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Saturday, February 21, 2009

Oscar-savvy iPhone users let their lights shine

Slumdog Millionaire, please collect your Best Picture Oscar.

Oh, sure, the 81st Annual Academy Awards won’t be handed out until Sunday night. But if the users of the Sonic Lighter app for the iPhone and iPod touch are any indicator, then the makers of rags-to-riches story of a Mumbai teen might as well start memorizing their acceptance speech.

Sonic Lighter is a $1 novelty app that turns your iPhone or iPod touch into a mobile lighter. There’s a social network aspect to the app, too, as its developer, Smule, can track wherever someone “ignites” Sonic Lighter anywhere in the world.

To that end, Smule puts out Sonic Lighter updates that let users weigh in on issues of vital import—in this case the winner of the Best Picture award. As of this writing, Smule’s Sonic Lighter map shows Slumdog Millionaire leading the way with 37 percent of the vote. The lamentable Curious Case of Benjamin Button is in second right now with 27 percent, while Milk is in third with 16 percent.

Skeptical about the wisdom of iPhone-toting crowds? Smule notes that past Sonic Lighter surveys have correctly predicted the U.S. presidential election and the outcome of Super Bowl XLIII. (Though to be fair, barring a surprise surge by Ralph Nader either at the polls or on the gridiron, Sonic Lighter really had a 50-50 shot at calling either event correctly, didn’t it?)

Other Oscar-themed iPhone apps available for download in advance of Sunday’s festivities include:

Thursday, February 19, 2009

In pics: Nokia's new phones

In pics: Nokia's new phones
In pics: Nokia's new phones



As the annual GSMA Mobile World Congress began in Barcelona, the slowdown pangs were palpable. The event known for its eye-catching launches looks muted this time, with a thin array of product rollouts. Among these are some additions to Nokia’s line-up.

The world's no. 1 cellphone manufacturer took stage on day 1 of the show to announce two new business handsets, the super-thin E55 and the sliding E75. The company also launched two phones in its Navigator series, 6710 and 6720. And far from Mobile World Congress, the company made another big launch: Nokia N86, company's entry into the `fat' megapixel cellphone club.

Here's further looking into the Nokia's new line-up.


E55
E55

Nokia showed its thinnest smartphone ever, E55, at the mobile show event

What makes E55 Nokia's thinnest ever smartphones are its keys. Nokia claims it is the company's first compact QWERTY device, and has half as many keys as the company's previous thinnest smartphone, E71.

The phone is also Nokia's first smartphone with the longest battery life of up to a month on standby time.

E55 runs on Nokia's S60 software and has an AGPS (Assisted Global Positioning System) receiver, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, a 2.4-inch, 320x240 pixel screen and a 3.2 megapixel camera.

It also packs a 3.5mm headphone socket for listening to the digital music player or the built-in FM radio and support for Nokia's Ngage gaming platform.

According to Nokia's executive vice president Kai Oistamo, "The Eseries phones have traditionally been seen as enterprise devices, but the E now stands for efficiency." The phone will ship in the second quarter for around (US$340).

E75
E75

Nokia also unveiled the successor to the 9000 series Communicators, E75.

The phone sports a QWERTY keyboard that slides out from behind the 2.4-inch, 320x240 pixel display, and a regular dialling keypad just below the display.

The phone packs a 3.2 megapixel camera, AGPS, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, FM radio and music player.

Nokia's executive vice president said, "E75 simplifies connection to Lotus Notes, Microsoft Exchange, POP3 and IMAP e-mail services, or Web mail services such as Gmail or Yahoo Mail."

E75 will ship in March for €375 before subsidies and taxes. Nokia claimed that E75 will be the first device to provide access to corporate email through the Nokia Messaging service at no extra cost. Nokia plans to make it available across all Eseries models and 40 other devices, extending push e-mail to over 100 million Nokia users.
6710 Navigator
6710 Navigator

Nokia also pulled curtains off its new entrant in the Navigator range, 6710 Navigator, its follow-up to 6210 Navigator.

The phone's 2.6-inch 240 x 320 pixel display has been optimised for outdoors use with a light sensor that adjusts the brightness of the display according to the environment.

6710 Navigator packs AGPS receiver and Nokia Maps software featuring navigation tools for pedestrians. The device has a 5 megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss lens, Bluetooth, WiFi and support for push email.

Nokia's mapping and navigation solution has been upgraded, and comes with a dedicated key on 6710 Navigator. Navigation has also been integrated with Ovi, allowing easy synchronisation between a PC and the phone. The phone also comes with full voice guidance.

The phone is a quad-band GSM with support for tri-band UMTS (depending on region). Both HSDPA and HSUPA high-speed data is supported. 6710 comes with an FM radio and 3.5mm audio socket. It will ship in the third quarter for around €300 before tax and subsidies.
Nokia 6720 Classic
Nokia 6720 Classic

Nokia also unveiled an entry in the classic range, Nokia 6720 Classic. The phone packs plenty of GPS features, including Nokia Maps 3.0 with integrated A-GPS, City compass, map rotation and pre-installed maps in microSD.

6720 Classic sports a 5 megapixel camera with dual-LED flash, Carl Zeiss optics, autofocus and full panorama support. The phone runs on Symbian S60 with GPS and offers 3.5G support.

The phone is capable to geo-tag locations and can be shared over high-speed HSDPA technology. It also support's the company's NGage gaming platform.

Nokia said that the handset will come with `active noise cancellation' for clearer voice calls. It will offer around 8.5 hours of talk time, over 20 days of standby time, around 9 hours of video playback and 27 hours for music. It will also deliver almost 14 hours of GPS pedestrian navigation and over 7 hours of in-car navigation.

Nokia 6720 classic is expected to ship in the second quarter with an estimated retail price of $313.
Nokia N86
Nokia N86

Away from all action at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Nokia launched its 8 megapixel phone, N86, in Singapore.

The phone boasts of 8 megapixel Carl Zeiss lens camera with auto-focus running on Symbian OS. The phone has dual flash LED, 8GB of internal memory.

The slider phone has a 2.6-inch non-touchscreen OLED display and packs aGPS, microSD slot (up to 16GB) and 11.5 hours of standby battery time with 3G enabled.

Incidentally, Sony Ericsson too showed of its 8 and 12 megapixel camera phones in Barcelona on the same day.

Monday, February 16, 2009

What all Google killed?

Recession: What all Google killed


Google has often been extolled for its product innovations. However, it seems slowdown has cast its shadow on the company's `innovation spirit' too. The search giant, who is taking a harder line on managing expenses as the recession curbs spending on online ads, has been almost on a shutting spree. The past six months witnessed the company pull the plug on as many as nine of its new products.

Several of these causalities include products launched with lot of fanfare like Google Lively, which was widely believed to be the company's answer to Second Life.

Here's looking into the products/services Google has dumped in the last few months.

Broadcast radio ad business
Broadcast radio ad business

Google Inc has abandoned its efforts to sell advertising for broadcast radio stations, acknowledging that the three-year project has failed.

The leading Web search company said that it plans to sell its Radio Automation business, which created software to automate broadcast radio programming, and phase out its Audio Ads service.

The move will likely result in up to 40 people being laid off, Google said. Google has been re-appraising initiatives intended to expand its income beyond Internet advertising, which accounts for more than 90 per cent of total revenue.

Advertisers will continue to be able to use Audio Ads until May 31, the company said. Google -- which had 20,222 full-time employees as of December 31 -- would instead focus its efforts on placing ads on streaming audio over the Internet, according to company's vice president of product management, Susan Wojcicki.

Google plans to continue investing in its television ad business. It also is seeking ways to sell more advertising on online audio services, which younger audiences are using.
Google Lively
Google Lively

In July 2008 Google launched Google Lively, a 3D virtual reality service, with much fanfare. Four months, and Internet giant's take on Second Life ran out of fuel. Google announced that it is discontinuing Lively by the end of the year.

The shut down reflected Lively's inability to stand out from the rest of the virtual reality crowd. Lively was Web-based and allowed anyone to set up virtual spaces, such as rooms, that could be embedded onto blogs or Facebook pages.

Google management concluded that it needed to sharpen its focus on its primary business of Internet search and advertising as the company's revenue growth showed signs of a deteriorating economy.

"We've also always accepted that when you take these kinds of risks not every bet is going to pay off. It has been a tough decision, but we want to ensure that we prioritise our resources and focus more on our core search, ads and apps business," Google wrote in a blog post.

According to the blog, the employees working on Lively were reassigned other jobs after the service shut down. The pack of virtual worlds is led by Second Life, where people deploy animated alter egos known as avatars to pursue digital fantasies.


Dodgeball
Dodgeball

Dodgeball was a company that Google acquired in May 2005. The location-based meeting service allowed users to share their current locations using SMS messages. Come January 2009, the company announces that Dodgeball will be shut down "in the next couple of months."

Here goes the closure announcemet: "Google has decided to shut down dodgeball. I know this is kind of a bummer, but the site has been in maintenance mode for a while now, and it's just time to shut it down for good."

"We're planning on doing this in two stages. Everything will continue to function as-is until the end of February (can anyone say shutdown party?). At that point, we'll turn off the SMS service and the site will enter read-only mode. We'll leave it like that for about a month giving you time to save or export any of your data that you might want to keep. Sometime around the beginning of April we'll shut the site down for good, delete all the user accounts, and the associated data."

Incidentally, Dodgeball founders quit Google in April 2007. Both were reportedly unhappy with the way Google was handling the service and blamed Google of apathy.

Mashup Editor
Mashup Editor

The online mashup creation service by Google has too become a history now. The company plans to phase out the service in next six months. The service, which was in private beta, is being replaced by App Engine. It was direct competition for Yahoo Pipes and Microsoft Popfly.

Google in a blog post wrote, "we will be shutting down the Mashup Editor in six months. While it is always hard to say goodbye to a product, when we launched the Mashup Editor as a private beta last year, we did so to better understand the needs of you, our developers. And you spoke, and much of what we learned together is now a big part of App Engine, the new infrastructure for hosted developer applications. We look forward to working with you in the migration to App Engine, and can’t wait to see what you build."

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Can Google Android save Motorola?

NEW YORK: Motorola Inc is betting on Google Inc's Android cellphone software to liven up its next generation of devices, but analysts doubt it is enough to revive the fortunes of the mobile phone maker.

The decision by Motorola co-chief executive Sanjay Jha to pare the mobile devices unit by 25 per cent, and to scale back the number of devices and software platforms Motorola develops, are practical moves for a company whose phone sales dropped by a half in just a year.

But even analysts who recommend Motorola shares do not expect these plans to soon revive the company, which is fighting increasingly stiff competition with fewer resources and demoralised workers.

"I'm bullish on the stock, not at all on the handsets," said Goldman analyst Simona Jankowski. "I feel their position in handsets is awful and will get worse."

Jankowski only recommends Motorola shares on the premise that the price does not reflect the value of non-handset businesses, such as television set-top boxes and wireless network gear, and an estimate that an implied valuation handicap of US$5 billion for the cellphone unit is too severe.

Motorola shares have fallen more than 60 per cent in the last year, giving the company a market value of US$10.28 billion on Monday, based on a share price of $4.55.

Analysts say Motorola will find it tough to compete in a cutthroat market where the focus has turned to software and inventive user interfaces, such as touchscreens popularised by Apple's iPhone.

"That's extraordinarily difficult. Motorola has never shown it can innovate in software, ever," said Current Analysis analyst Avi Greengart.

He said Motorola's strength in hardware shown by phones such as Razr, a hit in 2004 and 2005, and the Renew, its latest device made from recycled bottles, would be little help.

"They're competing in a software era using hardware and their products have been stale for two years," Greengart said.


Many analysts welcomed Motorola's decision to develop a phone for later this year using Google's open-source Android operating system, instead
of several rival systems including home-grown software.

But the problem is that rivals are also using Android. "If you come out with a plain vanilla Android phone in the second half, you're no better off," said Greengart.

Besides iPhone, market leader Nokia, and Android rivals such as HTC, Motorola also needs to battle Palm and its highly anticipated Pre phone, and Research In Motion, whose BlackBerry email phones have a passionately loyal following.

And Jha has to do this with 5,000 fewer cellphone workers. Nobody disputes the need for cost cuts to reflect shrinking sales, and some analysts are looking for more. But company morale is a worry.

"My sense is that handset employees are more concerned about job security than getting the new products out," said American Technology Research analyst Mark McKechnie.

These employees will be further tested in the coming months as analysts expect continuing market share losses and device sale unit declines for at least two more quarters.

The company, which reports earnings on February 3, has warned it would post a net loss of seven cents to eight cents per share on revenue of US$7 billion to 7.2 billion, with phone sales down to 19 million units from 40.9 million a year ago.

Motorola slid to fifth place in the global handset market in the fourth quarter, down one notch from the quarter before.

Goldman's Jankowski sees Motorola phone sales falling to 14 million in the current quarter and to 13 million in the June quarter, before edging back up to 20 million in December.

UBS analyst Maynard Um said it makes sense for the company to focus on keeping its carrier customers up to date while it develops the new phone. He noted that Motorola still has a recognisable brand and an established distribution channel working in its favour.

"There's always a chance they will (recover)" he said. "Is it going to be more difficult? Absolutely."

Saturday, January 31, 2009

How BlackBerry Storm ‘beats’ iPhone

How BlackBerry Storm ‘beats’ iPhone
How BlackBerry Storm ‘beats’ iPhone

Indiatimes Infotech

3G iPhone may be more almost six months old, however, its list of competition seems to be only getting longer.

Latest on the iPhone-rival (or killer) list is Blackberry Storm, the touchscreen phone from enterprise business phone maker Research In Motion (RIM). The eagerly anticipated touch-based iPhone 3G alternative has been launched in India by Vodafone.

With Storm, RIM aims to give a tough fight to Apple which added enterprise features in its second-generation iPhone. As an industry analysts said, with Blackberry Storm RIM is putting one foot on both sides of the smartphone fence, as this device will appeal to those who like the iPhone but also want BlackBerry capabilities.

Just like earlier BlackBerry models, Storm is compatible with enterprises' BlackBerry servers, which offer email integration, security and management features. However, Storm adds these features to a slew of enhancements designed to go after consumers wanting a sleek, iPhone-like design.

So, does Blacberry succeed in its `iPhone makeover'? What is it that iPhone has that Storm doesn't and vice versa.



Copy and paste
Copy and paste
BlackBerry has it, Nokia has it, however, 3G iPhone lacks it. BlackBerry's first touchscreen phone Storm also supports cut-and-paste feature.

This means Storm users will be able to cut information like phone numbers, URLs, email addresses and so from one application and paste it somewhere else. All other BlackBerry phones also support this feature.

Almsot all iPhone rivals including Google G1, Samsung Omnia and Nokia 5800 pack cut-and-paste functionality. Most of the smartphones available in the market support the cut and paste feature, but somehow Apple has preferred to stay away from it.

Video recording
Video recording

BlackBerry's first touchscreen phone boasts of a 3.2 megapixel camera with video recording, auto focus, variable zoom and flash. This compares to Apple 3G iPhone's 2 megapixel camera with no video recording option and no flash support.

Storm records videos at half-VGA resolution. Unlike iPhone, BlackBerry Storm offers video recording option. No video recording in 3G iPhone also means no video conferencing. iPhone also lacks optical zoom feature.






Clickable touchscreen
Clickable touchscreen

Storm's most striking feature is its 'Clickable' touchscreen. BlackBerry Storm packs a ClickThrough feature, which means its touchscreen is not just touchable but clickable.

To select a specific area of a Web page, users can press down, so the entire screen clicks down. This means that the Storm has two levels of input (touch and click) which has been used to advance the interface. In simple words, when a user selects or enters a text, he can push the screen down.

However, iPhone has a multi-touch display, but no clickable touchscreen.









Replaceable battery
Replaceable battery

User's one big disappointment in 3G iPhone was lack of user replaceable battery. Apple reportedly claims that it left out the user-replaceable battery option as it would add weight to the device.

However, interestingly almost all smartphones in the market, even those at the lower-end offer this option. And so does BlackBerry Storm.

The company claims Storm supports battery life of up to 15 days (standby time) and up to 5.5 hours (talk time). Apple iPhone support talktime of 300 minutes for 3G and 600 minutes for 2G and has a 300 hours standby time
Stereo Bluetooth
Stereo Bluetooth

BlackBerry Storm can sync with stereo Bluetooth or in-car Bluetooth handsfree, which again Apple iPhone cannot. BlackBerry's touch phone supports Bluetooth version 2.0.

iPhone lacks A2DP on Bluetooth. A2DP audio devices, such as stereo Bluetooth headsets, offer enhances listening quality. Also, iPhone doesn't support file sharing feature including MP3, images and video files via Bluetooth.
Expandable memory
Expandable memory

BlackBerry's touchscreen device comes with 128MB of flash memory and 1GB of onboard memory. The phone offers support for microSD/SDHC expansion slot up to 16GB cards.

However, iPhone which comes with storage options of 8GB and 16GB models cannot be further expanded. It has no memory expansion slot. The 2G iPhone was also available with same memory capacity with no further expansion.
Multimedia messaging
Multimedia messaging

Unlike the iPhone that doesn't allow users to forward text messages as well as MMS messages, BlackBerry Storm doesn't have any such bar. The phone supports SMS and MMS functionality.

In iPhone users can only send text messages or snapshots via email. Also, users can't send a SMS to multiple contacts as iPhone has no option for that either.

iPhone also lacks support for voice-recognition that allows users to dial verbally. Here again BlackBerry Storm takes the lead, the phone supports voice dialing feature.
Storm lets users edit documents
Storm lets users edit documents

For those who depend on their phones for presentations, BlackBerry Storm is a good buyout. Storm comes preloaded with DataViz Documents to Go suite for editing Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents from the handset.

However, iPhone only lets users view their documents with no option for editing Microsoft Office applications.
Coming soon: BlackBerry App Store
Coming soon: BlackBerry App Store

RIM is all set to take on the Apple iPhone with the launch of its own application store. Recently, RIM announced its plans to come up with an app store next year that will let users download apps on their de

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

The Top Smart Phones

By most measures, iPhone owners should have been pleased last year when Apple sped up the phone, slashed its price and introduced a revolutionary App Store. But ask iPhone users how they would improve the device and most will have suggestions at the ready, including a longer-lasting battery, a higher-quality camera and cut-and-paste functionality.


The same is true of every phone on the market. No matter how many features manufacturers manage to pack into their pocket-sized devices, consumers inevitably want more — or less — or something just a bit different.

So, how does the current crop of smart phones measure up?

Nokia N97
With its touchscreen, physical keyboard, tons of storage and tight integration with a suite of software, Nokia's N97 is certainly a contender for the title of perfect smart phone. (Not that the company calls it a smart phone; Nokia's preferred term is "mobile computer.") Potential drawbacks include a high price (around $765, unsubsidized) and a long wait (the phone is slated to go on sale in spring 2009.) Also notable: Nokia 5800 XpressMusic.

See All of the Top 10 Smart Phones

Sony Ericsson Xperia X1
Before the N97 was announced, Sony Ericsson unveiled its own take on a touchscreen-turned-Qwerty keyboard phone, the Xperia X1. The phone's metal-finish body is light, yet sturdy. Users can customize the screen with panels that offer quick access to sites like Facebook. The screen lacks the iPhone's flash, though, and U.S. users will have to shell out $700 to $750, because operators aren't subsidizing it.

HTC Touch Pro
HTC is an old hand at touchscreen smart phones. Its Touch Pro marries a touchscreen with a keyboard for greater functionality, while its Touch Diamond is compact and stylish. The pros: HTC's visually striking TouchFLO 3-D software, which aims to make mobile multitasking and Web browsing as easy as on a regular computer. The cons: Downloading apps isn't quite as fun or intuitive as it is on phones from Apple. Also notable: HTC Touch Diamond.

Palm Treo Pro
Meet Palm's latest take on the Treo. The Pro's design has elicited comparisons to BlackBerrys, but Palm says the handset's productivity software, navigation features and 3G connectivity set it apart. A lack of carrier support in the U.S. means that consumers have been forced to seek out the phone online for $549. That could change soon; Sprint is rumored to be picking up the Pro for 2009. Also notable: Palm Centro.

Samsung Omnia
True to its name, the Omnia is designed to offer users anything they might want in a smart phone, including a 5-megapixel camera, FM radio and specially crafted software called TouchWiz that offers one-touch access to commonly used applications and features. Some users have called the handset's virtual keyboard challenging. Samsung's BlackJack II comes with a physical keyboard but generally trails BlackBerrys in sales.

LG Incite
LG, long a leader in multimedia phones (the Chocolate, the enV, the Viewty), is diving into the U.S. smart phone market. Its Incite sports a customizable "favorites" menu, streaming radio and a reflective screen that can double as a mirror. But its fall 2008 release, in the wake of flashier phones, may keep it from grabbing a larger audience.

BlackBerry Storm
The best thing about the Storm? It's like no other touchscreen phone. The worst thing? Ditto. Users have raved and ranted about the Storm's "clickable" touchscreen, prompting carrier Verizon to defend the phone as its best-selling device.

Saturday, January 24, 2009

Meet top 10 Web billionaires

Meet top 10 Web billionaires



The dotcom boom ushered in the new-age entrepreneurship and with it came a new set of billionaires. Billionaires who have brought their start-ups a long way from their ‘garage’ days.

Many of them pioneers in their space, these online companies have today evolved into popular global brands and the key people behind them deck up the global rich list.

Forbes recently released its annual list of 34 innovators who made their billions through the Internet. Incidentally, the 2008 list also includes three Indians: Indiabulls' Sameer Gehlaut, Party Gaming founder Anurag Dikshit and co-owner of Indian job site Naukri.Com, Kavitark Ram Shriram.

Here' a profile of the top 10 billionaires who made their fortune from the Web.

Sergey Brin and Larry Page, Google

Sergey Brin and Larry Page, Google

Topping the Web billionaires list are the Google duo Sergey Brin and Larry Page with a net worth of $18.7 billion and $18.6 billion respectively.

Brin, the president and head of Google's technology division, started Google along with Page in 1998 out of a friend's garage. Moscow-born Brin received a Bachelor of Science degree with honours in mathematics and computer sciences from the University of Maryland.

He is currently on leave from the PhD programme in computer science at Stanford University, where he received his master's degree. Brin continues to share responsibility for day-to-day operations along with Page and Schmidt.

Larry Page is Google's founding CEO and grew the company to be the behemoth it is today. In 2001, he moved into his role as president, products. Son of a computer science professor at Michigan State University, Page's love for computers began at age six. He earned a Bachelor of Science in engineering from the University of Michigan.

Despite getting Eric Schmidt (chief executive of Google) on board, Page is still credited with being intensely involved in company's affairs. He is said to go through CV of every employee before the person is hired at Google even today.

Jeffrey Bezos, Amazon


Jeffrey Bezos, Amazon

Jeffrey Preston Bezos, founder, president, CEO and chairman of Amazon.com has a net worth of $8.2 billion.

Inspired by the amazing power of Internet, Bezos created a business model that leveraged Internet's ability to deliver huge amount of information efficiently. In 1994 he founded Amazon.com, an online bookshop. Amazon tried to compete with brick and mortar shops on three counts: lower prices, authoritative selection and a wealth of product information.

In 1997, Amazon went Public, and expanded from selling books to an online retailer with a vast portfolio of goods. Bezos started his career with Fitel, a start-up that was building a network to conduct international trade. The Princeton University graduate later went on to work as a financial analyst for DE Shaw & Co before founding Amazon in 1994.

In 2004, he founded a human spaceflight startup called Blue Origin. Bezos also has a personal investment company called Bezos Expeditions. He was named Person of the Year by Time magazine in 1999.

Though Amazon as a company may not inspire the awe, it did during its heydays, Bezos still has his name intact among the most venerable tech honchos.

Pierre Omidyar, eBay

Pierre Omidyar, eBay

Father of online auction, Pierre Omidyar founded eBay. Ranked at no. 4 in the Web billionaires list, Omidyar's net worth is $7.7 billion.

French-born computer programmer, Pierre developed fascination for computers in high school and graduated from Tufts University in 1988 with a degree in Computer Science. After graduation he worked for Claris, a subsidiary of Apple Computer, developing software for the Macintosh.

In 1991, he co-founded Ink Development Corp with three friends. The company included an Internet shopping segment and was later renamed eShop Inc. In 1996, eShop was sold to Microsoft.

Intrigued by the technical problem of establishing an online venue for direct person-to-person auction of collectible items, he created a simple prototype on his personal Web page, and launched an online service called Auction Web in 1995. The revenue soon started pouring, with business expanding by word of mouth. In 1997, Omidyar changed the company’s name to eBay.

Eric Schmidt, Google

Eric Schmidt, Google

Chief executive of Google Eric Emerson Schmidt ranks at no. 5 with a net worth of $6.6 billion. Schmidt joined Google from Novell, where he led the company's strategic planning, management and technology development as chairman and CEO.

Prior to his appointment at Novell, Schmidt was chief technology officer and corporate executive officer at Sun Microsystems Inc, where he led the development of Java, Sun's platform-independent programming technology, and defined Sun's Internet software strategy.

Before joining Sun in 1983, he was a member of the research staff at the Computer Science Lab at Xerox Palo Alto Research Center (PARC), and also held positions at Bell Laboratories and Zilog. He is generally acknowledged as the one who catapulted Google from being a promising tech company to a universal ‘God of Internet'. Schmidt has a degree in electrical engineering from Princeton University, and a Master's and PhD in computer science from the University of California, Berkeley.

Jeffrey Skoll, eBay

Jeffrey Skoll, eBay

eBay's first president and second-largest shareholder, Jeffrey Skoll has a net worth of $3.6 billion.

He served as director of eBay from December 1996 to March 1998. An Internet pioneer, Skoll served as eBay's vice president strategic planning and analysis in February 1998, its president from August 1996 to February 1998.

One of the eBay cofounders, Skoll left the company and turned his attention to making movies and philanthropy. He was executive producer of North Country, starring Charlize Theron, and two George Clooney films, including Syriana. Skoll was also the executive producer of An Inconvenient Truth, the global-warming documentary that featured former Vice President Al Gore.

Skoll served as channel marketing manager for Knight-Ridder Information Inc, an online information services company, from July 1995 to July 1996. Prior to this, Skoll served as president of Skoll Engineering, a systems consulting firm, that he founded.

He was also the co-founder of Micros on the Move, a computer rentals company, as an adjunct to Skoll Engineering in 1990. He also serves as director at Community Foundation Silicon Valley and Ingenio Inc.

Graduating in BASC Electrical Engineering from the University of Toronto, he later pursued MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Shi Yuzhu, ZTgame

Shi Yuzhu, ZTgame

Founder of China's third-largest online games company, Zhengtu, Shi Yuzhu has a net worth of $2.8 billion.

He recently listed the company on NYSE Euronext. Almost half of his fortune comes from stakes in financial institutions China Minsheng Banking and Huaxia Bank.

Shanghai's richest resident, Yuzhu was born in Huanyuan of Anhui Province. He graduated in Mathematics from Zhejiang University in 1984 and pursued software master degree from Shengzhen University.

A few years later, he made his first million by selling his own software, and established the company Giant Group in 1991. Later in 1996, due to the over investment in Giant Building project and mismanagement, the Company fell into abyss of finance.

Yuzhu later become an expert in capital operation, and paid back to the public small investors in Giant Building project. In 2004,Yuzhu sold his production technology, assembly line and brand by 1.2 billion Yuan RMB.


Hiroshi Mikitani, Rakuten

Hiroshi Mikitani, Rakuten

Hiroshi Mikitani is the man behind online shopping mall Rakuten, one of the Japan's most popular Web destination. With a net worth of $2.6 billion, Mikitani is Japan's leading Internet entrepreneur.

Mikitani last year moved his company's headquarters from chic Roppongi neighborhood into cheaper bayside Tokyo. He reportedly treats employees to free meals with extra money. He also plans to launch e-commerce business in Taiwan. Mikitani is an MBA from Harvard University.

Mark Cuban, Broadcast.com

Mark Cuban, Broadcast.com

Next on the list is Mark Cuban, the founder of Broadcast.com, HDNet, and several other companies. With a net worth of $2.6 billion, Cuban has also been an angel investor for several startups including SlideShare, Goowy, RedSwoosh, Box.net, Weblogs Inc and Mahalo.

Having worked as a bartender and a salesperson, Cuban started MicroSolutions in 1986, a systems integrator and software reseller. In 1990, Cuban sold MicroSolutions to CompuServe, then a subsidiary of H&R Block for $6 million.

In 1995, he started Audionet with a fellow friend, which later became Broadcast.com in 1998. During the dotcom boom, Broadcast.com was acquired by Yahoo for $5.9 billion in stock.

A passionate basketball fan, Cuban bought Dallas Mavericks, an NBA basketball team, from Ross Perot in 2000 for $285 million. He also serves as a chairman of HDNet, an HDTV cable network. Cuban also plans to build his media empire.

David Filo, Yahoo

David Filo, Yahoo

The tenth richest Web billionaire is David Filo with a net worth of $2.5 billion. Co-founder of Yahoo Inc, David Filo met Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang as Stanford grad student.

A native of Moss Bluff, Louisiana, he co-created the Yahoo Internet navigational guide in April 1994 with Jerry Yang. Filo is credited of having bought 40 per cent stake in Alibaba.com for $1 billion in 2005.

Filo serves as a key technologist, directing the technical operations behind the company's global network of Web properties. He is credited with helping build Yahoo into the world's most highly trafficked website and one of the Internet's most recognised brands.

Filo holds a BS degree in computer engineering from Tulane University and an MS degree in electrical engineering from Stanford University.

















Friday, January 23, 2009

Microsoft cuts 5,000 jobs

SEATTLE: Microsoft Corp will make the first mass layoffs in its 34-year history, cutting 5,000 jobs as demand for personal computers falls and even one of the world's richest companies gets burned by the recession.

The company announced the cuts on Thursday as it reported an 11 per cent drop in second-quarter profit, which fell short of Wall Street's expectations. Microsoft shares plunged more than 11 per cent.

"We're certainly in the midst of a once-in-a-lifetime set of economic conditions," Chief Executive Steve Ballmer said during a conference call. With less access to credit, businesses and consumers are spending less and stretching the life span of their existing computers.

The biggest names in the technology sector have been no stranger to layoffs lately. Giants such as chip maker Intel Corp and even Google Inc are among the companies that have pulled back on jobs to hunker down in the recession.

Google also reported earnings on Thursday and said its quarterly net profit fell 68 per cent, its first such drop ever. The results were better than analysts had expected, however.

At Microsoft, the cuts appeared to reflect uncertainty about when times will get better. The company said it could not issue a forecast for earnings and profits for the rest of the year.

The software maker was already facing tough problems, among them its inability to snag a significant share of the lucrative Web search advertising market from leader Google Inc. It tried to fix this by buying Yahoo Inc and pouring money into its own technology, all the while relying on Office programmes such as Word and Excel, and on Windows to keep bringing home huge profits.

Now, with the recession pinching software earnings, Microsoft's problems seem even harder to fix. Microsoft, which has $20.7 billion in cash on hand, said its business prospects were hurt by the deteriorating global economy and lower revenue from software for PCs. The holiday quarter of 2008 was the worst for the PC market since 2002, with computer shipments declining about a half of 1 per cent, according to IDC, a technology research group.

Making matters worse, the one type of PC consumers have warmed to in tight times -- the low-cost, low-power "netbook" -- actually cut further into Microsoft's earnings. The tiny portable computers run on Windows XP, which is older and less profitable for Microsoft than Windows Vista.

The layoffs, starting with 1,400 on Thursday, will affect workers in research and development, marketing, sales, finance, legal and corporate a
ffairs, human resources and information technology, and mostly in Redmond, Washington, where the company is based. The cuts are expected to touch virtually every division and include the computer programmers who write code for existing and future applications.

Employees reached by The Associated Press declined to comment on the news, saying it was against company policy to speak to reporters. Microsoft had never done layoffs on this scale before -- it had only made relatively limited staff cuts after acquiring companies or reorganising product groups.

The software maker won't stop hiring entirely. During the conference call, Ballmer said the company will add new jobs in the next 18 months to support key areas, including Web search, so the total number of employees will drop by 2,000 to 3,000. Microsoft employs 94,000 people overall.

"I would have expected a more aggressive cut," said Cowen and Co analyst Walter Pritchard. "They're trying to have their cake and eat it too, in terms of not cutting and hoping to have everything they were going to have before."

The software maker is trimming costs for travel, freezing wages, scaling back a massive expansion to its Redmond campus and looking to cut what it spends on contractors and vendors by up to 15 per cent.

Ballmer said Microsoft cut operating expenses by $600 million in the quarter, but that it wasn't enough. The job cuts will reduce operating costs by $1.5 billion as Microsoft prepares for lower revenue and earnings in the second half of the year, the company said.

Chief financial officer Chris Liddell said during the call that Microsoft will write down severance costs for the 1,400 workers laid off on Thursday in the third quarter, and record the rest as they occur. Liddell said he expects the total charges to be less than $100 million.

Liddell told analysts to expect the second half of the year to look about as grim as the second quarter, with weakness persisting in Windows sa
les as PC shipments remain depressed.

Beyond the next six months, Ballmer added that he doesn't expect the technology sector to bounce back to recent highs. Instead, said he expects the stagnation to persist for a year or more, followed by slow growth.

Microsoft said profit in the last quarter fell to $4.17 billion, or 47 cents per share, from year-ago earnings of $4.71 billion, or 50 cents per share.

Total revenue edged up 2 per cent to $16.63 billion. The results missed Wall Street's forecast for earnings of 49 cents per share on sales of $17.08 billion.

Microsoft shares fell $2.27, or 11.7 percent, to close at a 52-week low of $17.11.

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

5 tips to keep your inbox safe


Emails asking people to send money abroad so that they can collect lottery money are passe now. Latest is a new online scam with an all new modus operandi that has left even security experts clueless.

Recently a college student received an email from his friend asking for 1,200 pounds (Rs 85,000) as he had lost his wallet. It came from the account of someone she knew and even bore his digital signature. However, later she found out that his friend never wrote the email.

Few months back, a businessman approached the cyber crime cell after some of his friends received a mail from his Hotmail account requesting them to send him Rs 1.27 lakh.

And mind you, such incidents are on a rise, security experts have warned that cyber criminals are hacking mail accounts and sending mails to addresses in the contact list to extract money.

So, how can you make sure you don't become a victim of one? Here are five golden rules to follow to make sure you don't become a victim.

Separate personal and official IDs

The best way to avoid such a situation is to have two email IDs with separate and long passwords -- one official, the other for personal use. Not only it will leave you better organised, but is the easiest way to keep cyber criminals at bay.

Also, be sure of the password you use. Remember, while easy passwords leave little room for forgetting, they leave a lot of scope for tinkering by cyber hackers.

With Internet becoming an important repository of our personal information both financial and otherwise, the stakes can be high if the same is tampered with.

So try using some mixed combos that can secure your mail. Length is a huge advantage to memorise your password. And always remember your name, spouse name, children names or birthdays are a strict no no.

Don't click tempting links


In case you receive emails saying 'You have won $50,000' or 'You won a trip to US', beware. There is surely a hidden trap in it. Don't get tempted by such mails as these may lead you to malicious sites. You may end up downloading a virus or in a worst case surrender your computer to a hacker.

Also, do not click on random links, especially on invitation from ‘hot sirens.’ Watch out for email-related scams such as phishing lotteries, windfalls, jobs, gifts, inheritance, etc.

If you receive an email asking you to give your personal information by clicking a website link in the email, do not do so. Instead, go directly to the sender’s website by typing in the sender’s website address.

Install security software


Install security software to scan and remove viruses and spywares. Regularly check for security updates for your computer. Most security updates are aimed at reducing risks to your computer, these may be data-related or otherwise.

In a 24X7 online environment, it is important to have anti-virus and anti-spyware programmes installed for secure online experience. Also, these programmes need to be frequently updated to avoid any attack on your computer.

You can do a recee of the Internet for popular anti-virus and anti-spyware solutions. There are also several paid options like McAfee, Norton Anti-virus and Trend Micro.

Beware of fake mails


Beware of mails from ‘banks’ seeking personal information. Almost ninety percent of such mails are fake. If you receive an email asking you to verify information like account number or password, do not respond. Check the url of the mail carefully.

Never give out personal information over mail or on the Internet unless you are sure you know whom you are dealing with.

If you are sharing personal information, confirm that you are dealing with a legitimate person or organisation.

Be `to the point' at Cyber cafes


Cyber cafes are the hot breeding grounds for online criminals. So never send mails with personal details like PINs or other financial details like account number or passwords from cyber cafes.

Also don't leave the PC unattended after keying in information while transacting on the website. Avoid accessing your emails at cyber cafes or on a shared or public computer.

Also, avoid locations that offer online connections through wireless networks (Wi-Fi), where privacy and security are minimal. It may give hackers an effortless way to hack your mail and access your personal information.




Sunday, January 11, 2009

10 technology trends of 2009


The year that went by set the foundation for those technologies that are expected to take off in 2009, with focus on energy efficiency and mobility -- a bit greener and a lot more faster.

Here are 10 of them to watch out for this year:

Mobile applications


With the India's mobile telecom network expected to grow from over 300 million subscribers now to over 400 million by the end of 2009, mobile applications (m-apps) will become central to entertainment, information, banking and other services - and, of course, revenues for telecom companies.

You'll see many m-payment services, and banks will urge you to use SMS and m-banking. The media will get serious with the platform, with SMS, mobile Web, widgets and m-apps.

And m-marketing... expect lots of SMS spam and the failure of do-not-disturb lists, until a service provider gets taken to court.

The mobile will drive a host of apps: global positioning system (GPS), digital photography, music distribution. These started off earlier, but will really take off in 2009. Your phone will be at the centre of a converged, digital universe. With 3G technology, and 16 GB of storage, it'll be your storehouse, your credit card, your identity.


Lighting will shift to compact fluorescent lamps (CFL). They consume less power and last longer, and you spend less on backup. Their high cost means that we'll see more power utilities subsidising CFLs.

You'll also see more LED lighting. Already popular for traffic lights and pocket torches, they'll enter areas where long life and low power offset high initial cost: vehicle and aircraft cabins, and some homes and offices.

One will also see electro-luminescence or EL, which has for years lit aircraft cockpits and 'Indiglo' watches. EL panels cover large areas - backlighting a ceiling or wall, drawing less power than a small light bulb.
Global positioning system



GPS entered the Indian market in 2007 with maps. Last year saw several products, and software for phones - especially Google Maps and Nokia Maps.

In 2009, GPS will enter sub-Rs.10, 000 mobile phones -- and midrange cars.

Up ahead will be 3D GPS landmarks. Nokia Maps 3.0 is testing this for its devices (check http://www.nokia.com/betalabs to see if your phone is compatible). And new tech will combine real-time video with turn-by-turn directions, as with Blaupunkt's TravelPilot 500 "SafeDrive" navigation.

The iPhone may also integrate Google Street View images with satellite data, to provide a similar interface.


Next-generation networks



Till 2008, India was stuck with second-generation mobile tech. We trailed in 3G, which Japan launched in 2001, South Korea in 2002. Over 40 countries had 3G networks by early 2008.

3G was finally launched in India last month by the state-run Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL) in the national capital. It will roll out in other parts of India, first from another state-run company Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) and then from Airtel, Vodafone and others by around mid-2009, thanks to the delay in spectrum auction.

3G allows fast Internet access on the move and fixed access in hard-to-reach areas, without cabling. It spurs new services like mobile video and multimedia. You'll see PCs and laptops with built-in 3G, like Qualcomm's Kayak prototype. Many mid-range handsets are already 3G-ready, so you may not need to change your handset. But don't expect WiMax taking off. While we patiently await it, 3G may overtake this always-around-the-corner technology.

Green mobile


The oil price swings of 2008 (up to over $140 a barrel, then down to under $40) were a gift for our planet. They forced the world to re-look at fuel-efficient cars. Sports utility vehicles (SUVs) went out of fashion. Even in the US, buyers bought smaller cars and hybrids. In India, the quirky Reva electric car generated interest again, and the Civic Hybrid was sold out on a discount scheme.

The car tech of 2009 will centre on fuel efficiency. Honda's all-new City will pick up some 'Car of the year' awards, with its blend of space, superb power, and drive ability, combined with fuel efficiency.

You'll see more hybrids in India and a range of electric vehicles - from buses to two-wheelers. The fuel cell will power some car models, globally. Other car tech for 2009 will include night vision, head-up displays, fog-penetrating laser scanners... and an advanced anti-collision system from Mercedes (who gave us airbags and ABS). The system brakes automatically, bringing the car to a stop if necessary.

Netbooks


We saw the Asus EeePC last year, and then other netbooks - ultra-portable, minimalist but connected notebook computers at Rs 20k to 30k. Rising global demand and Intel's low power Atom processor are helping flood the market with netbooks.

New interface


The way we interact with devices is changing. Touch is supplementing the keyboard. The iPhone's multi-touch is reaching laptops. Lucid touch will let you point and touch from behind the display (so that your fingers don't block the screen).

Non-contact interfaces (remember Tom Cruise in Minority Report?) will emerge as will folding displays and e-paper. But the disappointment is that speech recognition is still impractical.

Content delivery


Next in 2009 is a TV set-top box that is your connection to the world: high-speed Iternet access, an HD movie source for all your TVs, a Wi-Fi source for all your mobile devices, game consoles, laptops. It will store several hundred hours of HD video-and support telephony and VoIP.

High Definition television


High Definition TV sets are in many homes, but there's no HD content. While Blu-Ray movie titles come in slowly (expect price cuts late in 2009), DTH operators will start off a few HD channels.

The real move to HDTV will be around the Delhi Commonwealth Games next year. But the first HD push will come in at Indian Premier League (IPL) 2009.

-- IANS