This will allow merchants to accept credit card payments by swiping the card through a special iPhone case. While details around the device add-on are slim, interest is already high.

The buzz building around Mophie, the palpable excitement and interest stimulated by Square, and an increasingly competitive mobile payment system market means that 2010 will be the year that consumers will buy and sell from their mobile phones.

If you purchased anything at Apple retail stores this holiday season, then you were probably rung up by an employee using Apple’s new custom-designed iPod Touch with a black shell serving as a credit card reader.

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BRAKES ON FAKES
Detection of fake driving licences and tracking stolen vehicles will now become easier with the road transport ministry giving finishing touches to its ‘transport project’ under which a national registry of all driving licences and vehicles registered in the country will be established. This registry will be accessible to all states and road transport offices (RTOs) across the country for quick verification, in the next six months.

With this, holding forged or multiple driving licences of different states, which had earlier helped drivers booked for violating traffic norms – sometimes, even involved in fatal accidents – to evade prosecution and resume work in another state a thing of the past.

The Founder & CEO of the website, Tarun Bangari, came up with this idea and within one year the company has integrated a database of 5 crore people. Bangari says that they aim at achieving a hundred percent database of every person in the country, which is very difficult, and no deadline has been set for it.

“We are procuring data from public domains, social networking sites and various agencies including some government departments. We have developed a special program wherein when the data is entered; it gets classified as per the addresses given and makes it easy for us to link people with their relatives and neighbours.

We do not provide any private information about a person but only their basic profile, ” Bangari said. Bangari believes that there is an immense scope for expansion and plans to go global with this effort after completing it on the domestic scale. Several other services are also provided on the website like tenant verification, maid verification and employee verification with their antecedents.

“We provide paid services with charges ranging between 2000-2500 depending upon the number of things you want. For instance, if you want to check the address of a person in Delhi you will be charged Rs 75 only,” he added.

In future they plan to further update people’s data from social networking sites like facebook, linkedin and blogs and provide link to these on their database.

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Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal displays the low-cost computing device during its unveiling in New Delhi. Photographs: Reuters

India has unveiled a $30 ‘laptop’ which makes it the world’s cheapest computing device.

Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal unveiled the Rs 1,500-device meant especially for students. It will be available in 2011 in the markets.

The device is a Linux-based machine with videoconferencing, word processing and browsing capabilities, and has a solar-powered add-on.

It is said to have 2 GB onboard memory, Wi-Fi connectivity, Ethernet port(s) and USB connectivity. However, it does not have a screen. So if you want to display the data stored on it, you would need to attach a compatible output device using the USB ports.

And the computing device called ‘Sakshat’ is 10 inches long and five inches wide and costs around $50.

To make it useful for the students, especially in the rural areas, the scientists have made it low power consuming gadget.

hile unveiling the low-cost device, the minister said that when more manufacturers decide to produce similar devices, prices will fall even further.

In February 2009, the HRD ministry (then headed by Arjun Singh) said that this ‘laptop’ would be available for only $10. The laptop has been jointly developed by several organisations, such as the University Grants Commission, the Indian Institute of Technology-Madras, and the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore.

The project had created a major buzz in the laptop industry across the world and many questions over the development of such a low-cost ‘laptop’. Many players were curious to know the details of the costing and how Indians managed to keep the cost so low.

When the contraption was shown in 2009, it fell extremely short on expectations — some called it nothing short of a joke, even ‘hoax’.

The confusion was primarily being caused by the description of this low-cost computing device as a laptop.

while low cost laptops will be distributed in institutions by the HRD ministry. The final price will depend on the transportation cost.

Like the National Mission on Education through ICT, the device is said to be aimed at improving the skills of students, both at the school and higher levels. Under the mission the government also intends to provide high-speed Internet access to the schools to download e-books and e-journals and other material. Students will be able to download the material through the ‘Sakshat’ portal.

The goal of the national mission is to increase the enrolment in higher education in the country by 5 per cent over the next five years. The government will subsidise 25 per cent of broadband connectivity costs for private and public colleges.

The $30 ‘laptop’ is being seen as India’s reply to One Laptop per Child’s XO and Classmate of Intel. The XO, created by scientist Nicholas Negroponte and MIT Media Lab was originally targeted to cost only $100 but by the time it was ready to enter the market its cost went up to $188. The Classmate notebook PC from Intel was priced at $300 a piece.

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Presenting the first ever Internet Browser made in India named the Epic Browser. The Epic browser is build on the Mozilla platform and aimed at India users. This browser was developed by Hidden Reflex Company in Bangalore. Their mission was to create a browser that was most productive, most secure and had the Indian touch.

Epic Browser is India ready with about 1500 Indian wallpapers and themes. The browser supports most of the Indian regional languages and comes with sidebar applications all of which is free.

When it comes to security Epic Browser takes it very seriously and there should be no doubt about it. Epic Browser also claims to be the first web browser in the world to feature an integrated antivirus.

With Epic you can browse and download faster. The build in Antivirus automatically scans the pages and your system and keeps it virus free. If a website you are trying to access contains malware or is hosting virus you will immediately be warned. The browser also provides Anti-Phishing protection which is becoming an important security feature.

As far as privacy is concerned, with once click you can wipe out all private data or your private browsing session. Epic is the first browser to have an build in flash cookie detection that can delete harmful flash cookies.

Be Indian Browse Indian; try out the new Epic Browser. Click here to download

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Don’t let those neon colours fool you – far from being the preserve of ex-ravers and nu-ravers, these unisex wrist-dwellers are perfect for any lovers of anything quirky and ever-so-slightly geek-chic. They’re manufactured by Black Dice, so they really are quite exquisitely made, as well as being water-resistant up to a 50m depth (in case you fancy taking a dip). The one-piece plastic strap is nice and chunky and perfectly adjustable if you have a particularly slinky wrist girth.

So if you want to have the upper hand (but obviously not – this is digital) over all your friends’ watches, then the Neon LED Guru Watches is the time-teller you need.

Available here priced at Rs.4,878

Features:

* A chic and stylish one-piece watch.

* Scrolling LED display.

* Press button to illuminate display.

* Programme your own short message (10 characters or under).

* Also displays date with a second button press.

* Unisex neon colour design.

* Available in yellow, pink or black, all with white LED.

* Stainless steel back panel.

* Water-resistant up to 50m.

* Excellent Black Dice build quality.

* Suitable for right-handed folk of all wrist-sizes.

* Suitable for ages 8 years +.

Size:-

* 23.5 x 0.8 x 3 cm.

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The domestically-built Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle put the five satellites into space from the Sriharikota space center on India’s east coast. The satellites included an advanced remote sensing satellite and small satellites from Algeria, Canada and Switzerland.

The head of the Indian Space Research Organization, K. Radhakrishnan called it a perfect launch.

“I am extremely happy to say, we had excellent flight,” he said.

Indian space scientists hail Monday’s launch as an example of advances being made by the country’s space program. Officials said they are also making progress to master a more complex technology which will make it possible to launch heavier satellites.

The country has been competing to get a larger share of a multi-billion dollar market for launching commercial satellites, offering launch services at cheaper rates than the United States or Russia.

But its ambitions of being able to put heavy satellites into space suffered a setback in April, when a rocket using a domestically built cryogenic engine crashed soon after it lifted off.

Cryogenic engines are rocket motors designed for fuels held at very low temperatures. India has been trying to learn the restricted technology for nearly two decades. Only five countries possess it.

On Monday, ISRO chairman Radhakrishnan held out hope that India may soon overcome the snag it has encountered in cryogenic engine technology.

“We have understood the problem with regard to the indigenous cryogenic engine end stage. We will confirm it in a few weeks with a few tests and we will come back,” Radhakrishnan said.

India wants to emerge as a major space-faring nation and its road map for its space program is ambitious, despite a few recent setbacks. An unmanned mission to the moon, launched in 2008, was aborted last year after contact with the craft was lost. However, India called the mission a success, saying it completed most scientific studies and even gathered evidence of water on the moon’s surface.

In 2013, scientists plan to send another unmanned mission to the moon. This will be followed by the country’s first manned mission to space in 2016.

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The self-charging handset by Nokia, who has already filed for a US patent, was predicted to work with heavier components, such as the radio transmitter circuit and battery, supported on a sturdy frame.

The frame apparently could shift along two sets of rails, allowing it travel up and down and side to side, New Scientist reported.

Each rail apparently hosted strips of piezoelectric crystals at its end, capable of generating a current when compressed by the frame such that motion, by the user or the movement of the phone, generates electricity.

That in turn charged a capacitor and subsequently the battery, boosting the charge.

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A man controls &uot;Wakamaru" (front) with a flexible sensor tube (FST) at its demonstration during the international robot exhibition 2009 in Tokyo November 25, 2009. With FST, a operator can remote control a robot.(Xinhua/Reuters Photo)

"Paro", a therapeutic robot, reacts as a woman pats during the international robot exhibition 2009 in Tokyo November 25, 2009. The seal-like robot has a behaviour generation system that generates behaviours like real animals and was developed for therapies, the maker said.(Xinhua/Reuters Photo)

Japan's Kawada Industries, Inc.'s newly developed industrial robot "Next Age" cuts ribbon with honored guests at the opening ceremony of the International Robot Exhibition 2009 in Tokyo, Japan, Nov. 25, 2009.(Xinhua/AFP Photo)

Japanese engineer Tomotaka Takahashi introduces the new robot "Ropid" at the International Robot Exhibition 2009 in Tokyo, Japan, Nov. 25, 2009. Aside from supposedly being the fastest runner and best jumper among similarly constructed robots, "Ropid" also responds to voice commands, with either action or speech.(Xinhua/AFP Photo)

Japan's Kawada Industries, Inc.'s newly developed industrial robots "Next Age" demonstrate how it can sort out items at the International Robot Exhibition 2009 in Tokyo, Japan, Nov. 25, 2009.(Xinhua/AFP Photo)

The world’s largest software company, which powers more than 90 percent of personal computers, has received good reviews for the new operating system, which it hopes will grab back the impetus in new technology from rivals Apple Inc and Google Inc.

“It’s the first really significant release of Windows in a decade,” analyst Brendan Barnicle of Pacific Crest Securities told Reuters Television. “Given the missteps around Vista, people really questioned Microsoft’s relevancy in the technology space. So this is a critical first step for Microsoft regaining that credibility.”

The new system — which is faster, less cluttered and has new touch-screen features — comes almost three years after the launch of Vista, whose complexity frustrated many home users and turned off business customers.

The success of Windows — which accounts for more than half of Microsoft’s profit — is crucial for Chief Executive Steve Ballmer to revive the company’s image as the world’s most important software firm.

“I have to say I’m chomping at the bit,” Ballmer told an audience of Microsoft customers and partners in Toronto on Wednesday, adding that he is ready to make sales calls himself on Windows 7.

Sales won’t immediately impact the bottom line of Microsoft, which is expected to post a lower quarterly profit on Friday.

Cheaper Than Vista

Microsoft is charging $199.99 for the Home Premium version of Windows 7, or $119.99 for users seeking to upgrade from older versions of the operating system — well below comparable prices for Vista.

It also has a range of offers in conjunction with retailer Best Buy and PC makers such as Dell Inc and Acer Inc.

For the first time, shoppers will be able to buy PCs loaded with the software direct from a branded Microsoft store, with the first of a planned chain set to open on Thursday in Scottsdale, Arizona.

The U.S. holiday season will soon reveal whether consumer PC sales get a kick from Windows 7, but success with corporations — the key to Microsoft’s financial power — won’t be clear until next year, analysts say.

“Come June of next year, we are going to get the real indication of the business-to-business marketplace,” said Mark Simons, chief executive of the U.S. arm of Toshiba Corp, the world’s No. 5 PC maker, on Wednesday.

Early indications are that companies are getting ready to switch to Windows 7.

“People like it,” said Michael Capone, chief information officer for payroll services firm ADP, pointing out its quick start-up time and good user interface.

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