Sharing My New Email ID... to the world!!

Posting in an image to fight spam. This email ID is really beautiful and feels so proud to be the owner of it! :P Only 962 two-character combos available out of millions of outlook email IDs!!
Real people do write in.
Obvious question comes up on why chosing 'X'? Well that is the initial of my name-'Xat (Akshat)', that's why.. :D
It might be informative for people to know that Outlook only allows two-character email IDs in free domain, Gmail, Yahoo, AOL etc do not allow use of such small username, as small as one-character!
Outlook in itself provides very clean, professional and solid webmail service which is worth giving a try! 

• News and Updates

Five things you didn’t know about emoticons

Posted onJune 24, 2014byRaúl Rosso

Every generation has its own lingo and communication systems that make it unique with respect to its predecessors. The technological revolution and early immersion of children into the world of tech have a lot to do with this: this explains, for instance, our already-internalized “text speak.” Based on the mass use of IM apps, so-called emojis are the new revolution in digital language, the logical evolution and globalization of the ASCII emoticons we’ve been using all our lives. We use emoticons daily on our smartphones, but did you know where they come from or how they came to be globally standard?

Where do they come from?

Etymologically, the word emoticon is a neologism made up of the words emotion and icon, leaving the word’s intended meaning quite clear. While its origin and current conception are related to their use in the tech world, it’s possible to find much older references from before the digital era, such as the one discovered in the satiric magazinePuck, which in 1881 published a series of typographic character combinations to represent different moods.

Nevertheless, the first real reference aiming to standardize and regulate the use of emoticons in a particular sphere of digital communication was the one done by the renowned researcher Scott Fahlman, who in 1982 sent a messageto his colleagues via Carnegie Mellon University’s BBS in which the vertical smiley :-) and :-( appeared for the first time.

Emoticons vs Emoji

It was in Japan that, among the many ASCII-code derivatives to represent emotions, the so-called kaomoji were created in the mid-90s, with the distinctive feature of being represented horizontally without having to turn them to view the result. To give a few explanatory examples: (づ｡◕‿‿◕｡)づ -╭( •̀؁•́ )╮- (✿◠‿◠) – ლ(❤ʚ❤ლ) – (ノಠ益ಠ)ノCool, right?

In the beginning, emoticons were created based on characters, but at the end of the 90s graphic equivalents in the form of small icons began to be used to represent all sorts of elements beyond different mood faces. NTT Docomo, Japan’s largest mobile service provider, was the first to integrate it in its services, but it wasn’t until 2007 that these icons were introduced in Unicode standard so they could be used on any system capable of reading it. In other words, emojis—despite the fact that we see them as small images—are actually characters with their own coding and are represented differently depending on the software where they are displayed. Thus the same emoticon looks different on an iPhone, an Android device, or the Google messaging tool.

The most used emojis

The use of abbreviated terms in texts and later the smartphone communications boom has led to an ever-increasing need for emoticons to express emotions quickly, to the point of directly replacing the written expression with the picture in question. The top niche of mobile-focused developers are aware of this need, and thus Apple and Android made their systems compatible with the standard even before they were integrated into Unicode.

Matthew Rothenberg created some while ago a system to count the number of times each emoji is used on Twitter, capturing the results in a dynamic, constantly updating ranking where you can see the ones most frequently used. Seeing on this page how massively they are published in real time gives us an idea of the importance of this system of communication in the modern day. (Here’s the full ranking.)

How does the brain react to an emoticon?

Emojis have reached such a degree of integration in our daily lives that our brains have adapted to their use in ways that’s we’re not even aware of. Psycologists from Flinders University in Australia have published a study in which they have measured the cerebral activity of a group of students viewing emoticons written by their friends in messages sent to them and comparing them with the reaction to seeing the sender’s actual face. The result was illuminating: The effect in both cases is practically the same, meaning that in practice we’re associating these digital characters with the emotional expression they’re trying to transmit.

250 new emojis to arrive this summer

While more than 700 emojis already exist with their own Unicode numbers, the list is about to be expanded to many more with the launch of the 7.0.0 version of the standard, which will be available in coming weeks as Apple, Google, and Microsoft integrate the support in their software.

The list swaps in new images for some of the existing ones and adds many new elements. In the (attention) list on Emojipedia you can consult and even view them in certain cases, although they won’t be available until mid-July.

==> Original Source

‘Achievements of Delhi Metro unparalleled'

NEW DELHI: The Delhi Metro railway will remain the Central Government's priority even in the face of a general resource crunch and increasing expenditure on account of funding other metros, said Union Urban Development Secretary M. Ramachandran here on Monday.
Speaking at the 16th Foundation Day of Delhi Metro, Mr. Ramachandran added: “Despite the resource crunch due to upcoming metro projects in other cities, completion of Delhi Metro projects has been the Government's priority.”
Mr. Ramachandran, who is also the Chairman of Delhi Metro, said that with the completion of the ongoing Phase II constructions the Delhi Metro would become the only one in the world to have successfully covered 125 km in four-and-a-half years.
He described Delhi Metro's achievements as unparalleled and praised it for completing works in time and within the allotted budget. Referring to its growing reach, he said in the next few months, ahead of the Commonwealth Games, Delhi will get an additional another 75 km of metro network.
Maximum benefit
Mr. Ramachandran said though the metro has already added 110.49 km to its network in recent years, the system will be of maximum benefit to citizens when every part of the city is connected to the metro network.
Referring to Phase III of the network, he said the Government had received proposals for the next phase. He pointed out that with the expenses of the next phase likely to be huge, the Government is currently examining the process of garnering resources for the project that is expected to cover another 84 km.
Director (Electrical) Satish Kumar said Delhi Metro's financial growth was 31 per cent in the previous fiscal and by January 2011 the network is expected to add another 200 trains to its existing fleet.
He said during the past year the metro added a record 42 km to its network, which is the highest addition in any single year since its inception.
He also pointed to the introduction of new technologies in its services to provide better facilities to commuters. “The successful inauguration of India's first standard gauge metro corridor from Inderlok to Mundka is one such achievement which will pave the way for easier adaptation to new metro technologies in the future as most metro systems around the world run on standard gauge,” he said.
Annual awards were also presented to 30 employees for their outstanding contribution to the metro. R. K. Raghav, Group Station Manager of Central Secretariat and Patel Chowk metro stations, was declared the “Metro Man” of the year 2009-10. Dilshad Garden station was adjudged the “Best Metro Station”.
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** Original Artilcle by Smriti Kak Ramachandran

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Micromax Andro: First Android 2.1 Mobile Phone from Micromax!

• 

  Micromax Andro A60 previewed in India

  - Samir Makwana.

  Running Android 2.1 Andro offers 3.2 megapixel camera, Wi-Fi, GPS and 2.8-inch full touchscreen

  
  

Yesterday, we reported about Micromax to unveil its first Android phone - Andro. Now concrete details about Micromax Andro smartphone running Google Android 2.1 Eclair update come from Micromax Delhi Bloggers Meet. Micromax Andro A60 is a full touch-screen smartphone that will feature 2.8-inch touch screen. Sporting a 600MHz CPU this Android smartphone will be available in India starting next month for a price of less than Rs. 8000. We ll try to get the exact figure but it s certainly will be less that that figure.

Coming from India s third largest mobile phone vendor, Micromax Andro takes a leap into Android phones under Rs. 10,000 bracket. Andro has 2.8-inch touchscreen supporting 320x240 pixel resolution which might not please the mobile fanatics but average joe might be happy with it. With dual-band GSM support this smartphone will be 3G ready and promises up to 7.2Mbps speeds via HSUPA and up to 5.76 speeds via HSDPA. Micromax has added even Wi-Fi for wireless connectivity but there was no mention of Bluetooth.

Micromax s Android debut Andro comes with GPS which is quite interesting for an Android handset priced for less than 8K.With measly 150MB internal memory one can add up to 32GB memory card. The phone offers 3.2 megapixel camera with Auto-focus. You can also record video but don t expect amazing quality. Andro A60 will also sport Accelerator and gravity sensor for users to enjoy the light weight Android-platform based games

Most worrisome part of Andro A60 is the 1280 mAh Lithium-Ion battery that promises just 4 hours of talk time. Now I am not sure if this is going to be a Dual-SIM phone. But it may get some attraction from users to check out the new operating system - Android. Only after getting our hands on to Andro A60 we can say whether it would be a worth competitor to Samsung Galaxy 5 GT-i5503. Like it or not, Android is slowly seeping into entry-level handsets for letting users get used with Android as new mobiel operating system.

*SOURCE

Get FREE @facebook.com email NOW!

Facebook today announced the next generation of messaging dubbed as Facebook Social Messaging. Using the service you can communicate with your friends using IM, SMS and of course email too.

However, Facebook Social Messaging is only a invite-only affair right now and you will have to wait to get an invite before you can use it. Excited? Well, so am I, but am still waiting for that elusive invite to come by.

If you cannot wait to get your hands on an invite you can request for one at the official Facebook site. Be aware that lot of scams for the Facebook messaging invites will come by in the next few days, so be wary of what you click or share. Go ahead and request an invite for Facebook Mail/Social Messaging at http://www.facebook.com/about/messages/

Facebook Will Dominate Orkut In Social Networking In India – Was There Ever Doubt?

It’s been well known across the web, that no matter how popular Facebook is, there are two countries where Orkut still dominates – India and Brazil. Around a year back, WATBlog had posted an article on how Facebook was coming close to overtaking Orkut. Over the last one year, the migration from Orkut to Facebook has been steady.

If Alexa’s stats are anything to go by, the time spent on Orkut has steadily been decreasing – down by 10% in the last three months.

There are a few reasons I believe Facebook will trounce Orkut.

1. The popularity of a social networking site is not just based on how many people it has, but how frequently they engage with others on it. Over the last 2 months, my Facebook feed had around 300 annoying updates every day. Compared to today, when I finally checked my Orkut account (after over 3-4 months) and there were 2 updates.
2. Talk about Social Networking online and it’s Facebook. By cleverly eliminating Orkut from the global scenario and restricting it to a few countries, Facebook clearly dominates. In India, we may not blindly follow the West when it comes to tech, but we definitely take strong hints. If the past is anything to go by, what is trending in the West eventually becomes popular in India too (number of Twitter users in India – anybody?)
3. Development – Where’s the development on Orkut. A look at the Facebook blog and Facebook seems to be tweaking something every month. A new notes feature, the new Facebook Questions (not launched for everybody), new privacy features (mild fiasco that), Geolocation. The point is, Facebook seems to be working on their product, while Google seems to be attempting to create a dent in the social networking sphere with a variety of tools – Buzz, Wave, Orkut. I think Buzz is pretty good, despite all the lashing it’s got. With Orkut and Wave, the less said the better.
4. Google Me – a new supposed competitor to Facebook – which is a good indication of the fact that Google no longer hopes for the second coming of Orkut.
5. Facebook recently offered free access via mobile on a few providers in India. Again, from personal observation, the percentage of “Posted from Facebook Mobile” seems to be increasing. There have been advertisements from network providers like Aircel on Airtel on TV and on the radio touting the same.

A comscore study in April showed that Orkut was still leading.

A few more stats :

• India has the second largest user base for Orkut with 20 million
• Facebook attracted 18 mn unique visitors in India in May
• Orkut had 19.7 mn unique users in May
• Facebook grew 177 per cent last year
• Orkut grew 35 per cent last year

However, all of the above is moot if there’s no user engagement and retention. That’s the reason the new Google tie-up with Zynga will focus on social gaming. Farmville which became famous on Facebook is now moving out to other mediums. But people spend hours on Facebook playing Farmville and other social games.

Take a look at any new brand promotion on TV or the radio. Check out any new movie and how they promote it online – chances are there’s a Facebook page, quizzes, and some even venture out into social gaming.

My news feed on Facebook is liked to my Twitter Feed (which in turn is linked to my Google Reader shared items). I end up getting a lot of content through my Facebook feed. Reports (from February) show that Facebook drives 44% of social sharing. The now ubiquitous Facebook Like button is a simple click away. Content is also essential from a financial perspective. Good content on a site leads to more retention –> more benefits for advertising.

Any one seen a “Share on Orkut” button?

Though a recent news article in the Business Standard reports how Orkut will continue to innovate in India, and introduce a mobile platform for Orkut, I doubt it will make an impact.

The above may seem a hot-potch mashup of opinion, and I apologize for being unably to summarize my views more succintly. Here’s a small summary:

Why Facebook will Dominate Orkut in India eventually:

1. Content
2. More user Activity
3. Lack of Innovation on Orkut’s part
4. Mobile – early mover advantage + tie ups
5. Google’s new product implies less focus on Orkut
6. India is not China, a close knit social network will not work here.
7. Facebook’s new features (Questions, Locations, Facebook Credits) will generate new interest leading to more buzz about the product.

Feel free to disagree.

*SOURCE

How The New Facebook Messages & Email System Works

At one end of the spectrum, Facebook says it’s “simple” and “fun.” On the other end, some are saying it’s Facebook’s version of Google Wave. And just about everyone spent the weekend suggesting that it’s a “Gmail killer.”

“It” is Facebook’s new, Whatever-you-do-don’t-call-it-email-but-hey-here’s-a-Facebook-email-address-for-you email and messaging system. Facebook says it’s more like chat; and it’s definitely not an email killer.

Who’s right? We’ll all decide that collectively as the invites get sent out. Until then, here’s how Facebook’s new Messages system works, via a screenshot-filled PDF distributed at today’s news conference.

How Do I Get The New Facebook Messages?

The new Messages is being rolled out “gradually,” as in over several months. Facebook users can request an invite and cross their fingers. When you’re in, you’ll see a pop-up window like this:

Clicking on that “See What’s New” button will take you to another page where you can review the basics of the new Messages and confirm that you want it.

How Do I Get A Facebook Email Address?

Once you’ve received your invite and confirmed that you want the new Messages system, Facebook will invite you to claim your Facebook.com email address. It’ll match your current Facebook username. (If you don’t have one of those, you can get one at the same time.)

After I’m In, How Does The New Messages Work?

One of the immediate changes you’ll notice after you start using the new Facebook Messages is the naming of your inboxes/folders. Rather than the current “messages” and “updates” naming scheme, the new Messages just uses “messages” and “other.” You’ll first see the “Messages” box, and that’s where Facebook says it’ll prioritize all the messages from your friends. Everything else gets sent to the “other” folder — that includes messages from Facebook Groups and from Pages that you’ve liked.

Another big change is the integration of messages into one system. If you have a Facebook.com email and use Facebook’s chat tool, all of this comes together the way Facebook wants. If you provide your phone number, you can bring SMS messages into the system, too. This screenshot shows how messages will appear in both the main in box and in Facebook Chat, and you can reply from either interface:

As you can see on that image, there’s also a new tool to include attachments with messages. (see the small icon on the far left below “Write a reply…”)

And, yes, there’s a search element here, too. Facebook says it has “revamped” how message search works. You can search for either the person you were chatting with or for the topics you were talking about. You can also add people to conversations, remove yourself, or forward conversations to others.

Is Facebook Messages Private?

There are a number of Q&As related to privacy in the Facebook help topic for the new Messages system. By default, anyone on Facebook can still send you a message and, if you get a Facebook.com email address, anyone else with an email address can email you if they know your Facebook.com address. But you can change that via the privacy settings for your Facebook account; the options for who can send you messages are “everyone,” “friends,” and “friends of friends.”

You can also choose who to share your Facebook.com email address with, but keep in mind that any thinking person will know that your email address is the same as your Facebook username.

What If My Friends Don’t Have It Yet?

Once you’re in the new Messages system, you’ll have a number of invites that you can share with friends. Just like, errrr … Gmail.

* SOURCE

Google breeding a ‘New Weapon’ to beat Facebook

Google, having dominated the search engine industry for quite a while now, desires to conquer the social networking world too. This exact motive of Google’s has compelled it to ideate and carry out talks with leading online game developers like Playdom Inc, Electronic Arts Inc’s Playfish and Zynga.

Rumour has it that of these three, Google has already made an investment in Zynga that approximately amounts up to $100 million, for the very purpose of launching an online gaming site. Google owns and manages Orkut, which apparently was the first to revolutionize social-networking in India with about 16 million users. However, with the introduction of Facebook in India and the fact that its user-base reached 15 million in no time, along with Twitter’s stiff competition with about 4 to 4.5 million users, Orkut’s fate seems to be in trouble.

To counter this contest, Google has readied and executed a number of product offerings which have not fetched the anticipated gains. First, there was the launch of Google Buzz, a social-networking site built by Google to supposedly beat Facebook; but Buzz was given a ‘thumbs down’ by users with complaints of them being connected to unwanted acquaintances (like ex-husbands) and spam attacks on their inboxes. Buzz failed to impress.

Attempt number 2 is called Google Me, which is still speculated to see daylight since its news of being launched in the recent past; and hence to judge this attempt to be a failure as well would be too pre-mature. Google Me is stated to be an amalgamation of Wave and Latitude into one social network site. The latest news of Google starting off a social gaming site could be attempt number 3 and a new hope to revive itself and proclaim the number one spot in the social networking space. While things stand still for Google, at the other end of the river Facebook plans to set up an operations office (both online operations and user operations) in India considering the fact that the country proves to be a potential social networking market. This move is in light of Facebook’s plan of expanding operations in India by initiating local programs (that are in line with Indian customs) and building partner relationships accordingly. The number of acquisitions in the social media website field has multiplied in the last few months.

To name a few:
• MTV acquires Social Express and plans to initiate social games.
• Walt Disney embraces the social media phenomenon by buying Playdom Inc.
• A retailer of video games and accessories takes over Kongregate, a social gaming destination.

Should we expect a similar sort of acquisition strategy to be deployed by Google? Or would it launch a completely new and unique social gaming site that is even more exciting than Facebook? Only time will tell.

*SOURCE

Latest 4m Gizmag.com

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Yes, there are real-life superheroes. And no, we’re not just referring to firefighters, paramedics, and other heroic people who we’re used to seeing coming to the rescue of others. We’re talking about costume-wearing, identity-concealing, cool-name-having people who fight crime, pollution, or other evils in their own communities, on their own time, and at their own risk. Many of them actually patrol the city streets, ready to intervene if they see trouble brewing – and being ready includes having the right tools. Given that none of these people have Bruce Wayne’s budget, however, their gadgets tend to be less like Batmobile clones, and more like... well, read on and see for yourself. Read More

Apple’s iPad catalyzing disruptive change

It might seem a long time, but the Media Tablet marketplace did not exist until April this year. It soon became obvious that Apple's iPad had catalyzed yet another major computing trend – by Computex, almost every device manufacturer in the world had a tablet coming. Last month, Gartner Group predicted the 20 million sales expected in 2010 will grow an order of magnitude over the next four years. Now Gartner has gone a step further. “It is not usually the role of the CEO to get directly involved in specific technology device decisions, but Apple's iPad is an exception,” says the report. “It is more than just the latest consumer gadget; and CEOs and business leaders should initiate a dialogue with their CIOs about it if they have not already done so.” Read More

BlackSheep add-on combats Firesheep session hijacking tool

Last month Seattle programmer Eric Butler exposed the weaknesses of open Wi-Fi networks with his Firesheep add-on for FireFox. The program intercepts browser cookies to identify users and allows anyone running it to log into sites such as Facebook and Twitter as the legitimate user. While Butler wanted to encourage the use of HTTPS to combat such vulnerabilities, users can now combat Firesheep with another Firefox add-on – BlackSheep. Read More

Revolutionary diode design cracks 50 year-old electronics speed barrier

Metal-insulator-metal (MIM) diodes might just be the technology that allows electronics achieve the next big leap in processing speed. Research into diode design conducted at the Oregon State University (OSU) has revealed this week cheaper and easier to manufacture MIM diodes that will also eliminate speed restrictions of electronic circuits that have baffled materials researchers since the 1960's. Read More

North American version of Mitsubishi i-MiEV to premiere at LA Auto Show

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Turning freeways into electricity generating 'Solar Serpents'

With solar power plants requiring large areas which aren't usually available in or close to urban areas, Sweden-based architect Mans Tham proposes cities like Los Angeles take a different road – covering the city’s freeways in solar panels. His "Solar Serpents in Paradise" idea would see 24km (15 miles) of LA's Santa Monica Freeway covered in solar panels – with an average width of 40m (131 ft), that adds up to an area of 960,000 m2 (10,333 Sq Ft), enough space for 600,000 domestic panels, which could generate 150 GWh per year. That's more than enough to provide electricity to all the households of Venice, California. Read More

Jetman goes loop-the-loop

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Hemp biofuel blazes competition

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Designers rethink jet aircraft in the quest for shorter take-offs

What's wrong with this picture? If you said the engines are upside down, you'd be wrong. The odd engine placement is part of a cruise-efficient, short take-off and landing (CESTOL) aircraft concept from the Georgia Tech Research Institute which also sees mechanical wing-flaps replaced by high-speed blasts of air to generate extra lift. It's hoped that the development of such craft will make more airports available to fixed-wing jet aircraft by enabling take off and landing at steep angles on short runways, as well as reducing engine noise. Read More

Encryption set for a quantum leap

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Morgan to re-issue classic Threewheeler and start production of fuel-cell powered LIFECar

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Autonomous vans reach China after 92 days on the road

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Motus lets users 'film' within any 3D environment

In the creation of the film Avatar, director James Cameron invented a system called Simul-cam. It allowed him to see the video output of the cameras, in real time, but with the human actors digitally altered to look like the alien creatures whom they were playing. The system also negated the need for a huge amount of animation – every performance was captured in all its blue-skinned, pointy-eared majesty as it happened, so it didn’t need to be created from scratch on a computer. Now, researchers from the University of Abertay Dundee have built on the techniques pioneered by Simul-cam to create a new system, that lets users act as their own cameraperson within a 3D environment. Read More

Toshiba's super-slim Blade SSD solution not just for Apple

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STD self diagnosis via mobile phones on the way?

A consortium of scientists has been formed to try and stem the rise of sexually transmitted diseases (or infections as they are now called) that's said to be reaching epidemic proportions in the UK. As early diagnosis and treatment is essential in such matters, the team is creating a self-diagnosis system where results can quickly be displayed on a mobile phone or computer screen. The system could even automatically make an appointment at a clinic or direct the unfortunate sufferer to the nearest pharmacy, where treatment would be waiting. Read More

Born to be wired: DashLink iPhone/iPod Touch dock for Harley riders

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World first 'super twisted' light boosts disease identification

Scientists have for the first time created "super twisted" light which can be used for more effective disease and virus identification. The process involves polarizing a light beam to create a kind of light corkscrew, then reflecting it off a gold surface to twist the vortex even tighter. Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease are two conditions now being examined using this new technique. Read More

Samsung Ch@t 322 mobile phone soon in India

Samsung Ch@t 322, the latest mobile with Dual SIM Capability gives users seamless communication with efficiency. Samsung Electronics, a global leader in mobile industry, announced the Samsung Ch@t 322 mobile phone; the ideal solution for those looking for a device to manage their social life and, if necessary, their work life as well. Samsung has introduced nother phone with two SIM cards. The main difference is the presence of a full QWERTY-keyboard.

Samsung Chat 322 is a monoblock, has a separate button to switch the SIM-cards. The phone is also equipped with a trackpad, a relatively small horizontally oriented display, a proprietary interface DUOS UX, integrated applications Facebook and Twitter, Push e-mail, Bluetooth, USB 2.0, and 1.3-megapixel camera.

Samsung Chat 322 will debut in the Russian market (early November). The mobile phone will be presented in black, white and pink. After the Russian premiere, Chat 322 will appear in the CIS, China, India, Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Africa. Price of the phone has not yet been announced, but it seems that it would not be very high.

Micromax Q50 – Dual SIM QWERTY mobile phone with social networking apps

Micromax Q50

The new Micromax Q50 is a Dual SIM GSM mobile phone featuring full-QWERTY keypad.It sports an optical trackpad for easy navigation and 2 mega-pixel digital camera.The new Micromax Q50 is a social networking ready mobile phone pre-loaded with Multi Instant Messenger Nimbuzz containing Various Instant Messengers like Skype, Windows Live Messenger (MSN), Yahoo IM, ICQ, AIM, GoogleTalk, Facebook, MySpace and many more.It also comes preloaded with Snaptu with quick access to Twitter,Picasa,Cricinfo,etc. .

Micromax Q50 sports a dedicated key for messages access and a dedicated key for each SIM card switch .When connected with the USB cable to your laptop/PC , you can use its camera as a webcam .You can also send and receive emails using the POP3/IMAP protocols .Other key feature of the new Micromax Q50 mobile phone is the SRS WOW HD sound effect control software that allows you to add a variety of effects like: Bass, Treble, Blue, Classical, Hip Hop, Jazz, Voice, Rock- to your songs .


Micromax Q50 mobile phone features :

• Dual SIM GSM mobile
• QWERTY keypad
• Trackpad for easy navigation
• Facebook ready – Quick access to facebook
• Multi Instant Messenger Nimbuzz
• Opera mini Browser pre-loaded
• Social networking consortium snaptu
• 2 mega-pixel camera
• SRS WOW HD sound

Micromax Q50 mobile phone specifications :

• Form Factor : Qwerty Style
• Band Dual GSM-Dual-Band (900/1800Mhz)
• Weight : 96g
• Dimensions : 114mmx60mmx10.4mm
• Display : 5.6cms TFT, QVGA , 320×240 pixels
• Camera : 2MP
• Music Player (MP3 / AMR / MIDI / WAV)
• Stereo FM Radio/Recorder
• 3.5mm Jack
• Messaging : SMS /MMS
• Games
• JAVA
• Bluetooth
• Video Player : MP4,3GP
• Video Recorder
• GPRS/WAP/MMS
• Phonebook Memory 1000
• SMS Memory 1000
• Expandable Memory 16 GB
• Battery Type : 1000 mAh Li-ion Battery
• Talk Time : Up to 3 hours
• Standby Time : Up to 8 days

Micromax Q50 Price

The new Micromax Q50 price is Rs.4,500 . It is now available in the market.

You will get following accessories with the Micromax Q50 mobile phone :

• Transceiver
• Standard Charger
• Standard Battery
• Handsfree
• Data Cable
• User Guide
• Service Guide
• Warranty Card
  

*SOURCE

Micromax take on 3G!!

Form Factor	BarStyle
Band	Tri-band GSM/GPRS 900/1800/1900 MHz WCDMA UMTS 900/2100 MHz HSDPA 3.6 Mbps, GPRS/EGPRS
Weight	55gm
Dimensions	75mm*46.5mm*11mm
Display	2.2” LCD Touch Display, (320*240 pixels) QVGA
Camera (Extended Jacket)	5MP
Music	Yes, Music Player (MP3 / AMR / MIDI / WAV)
Stereo FM Radio	Yes
Email	Yes (POP3, IMAP4)
Operating System	BREW
Games	Yes
JAVA	Yes
Bluetooth	Yes
Video Player	Yes
Video Recorder (using the camera extension jacket)	Yes
GPRS/WAP/MMS	Yes
Video Streaming	Yes
HSDPA	3.6Mbps
Preloaded Memory	2GB
Expandable Memory	Up-to 32GB
Battery Type	500 mAh Li-ion Battery
Talk Time	Up-to 3 hours*
Standby Time	Up-to 8 days*

Paul the psychic 'World Cup octopus' is found dead

He probably saw it coming. But for fans of Paul the psychic octopus, the news of his sudden death yesterday was a shock.

The British-born oracle, who dazzled the world with his accurate World Cup predictions over the summer, passed away peacefully in his tank in Germany.

His owners – who turned down lucrative offers for the octopus from zoos and restaurants around the world – say he died of natural causes, and that there was nothing fishy about his end.

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Paul correctly predicted the results of six World Cup games involving Germany, including the final when he went for Spain

Paul passed away in the night aged two and a half years, when all three of his hearts ceased to beat at once.

He was unmarried and leaves no larvae.

‘Management and staff of the Oberhausen Sea Life Aquarium were devastated when Paul was found dead,’ the centre said in a statement.

‘We will erect a monument to the little brown octopus whose astounding predictive powers turned him into the true star of the tournament.’

The unlikely celebrity was one of the few bright spots in a bleak summer of World Cup football for England fans.

He correctly predicted Germany’s results throughout the championship by selecting mussels from boxes draped in the colours of teams about to meet on the pitch in South Africa.

He also correctly forecast the result of the final between Holland and Spain. The odds of him getting all eight predictions right were one in 256 – but he succeeded. After his summer triumph he was appointed ambassador for England’s bid to host the 2018 World Cup. He spent his last few months in retirement, feasting on clams and mussels.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1323890/Paul-octopus-World-Cup-psychic-dead.html?ito=feeds-newsxml#ixzz13ZcHiCNv

New symbol for Indian Rupee!

Dharmalingam Udaya Kumar was booked to fly to Guwahati on Thursday morning. On Friday he was to start his new job as assistant professor in the department of design at the Indian Institute of Technology in Guwahati. He was leaving the IIT Mumbai campus where he spent five years earning a PhD in industrial design—the first doctorate to be awarded in the discipline in India.

The calls started pouring in early Thursday morning. He had won a nationwide contest run by the government to design a symbol for the Indian rupee. A symbol he designed, incorporating elements of Devanagari and Roman scripts, had been chosen to represent India’s growing economy and its currency. It would be incorporated in Unicode, computer keyboards will have a dedicated key for the symbol and it will come to be seen and recognised around the world. A designer gets to create a currency symbol just once in a nation’s life.

But there are no plans to introduce the symbol in new currency notes immediately.

"There will be no change (in currency notes) overnight. It will be a long drawn process," a senior Reserve Bank of Indian (RBI) official told HT.

"My design is based on the tricolour with two lines at the top and white space in between. I wanted the symbol for the rupee to represent the Indian flag," said Kumar.

The new symbol had been designed keeping in mind the ease with which it can be incorporated into the existing software systems.

Rupee to get a symbol today!

Joining the club of other major currencies of the world like the US dollar, the pound sterling, the yen and the euro among others, the Indian rupee too is set to get its unique identification symbol that is recognisable worldwide.

In February 2009, the Finance Ministry had invited Indian residents to participate in a competition for designing a 'symbol for the Indian rupee', the results of which are to be announced today. Five designs have been shortlisted by the government after this all-India contest, of which one will be denoted as the symbol for the rupee.

These signs are easy to write and are specially designed to appeal to Indian and international community.

A symbol reflecting the Hindi alphabet 'R' is likely to be approved.

Reserve Bank of India’s Executive Director HR Khan feels a symbol for the rupee was absolutely necessary. “Every currency has a symbol so we thought that the Indian currency should also have a symbol. It is more of a symbolic value because we are an emerging power and most countries have some symbol with acts as an identification for the currency worldwide.”

* Source

Nokia announces C1 and C2 - two SIMs inside, bargain prices

Affordable phones for developing countries have arrived to the Cseries. Two of the new offerings are dual-SIM solutions and the other two offer good connectivity and multimedia for a very limited price. Nokia also announced a bicycle charging solution for areas with limited access to electricity.

Lets start wit the Nokia C2 - before taxes and subsidies it will cost 45 euro (55 USD). The C2 is a dual-SIM phone and interestingly, the second SIM card is easily accessible and hot-swappable (a world's first). The phone supports the 900/1800 GSM bands.

The Nokia C2 has a unique dual-SIM solution - the second SIM card is hot-swappable

The battery is estimated to last 16,5 days on standby and 4 hours of talk time. The Nokia C2 also features VGA camera, GPRS Internet connectivity, Bluetooth and FM radio with broadcast recording. There's also a microSD card (up to 32GB, but those cost more than the phone itself), 3.5mm audio jack plus an MP3 player.

The other dual-SIM phone is the Nokia C1-00, which will cost 30 euro (37 USD). It doesn't have two active cards - just one, but there's a quick shortcut to switch between the two. The phone has a smashing standby of 48 days. It features an FM radio, 3.5mm audio jack and a flashlight.

The Nokia C1-00 has two SIM cards, but only one can be active at a time

This is where the new Nokia numbering scheme becomes a little confusing. The final two phones are the Nokia C1-01 (39 euro) and the C1-02 (35 euro) - both are somewhat similar, but not quite identical to the C1-00.

The Nokia C1-01 and C1-02 have a single SIM, but add a microSD slot and GPRS

The Nokia C1-01 and Nokia C1-02 only have a single SIM card slot, but offer GPRS, Bluetooth, microSD card slot (up to 32GB), 3.5mm audio jack, FM radio and MP3 player. The Nokia C1-01 features a VGA camera, which the Nokia C1-02 lacks.

The Nokia C1-00 is expected in the third quarter, while the other two in the last quarter of this year.

The bicycle charging kit from Nokia

By the year's end Nokia will also release the bicycle charging kit, which uses a dynamo to charge phones using the standard 2mm plug. It is targeted at areas with limited access to electricity, where bicycles are often the most popular mode of transportation.

Source