle, Guide in About.com.

Web Developers:

The demand for web developers continues to rise in this New Year. HTML5 has tipped to be the big area in 2012 as the tech biggies like Facebook, Google, Apple and Microsoft are all looking to expand their business this year. The demand has increased for the web developers In India too. More than ten IT Parks are getting build in Gujarat which will help the Web development service increase in that state. By the next five years, the web development service in Gujarat will be in great demand. Even many large companies across India are looking for a great web development and web designing team for long term basis. The demand for web designers in India is also aiming to create a platform for them in the International Market.

Waiting is always boring, and it becomes even more tedious if it’s for those gadgets you love to have. But this time your wait is going to be worth as 2012 is coming up with a whole new generation of gadgets. The about to happen CES 2012 in January and the upcoming Mobile World Congress 2012 in February will be displaying a range of innovative and high performing devices from all the big players.

A small wait will fetch you numerous Smartphones with Android’s Ice Cream sandwich flavor, cheaper and efficient variants of Intel’s Ultrabooks, several Android tablets with quad-core CPU’s, Amazon’s new Fire into the market, tablets with window 8 and Apple’s big plan for its Macbook Air, iPhone 5 and the anticipated Apple TV.

Presently the gadgets in the market are all the same and were available to you from the beginning of 2011; therefore if you are planning to invest money make sure it’s worthwhile because within few months the gadgets which you will owe now may become outdated due to the fact that the gadget world is at the verge of taking the next big leap during the first quarter of 2012.

There is one product with an exception, the HDTV’s. With the entry of SmartTV the price of HDTV has came down and it’s the best time to buy one because the retailers are trying to get rid of the 2011 models before the SmartTVs actually penetrate the TV market.

All the gadget fans out there, be patient and wait a bit because your patients will be rewarded with something really better for sure

Googles Predicted Moves in 2012

The tech world anticipates to see what 2012 holds for Google as it plans on spread its wings across the “clouds”.

2011 was an eventful year for Google with the return of Larry Page as the new CEO after a decade. Introduction of Google+ and products like Music store & Google Wallet helped Google to change its outlook of being merely a search engine. In the mean time Google acquired a dozen startups, made some environment friendly investments and also was involved in some legal battles.

The year 2012 expects a few decisions from Google which will keep it running in the front line of technology.

1. Relabeling Google+

Google+, which failed to make an impression on the “general” online population require a makeover in 2012. Even though the social network had many positive reviews, it was labeled as a network for the hard core tech or media savvy. Google should take the network to the mainstream by creating individuality to the network with promoting features like multiple person video conferencing facility. Google+ which is planning to reach 400 million customers by the end of 2012 will have to work hard for competing with its rival Facebook which is expected to hit a billion users this year.

2. End to Android Fragmentation

With a number of customized versions of Android platforms emerging, the fragmentation problem is going to be big in the future. Googles acquisition of Motorola can be considered as an important step in dealing fragmentation since the future products under Google-Motorola name will have a clear upgrade path for the android.

Google should also address the security issues associated with the androids in the future. So it is considered good for Google to be proactive in the field by acquiring any mobile security company.

3. Enrich the Tablet contents

Google was always trailing behind the rivals in the area of tablets. For example Kindle Fire, the popular tablet from Amazon doesn’t even use Googles optimized OS for the tablets, rather Amazon built a highly customized OS based on the open source android platform. The future for Google in tablet market is mainly on the quality and reputation of content providing with its services like Google Books, Google TV and the promising Google Tunes.

4. Dominate “clouds” with GDrive

Google plan to launch their cloud based service “GDrive” in the near future. It will serve as a single data store for all the cloud applications like users’ emails, favorite web pages, pictures, and almost every document. This will make Google dominant in the cloud services compared to the rivals.

The New Edu Tablet, Classpad Launched in India

Classteacher Learning Systems, a Delhi based Educational Solutions Provider launched ‘Classpad’, a new tablet for the Educational sector.

Classpad will be a new entrant into a segment which is popularized by ‘Aakash’, the world’s most affordable tablet. Aakash was launched last month at a subsidized rate by the Ministry of Human Resource and Development. According to Rohit Pande, a Delhi IITian who is the CEO of Classteacher Learning Systems, Classpad will provide a unique learning experience to students according to his/her intelligence level.

Using Classpads, the teachers can transfer class work to the students tablet, share their contents instantly and conduct tests easily. The device is equipped with Artificial Intelligence, which will help the teacher to classify students based on their performance as slow, average and fast learners. “Classpad can assist in reducing the monotony of repetitive sessions in the classroom. Teachers can now complete their syllabus within schedule and get considerable time to focus on slow learners”, Pande said.

Classpad features a touch screen with 1.3 GHz processor and a 4GB internal memory which can be expanded up to 8GB. It has a 7 hour battery life. The device is based on Android platform and has over 30000 educational applications covering ICSE, CBSE and a few State Boards Syllabi.

It will be available in three variants with a price ranging from Rs 7500 to 13500. Company provides two business models; the Trolley model where a device can be shared which costs Rs 100 per child and One Tablet Per Child (OTPC) model for individual use. Company is also planning to launch a model for the public.

The survey conducted by company showed that 33 percent of schools are keen on adapting the technology. With the introduction of devices like Aakash and Classpad, the learning standards in Indian schools may witness a drastic change in the future.

NetUP Unveils Android Based IPTV

Russian company, NetUP has introduced a new Android based internet protocol television (IPTV) set. The device just looks like an ordinary TV set but allows users to watch Live TV and access IPTV features like internet surfing, YouTube, Google Maps, social networking, online gaming and thousands of other applications without using any set-top box.

The TV is powered by 1 GHz Samsung S5PV210 processor, 512 MB DDR 2 RAM and runs on Android 2.2 OS. It has a 2 USB ports, card reader slot, HDMI port and Ethernet interfaces. It supports MPEG2, RAW RTP, MP4, AVi, MP3, AAC and MPEG-2 audio and video formats. The TV also supports devices like Wi-Fi USB adapter, and GPS USB module.

This device is ideal for those who are using two separate devices (TV and IP Set top box). The TV is now available for pre-order at the price of $565 for 32 inch model, $725 for 40 inch, $845 for 46 inch model and for 55 inch at $1150. There are no details about the availability of this device in India.