Cool stuff and Why Not

India’s biggest private broadband and telephone service provider, Airtel Telemedia Services has made announcement about the launching of its all-in-one internet portal “airtellive.com” for its customers.

In a declaration, the company said that the portal “airtellive.com” would be the initial portal launched by an Indian telecommunication company

Atul Bindal, Airtel Telemedia Services President stated, “airtellive.com is a milestone in Airtels broadband strategy and it builds upon the current broadband ecosystem infrastructure to establish an internet destination for web applications.”

The customers will get free access to the company’s renowned Google Applications messaging and collaboration suite through airtellive.com. Some of the services include Google Docs for documents, Gmail email services, spreadsheets and presentations, Google Calendar, and the Start Page feature for creating a customizable home page.

The broadband of Google and Airtel will jointly co-brand and power the services offered.

In order to offer up exclusive deals and discounts on the portal, Airtel has also signed up a partnership deal with popular content leaders such as shaadi.com, 24×7guru, naukri.com and many others.

The partnership would also provide customers easy access to Google’s simple and influential web applications over Airtel’s speedy, safe and dependable broadband network.

”airtellive.com builds upon the current broadband ecosystem infrastructure to establish an Internet destination for web applications. It will drive towards the adoption of broadband in the country,” Mr. Bindal added.

Bharti Airtel Limited, a group company of Bharti Enterprises, is India’s leading integrated telecom services provider having around 61.91 million customers as of end of February 2008, consisting of 59.67 million mobile customers.

India s prominence in the mobile phone sector was reconfirmed after a report by the country s telecom regulatory body suggested that its mobile subscriber base would surpass than that of the US by April 2008.

According to a Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) report, the wireless segment had seen an addition of 8.53 million subscribers in the month of February 2008 as against 8.77 million subscribers in January 2008. India s total wireless subscribers (GSM, CDMA and WLL) base stood at 250.93 million at the end of February 2008, the report stated.

Airtel added maximum new users in the month of February 2008. It enrolled 2.26 million users followed by Reliance Communications (1.6 million) and Vodafone Essar (1.4 million) in Feb 2008.

Compared to the US and China, India’s monthly wireless subscriber addition of 8.5 million users is the highest. Given the phenomenal growth in the wireless segment, TRAI has predicted that India would have the second largest wireless subscriber base after China in the first half of April 2008. TRAI also expects India s total subscriber base to cross the 300 million mark in April. According to CTIA (an Association of Wireless operators in US), the subscriber base of USA is 256 million at present.

However, despite the phenomenal growth in numbers, the telephone density in India hovers around the 25% mark. This means that only one out of every four Indians has a telephone connection.

Nokia has launched its premium Nokia 8800 Sapphire Arte handset in India. The handset, inspired from nature, makes a unique statement with its single Sapphire as the center-key. The elegantly designed handset adds 3G capabilities to the Nokia 8800 series along with a 3.2 MP auto focus camera and a stunning OLED display.

Devinder Kishore, Director Marketing, Nokia India, said, “As part of its premium range, Nokia brings yet another iconic mobile phone. Nokia 8800 Sapphire Arte sets the benchmark for quality and craftsmanship. The high-end materials and seamless surfaces celebrate the art of individuality, inspired by natural light with minimalistic design.”

The company said the Nokia 8800 Sapphire Arte combines an elegant appearance with uncompromised functionality. The handset has a high-end metal and glass composition. A smooth slide mechanism, comprised of ball bearings and a spring mechanism, ensures that the handset is a pleasure to use.

The Nokia 8800 Sapphire Arte offers a sense of exclusivity by enhancing its polished steel case with a genuine sapphire gem stone and an accent of soft brown napa leather, which creates a rich, sensual feel.

The handset comes with unique tap-for-time and turn-to-mute features, while living wallpapers move organically throughout the day. By double-tapping the steel surface below the display, an analog clock appears to indicate the time. Incoming calls can be silenced on the phone by simply turning over the phone, screen-side down.

Nokia has created a unique and exclusive soundtrack for the new device composed by master producers Kruder & Dorfmeister with visuals by Fritz Fitzke, adding an extra touch of sophistication and individuality.

Nokia’s new anti-fingerprint coating reduces smudges on metal and glass and unsightly outer seams are hidden with an all-in-one microUSB connector.

Key features of the Nokia Sapphire Arte:
- 2″ QVGA, 240 x 320 pixel OLED display with up to 16 million colors
- 3.2 MP auto focus camera with 8x digital zoom
- 1 GB built in memory space
- Anti-fingerprint coating on metal and glass
- Ambient light sensor to adjust screen brightness automatically

The blackberry users in India can leave a sigh of relief at least for the moment. The Indian government, which contemplated banning the blackberry devices in India for security concerns has now said that it will not be doing so. At least for the moment. The blackberry in question was that of RIM’s recently introduced phones in India.

The controversy over the security aspect of the blackberry rose when Tata Teleservices was denied permission by the home affairs ministry to launch services owing to security concerns even while other operators were offering the service. DoT, however, said out it had already informed all operators to stop Blackberry services by the end of December because of  objections by home ministry. However, responding to requests, operators were given a three-month extension, which ends in March.

The major concern for security agencies in India seems to be the fact that emails made from Blackberry can neither be traced nor be recorded. But the telecom ministry has assured that there is simply no question of banning the blackberries. In fact, the telecom ministry even said that it is keen to see the blackberries continue their services in India.

Said a senior DoT official, “Most push-mail services provided by telecom operators in the country host their servers outside the country and the department would revisit the norms under which these operators are providing their services.”

But the telecom ministry is not ignoring the issues of national security either. The ministry has already communicated its concerns to the officials of RIM and will meet representatives of the four mobile phone service providers who offer BlackBerry in India. Almost all telecom players in the country offer push-mail services – including Reliance Communications (News - Alert), BPL Mobile and Vodafone (News - Alert)-Essar – which are like the Blackberry services but with different brands. The blackberry services have about 400,000 thousand users in India.

Playing poker was a regular escape for Yahoo! CEO Jerry Yang, before family life intervened.

Now he’s playing for survival in a much higher-stakes version of the game, in the wake of Microsoft Corp.’s unsolicited $44.6 billion takeover bid for his beloved Sunnyvale, Calif., Web portal.

More than a month after the proposal, Yang is trying to bolster his hand by finding an alternative to merging with the Redmond, Wash., technology titan. But he may also be bluffing to get Microsoft to sweeten the pot or fold.

Yang’s abilities as a dealmaker could weigh heavily in determining Yahoo!’s fate. Either decision — to stay independent or join forces with another company — will require intense bargaining.

People who have seen Yang, 39, at the negotiating table say he’s passionate, a master of details and someone who has built personal relationships across the technology industry that help him close a deal. Although affable and self-deprecating in public, he’s tenacious, competitive and unafraid to challenge managers he disagrees with, those who have seen him in action say.

“He really has an excellent memory for important points,” said Jim Brock, a former Yahoo! senior vice president who helped Yang forge broadband Internet partnerships with AT&T, and who now leads Attributor, a Redwood City, Calif., startup. “He always wanted to get the best deal for the company.”

Yahoo!’s board unanimously rejected Microsoft’s marriage proposal, saying that it substantially undervalued their company. Unbowed, Microsoft vowed to press ahead and nominate a slate of more merger-friendly Yahoo! board members.

Last week, Yang tried to buy himself some time. Reaching into its bag of tricks, Yahoo! extended a March 14 deadline for nominating board members in hopes of delaying Microsoft’s proposal of the new slate of directors.

It’s just the latest maneuver from Yang. A former Yahoo! manager, who spoke only on the condition of anonymity, said Yang, despite his harmless image, was more than willing to muscle in on competitors or turn the tables on an incumbent.

“He was very calculating about when to flex and when to give,” he said of Yang’s negotiating strategy. “At times, he was pretty pragmatic about folding on particular points for the greater good, and at other times was willing to face off on a major point — or to threaten that Yahoo! would walk away.”

Yang declined an interview through a Yahoo! spokeswoman. So far, he has held no formal talks with Microsoft.

Yang’s rise is a classic Silicon Valley success story. He emigrated from Taiwan as a 10-year-old, unable to speak English, and went on to become an academic superstar who earned electrical-engineering degrees from Stanford University.

While seeking a Ph.D., Yang and his partner, David Filo, started an online directory, Jerry’s Guide to the World Wide Web, which they ran as a hobby from a university trailer. They eventually renamed the Web site Yahoo!, for Yet Another Hierarchical Officious Oracle, and put their studies on hold to turn their hobby into a business.

Except for a few weeks at the helm early on, Yang let others run the company’s day-to-day operations. However, he remained highly involved, particularly with Yahoo!’s operations in Asia and issues involving employee culture.

That changed last year when Yang became chief executive as his company’s finances slumped. He was warmly greeted by veteran staff members, who saw him as a tech-savvy savior, in contrast to predecessor Terry Semel, a former Hollywood studio boss who had limited Internet experience before coming on board.

Many industry insiders said they expected Yang to start a major overhaul after he promised a review that would leave no sacred cows. Instead, there were few tangible changes to Yahoo! other than the jettisoning of some minor products. Many blame that lack of change for making Yahoo! vulnerable to a takeover.

“Choosing him as CEO was one of the worst things Yahoo! could do,” said Jeffrey Lindsay, an analyst with Sanford Bernstein & Co. “Given that he is one of the owner-founders, he was very reluctant to make far-reaching strategic moves that would be particularly painful, like downsizing and doing deals with other Internet players.”

In the wake of the Microsoft merger offer, Yahoo!’s board is evaluating its options, with Goldman Sachs, Lehman Brothers and Moelis & Co. serving as advisers. Talks about various partnerships with Google Inc., Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. and Time Warner Inc.’s AOL division have so far yielded no deals.

Force India owner Vijay Mallya hailed Giancarlo Fisichella on Friday after the Italian driver broke into the top 10 in practice for Sunday’s season-opening Australian Grand Prix.

“We said that Force India would make steady progress and I think we demonstrated it today,” the Indian billionaire, who bought the Spyker team last October and renamed it, said.

“A lot of work has gone in during the winter and the tests that we did over the winter period have taught us a lot,” he added.

Fisichella, 35, lapped ninth fastest in the afternoon session at Albert Park after ending the morning with the 12th best time. German team mate Adrian Sutil was 17th.

“Giancarlo Fisichella has been a tremendous addition to the team, his feedback has certainly helped the engineers accelerate the development of the car and the set-up,” said Mallya of the Italian, who won with Renault in Melbourne in 2005.

“So, overall, the package is looking much, much better and it’s showing in the timings.

“How much further we can go is a matter of time…but over the course of the year I’m still confident that we will make improvement,” added the Indian. “We are going the right way and I’m delighted about it.”

Spyker scored just one point last year while predecessors Midland drew a complete blank in 2006 after buying the Silverstone-based team founded by Irish entrepreneur Eddie Jordan.

Ferrari-powered Force India recruited Fisichella, a race winner with Jordan in 2003, for his experience late last year and have been assured a far bigger budget by Mallya.

The Indian said before the start of the season that he hoped the team could reach the second phase of qualifying and Friday’s showing suggested that was no wild dream.

“I had set a target of Q2 during the mid-season of 2008. If we can get it done in the first race, nothing would make me happier,” he said.

If you ever needed a testament to the power of development in Formula One racing, consider the ban on traction control and the comments of the men who are arguably the three fastest in the business: Ferrari world champion Kimi Raikkonen, McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton, and former double champion, Renault’s Fernando Alonso.
Speaking ahead of Sunday’s Albert Park race, none of them think the ban will make much difference. It seems the more things change, the more they stay the same!
“I think there was a big difference when we tried before Christmas for the first time with last year’s car,” Raikkonen admitted in Melbourne on Thursday. “It was a lot more difficult but then with the new car we improved in the areas where it was less good and it helped a lot. Now with new tyres you do not feel the difference on the one lap whether you have traction control or not. I think when it is a difficult condition, wet or slippery, then it will be much more tricky but you don’t really notice.”
Hamilton agreed: “It was not really too much of a problem. As I said when they tried to introduce it I thought it was a good idea because all the other categories I have driven in we did not have traction control. I am not going to say if I prefer one to the other because they are both quite different to drive but this one is a challenge and everyone is in the same boat. I think they have done a really good job in working with all the controls but I am sure we will keep on improving. And development has definitely minimized the difference. So time-wise I think you will see that we will all do similar times to when we had traction control.”
“It’s made less difference than I thought, to be honest,” Alonso said. “The first time I test was in Jerez and I was expecting more problems than we had. Okay, in the long run you feel the drop in the tyres and you feel the loss of traction and the braking stability but nothing too big, similar with some times we had last year as well, so as I said not a big difficulty. But it still does change circuit to circuit and at some circuits there is nearly no difference compared to last year and at some others it is a little bit more, so I imagine that every circuit will be different and maybe Monaco and places like this will be a big difference compared to last year. But we will see.
“All the teams are working to try and get the mechanical side and the aero side to what we lost in terms of electronics, so for sure with the set-up and all the other things around the car we are trying to deal with the loss of the electronics.”
None of them says they have changed their driving style to compensate for the loss of the electronic aid, or for engine braking control for that matter.
The one place there could be a problem is at the start, which might see grids reshuffled before first corners. “I could see at the moment much more chance to lose some places now,” Raikkonen admitted, referring to getting off the line. “Before it was more or less automatic. You had a good start or not so good but it was always very close. Now it is up to you and if you make a mistake you are going to be very slow off the grid and you can gain but you can also lose. I think when it is wet conditions it is quite tricky to get a good start.”
All three of the protagonists seemed happy in their own way, as each chases a different goal in 2008. Raikkonen may be the most fulfilled of the three, as the reigning champion. Hamilton looked the most relaxed. And Alonso showed slight traces of tetchiness as he fended off questions about his relationship with Hamilton.
A year ago Raikkonen was about to start his first race for Ferrari, and to win. Twelve months down the road, he returns to Albert Park a champion, and the pre-season favourite. “For sure it is much easier to come now,” he conceded. “It is different because I know the team, know the people, so … Last year went very well for us. Now it should be easier as I know the team.”
But he isn’t playing up the favourite tag and says he isn’t bothered about the pressure. “No, but I think we have not even started the championship yet, so let’s see what happens. We will do the best job we can but for sure we expect to do well in our team. I think the two main teams seem to be a bit ahead of the others and four drivers, so anything can happen.”
Hamilton was a rookie this time last year, and comes back as the man who nearly won the title in his debut season. “I think it is better,” he said, referring to his situation as de facto McLaren team leader. “There is better preparation. Last year I and my trainer were both rookies and we did the best job we could which was good but there were areas we could improve on and we have done.
“I don’t think there is more pressure, I think there is less pressure than last year. Last year there was a huge build-up and just a lot of weight hanging on my shoulders, really, because no-one really knew if I was going to do well or what. And neither did I. It is a slightly different feeling. I think I know even more now knowing what a season feels like. I am even hungrier and I feel even more determined and just more excited about racing. It has been too long a break. It really has seemed to drag along even though the race is a little bit earlier. It just seems forever since we raced last.”
Down at Renault, Alonso admitted that some of the title-winning confidence was sapped away by last year’s disappointments. “Maybe a little bit,” he said. “Of course after winning two years in a row when I left in 2006 they were confident and they were believing in themselves a lot. Now for sure you know no good results last year, maybe a little bit lacking in confidence now but I think they know that were are able and they are able to do good things. They have nothing to prove to anybody, so it is just a matter of time and good work with everybody to put in a better place again.
“I will try to do the best job we can. For sure coming back to Renault for me is a great challenge and for them too I think because they are extra motivated this year to have the success we have had in the past and I am extra motivated as well so we all have the same goal and the same target.”
On Friday, we will finally see the first true patterns of the season start to emerge, perhaps find out how close to the stars their respective team mates are likely to get. At long last, the season will truly get underway.

Kimi Raikkonen will start his first grand prix as Formula One world champion on Sunday, determined to pick up in Australia where he left off in Brazil last season.

Ferrari’s Finn won in Melbourne from pole position last March and rounded off an amazing year with two victories to beat McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso to the title by a single point.

Few would bet against the ‘Iceman’ chalking up a third successive win for a team now under new leadership, with Stefano Domenicali taking over from Jean Todt as principal but looking as strong as ever.

The Albert Park circuit has favoured Ferrari in the past, although it promises to be trickier now that traction control and other electronic ‘driver aids’ have been banned. The champions have shown an impressive turn of speed in pre-season testing.

“It is always nice to get off to a good start,” Raikkonen said on his Web site (www.kimiraikkonen.com).

“I know it happened last year but we sort of lost our way after that. It would be nice to be leading the championship with the other drivers playing catch up.”

The Finn, who won six races last year, said the 2008 car was strong, fast, competitive and reliable and expected Ferrari to be fighting for victory in every race and for both championships.

“Personally, I feel there is a big difference to start this season compared to last year,” he added.

“I know the team and how they work. There will be no surprises. I’ve built up a good relationship with my engineers and we understand each other and they also know how I like to have my car set up.”

Apart from his Brazilian team mate Felipe Massa, Raikkonen’s main rival will again be McLaren’s Hamilton.

The 23-year-old Briton was sensational in Melbourne last year, leading for four laps and taking third place on his debut after overtaking double world champion Alonso into the first corner. “My motivation is even higher than last year but in a slightly different way,” he told British reporters before flying out to Melbourne.

“I would say last year was an uncontrollable determination and excitement and just not really knowing what was coming up, just going into the deep blue. Now I know what to expect.”

Fernando Alonso has returned to the French team that took him to his two titles but is playing down his immediate chances of winning anything with a team that had just one top three finish in 2007.

“I know that a win or a podium in Australia will be difficult but you never know what can happen during the race,” the Spaniard said in a team preview.

“If an opportunity presents itself, I am ready to seize it.”

Lewis Hamilton has one aim this season: to beat Kimi Raikkonen and become Formula One’s youngest champion.

The 23-year-old McLaren driver has swallowed the disappointment of losing out by a single point last year after Ferrari’s Finn roared back from 17 points down with two races remaining.

Hamilton, who won four races in an astonishing debut season that started with nine straight podium finishes and could so easily have ended with him becoming the first rookie champion, is eager for the rematch.

“I am more determined to beat him this year,” the sport’s first black driver told reporters in January.

“I just feel more determined this year. I know what I want,” added Hamilton, who has secured a lucrative new deal with McLaren and relocated to Switzerland since becoming a household name in Britain.

“I knew what I wanted last year but it was sort of having that desire but not really knowing how to fill the shoes 100 percent.”

“I honestly believe I can do a better job the second time.”

The Australian Grand Prix on March 16 will be the opening skirmish on a battleground stretching around the world and including new street circuits in Singapore and Valencia, with the Asian state hosting the first night race in September.

RAIKKONEN FAVOURITE

As champion, Raikkonen must be considered the favourite and few would bet against the 28-year-old putting down a marker by winning in Melbourne for the second year running.

Heir to Michael Schumacher at Ferrari, the Finn has settled in now and is utterly unflappable under pressure — something that cannot yet be said of Hamilton, who must also handle soaring expectations at home.

“Kimi is the driver to beat this year,” said double champion Fernando Alonso, Hamilton’s team mate at McLaren last year before leaving to return to Renault.

“Lewis, (Finland’s Heikki) Kovalainen, (Brazilian Felipe) Massa, the two Ferraris and two McLarens, all of them are capable of winning the championship,” the Spaniard told the BBC.

Massa, Raikkonen’s team mate, put up a strong challenge last year while Kovalainen could prove a handful in the second McLaren.

“If I have to say one name, then Kimi,” added Alonso, whose relationship with Hamilton disintegrated over the course of last season to the point where they were no longer on speaking terms.

Pre-season testing times suggest that Ferrari and McLaren, who won all the races between them last year, are still in a class of their own.

The Italian team, who won both championships after McLaren were fined a record $100 million and stripped of all their constructors’ points for a spying controversy involving Ferrari information, appear to be slightly ahead.

Ferrari have two highly experienced drivers while McLaren, whose pairing have started just 34 grands prix between them, may miss Alonso’s recognised expertise in setting up the car.

Formula One’s commercial supremo Bernie Ecclestone is in the ideal position of having last year’s top three drivers — Raikkonen, Hamilton and Alonso — with different teams.

But Renault are struggling to regain the form that took Alonso to both his titles and the Spaniard has said that even podium finishes look out of reach, at least in the early stages of the year.

STRONG CHALLENGE

If Ferrari and McLaren again dominate the podium, the battle for third and fourth places promises to be every bit as intense.

BMW Sauber, who have a first race win as their main target after finishing second overall last year following McLaren’s demotion, face a strong challenge from Williams, Red Bull, Toyota and Renault.

Even Ferrari-powered Toro Rosso, with France’s four-times Champ Car champion Sebastien Bourdais on board alongside young German Sebastian Vettel, could be nipping at their heels.

Bourdais, the first French driver to start a season since Olivier Panis in 2004, will be challenging Renault’s Brazilian Nelson Piquet and Williams’ Japanese Kazuki Nakajima for the accolade of rookie of the year.

Piquet joins Germany’s Nico Rosberg, whose father Keke won the title in 1982, as the second son of a champion on the starting grid.

Ferrari-powered Force India, formerly struggling Spyker, could be the most improved team of the year under the new ownership of Indian billionaire Vijay Mallya while under-performing Honda will be hoping to end their nightmare.

Drivers face some big changes on the track with the introduction of a four-race gearbox and standard electronic control unit and the removal of ‘driver aids’ such as traction control. Wet races could become a lot livelier.

“No question about it, there will be more crashes,” said Red Bull’s Australian driver Mark Webber. “There will be some venues where it’s going to be very tricky for us.”

Indianapolis will not be one of them. The U.S. Grand Prix, won by Hamilton last year, has been axed after local organisers failed to reach an agreement with Ecclestone.

Nothing lasts forever, but even in the fast-moving world of Formula One racing Midland and Spyker were short-lived in the extreme. Both squads were incarnations of the former Jordan team and both lasted just the one season. But in 2008, with a new set of owners and a new name - Force India - the squad are hoping to consign any instability to the history books and finally make a fresh start.
At the heart of Force India’s transformation is new team co-owner Dr Vijay Mallya, whose Formula One appetite was whet as a Toyota sponsor through his Kingfisher brand. After tiring of watching from the sidelines, the Indian industrialist decided to take the plunge, buying out the faltering Spyker team, along with Dutch entrepreneur Michiel Mol, towards the end of last year.
Since then the squad has barely had time to look back and there is a tangible air of change at their Silverstone base. At the root of Mallya’s involvement is his hope that the team will eventually help open up India to the delights of Formula One racing and, with both driver and livery launches held recently in Mumbai, an eastern flavour has already taken hold of this intrinsically British team.
Budget-wise too, Mallya has enacted a great deal of change. The billionaire has gone on record as saying he expects to see a Force India driver on the podium for the inaugural Indian Grand Prix in 2010. It’s a big ask for a small team, but Mallya has backed up his bravado with cold, hard cash, thrusting his hands deep in his pockets to help realise those ambitions.
If media reports are to be believed, the team’s budget has almost doubled this year to a cool US$110 million and with that extra money, chief technical officer Mike Gascoyne has been able to hire several key members of staff, including former Jordan colleague Mark Smith, who joined late last year as design director. The extra resources have also granted more flexibility in the squad’s choice of drivers. Instead of relying on those that merely boost sponsorship funds, Force India have opted for experience, handpicking former Renault driver Giancarlo Fisichella to partner rated incumbent Adrian Sutil.
Fisichella’s depth of knowledge and experience in a world-championship winning team will no doubt assist Force India develop. As will the talents of test driver Vitantonio Liuzzi, who joins from Toro Rosso, and who has enough hunger for a race drive to apply just the right amount of pressure to his team mates. Tellingly, despite Mallya’s nationalistic aims, he has opted not to sign an Indian driver until there is a suitable candidate able to genuinely cope with the challenge of Formula One. Until then the squad clearly wants the most talented line-up at its disposal.
The improved budget also means Gascoyne has been able to start planning for the future, rather than merely surviving day by day. Whereas last season Spyker’s snowballing financial concerns prevented much forward thinking, this year the team are already looking beyond 2008 and setting their sites on bigger things for 2009 when they hope the new lower downforce regulations will allow them to reap much bigger rewards.
For now, however, it is unlikely that Force India’s enhanced R&D work will have too dramatic an effect on the performance of their 2008 car. The VJM01 is for the most part an updated version of last season’s B-spec Spyker F8-VII and although the Ferrari-engined car has shown some real improvement in recent tests, the team are under no illusions for Melbourne and the following flyaway races. Hopefully, an occasional foray into Q2 and the odd point will come their way, but it’s in the future that the real excitement lies. This is, after all, a long-term project.
Unlike two of their immediate rivals, Force India do not have the ‘customer car’ issue hanging over their heads and a mid-field position could feasibly be less than a year away. If that turns out to be the case, then a podium in 2010 might not be that grand an aspiration.

While touch screen devices are increasing in popularity, the small screen sizes are proving to be a problem because users’ fingers block the graphical elements he wishes to work with. Now, a US researcher at Microsoft has created an interface that gives the user a semi-transparent view of the device, thus providing easier navigation.
Researcher Patrick Baudisch demonstrated his ‘LucidTouch’ technology at TechFest, Microsoft’s annual display of experimental technology in Redmond on Tuesday.
LucidTouch allows users of touch-screen devices, such as GPS units or mobile phones, to perform operations from behind the device, so their actions do not block their view of the display.
The device currently uses a camera mounted behind the unit; but the researcher is planning to integrate the necessary sensors into the back panel.
“The key to making this usable is what we call pseudo-transparency,” said Baudisch. “By overlaying an image of the user’s hands onto the screen, we create the illusion of the mobile device itself being semi-transparent. This pseudo-transparency allows users to accurately acquire targets while not occluding the screen with their fingers and hand.
LucidTouch also supports multi-touch input, allowing users to operate the device simultaneously with all 10 fingers.
Baudisch envisions myriad uses for the device, from navigation tools and personal computing to graphic design and video games. For instance, gamers can control multiple units in a strategy game. Two gamers may put the tablet between them and each play one side in a sports game.
At this year’s Techfest, forty new technologies were displayed, showing how computing enables new experiences and how the basic tools of computer science are evolving to help all sciences advance more rapidly.

Twenty four hours after Apple revealed its procedure for getting third-party applications on the iPhone, developers have a few questions about the software development kit, but seem mostly satisfied.

In the immediate aftermath of Thursday’s presentation at Apple’s headquarters in Cupertino, Calif., reaction was almost universally positive to Apple’s SDK plans. Some developers had feared worse outcomes, such as having to submit their source code to Apple, and seemed willing to let Apple take a piece of their revenue and be the exclusive distributor for iPhone applications in exchange for getting a crack at the technology.Now that everyone has moved a good mile or so away from the famed “reality-distortion field,” a few tidbits regarding the SDK are coming to light. Thursday, I noted that the devil would be in the details of the SDK, namely in what types of applications Apple chose to allow on the iPhone. A day later, we’re getting a better picture of that.

For example, you’re not going to be able to use anything other than Apple’s official APIs (application programming interfaces), notes Ken Aspeslagh (via Daring Fireball). This isn’t much of a shock, but it means that a lot of techniques learned developing unofficial iPhone apps will probably not work with the official SDK.

Also, Aspelagh notes that a third-party application can’t write data to another application, which is known as “sand-boxing.” This is a security-influenced rule, presumably. The downer is that “the possibility of cool mashups is basically eliminated,” notes Wired’s Scott Gilbertson.

The SDK item drawing the most attention Friday, however, is that third-party applications will not be allowed to run in the background. TechCrunch’s Mike Arrington wrote, “Instant-messaging applications (we saw a demo of an AIM version at the event today), can’t run in the background and collect messages while you are doing something else. Leave the application to take a phone call, and it shows you offline.”

Apple’s SDK documentation (embedded in the TechCrunch post) points out that the iPhone can only display a single application screen at a time, and urges prospective developers to spend a lot of time designing an application that can handle quick stops and starts. “In other words, users should not feel that leaving your iPhone application and returning to it later is any more difficult than switching among applications on a computer.”

There could be a number of reasons behind this stance, perhaps chief among them that the iPhone might not be able to support the processing demands required by multitasking, but plenty of other phones seem to be able to juggle more than one application at a time. I wonder whether future Apple-developed iPhone applications–like, say an iPhone version of iChat–will be subject to the same restrictions.

One interesting passage in the iPhone SDK documentation should give Intel something to think about. “If you have an existing computer application, don’t port it to iPhone OS. People use iPhone OS-based devices very differently than they use desktop and laptop computers, and they have very different expectations for the user experience.”

Intel has been pitching its upcoming lineup of x86-based Silverthorne and Moorestown processors as ideal for the next generation of mobile devices, because they can run any type of software that you can currently run on a PC. The chipmaker has a point in that if you’re already familiar with x86 development process, you might find a Silverthorne chip an easier target than an ARM-based chip. But all those Mac and PC software developers will have to bring a totally different mindset to mobile development anyway. Those developers who have been doing this type of development already could have a substantial edge.

Bollywood star Salman Khan says that his joining a signature campaign to oppose the gag order on Raj Thackeray did not mean that he or his family supported the breakaway Shiv Sena chief’s campaign against north Indian migrants in Maharashtra.
In a letter that he issued to the media, Salman said: “It disturbs me to see people from various walks of life reacting to this unverified quote so strongly without confirming the credibility of the quote. We ourselves being originally migrants are not in any position to support such claims.
“My father is a migrant who lived in Madhya Pradesh and my mother comes from Jammu and that qualifies us as migrants. I think this matter has unnecessarily been blown out of proportion with regards to my family and would request my friends from the media not to misrepresent our position on this matter. Let’s live in harmony, after all we are Indians first.
“This is to reaffirm before the media and the public that my family and I have been unnecessarily dragged into the entire migrants issue with regard to north Indians.”
Following his provocative statements against north Indian migrants and the resulting violence in Mumbai and elsewhere, the state police had issued a notice banning Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MS) chief Raj Thackeray from holding any public meeting or conference.
The Marathi film fraternity condemned this order and started a signature campaign against it. Salman Khan, along with his brother Sohail and father Salim joined it. However, a certain section of the media misinterpreted the support and said that he was supporting Raj Thackeray’s campaign against migrants.
“The media story stating our support with regard to this issue is misrepresented and I can confirm that we have not made any statement or endorsed any campaign that supports this issue.
“We are a secular nationalistic family with members from different faiths, different communities. All of us need to rise above divisive approaches and celebrate our unity at every given opportunity,” Salman said.

Finance Minister P Chidambaram has once again pushed the case for lowering interest rates .He was speaking to ASSOCHAM, an industry association.

He said housing is a concern for the Government and particularly for small and medium homeowners, thus interest rates on home loans, which are less than or up to Rs 20 lakh should be reduced.

However he said that the final decision on whether or not to cut rates rests with the banks and the RBI.

“Banks should lower interest rates for housing loans below Rs 20 Lakh,” Chidambaram said.

“I shall certainly bear in mind that there is public demand that interest rates for borrowers, who borrow (housing loans) up to Rs 20 lakh, must be lowered,” Finance Minister added.

But sources in public sector banks speaking to CNN-IBN said there was little room for interest rates to come down.

“I made a number of efforts to impress upon bankers in this regards. It is a constant effort that I will have to make. Bankers will have to take a call, RBI will have to take a call,” Chidambaram said.

“The RBI governor’s position to strike a balance between low inflation and high growth is unenviable. He can never please everyone. It is his judgement call what should be the interest rates in order to contain inflation and promote growth,” the Finance Minister said.

Meanwhile, Chidambaram has also justified his decision of increasing the short term capital gains tax from 10 per cent to 15 per cent by saying that the move was made to curb volatility in stock markets.