Techno World Updates

by Ramswaroop Singh · 10:25 PM · No comments:

Budget 2013 effect: Mobile phones set to get more expensive

Mobile phones are set to get more expensive this year. In the Union Budget for 2013-2014, the finance minister P Chidambaram proposed that while the import duty on mobile phones that cost Rs 2000 would remain the same, mobile phones which are above Rs 2000 would now have a duty of 6 percent.

Previously the import duty was one percent, based on their maximum retail prices.

In his speech Chidambaram said, About 70 percent of imported mobile phones and about 60 percent of domestically manufactured mobile phones are priced at 2000 or below. Mobile phones enjoy a concessional excise duty of one percent and I do not propose to change that in the case of low priced mobile phones. However, on mobile phones priced at more than 2000, I propose to raise the duty to 6 percent.

What device is Chidu holding? Guess in comments . Reuters

What device is Chidu holding?. Reuters

The bad part about this is that nearly all smartphones, even a basic Micromax phone starts at Rs 4000. Of course high-end phones like the Samsung Galaxy S III, HTC One X, Nokia Lumia etc all cost more than Rs 30,000.

Reacting to this news, Mohammad Chowdhury, Leader Telecom, PricewaterhouseCoopers, India said,

“PwC expects that this change will result in smartphone and feature-phone retail prices going up, as a result of which we will see some dampening in consumer sales. In turn this will impact negatively the uptake of data services in India and in all likelihood slow it down, just at a time when it has begun to gain momentum.”

The govt has also raised the import duty on set-top boxes from 5 to 10 percent to safeguard interest of domestic producers.

by Ramswaroop Singh · 2:57 AM · No comments:

Google introduces Books in India Play Store

Google has extended its Google Play Books service to the Indian market. Users will be able to download ebooks from a collection of 4 million titles. The ebook store has been made live on the web version of Google Play as well as on the mobile version. Users can install the Play Books app on their Android or iOS mobile device or to download, read and manage the ebooks they've purchased. They can also read books on third party ereader apps by transferring them from their computers using the Adobe Digital Editions Desktop Reader.

Users can also preview some books on their computer or phone before buying them.

Books are stored on the cloud so users will need Internet connectivity to access them, however, the Play Books reader apps remember the page of the book where the reader left, the last time he was reading.

Google has also customised the store keeping in mind the Indian market, and has added books from Indian authors like Amish Tripathi, Devdutt Pattanaik, and Khushwant Singh, among others.

The move comes almost six months after Amazon launched the Kindle Store in India. Indian e-commerce major, Flipkart had also started offering ebooks, last year.

Pricing wise, we found Google Play Books pricier than the other two. For instance, Amish Tripathi's The Oath of The Vayuputras is available for Rs. 189 on Google Play Books, while the same ebook is priced at Rs. 175 on the Flyte store and Rs. 178 on the Kindle Store. We also found some popular titles missing on the Google Play Books store including the Steve Jobs biography by Walter Isaacson.

It's worth pointing out that Google has still not enabled Music and Movie downloads on the Indian Play Store.

by Ramswaroop Singh · 9:52 AM · No comments:

Evernote hits 1 million user mark in India

Evernote, the company behind the popular cross platform note-taking app, announced that it has crossed 1 million users in India.

"User adoption for Evernote in India started slowly, but picked up at a rapid pace in the last two years. The global user base of Evernote is more than 50 million today and in India now we've hit a million!" said Linda Kozlowski, Director of Market Development, APAC for Evernote, while commenting on the milestone.

The company also released a few statistics around the usage of the Evernote service. As per the company, Evernote added 92,000 users per month in India, on an average, over the last 3 months. The company added that it has 3 times as many users as 12 months ago and 12 times as many users as 2 years ago.

She added, "Like our CEO, Phil, always says, we built Evernote for ourselves, it was something we wanted to use and now we love and rely on it. We quickly realised that there were many more like us who really appreciate the product. Having a million users in India is evidence of Evernote's value across regions and cultures."

In terms of platforms, Evernote has the most users on Android, followed by Evernote Web and Evernote Windows, respectively. Interestingly, most notes in India have been created on Windows, closely followed by Android.

Launched in 2008, the service allows users to capture, organise, and find information across multiple platforms. Users can take notes, clip webpages, snap photos using their mobile phones, create to-dos, and record audio. All data is synchronised with the Evernote web service and made available to clients on Windows, Mac, Web, and mobile devices. Additionally, the Evernote service indexes incoming notes, making printed or handwritten text in images searchable.

by Ramswaroop Singh · 6:19 AM · No comments:

BlackBerry Z10 review: Good, but pricey proposition

BlackBerry has launched its first BB10-powered smartphone Z10 in India at a hefty price of Rs 43,490. It offers a refreshing new look at the smartphone interface, powerful integration between hardware and software and BlackBerry's famed corporate, data encryption and security features. BlackBerry Z10 is more than just another smartphone - it is widely deemed to be the manufacturer's last-ditch effort at salvaging its lost market share and reputation in recent years.

But does BlackBerry Z10 hold its own against top-notch rivals like Apple iPhone 5, Samsung Galaxy Note II, Nokia Lumia 920, HTC Butterfly and Sony Xperia Z and deserve such a high price tag? We played around with the handset and tried to find out. Read on.

Hardware
BlackBerry Z10 is the company's flagship smartphone and certainly looks the part. In terms of appearance, it looks quite similar to Apple iPhone 5 from the side and HTC One, what with its rounded edges and thin profile. We tried the elegant-looking black coloured model (the device is also available in white).

Z10 has a 4.2-inch touchscreen that has the requisite sensors and the 2MP secondary camera on top and the BlackBerry logo at the bottom. The front has a big bezel on top as well as bottom of the touchscreen, which adds to its height a bit. Hardware keys in the phone include Power/Lock on top and volume rocker and the voice control on the right side and are extremely easy to access while holding the phone which fits the palm easily.

The back cover has matte finish and feels good to the touch. The back is bare, except for the 8MP primary camera with LED flash and the company's logo, while the speaker grille is located at the bottom. The earphone jack is placed on top and microUSB and miniHDMI ports are on the left side.

Under the hood
BlackBerry Z10 packs a 1.5GHz dual-core processor, coupled with 2GB RAM, while the graphics are handled by the Adreno 225 GPU. Its screen has 1280x768p resolution and 356ppi pixel density, which is disappointing and way behind Android-powered competitors like Sony Xperia Z, HTC Butterfly and the number of phablets about to hit the market.

Connectivity options in BlackBerry Z10 are Wi-Fi, 2G, 3G, 4G, NFC, Bluetooth 4.0 and microUSB 2.0. Powered by a 1,800mAh battery, the phone comes with 16GB onboard storage and supports microSD cards up to 64GB.

Software
We were truly excited about the software running on BlackBerry Z10 - and it did not disappoint us. The new OS brings a new twist to a tried-and-tested interface of BlackBerry phones and does a good job as there is only a small learning curve to acclimatise the user. So, instead of pressing the back button, like you would do on an Android or Windows Phone device, you put your finger on the glass below the screen and swipe upwards to do various tasks, such as turning on the screen, or going to the home screen.

In BlackBerry 10, you get a home screen that doubles up as the app menu, task switcher and the all-new Hub. The OS is very responsive and has a few preloaded apps that are commonly used everyday such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, BBM, Camera, Maps, Box and Adobe Reader. Other apps bundled in Z10 are Compass, Calculator, Voice Control, NewsStand, Story Maker, Doc To Go and Remember, among others.

We were a bit surprised that even though there is no native YouTube app for the platform, it was shown in the menu. When we tried it out, it just opened the mobile version of the website in the browser, which worked well but was still not quite like having the app there. The tight integration of the hardware and software ensured that the smartphone worked well and there was no lag at all in our day-to-day usage.

BlackBerry Z10 is more than a piece of hardware - it has an operating system that offers various services that add value to the overall user experience. Some of the cool Z10 features by BlackBerry are Story Maker, Remember, Balance, Hub and voice control and we would like to take a moment to discuss them as they add to the overall experience tremendously.

The Hub acts as the single point for you to check all your updates, like new Facebook notifications, tweets, emails, LinkedIn messages, SMSs etc. If you want to open it, you just have to keep swiping towards the left of the screen till you cross the first menu page and task switcher. It is very easy to navigate and gives you options like posting new messages, emails and social network updates, depending on the service you are working on in the Hub.

BlackBerry Balance is a feature aimed at corporate users who want to keep their work and personal lives separate - on their phone. It allows users to store apps and data on two distinct profiles - Work and Personal. Users can easily switch between the two profiles and users who bring their device to office can easily format the Work profile when they switch jobs without having to change any setting in the personal one.

Remember is a content aggregation app that can come in handy if you want to keep photos, videos and audio recording of any event sorted. For example, all the images and videos clicked at any particular concert can be put in a single folder. The folder can be tagged as well, so all the folders with a tag like 'Birthday' or 'Party' will come up when you search for it.

Story Maker can be a fun app for users who take a lot of photos and want to make them special by converting them into a single video. You just select the photos you want to include and pick the audio clip you want to go with it and the app will automatically create a video with effects like cascading images etc.

Voice control in BlackBerry Z10 is quite refined and performs quite well, though it cannot match the intuitiveness that Google Now or Apple Siri bring to the table. We didn't get to play much with it, but going by what we experienced, it should stand its ground well against others. It is quite adept at recognising the Indian accent and finding the requisite app or data over a reliable network. However, like its rivals, its performance also suffers when used in places with ambient noise.

The browser in BlackBerry Z10 is quite fast and responsive and supports Abode Flash natively, so the whole world wide web in its true form is at your fingertips. The Maps app in BB Z10 needs to be improved, since we could not get the lock on specific places like monuments or generic sites like New Delhi or India.

BlackBerry has spoken quite a bit about the innovations it has added in its keyboard, and it shows. The on-screen Qwerty keyboard is well laid out, with sufficient spaces between letters and has all the all functionalities of the native keyboard of Android, iOS and Windows Phone platforms.

The best part about the keyboard is its word suggestion capability, which is very useful while sending text messages and emails. However, it was oddly absent while searching for Maps and sending Facebook messages. Nevertheless, we liked what we saw, especially the part when you just flick at a letter to select it.

Multimedia
The 8MP camera of BlackBerry Z10 was a big letdown for us and did worse than that of even mid-range smartphones available nowadays, and we are not even taking Nokia's Lumia series, iPhone 5 or Sony Xperia Z into consideration. The images in lowlight conditions were grainy and even in daylight, its photo quality could not measure up to that of rivals. The camera app in itself is quite basic and does not offer much to the user and video quality is also below par for a device priced as high as Rs 43,490.

The video and music player apps of Z10 are also free of any bells and whistles and do the job, but just so. So you do not have too many functionalities like pulling lyrics for songs off the internet or changing the aspect ratio of the video. We were, however, quite happy with the audio output of the smartphone and were happy to listen to some peppy music on it, though songs with heavy bass did not play so well.

Overall performance
The all-new BlackBerry Z10 did quite well in our review, barring a few glitches like camera and Maps (which are actually quite important in today's smartphone race). The device performed without any lag and using the keyboard was a treat. The learning curve for the new operating system was very small and even new users are likely to become adept at it within a short period. The new interface is refreshing and brings subtle changes to the table, something that pleased us quite a lot, instead of posing a problem. Call quality was decent and transferring data was smooth and fast.

Now the big question! Does it measure up to the rivals?

Yes, in its own way, BlackBerry Z10 does give competition to rivals but in doing so, it caters to only a small category of buyers. The lack of apps on BB10 platform is an obvious gaping hole for the OS and even with 75,000 native apps (and over 9,000 made especially for India), it is likely to lose out to the large scale consumer market due to absence of popular apps like Instagram or the entire suite of Google services.

BBM which had been losing its charm to cross-platform apps like WhatsApp and Viber has got bolstered with new features like BBM-to-BBM video calling which do bring something extra to the table. WhatsApp and Viber will be launched on the platform within the next few months, so buyers will not have the luxury of choice on the platform immediately.

With Z10, the manufacturer will continue to win hearts in the corporate sector with its strong security suite as well as BlackBerry Balance. The Contacts app is also something for users to look forward to as it merges various profiles of your Facebook, LinkedIn, email and phonebook contacts intuitively. Moreover, it does not have the boring UI of Android and iOS or the much-too-flashy interface of WP8 platform, which may please many a buyers.

Despite the advancements on the software front, Z10 does fall short of rivals when it comes to hardware. Its display quality is nowhere near the standards set by Apple's Retina or the full HD-capable Android devices. It has a strong connectivity suite, but shortage of apps will certainly irk buyers, something that the manufacturer knows very well too, and we hope is working on it.

However, the OS does give provision for developers to port their Android apps to BB10 with ease. This creates the opportunity for the platform to get the requisite number of apps to get off the ground in the consumer market, though we can never be sure of how the user experience will be for such ported apps. The company has already said that 40% of the apps available on BB10 platform are Android ports, such as Skype, Amazon, Facebook, Twitter and Angry Birds, among others.

Other popular apps available on the platform are Jetpack Joyride, LinkedIn, Gaana, AccuWeather, Paper Camera, Zomato etc. However, some users may be discouraged from buying the phone rightaway due to the absence of the popular apps like WhatsApp, Instagram and Viber from the platform, at least for now.

Is the sky-high price tag justified?
Well, BlackBerry Z10 is likely to gain ground in the enterprise sector and may go on to become the favourite of BlackBerry fans and corporate users. However, for a regular consumer in a budget conscious market like India, Z10 is unlikely to hold much charm. While the men may buy it, the BlackBerry boys are likely to stay away given the hole it will burn in their pockets.

Even with the revamped UI and tight integration of software and hardware, we find that the device is just too pricey. It could have been a better buy at a price band of Rs 35,000 to Rs 38,000, but does not seem to be the best device to go for at a price of Rs 43,490, especially when the poor camera quality is taken into account.

We would certainly wait for a mid-range BB10-powered smartphone to hit the markets because the beauty truly lies in the software in this case, rather than the hardware.

What's hot	What's not
Revamped interface	High price tag
Perfect harmony between hardware and software	Lack of apps for BB10 platform
Strong enterprise suite	Poor camera quality
New features like Hub, Story Maker, Balance etc	Industrial looks

Key specs

Display: 4.2-inch capacitive touchscreen with resolution of 768 x 1280 pixels

Dimensions: 5.12 x 2.58 x 0.35 inch, weighs 137.5 gm

Operating system: Company's latest BlackBerry 10 OS

Processor: Dual-core 1.5 GHz processor

Camera: 8MP rear camera with auto-focus, LED flash and geo-tagging. Boasts of 2MP front-facing camera

Connectivity: Wi-Fi (802.11 a/b/g/n, dual band) and Bluetooth (v4.0 with A2DP, LE) technology

Colour options: Is available in two colours in India: Black and White

Battery: 1,800 mAh

by Ramswaroop Singh · 4:54 AM · No comments:

India will have cyber security policy soon: Kapil Sibal

India will soon have a cyber security policy that will ensure preventive measures against cyber crime and fraud, the government said Wednesday.
"We are working on a cyber security policy... we need more work to curb cyber crimes," Minister for Communications and Information Technology Kapil Sibal told the Lok Sabha during Question Hour. "It's a new medium. we need to understand it and take preventive measures," he said.
According to the minister, the computer emergency response team in India, CERT-In, was monitoring any suspicious move on the internet in order to checkmate potential cyber attacks from hackers. The minister said that if any instance of fake calls on mobiles or emails promising a big award in exchange of personal information of a user is reported to his ministry, it will take action.

India will have cyber security policy soon: Kapil Sibal

Sibal stressed the need for international agreements, saying that the intermediaries of various internet service providers were located outside India, making it difficult to seek information from them.
He supported the demand made by Congress MP Jai Prakash Agarwal that more public awareness campaigns must be run on the issue.
Mentioning also the misuse of Section 66-A of the IT Act (pertaining to sending messages on communication services that are false or offensive), the minister said the police were not aware of it.
"We are for freedom of speech but it should not hurt others," Sibal said, mentioning the misuse of social networking sites like Facebook, on which people post offensive text and pictures.

by Ramswaroop Singh · 1:15 AM · No comments:

Facebook announces partership with telecom operators to provide free messenger service

Facebook has announced partnership with 18 telecom operators in 14 countries to provide free messenger service. The subscribers of these network service providers will get free or discounted data access to Facebook Messenger regardless of the operating system platform.

The list includes Airtel and Reliance in India, TMN in Portugal, Three in Ireland, Vivacom in Bulgaria, Backcell in Azerbaydzhan, Indosat, Smartfren, AXIS and XL Axiata in Indonesia, SMART in Philippines, DiGi in Malaysia, DTAC in Thailand, Viva in Bahrain, STC in Saudi Arabia, Oi in Brazil, Etisalat in Egypt, and Tre in Italy.

Facebook is now considered as a serious competitor to mobile-messenger services like WhatsApp, Viber, LINE and so on after launching Facebook messenger last year. This app also lets you subscribe to the messenger service by only using your mobile number without logging into your Facebook account. This move might generate a new trend in mobile-messaging as Facebook already has 1.06 billion monthly active users including 71million in India.

Following the partnership, Reliance Mobile has already launched ‘Facebook Messenger Plan’ which offers unlimited access to Facebook (including Messenger) for Rs. 16 per month. Facebook also has already enabled free voice calling for its users in Canada and the US on iOS platform. This service is not yet enabled in other countries considering it might threaten the profits of telecom operators worldwide.

by Ramswaroop Singh · 12:16 AM · No comments:

Google extends social Web reach to counter Facebook's rise

Google transformed the Internet by cataloging the Web's countless pages. Now it wants to keep better track of the Web's multitude of users.
The Mountain View, California-based company said on Tuesday it would begin encouraging websites and mobile apps to accept log-in credentials via Google+, its social network.
The integration with third-party sites and apps, which Google hopes will help it track users as they surf across the Internet, represents the search powerhouse's latest effort to establish a foothold in the all-important social Web arena - and beat back competition from Facebook, the sector leader.
Google extends social Web reach to counter Facebook's rise

Sites that have so far agreed to accept Google's social sign-in include The Guardian and USA Today's websites, as well as Fancy, the shopping site, and Fitbit, the personal fitness-tracking service and app, Google said in a blog post Tuesday.
Since 2008, Facebook has been able to gather massive troves of information about its users' activities even if they are not on Facebook because many popular apps - such as Spotify's music streaming service - allow users to log in with their Facebook identity, which results in data funneled back to the social network.
In response to Facebook's rise, Google has made its social Web efforts a top priority in recent years. But results have been mixed under the leadership of Chief Executive Larry Page and Vic Gundotra, the influential senior vice president spearheading Google's social networking efforts.
Launched in 2011, Google+ still lags far behind Facebook: it had 100 million monthly active users in December, according to comScore, compared to well over 1 billion for Facebook. But Google officials have downplayed the lukewarm public reception, saying they view Google+ more as an invisible data "backbone" that tracks individual users across its various properties - and less as a consumer Internet destination.
Over the past year the company has made changes to the log-in process at its YouTube subsidiary, for instance, in order to nudge the video site's 800 million users to sign in and leave comments with their Google+ accounts rather than anonymous handles.

by Ramswaroop Singh · 12:08 AM · No comments:

Smartphone operating systems: Alternative phone system Tizen speeds against Firefox OS, Microsoft Windows Phone

The junior league of smartphone operating systems is getting more competitive. Phones from yet another contender - Tizen - will go on sale this year with a view to eventually competing with the industry leaders, Apple\'s iOS and Google\'s Android.

For now, Tizen will compete with another newcomer, Firefox OS, as well as Microsoft\'s Windows Phone and a revamped BlackBerry operating system.

Most of the impetus behind Tizen comes from cellphone carriers, which want a successful counterweight to the clout of Google and Apple. Samsung has become the world\'s largest maker of smartphones in large part through its embrace of Android.

Tizen has a powerful backer in Samsung Electronics Co. Spokesman Michael Lin confirmed Tuesday that the Korean company is ditching its own, homebrew operating system Bada in favor of Tizen. Samsung will also continue to make Android phones.

Yves Maitre, the executive in charge of handsets at Orange, France Telecom\'s wireless arm, said the carrier expects to launch Tizen phones in France this year and in developing countries next year. He spoke Tuesday to reporters and industry insiders at an event in Barcelona, Spain, on the sidelines of Mobile World Congress, the world\'s largest cellphone trade show.

Sprint Nextel Corp. is a member of the Tizen Association, but it hasn\'t said if it has any plans to bring Tizen handsets to the U.S. Other major backers include Intel Corp. and Huawei Technologies Ltd., China\'s largest phone maker.

Tizen phones will look and work much like Android phones, except that the familiar square app icons are round. By coincidence, that\'s the shape chosen for the Firefox OS, which was revealed in Barcelona on Sunday. Phones from that project are also expected this year.

Both Firefox and Tizen are "open source" projects, managed by non-profit associations. That means the software is freely available to customize, giving phone carriers control over how the software works on the phones they sell. By contrast, Apple maintains complete control over the workings of the iOS software in iPhones.

The idea to create an "open" phone operating system is not new. In fact, Android is an open-source project run by Google. However, one controlled by a non-profit has never been successful. Tizen is based on two failed attempts, MeeGo and LiMo. Frederic Dufal, the technical director of handsets at Orange, said The LiMo Foundation, the most broad-based attempt, was set up in a way that made it very hard for the interested parties to reach consensus. The nitty-gritty of getting Tizen to work is handled by the independent Linux Foundation instead, which has a history of shepherding the creation of effective software.

"We\'ve learned from the mistakes of the past," Dufal said.

The Tizen Association said the phones will launch with a store with thousands of applications.

by Ramswaroop Singh · 5:37 AM · No comments:

Aircel, Tata Docomo offer special plans for BlackBerry Z10

Both Aircel and Tata DoCoMo have offered special plans for BlackBerry Z10 users. The Tata DoCoMo plan which is a special offer of Unlimited 899, will allow customers to enjoy unlimited mobile Internet and unlimited local calls on any mobile or fixed-line network across India at a fixed monthly rental of Rs 899.

Gurinder Singh Sandhu, Head-Marketing, Tata DoCoMo said, “We are delighted that we are partnering with BlackBerry to bring world’s latest smartphones like the BlackBerry Z10 to India. We look forward to providing our customers a better experience and services along with BlackBerry smartphones on our networks.”

Sunil Dutt, Managing Director for India at BlackBerry said, “We are pleased to work with Tata DoCoMo to bring customers in India the powerful new BlackBerry Z10 smartphone. Backed by Tata DoCoMo’s network and service plans, BlackBerry Z10 customers will be delighted with a re-invented communication experience, seamless multitasking, and easy access to multiple social networks.”

BlackBerry Z10 in this file photo. Reuters

Aircel is however not offering an unlimited BlackBerry Messenger plan with its the Z10 it seems. Aircel subscribers will get 1GB data, 250 minutes and SMS on Aircel to Aircel per month for 3 months at a recharge of Rs 153.

The lack of unlimited BBM might be a turn-off for some users, especially for college going students who love the benefits of free messaging that comes with their BB.

For details on BlackBerry 10′s features click here.

by Ramswaroop Singh · 3:32 AM · No comments:

Computer and Internet Related Acronyms

A
AAARP AppleTalk Address Resolution Protocol
AAC Advanced Audio Coding
AAT Average Access Time
ABC Atanasoff-Berry Computer
AIN Advanced Intelligent Network
AISEP Advanced Internet Satellite Extension Project
ANN Artificial Neural Network
ANSI American National Standards Institute.
ARPA Advanced Research Projects Agency.
ARPAnet Advanced Research Projects Agency Network (replaced by NFSNet)
ASCII American Standard Code for Information Interchange
ATM Asynchronous Transfer Mode (a method of transmitting bytes across communications links)

B
BBS Bulletin Board System (service accessible via modem or other connection through which users may exchange messages)
BIOS Basic Input Output System (a set of instructions that tell the computer how to act)
BOINC Berkeley Open Infrastructure for Network Computing
BPS Bits per Second (a measure of the speed of data transmission)
BTW By The Way (By the way is often used in email, chat, etc.)C

C
CA Certification Authority (used in Internet and Network Security; a third party which issues and revokes certificates)
CAD Computer Aided Design
CAT Computer Aided Translation; Computer Assisted Translation
CD Compact Disk
CDN Content Delivery Network
CICS Customer Information Control System
CIS Customer Information Services
CIX Commercial Information Exchange
COPS Computer Oracle and Password System
CPU Central Processing Unit
CRM Customer Relationship Management
CRU Customer Replaceable Unit
CS Customer Service
CSCW Computer Supported Co-operative Work
CSG Computer Systems Group
CSI Complex Service Interface
CSM Cluster Storage Management (Disk Storage)
CSV Comma Separated Values

D
DAD Document Analysis and Design (used in Document Imaging)
DBS Database Software
DC Direct Current
DCAM Digital CAMera
DCE Data Communications Equipment (or Distributed Computing Environment)
DCL Digital Command Language
DDL Data Definition Language
DDR Double Data Rate
DNS Domain Name Service
DNSBL Domain Name Service Black-hole List (a list of domain names used by known spammers)
DRM Digital Rights Management
DSU Disk Storage Unit
DTP DeskTop Publishing

E
EBT Electronic Banking Transfers (Commerce)
EC Electronic Commerce (Computer Industry)
ECMA European Computer Manufacturers Association
ECML Electronic Commerce Modeling Language
EDA Electronic Document Access
EDI Electronic Data Interchange
EIA Electronic Industries Association
EIDE Enhanced Integrated Drive Electronics (Disk Drives)
EITO European Information Technology Observatory
ELC Entry Level Computer (or Entry Level Server)
EMA Electronic Messaging Association
EMS Electronic Messaging Service
EULA End User License Agreement (Microsoft Licensing)

F
FA Feature Audit (or Failure Analysis)
FACE Framed Access Command Environment
FAST Feature Audit Tools and Systems
FAT File Allocation Table
FAQ Frequently Asked Questions
FOSS Free and Open Source Software
FTP File Transport Protocol
FUD Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt (in competiting marketing)
FW FirmWare
FXO Foreign eXchange Office

G
GB Gigabyte (a measure of storage space in Hard Drives; 1 GB =1,000 MB (Megabytes)
GDS Global Distribution System
GHR Global Human Resources
GIF Graphics Interchange Format
GIS Global Information Solutions
GPS General Purpose Systems
GUI Graphical User Interface
2G Second Generation
3G Third Generation

H
HDA Head Disk Assembly
HDD Hard Disk Drive
HMI Human Machine Interface
HSM Hierarchical Storage Management (used in Data Storage)
HTML HyperText Markup Language (is used to format information and make it accessible to the World Wide Web)
HTML+ (new and higher standard which supersedes html)
HTTP Hypertext Transfer Protocol (it forms the basis of the World Wide Web technology)
HWA Host Wire Adapter

I
IAB Internet Architecture Board
IANA Internet Assigned Numbers Authority
ICDL International Computer Driving License
IDE Integrated Drive Electronics (an interface used by hard drives and CD-ROM drives to connect to the computer)
IETF Internet Engineering Task Force
IN Intelligent Network
IP Internet Protocol (the standard protocol used by systems communicating across the Internet)
IP Address Internet Protocol Address (a digital code that locates a computer connected to the Internet)
IRC Internet Relay Chat (software which enables to hold real-time keyboard conversations online)
ISB Internet Service Bus
ISDN Integrated Services Digital Network
ISO International Organization for Standardization
ISOC Internet Society
ISP Internet Service Provider (a company that provides a connection to the Internet)
ITU International Telecommunication Union

J
JCL Job Control Language
JSP Java Server Pages
JPEG Joint Photographic Experts Group (a compression technique for images on the Internet)

L
LAN Local Area Network (a local server that a computer is usually connected to)
LBB Local Backup Browser
LCP Link Control Protocol (Networking)
LINQ Language INtegrated Query (used in Microsoft, Microsoft Windows Software Development)
LMB Local Master Browser
LMO Large Memory Option
LUN Logical Unit Number

M
MAC Macintosh (a personal computer manufactured by Apple Computer)
MAN Metropolitan Area Network.
MB Megabyte (=1 million bytes; a measure of the quantity of data)
MBONE Multicast BackbONE
MIME Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (method a computer uses to send e-mail from one computer to another)
MPEG Motion Picture Experts Group (a video file compression system)
MUD Multi User Domain

N
NAP Network Access Protection
NC Network Computer
NCSA National Center for Supercomputing Applications (US)
NFR Not For Resale
NFS Network File System
NOC Network Operations Center
NS Next Step
NSF National Science Foundation
NT New Technology

O
OBI Open Buying on the Internet
ONE Open Networking Environment
OS Operating System (primary program running on a computer; starts automatically when the computer is switched on)
OSP Online Service Provider (a company which provides not only internet but also email and other services)

P
PC Personal Computer
PDF Portable Document Format (a document format read by Adobe System's Acrobat viewer; excellent for displaying large documents in a print-ready state)
PEM Privacy Enhanced Mail (method a computer uses to send e-mail from one computer to another)
PPP Point-to-Point Protocol (allows a computer to use the TCP/IP Internet protocols with a standard telephone line and a very high speed modem)
PTT Postal, Telegraph and Telephone

R
RAM Random Access Memory (working space in a computer; by increasing the amount of RAM, the speed of a computer increases)
RIM Research In Motion (research related to cellular phones and computers)
ROM Read Only Memory (it cannot be altered; is read only)
RTF Rich Text Format

S
SCSI Small Computer Systems Interface
SIG Special Interest Group
SLIP Serial Line Internet Protocol (allows a computer to use the Internet protocols with a standard telephone line and a high-speed modem; replaced by PPP)
SMTP Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (method a computer uses to send e-mail from one computer to another)
SQL Structured Query Language (ANSI language created for retrieving information from a database)
STT Secure Transaction Technology (software that protects financial dealings and prevents fraud over the Internet)

T
TB TeraByte (1TB=1000 GB (GigaBytes)
TCE Targeted Customer Environment
TCP/IP Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (a set of protocols that control how data is transferred between computers on the Internet)
TEC Translational English Corpus
TS Technical Support

U
UNIX UNiplexed Information and Computing Service (in Computer Operating Systems)
UPI Unique Primary Index (used in marketing)
URL Universal Resource Locator (a path to World Wide Web file; it has a name and an extension)
UWB Ultra Wide Band (Wireless Networks)

V
VB Visual Basic (Microsoft programming language)
VBA Visual Basic for Applications (Microsoft)
VCR Video Cassette Recorder (in Motion Picture Engineering)
VR Virtual Reality
VRML Virtual Reality Mark-up Language

W
W3 World Wide Web
WAIS Wide Area Information Search (software that is used to index large text files in servers)
WAN Wide Area Network (a computer network that can be dispersed across a university campus or any other area)
WSDL Web Services Description Language
WWW World Wide Web (a hypermedia retrieval system for information)
WYSIWYG What You See Is What You Get (it means 'whatever you see on your computer screen you will get printed out on paper; pronounced: 'wizziwig').

by Ramswaroop Singh · 3:31 AM · No comments:

BlackBerry attacks Android security

BlackBerry's UK chief has claimed that sales of the new Z10 BlackBerry are going well, and emphasised “the inherent weaknesses” of rival operating systems.

Samsung announced a rival to BlackBerry’s ‘Balance’ programme that allows work and personal data to be viewed on one device yet secured according to different protocols. BlackBerry’s Rob Orr said that any system to secure data “was only as strong as the weakest link”, and said that “there’s an inherent weakness in any open operating system” such as Android. BlackBerry’s secure operating system is a key selling point, while Google has attempted to make a virtue of the openness of its rival Android.

It has also, however, been plagued by discoveries of malware in its app store, and claims that it is not as secure as other versions. While few users, however, have been affected, the Android Play Store has had to remove a number of apps.

Mr Orr added that small businesses in particular had been forced to compromise on device security as more consumer-friendly devices have become part of the workplace. Android phones and Apple’s iPhone and iPad have been a key part of the "bring your own device" trend that has seen BlackBerry’s corporate dominance struggle. At Mobile World Congress, Windows Phone has announced a series of new business customers in the UK, including the estate agents Foxtons.

The new BlackBerry Z10 launched first in the UK and has now been on sale for a month. Although Mr Orr said that sales were going “really well”, he did not give any precise numbers. Sources at operators said that BlackBerry was “not selling as well as Nokia was at this stage”.

Mr Orr also clarified comments made by Chief Executive Thorsten Heins last month.

Shops denied claims made by Mr Heins following the launch of the Z10 that some of the company’s new phones had sold out. In an interview following the launch of the Z10, Mr Heins hailed the success of his company’s new phones, saying that sales in the UK were “beyond expectations”. He added: “White is sold out already. The black is hard to stock up again. It’s very encouraging.” Mr Orr pointed out that the device was sold out at 55 per cent of Phones4U stores, where it is sold exclusively.

by Ramswaroop Singh · 9:36 PM · No comments:

Oscar Awards – 2013 Winners List

The 85th Annual Academy awards are proceeding largely along expected lines. The only surprise was a tie between Zero Dark Thirty and Skyfall for Sound Editing. The results will be updated. Here are the winners announced so far.
1. Best Picture: “Argo.”
2. Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis, “Lincoln.”
3. Actress: Jennifer Lawrence, “Silver Linings Playbook.”
4. Supporting Actor: Christoph Waltz, “Django Unchained.”
5. Supporting Actress: Anne Hathaway, “Les Miserables.”
6. Directing: Ang Lee, “Life of Pi.”
7. Foreign Language Film: “Amour.”
8. Adapted Screenplay: Chris Terrio, “Argo.”
9. Original Screenplay: Quentin Tarantino, “Django Unchained.”
10. Animated Feature Film: “Brave.”
11. Production Design: “Lincoln.”
12. Cinematography: “Life of Pi.”
13. Sound Mixing: “Les Miserables.”
14. Sound Editing (tie): “Skyfall,” “Zero Dark Thirty.”
15. Original Score: “Life of Pi,” Mychael Danna.
16. Original Song: “Skyfall” from “Skyfall,” Adele Adkins and Paul Epworth.
17. Costume: “Anna Karenina.”
18. Documentary Feature: “Searching for Sugar Man.”
19. Documentary (short subject): “Inocente.”
20. Film Editing: “Argo.”
21. Makeup and Hairstyling: “Les Miserables.”
22. Animated Short Film: “Paperman.”

23. Live Action Short Film: “Curfew.”
24. Visual Effects: “Life of Pi.”

by Ramswaroop Singh · 10:20 PM · No comments:

First phase of TOD pilot projects approved in Delhi

TOD ( Transit-Oriented Development )

First phase of TOD pilot projects approved in Delhi
Approval has been granted for the implementation of Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) pilot projects along four metro corridors and another pilot project near Karkardooma in Delhi. It will be implemented by the UTTIPEC (Unified Traffic and Transportation Infrastructure (Planning and Engineering) Centre) which is working to develop a vision and strategy for the creation of a mass-rapid transport system in the Capital. The UTTIPEC, which is a division of the Delhi Development Authority, will conduct at least 25 workshops in the months ahead focusing on the metro corridors b/w Chattarpur to Arjangarh and Peeragarhi to Teekri Kalan.
What is TOD and why it is being implemented?

Transit-oriented development (TOD):

It is a mixed-use residential and commercial area in such a fashion so as to maximize access by Transit and Non-motorized transportation. In a TOD residential and commercial districts are located near and around a transit station/corridor which provides high quality service, good walking area, good parking management and many other design features that facilitate transportation use and maximize overall availability.

Objective:

TOD is designed in order to maximize access to public transport. It would make public transport the first choice of travel for all sections of society.
It incorporates features that promote transit ridership.
Emphasize on building a transport system friendly to walkers, cyclists and women.

Features:

A TOD neighborhood typically has a center with a transit station or stop (train station, metro station, bus stop, etc.)
Streets have good Connectivity.
Traffic control features.
Parking Management.
Mixed-use development that includes shops, schools and other public services, and a variety of housing types and prices, within each neighborhood.
A TOD is surrounded by relatively high-density development with progressively lower-density development spreading outward from the center.
Radius of a TOD generally varies from 400 to 800 m from a transit stop, as this is considered to be an appropriate scale for pedestrians. Intense Zone: Inner zone of radius 300 meters, it will have high-density mixed use development, pedestrians and non-motorized transport.
Then there are two more concentric zones of 800 meters and 2 km with high-density street network and equitable distribution of road space.
It is generally believed that transit riders will walk up to a quarter-mile to a bus stop and a half-mile to a train station, albeit in practice a portion of transit riders will walk somewhat more.

Some of the benefits of TOD include:

Reduced household driving and thus lowered regional congestion, air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions.
Walkable communities that accommodate more healthy and active lifestyles.
Provides Housing and Mobility choices
Improves environmental performance
Results in infrastructure cost savings
Helps supports healthy life-styles
Strengthens Transit systems
Creates lasting value
Increased transit ridership and fare revenue.
Improved access to jobs and economic opportunity for low-income people and working families
Expanded mobility choices that reduce dependence on the automobile, reduce transportation costs and free up household income for other purposes

by Ramswaroop Singh · 7:55 PM · No comments:

TRAI: Inactive Mobile Connections With Rs 20 Balance Will Not Be Deactivated

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) had announced that inactive mobile numbers that have a balance of at least Rs. 20 in the account cannot be deactivated. The time period for assigning the ‘inactive' status to mobile numbers has been set at 90 days. The telecom authority has announced the new decision as a move to protecting customers.
The authority announced that consumers need not face service deactivation if they have a minimum balance of Rs. 20 in their account. It also said that the services will not be deactivated for a period of non-usage that is less than 90 days. The amended regulations also say that the telecom service providers will have to provide users with the facility of reactivation. Reactivation of mobile numbers can be done by users by paying a specified amount as fee.

TRAI: Mobiles With Rs 20 Balance Will Not Be Deactivated

TRAI: Mobiles With Rs 20 Balance Will Not Be Deactivated

Telecom Regulatory Authority of India has also fixed a grace period for reactivation of numbers. The authority said that users whose number have been deactivated due to non-usage can avail the facility of reactivating their numbers within a period of 15 days from the date of deactivation. The telecom authority feels that there is a serious lack of transparency when it comes to deactivation of mobile connection by various telecom companies.
The consumers are not intimated on a proper basis regarding the terms and conditions of deactivation of services for non-usage. The balance amount of users also gets fortified in the deactivation process and this causes inconvenience to customers and the recent amendments done by TRAI are keeping in mind the best interests of consumers.

by Ramswaroop Singh · 6:46 AM · No comments:

Twitter begins integrating advertising software

Twitter Inc said on Wednesday it is opening up its platform to third-party advertising management software, taking another step to establish its ad-based business model ahead of an initial public offering.

The ads application programming interface, or API, would allow advertisers to connect their existing ad management software to their Twitter account to automate ads on the micro-messaging platform.

Twitter said that it would begin by integrating with ad software by Adobe Systems Inc, Salesforce Inc, Hootsuite, SHIFT and TBG Global.

"With the Ads API, marketers now have more tools in their arsenal to help them deliver the right message, to the right audience, on the desktop and on mobile devices — all at scale," Twitter product manager April Underwood wrote in a blog post.
Under pressure to show growing revenues, Twitter in recent years has ramped up its ad-serving capabilities while building a sales staff to woo corporate marketers. The firm said last year it would allow marketers to target Twitter users based on a profile of their perceived interests and by location.

Twitter makes money every time a user clicks or retweets a "promoted" message paid for by an advertiser. The new API would allow great automation for advertisers, who previously had to manually write every promoted tweet.

In 2013, Twitter's ad revenues are expected to grow nearly 90 percent to $545 million, according to eMarketer which noted that Facebook Inc experienced similarly rapid growth after opening its API to advertisers in 2011.

by Ramswaroop Singh · 11:09 PM · No comments:

Facebook blocks access to NBC.com over security scare

US media company NBC Universal said late on Thursday that its NBC.com website was safe to visit following a security scare prompted by reports that it was infected with malicious software designed for banking fraud and cyberespionage.

"A problem was identified and it has been fixed," an NBC Universal spokeswoman told Reuters. She declined to elaborate on the nature of the problem.

Earlier on Thursday, several security experts had advised internet users to avoid the site altogether, saying it had been compromised by malicious software.

The Dutch computer security firm SurfRight said on its HitmanPro blog that the site of its NBC television network was tainted with viruses known as the Citadel and ZeroAccess that are used for banking fraud, cyberespionage and other computer crimes.

The NBC spokeswoman said she could not confirm whether any users had been infected. But she said that no account information about users of the site had been compromised.

Earlier in the day, Facebook blocked users from accessing the NBC.com website following reports that the site was infected with a computer virus.

Facebook users were told "This link has been reported as abusive" on Thursday when they attempted to access the NBC.com website.

NBC is controlled by Comcast, which is buying out minority owner General Electric.

by Ramswaroop Singh · 11:06 PM · No comments:

Facebook adds free calling to iPhone, iPad apps

Facebook on Friday allowed users to make free calls to friends using the social network's application tailored for iPhones or iPads.
An updated Facebook app for the popular Apple mobile devices shows when friends are online and then gives the option of ringing them up by tapping an icon on the screen.

Calls are routed over the internet using telecom service data plans or connections to Wi-Fi hotspots. Facebook introduced a version of the feature earlier this year in its messenger programme.

Upgrades in the Facebook 5.5 app included a button designed to make it easier to Like online content and post comments at the social network.

by Ramswaroop Singh · 6:50 PM · No comments:

Katrina Kaif roped in by Sony as brand ambassador for Xperia smartphone

Mobile handset maker Sony India has roped in Bollywood actress Katrina Kaif as the brand ambassador for its Xperia range of smartphones.

Sony has signed the agreement for two years initially with the Bollywood celebrity and Kaif will be seen endorsing Xperia starting March, 2013, Sony India said in a statement today.

"The appointment of Katrina comes at a time when Xperia plans to magnify its presence and this association is expected to boost the brand's visibility in India," it added.

The company also plans to invest Rs 300 crore in FY'13 for marketing its Xperia range.

"We are looking to capture more of the youth market and believe Katrina is an adept choice as she is widely admired as a youth-icon.

"Her charismatic personality epitomises Xperia's ideology of being innovative, fun and stylish and makes her fit seamlessly into the brand," Sony India Head (Marketing) Tadato Kimura said.

As Xperia becomes critically important for Sony's business in India, the company plans to triple its investment to Rs 300 crore for marketing Xperia in April 2013-March 2014, the statement said.

"In addition to having Kaif as a centrepiece in the print and electronic advertisement campaign, Sony will also launch an outdoor campaign, enhance shop-front display, organise roadshows and use cinema and digital platforms," it added.

by Ramswaroop Singh · 1:07 AM · No comments:

Tweet with the LivesOn app even after you die

If you were wondering what would happen to your social networking account once you passed away, fear not. An app called LivesOn is expected to launch in March. The tagline of the app is, “When your heart stops beating, you’ll keep tweeting.”

LivesOn uses a special algorithm that tracks the user's trends and Twitter feed. The data is then used to determine content that the user would write himself or retweet and the app then tweets or retweets the link. Anyone who signs up for the service is asked to nominate an executor who will have control of the account, just like a will.

Dave Bedwood, creative partner of Lean Mean Fighting Machine, the London-based ad agency that is developing the app told the Guardian, “It divides people on a gut level, before you even get to the philosophical and ethical arguments. It offends some, and delights others. Imagine if people started to see it as a legitimate but small way to live on. Cryogenics costs a fortune; this is free and I'd bet it will work better than a frozen head.”

Dead Social is one more app that gives users the ability to send messages after their death through social networking services such as Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn. Whatever happened to leaving an old fashioned letter? P.S. I Love you anyone?

Some may think of the service as keeping their memory alive where as others may think of it as down right creepy that they see updates and tweets from a person whose funeral they attended recently.

What do you think? Does it make sense to keep your social networking account live even after your death?

by Ramswaroop Singh · 10:57 PM · No comments:

Apple, Facebook were attacked via iPhone developer site

The hacking saga at major technology companies continues, with Apple revealing that computers of some of its engineer were infected by the same malware that was used to attack computers at Facebook and possibly Twitter.
Last week, Facebook had revealed a detailed hack-attack on its computers but assured that no user details were stolen. To know all the details of how the Facebook attack was orchestrated, view our detailed piece here.
According to Reuters, which broke the story first, the malware was distributed at least in part through a site aimed at iPhone developers, which might still be infecting visitors who haven’t disabled Java in their browser, the person close to the case said.

Ars Technica has reportedly identified this website citing sources who are investigating the case. The report on Ars says this is website is iphonedevsdk.com. Users must note that they should not visit this site as it may still contain active malware that could lead to infection.
The report goes on to say that in this case, the site, which hosts a Web forum for iPhone developers, netted the hackers access to the computers of software engineers and developers working on mobile application projects for a number of companies, including Facebook. The exploit was the source of the attack on Twitter that led to the theft of Twitter usernames and passwords, according to a source familiar with the attack, and was used to infect computers belonging to Apple engineers.
AllThingsD is also reporting that this is the site that was used in the hack attacks.
The report on AllThingsD, also has an update from Ian Sefferman, who is owner and operator of the site iPhoneDevSDK. He said, “We’re investigating Facebook’s reports that iPhoneDevSDK was hosting an exploit targeted at Facebook employees. We’re actively ensuring that is not the case Facebook originally noted that they immediately reached out to other affected companies, but we were never contacted by Facebook, any other company, or law enforcement.”
Apple had a statement said that “Apple has identified malware which infected a limited number of Mac systems through a vulnerability in the Java plug-in for browsers. The malware was employed in an attack against Apple and other companies, and was spread through a website for software developers. ”
Apple said that there was no evidence that data left Apple.
Once again the weak link in these hacking attacks seems to be the Java installed in web-browsers. One of the steps that you can take to avoid such malware is to disable Java on your web-browsers completely. Oracle has released an update patch on Java on Tuesday and Apple has also released a similar patch.
In the meantime, its best to take precautions and do a full malware sweep of your computer.

by Ramswaroop Singh · 10:49 PM · No comments:

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BlackBerry's UK chief has claimed that sales of the new Z10 BlackBerry are going well, and emphasised “the inherent weaknesses” of rival operating systems.

TOD ( Transit-Oriented Development )