Reliance Jio gets 10,000 mobile numbers to test 4G services

 Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Jio Infocomm has been assigned the 10,000 mobile numbers it needs to test its 4G services on a non-chargeable basis, a person familiar with development said. 

The Reliance Industries' unit has been given 4,000 numbers in Delhi and Mumbai each and 2,000 in Jamnagar. Telecommunication Engineering Centre (TEC), the technical arm of the department of telecommunications (DoT), has been excluded from the trial records, the person, who did not wish to be named, said. 

IBM Q1 net income slips, results miss expectations

IBM's first-quarter net income and revenue declined due to delays in closing several of the technology company's large software and mainframe computer deals. The results fell short of Wall Street's expectations, sending IBM's stock lower in after-hours trading. 

IBM is seen as a good gauge of technology demand because it sells to major companies and governments around the world. That said, it's not immune to economic uncertainty and currency fluctuations, which were evident in the quarterly results. 

What Wipro outlook means for IT industry

Wipro's weaker-than-expected quarterly sales forecast highlighted a gap in performance among India's four biggest IT exporters and a still shaky recovery in client demand. 

Wipro, India's third-largest software services provider, joined No. 2 player Infosys in delivering tepid revenue guidance, citing a delay in the closure of deals. The forecasts contrast with a more bullish outlook issued by industry leader Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) that had raised expectations IT spending by clients in the United States and Europe was improving. 

"If Wipro had been able to make a recovery, then it would have told you that there is a rising demand tide that is lifting 

How mobile game is helping illiterates in Pakistan

Pioneering the use of entertainment to reach illiterate and poorly-educated people, a funny telephone game has become viral in Pakistan as automated voice services enable the Pakistan people to learn about jobs and telephone-based services, a recent study has revealed. 

The game named as Polly gives humorous sound effects to the caller's voice and has spread fast because of its entertainment value. The callerscan send these funny messages recorded on the telephone to their friends, who can in turn forward it or reply to it. 

Microsoft most attractive employer in India, Survey

IT and software major Microsoft has emerged as India's most attractive employer for the third straight year in 2013, according to a survey by HR service firm Randstad. 

The company was followed by Hewlett Packard and Google in the second and third positions, respectively. 

Others in the top 10 most attractive employer list included -- IBM (4th), ONGC (5th), Sony (6th), Larsen & Toubro (7th), Steel Authority of India (8th), SBI (9th) and Tata Consultancy Services (10th). 

Microsoft‘s strategy to ward off PC blues

Microsoft's strategy of selling more long-term software licenses to big business customers is helping to cushion the blow from plummeting PC demand and a faltering start for its Windows 8 system. 

Personal computer sales fell 14% in the first three months of the year, just as Microsoft tries to ramp up sales of the latest iteration of Windows. But the company's ability to keep hold of big customers rescued its third-quarter results, which came in better than expected.

"Microsoft has successfully transitioned into an enterprise software company and these results show that, because the strength of server and tools and the actual way they sell licenses to business is making up for the missing PC sales," said Kim Caughey Forrest, an analyst at Fort Pitt Capital.

Sibal, Govt not trying to regulate social media

IT and telecommunications minister Kapil Sibal on Thursday reiterated that the government doesn't want to control social media but stressed the need for some regulations.

Sibal, who has been labelled in some sections of media as an enemy of social media, said social media is the most powerful tool but can also be very dangerous.

"It is not about control but how to have some regulations. We don't want to control the social media," said Sibal on the sidelines of the launch of e-newspaper of India.

World s first smartphone for the blind, made in India

The world's first smartphone for blind people is here. Soon, they will be able to read SMSes and emails on this phone, which converts all text into Braille patterns. 

"We have created the world's first Braille smartphone," says its innovator, Sumit Dagar, whose company is being incubated at the Centre for Innovation Incubation and Entrepreneurship, located in IIM Ahmedabad campus. "This product is based on an innovative 'touch screen' which is capable of elevating and depressing the contents it receives to transform them into 'touchable' patterns," he says. 

Google share price to touch dollar 900, Analysts

Google's share price should resume its upward march to about $900 from less than $800 now, analysts said on Friday, after the search giant's strong quarterly profit reinforced its status as a technology sector favorite. 

At least five analysts increased their 12-month price target on the stock, by between $50 and $130 to $820-$925. Three others, who already had targets above $935, trimmed theirs. 

Yahoo launches new email app for smartphones

Yahoo is taking the next step in its effort to make some of its most popular services more appealing and accessible to the growing audience connecting to the internet on smartphones and tablet computers. 

The mobile push being orchestrated by CEO Marissa Mayer has hatched Yahoo's first email application for Apple's iPad and other tablet computers running on Google's Android software. 

Yahoo also has created a new weather app for Apple's iPhone that will provide current temperatures and forecasts on top of slideshows featuring pictures of landmarks and other scenery in the cities chosen by a user. 

Blackstone not to acquire Dell, Sources

LP has ended its pursuit of Dell, three people familiar with the matter said, easing the way for founder Michael Dell and hisprivate equity partner Silver Lake to go ahead with a $24.4 billion deal to acquire the world's No. 3 PC maker. 

New York-based Blackstone pulled out just a month after it first launched a challenge to the billionaire's attempt to take private the PC maker he founded. 

Social media driving up business for travel companies

Social media services are not only bringing pictures of exotic locales into homes, but also driving up business for travel companies, as the wired generation increasingly turns to online tweets and posts to firm up travel plans. 

For the world's largest tour operator TUI, leads through social media for its India arm have risen from nil about two years ago to about 20% now, its country managing director Arjun Sharma said. 

For mid-sized travel firm Pearl Luxe, about a quarter of the bookings come through social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Google+. Pearl Luxe's promoter Taruna Seth has ramped up presence on these platforms after some pictures she had posted online of her trip to Chamonix in France ended up getting her over a dozen queries. 

World of SwiftKey statistics reveal odd trends galore

This week the folks at SwiftKey have revealed their newest worldwide trends chat, this time calling it “World of SwiftKey”. This chart shows a collection of top notches in the countries that’ve beaten the rest for one reason or another inside the Android keyboard app – the most popular downloaded 3rd party keyboard app in the world, mind you. It all begins with the USA holding the record for Most SwiftKey Users – we won!

Facebook announces new SDK for iOS with Open Graph and improved login

Facebook‘s looking to ramp up its mobile efforts on iOS by unveiling a new SDK for iOS app developers at today’s Mobile DevCon. The new SDK is aimed to make it easier for app developers to create better social applications that integrate with Facebook. The new SDK comes with Open Graph support, as well as improved login functionality.

Developers have been able to use Facebook’s Open Graph for mobile app development in the past, but the creation of an Object API simplifies the process of taking advantage of Open Graph, and it removes the tedious need to host a website with specific Open Graph tagging. This should certainly take some weight off the shoulders of app developers.

If you’re not familiar with Facebook’s new Open Graph, it essentially lets developers integrate their own applications deeply into the Facebook experience. This in turn, is said to increase engagement with various things that users post on their walls and such. Basically, it makes it easy for third-party apps to integrate with Facebook.

Google rivals unhappy with EU play safe act

What's the best way to deal with a complex legal case that threatens to drag on for years while leaving a dominant player unchecked in an economically important market? 

For EU antitrust chief Joaquin Almunia, the answer in the case of Google was clear. Not the long and winding road of formal charges and a potential fine for the world's most popular search engine, but the quicker route of a settlement. 

Silicon Valley entrepreneur launches messaging app just.me

The crowded, fragmented mobile messaging app market, one of the hottest sectors in Silicon Valley, just got more crowded. 

Keith Teare, a veteran Valley entrepreneur, launched just.me, a service that claims to combine email, multimedia messaging and cloud storage in a single iPhone app. 

The startup, backed by Google's venture arm and True Ventures, is the latest entrant among a wave of applications, including Whatsapp, Kik, and Tencent Holdings Ltd's Wechat, that is viewed by industry insiders as having the potential to undermine Facebook Inc's position in the social Internet arena and rise to become the next dominant Internet company. 

Facebook COO, Gender equality won t happen unless men speak up

Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg has pointed out that gender equality cannot be achieved unless men equally participate in the discussion.

Sandberg, in her new bestseller "Lean In," Sandberg argues gender parity is impossible without them. 

She pointed out in her book that 'we have to let men talk about this because we need men to talk about this if it is ever going to change.' 

Plastic iPhone shell appears in leaked photo

This morning a single photo of what very much appears to be the fabled low-cost plastic iPhone. This device has been said to be appearing later this year in a collection of colors for a price that will allow Apple to not only sustain iPhone sales on the whole, but to expand to markets previously unavailable to them due to the cost of producing the standard iPhone. This case may well also be just that – a case.

What you’re seeing here is the back of what’s very much intended to look like an Apple product, at least. If you have a peek at the camera lens hold and flash bulb hole, you’ll see that there’s also a microphone hole in-between. You’ll see a printed-on ink Apple logo as well as the standard “iPhone” lettered-logo in their regular places, while the left-hand side of the device appears to have slightly updated places for buttons.

What is powering TCS, HCL Tech s growth vs Infosys

The results for the March quarter makes one thing clear: the gap between the likes of TCS and HCL Technologies and industry veteran Infosys is widening as far as financial performance is concerned.

And this is likely to continue in the next few quarters as well, as the Bangalore-based company struggles to grow revenue without further diluting profitability. Both TCS and HCL Technologies have reported robust volume growth in the March 2013 quarter and the managements of both the companies also sounded confident about future growth.

Twitter unveils tool for marketeers

Twitter unveiled a new tool that allows marketers to disseminate targeted messages based on the content of users' tweets, a technology that could help elevate Twitter's effectiveness as an advertiser to a rarefied level demonstrated only by digital advertising leaders like Google.

Twitter's advertising business is relatively modest and is likely to generate 2013 global revenue of under $600 million, according to the consultancy eMarketer.

See, how texting has become easier

Texting just got a lot easier! Researchers claim to have developed a new keyboard for touchscreens that allows superfast thumb-typing, enabling you to type 34 per cent faster than on a QWERTY layout. 

The research team used computational optimisation techniques in conjunction with a model of thumb movement to search among millions of potential layouts before identifying one that yields superior performance. 

Google Play updated for Tablet sized screenshots

Those of you working with a tablet in the Android universe know that it’s been a long, hard road from the first Samsung Galaxy Tab. Here in 2013 we’re finally about to see tablet-sized thumbnails for apps for the first time – before now, it was all teeny tiny smartphone-sized business. Just as soon as developer jump onboard and start delivering the shots, we’ll be seeing the good stuff!

Today’s update to the Android Developers blog has interest being shown in both 7 and 10-inch tablets for the Google Play app store. While the tablet interface for looking at apps in Google Play has been up and running for some time, this particular update will have the preview screenshots for apps able to be seen correctly and in full size. This updates follows a tablet app quality checklist which was published this past October.

Yahoo launches new Weather and Mail mobile apps

In an effort to build more presence in the mobile market, and continue with its redesign initiative, Yahoo has launched a couple of new apps. The company released Yahoo Weather for iPhone, and Yahoo Mail for the iPad and Android tablets. This marks the first time that Yahoo has released their own weather app, as well as their Mail app for tablets.

First off, the Weather app looks amazingly gorgeous, and it’s easy to see why: the app integrates with the company’s Flickr photo-sharing service, allowing Yahoo to pull appropriate images from your area that represent the current weather situation and time of day. Honestly, we never thought Yahoo could be capable of such beauty.

Twitter Music iPhone app hands on

Today the Twitter #music app has been launched for iPhone and the web. While you’ll be able to use this app on your iPad and iPod touch, right here at the start it’s really an iPhone-specific interface – and yes, you’ll not be seeing an Android app for some time. Right out of the box you’ll find that this app shines forth with four distinct ways for you to discover and share new music.

Twitter Charts

What you’re seeing here is Twitter-generated charts that allow you to see what’s trending – it’s not just the best of the best, but the most popular as well. You’ll be seeing charts based on what’s most popular, what’s “hottest”, what’s best for you, and more. One of the most interesting connections you’re going to see here is your suggested tracks.

Security flaw affecting 120,000 free Android apps revealed

A flaw in commonly used applications on Android smartphones such as texting, messaging or microblogging could spread private information or allow forged fraudulent messages to be posted, a recent study has revealed. 

University of California graduate student Dennis (Liang) Xu has identified security flaws in about 1,20,000 free apps in Android smartphones, which has about a half-billion users worldwide. 

HCL bullish on outsourcing market, Anant Gupta, CEO

Better-than-expected results at HCL Technologies, India's fourth-largest technology services exporter, went a long way in assuaging investors who were concerned about the health of the Indian information technology sector, especially after the poor showing of bigger peer Infosys earlier this week. 

The growth in revenues was driven by the strong performance of the infrastructure management services vertical, as well new business in Europe. But as in the previous quarter, the Noida-based company's headcount shrunk slightly. In an interview, CEO Anant Gupta told ET that HCL continues to be bullish on the outsourcing market and the company's deal pipeline is 40% higher than a year ago. Excerpts: 

Online hiring rises 7percent over last year, Monster

Online hiring activity registered a 7 per cent rise in March from a year-ago period, signalling the ongoing confidence by Indian businesses in the economy, according to a research from job portal Monster.com.

However on a month-to-month basis, the index remained unchanged in March after witnessing two consecutive months of decline in January and February this year.

Google, HP, Microsoft seek stricter visa rules for TCS, Infosys

A chasm of mistrust separates American and Indian technology companies as the US attempts immigration reform which could have far-reaching effects on the software industry. 

Executives at Indian software outsourcing firms are dismayed that US-based companies are using their clout back home to push for visa rules which will make it harder and costlier for firms such as Infosys, TCS or Wipro to send professionals to work on US assignments. 

Intel meets analysts expectations in Q1

 Intel, the world's largest maker of chips for PCs, is remaining steadfast amid a drastic slowdown in computer sales. 

Intel said it's keeping its sales and margin forecasts for this year, even as first-quarter PC sales plunged 14 per cent from a year ago, as measured by research firm IDC. The company is helped by rising shipments of chips for servers. 

Consumers are shifting their consumer electronics dollars away from PCs and toward smartphones and tablets, few of which use Intel chips. The company is scrambling to get a foothold in these devices, but has had little traction so far. 

Toshiba Announce iOS App for FlashAir TM, the SDHC Memory Card with Embedded Wireless LAN Communications

Toshiba Corporation (TOKYO:6502) today announced the availability of an app that simplifies and enhances wireless data transfers between an iPhone, iPad or iPod touch ('iOS devices') and 'FlashAir', the SDHC memory card with embedded wireless LAN functionality. On opening the app, it displays a list of photo files and folders stored on the card, and they can be downloaded selectively or as a batch. The app, 'FlashAir', is now available free of charge for iOS Devices through Apple's App Store.

About 'FlashAir''FlashAir' is an SDHC Memory Card that incorporates a wireless LAN chip set plus antenna for wireless communications. The Card supports wireless sharing and transfers of photos from digital cameras to smartphones and tablets.An app for Android Devices is also available through Google Play™.

*Follow this link for more on 'FlashAir':http://www.toshiba.co.jp/p-media/wwsite/flashair.htm 

Infosys CEO SD Shibulal s letter to employees

In his customary email to 1.5 lakh employees of Infosys CEO and managing director SD Shibulal, reiterated that the company is on the right track and making all efforts to be a "game changer". 

"We are making all the investments necessary to differentiate ourselves in the market place while positioning ourselves as a partner of choice for our clients. I am positive that we are on the right path and that your hard work and commitment will reap rich dividends in the coming year. Some of it has already borne fruit which has reaffirmed our belief in the new direction that we have set out on," he wrote in his email on Wednesday. 

HCL sees overall headcount dip slightly

HCL Technologies, which reported a healthy revenue growth of 3.2 per cent on US dollar terms sequentially for the third quarter, saw a dip of 791 employees in overall headcount, taking the total number of employees to 84,403.

The software services division saw a reduction of 1,638 employees while infrastructure services division reported a net addition of 638.

The fourth-largest information technology services firm in the country has constantly been talking about muted hiring, as the net addition in the previous quarter also stood a negative 395.

How technology is helping tribals to save endangered languages

In a windowless conference room in a Las Vegas casino, about three dozen people are swishing their fingers across iPads, trying out test versions of new apps and screening for glitches.

But these are no Silicon Valley techies in town for one of the city's massive electronics shows. Many are from far-flung American Indian reservations, and their high-tech devices are serving a decidedly old-school purpose: trying to save their languages from the brink of extinction.

TCS expects strong deal pipeline in FY14, CEO

Tata Consultancy Services, India's top software services provider, expects its deal pipeline to be strong and fiscal year 2014 to be better than 2013, the company's chief executive officer N Chandrasekaran said. 

TCS, which plans to add 45,000 staff in the fiscal year 2014, reported a 22 percent rise in quarterly profit after winning orders from customers, including Nokia and BNP Paribas, earlier on Wednesday. 

Over 50 per cent mobile apps to be hybrid by 2016, Gartner

Hybrid apps, which offer a balance between HTML5-based web apps and native apps, will be used in more than 50 per cent of mobile apps by 2016, according to research firm Gartner. 

While native application development offers the ultimate user experience and performance for mobile applications, the trade-off is often a fragmented set of development tools and multiple versions of an application to serve the same user need - because different versions must be made for each type of device or operating system, Gartner said. 

Gmail, Google Docs, others hit by partial outage

Google reported disruptions on several of its services including Google Mail, for reasons that were not immediately known. 

The apps status dashboard of the world's most popular search engine indicated "service disruptions" for Google Mail, Google Drive, Google Documents, Google Spreadsheets and Google Presentations. 

It also reported a total "service outage" for its "admin control panel / API" used by administrators of Google Apps domains. 

8 Delectable Cupcake Recipes

Who doesn't love a good cupcake? From classic to creative varieties, these treats will be the hit of any party.

Vanilla Buttermilk CupcakesVanilla Buttermilk Cupcakes
The same basic ingredients that make the cupcake recipe simple also ensure that it is over-the-top delicious. Dress this cupcake recipe up or down for showers, parties, or friendly neighborhood gatherings.

CouponSpy, The Revolution of Online Shopping

The Bangalore based startup CouponSpy (www.couponspy.in) have launched their new coupon and deal website, and offer thousands of coupons and deals to over 500 Indian online stores with never before seen user-orientated functionally that is a first for the industry.

Unlike other coupon websites in India, CouponSpy does not simply list coupons for the over 500 online stores they collaborate with but also provides deals that the online stores make available, which many coupon website’s simply ignore. These deals can be in the form of ‘Receive Rs. 9999 discount’ from Goibibo, ‘Up to 80% off’ when making purchases from Deals and You or ‘receive a free gift’ when buying from FirstCry. All that consumer’s need to know is that combining deals and coupons present on CouponSpy will result in massive savings, all 100% free and with no registration requirements.

Toshiba Launches Vector Engine Embedded Low pin Count, Wide Pin pitch Microcontrollers

Toshiba Corporation (TOKYO:6502) announced that it will launch a vector engine embedded microcontroller with a low-pin count and wide pin pitch, which makes lower mounting costs possible, as the latest addition to the ARM Cortex™-M3 (Note1) core-based TX03 series line-up. Mass production of the new product 'TMPM372' will start in May 2013.

Toshiba has been developing the M370-group products with its vector engine for motor control and it is now in wide use in applications ranging from consumer products such as white goods to factory automation. As these products fall in price, the cost emphasis will extend beyond the main devices, such as microcontrollers, to include PCBs and related costs, including mounting costs. Flexibly meeting these requirements requires a variety of packages.

Semiconductor consumption to touch dollar 9.6 billion in 2013, Gartner

India's semiconductor consumption reached $8 billion in 2012, a 7.4 per cent increase from the previous calendar year, and is projected to reach $9.6 billion this year, according to Gartner.

This was in contrast to the global trend as worldwide semi-conductor revenue declined 2.6 per cent to reach $299.9 billion in 2012, the technology researcher said.

A smartphone app to track weight loss

Researchers have developed a smartphone app as the sole method for monitoring weight loss.

The My Meal Mate app allows users to monitor their food intake and exercise, set a weight losstarget and sends a weekly update on progress via text message.

The smartphone app was used on average every other day in the trial, whilst the average use of the website and paper diary was about once a week.

Microsoft cuts prices as war with Amazon heats up

Microsoft is cutting prices for hosting and processing customers' online data in an aggressive challenge to Amazon's lead in the growing business of cloud computing.

The world's biggest software company said it will match Amazon's prices for some of the more common online data services it provides, which would mean cutting prices by 21 to 33 percent.

EVault Launches Industry Pioneering Cloud Disaster Recovery Service in EMEA

EVault, Inc., a Seagate Company (NASDAQ:STX), today announced its market-leading EVault® Cloud Disaster Recovery Service with a guaranteed* Service Level Agreement (SLA) is now available from EVault and its partners in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA). The Cloud Disaster Recovery Service, powered by EVault, is a managed service that helps businesses quickly recover their critical systems after a disaster and gain remote access to them in a secure, purpose-built cloud. From full site outages caused by natural disasters to disruptions resulting from system failures, human error – and even planned maintenance — this Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS) offering is guaranteed to get organizations back in business fast, no matter what. With 4-, 24- and 48-hour guaranteed recovery options available, the service is particularly beneficial for businesses in heavily regulated industries, such as health care, financial and legal services, that cannot tolerate extended outages of critical systems. Offered in North America for several years, EVault Cloud Disaster Recovery Service has become an industry standard.

Infosys, Queen s University join hands to fight cybersecurity

Indian software major Infosys and Queen's University, Belfast have joined hands to combat the global cybersecurity threat. The collaboration brings together Infosys with Queen's University Belfast's Centre for Secure Information Technologies (CSIT), one of UK's largest university cyber security research labs, and Invest Northern Ireland, the Northern Ireland government's regional business development agency.

Meet the people who can protect your email account

Passwords, for the longest time, have been the first wave of defence for an account on the internet. But with so many web services being used, it's simply not possible to keep a new password for each account, and users tend to reuse the password. This poses security issues.

"Remote hackers can use many permutations and combinations and guess your password. They can use brute force and break into your account. But with people reusing passwords, even their other services can be compromised," says Mark Risher, CEO of Impermium.

How to remote log out from Gmail, Facebook

If you headed home from office, without logging out of Facebook or Gmail, you can do so from anywhere using the 'remote log out' feature.


In Facebook, click on the tiny gear sign on the top right of the page, go to 'account settings' and then to 'security' on the left pane. Under 'security settings', click on 'active sessions'.

No one else might be using your account, but you would not have logged out of Facebook, leaving the session active. Anyone can gain access to your account in such circumstances. To remote log out, click on 'end activity'.

iPhone 5S launch near, Foxconn ramps up hiring

Taiwanese technology giant Foxconn has been increasing its assembly-line workforce in central China in preparation for the manufacture of a new iPhone, the company and media said Tuesday.

Foxconn has been hiring workers in its Zhengzhou plant and will continue to do so to "meet operational demands", spokesman Simon Hsing said, without elaborating.

Nokia working on Lumia phone with 41MP camera, Report

Nokia, the mobile giant struggling to catch up with rivals, may have an ace up its sleeve. The company set the benchmark for smartphone cameras with its 808 PureView smartphone last year, which came with a 41MP camera and ran on Symbian operating system.

However, the company soon began focussing its energies on Windows Phone-powered Lumia series and Symbian was retired. Now, word on the street is that the company is working on a Lumia phone that will have a 41MP camera sensor.

Previously, there had been some speculation about an upcoming Lumia phone with 41MP camera, codenamed EOS, but the rumour mill went silent after Mobile World Congress in February. Now, MyNokiaBlog has said that a source with access to the company's plans has said Nokia is currently testing EOS on quad-core as well as dual-core chipsets.

Google chairman, Everyone will be online by 2020

Google executive chairman Eric Schmidt has predicted that everybody in the world will be on the internet within seven years.

Schmidt wrote on his Google+ account that 'for every person online, there are two who are not.'

"By the end of the decade, everyone on Earth will be connected," he added.

Govt redefines security sensitive telecom equipment

The government has redefined "security sensitive" telecom products in the run-up to implementing 100% domestic sourcing of such telecom gear.

In a bizarre round of policy-making , the department of electronics & IT (DeitY) says, "Electronic products with security implications are those which are necessary for protecting human, animal or plant life and health, apart from protecting the country's security interests," in an internal note, a copy of which was reviewed by ET.