Clash of the Titans!!!

I realise that we have been going on and on about the iPhone and the Nokia N96, but thats all what I can do since this is my job and specially when the two iconic phones launched together in the same week in India.

Price Comparision:

The Nokia N96 will cost you around Rs. 36,000 while the Apple iPhone 3G with 8GB memory will cost Rs. 31000 and 16GB about Rs. 36,100. On price points even though they are hugely expensive we give them equal rank.

SMS Forwarding, FM Radio:
These two features are the darling of any mobile phone user in India. Since Texting messaging is really cheap in this part of the world forwarding SMSes is a very normal thing for all users. FM Radio is the life of people whilst traveling this is your one source of entertainment on the roads of the Indian metro cities. The lack of both these features on the iPhone is a big minus as far as its Indian market is concerned.

Battery Life:
Nokia N96 wins on this hands down. There have been lots of problems with the battery drainage of the Apple iPhone and these don't seem to stop. You will have to charge your phone everyday or twice a day for that matter if you are a heavy user.

GPS:

This is not a huge factor for the Indian market, but still a talking point. On the GPS front Nokia again wins this pretty easily.

Video Calling:
Video calling is not possible on the iPhone and the Nokia N96 is pretty good at it.

Data Transfer and Bluetooth usage:

A major , major talking point regarding the iPhone. The bluetooth on the iPhone can only be used for hands-free calling. No data transfer allowed between handsets or even with a computer with bluetooth enabled.

Storage:

You thought the storage factor will play in for the iPhone ? That isn't true. The Nokia N96 comes with 16GB of internal storage plus you have the luxury of adding a 8GB memory card giving you a whopping storage of 24GB. The iPhone again loses here.

Design:

There is no beating the iPhone, as simple as that!

All in all, if you are looking for more bang for the buck, go for the Nokia N96. Lookwise and as a fashion symbol, we still say there is no beating the iPhone!

Google Here,Google There,Google Google Everywhere

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            Is Google  close to making a bid for Twitter ? Yes, according to a report from TechCrunch, though neither company has made an official announcement.

Google declined to discuss the issue. "We don't comment on rumor or speculation," Google spokesperson Rachel Nearnberg told the E-Commerce Times.
Twitter cofounder Biz Stone ducked the issue, telling the E-Commerce Times that he'd already addressed it on the company blog. "Our goal is to build a profitable, independent company and we're just getting started," he says in a post.
Though it's managed to kick up a lot of publicity and attract many users, Twitter has yet to make money. Still, it's growing rapidly, and there has long been speculation that its backers are pressing it to turn a buck or two.

Hungry Eyes

Two people close to the situation said Google is in late-stage negotiations to acquire Twitter and that the price will be more than the US$250 million valuation Twitter saw in its latest round of funding in February, according to the TechCrunch report.
That's not going to happen, Greg Sterling, founding principal of Sterling Market Intelligence, told the E-Commerce Times. "On 'The Colbert Report,' Biz Stone talked about expanding Twitter and growing it to a global network," Sterling said. "He also said he wants Twitter to be a strong, independent company."
For example, YouTube has more searches than Yahoo  does, Sterling said. "That kind of thing is what Google would look to pre-empt."
On Thursday, Twitter announced new features and adjustments it's making to its search capabilities.

Researchers Trace International Cyber-Spy Network to China

A cyber spy network based mainly in China hacked into classified documents from government and private organizations in 103 countries, including the computers of the Dalai Lama and Tibetan exiles, Canadian researchers said  Saturday.
The work of the Information Warfare Monitor initially focused on allegations of Chinese cyber espionage against the Tibetan community in exile, and eventually led to a much wider network of compromised machines, the Internet-based research group said.
"We uncovered real-time evidence of malware that had penetrated Tibetan computer systems, extracting sensitive documents from the private office of the Dalai Lama," investigator Greg Walton said.

Can't Pinpoint Source

The research group said that while it's analysis points to China as the main source of the network, it has not conclusively been able to detect the identity or motivation of the hackers.
Calls to China's Foreign Ministry and Industry and Information Ministry rang unanswered Sunday. The Chinese Embassy in Toronto did not immediately return calls for comment Saturday.
Students For a Free Tibet activist Bhutila Karpoche said her organization's computers have been hacked into numerous times over the past four or five years, and particularly in the past year. She said she often gets e-mails that contain viruses that crash the group's computers.
The IWM is composed of researchers from Ottawa-based think tank SecDev Group and the University of Toronto's Munk Centre for International Studies. The group's initial findings led to a 10-month investigation summarized in the report to be released online Sunday.

No Stopping Android

HP  has confirmed it is considering Google's Android operating system for use in upcoming netbook computers.

However, the company has not set a time line for deciding whether to offer Android exclusively or as one of several OS options for its products, if at all, according to Marlene Somsak, an HP spokesperson.
"We are studying Android. We want to assess its capabilities," she told LinuxInsider.
If HP decides in favor of using Android, it could well become the first major PC vendor to use Google's OS, currently deployed in smartphones.

Microsoft Waiting

Microsoft's  Windows operating system has had steady competition from various Linux distributions in the netbook line. Because Windows Vista is usually too bulky for the limited memory and storage capacity of many netbook models, Microsoft XP has been the designated OS for non-Linux netbooks.
However, Microsoft has said that it is preparing a version of Windows 7 to be compatible with netbook configurations. Windows 7 is expected to be released later this year after a strong showing in its beta release.
Microsoft suggested to LinuxInsider that it did not view HP's consideration of the Android OS as a threat to the Windows OS on netbooks.
"This has long been a competitive space," Ben Rudolph, senior manager of Microsoft Windows, told LinuxInsider. "We've seen Windows on these PCs in the U.S. go from under 10 percent in unit sales during the first half of 2008 to 96 percent as of February 2009, according to the latest NPD Retail Tracking Service data,"
Microsoft remains confident that Windows' out-of-the-box functionality will ensure its continuing popularity in netbooks, he said.
"The return rates for Linux machines are up to four times higher than Windows return rates. This is a significant additional cost for consumers and retailers," Rudolph explai

RIM Cuts Ribbon on BlackBerry App Store

BlackBerry maker Research In Motion  has launched an app store for its iconic device. BlackBerry App World went live Wednesday morning with some 1,000 applications available.
The site gives developers the option of setting up their own stores -- an interesting differentiator from other carriers' app stores, noted ABI Research Senior Analyst Jeff Orr.
A storefront application, App Center, lets developers pull content from App World to add alongside their own content, he told the E-Commerce Times.
Among the applications currently available are Salesforce CRM , AOL Instant Messenger, Yahoo Messenger, MySpace, Facebook, Windows Live Messenger, Bloomberg, ICQ, HRS Hotel Organizer, chat group VH1 Watch and Discuss, Lonely Planet French Phrasebook, Livestrong, Worldmate Live, Brain Challenge 2, and a few news and media applications such as a Web shortcut to the New York Times.
BlackBerry App World works with compatible BlackBerry smartphones running OS version 4.2.0 or higher, including the Bold 9000; the Storm; both the Pearl Series and Pearl Flip Series; the Curve 8300 Series; Curve 8900; and the 8800 Series. Trackwheel devices are not supported.

Yahoo Launches New Mobile User-App

Yahoo on Wednesday rolled out its new Yahoo Mobile service for smartphones. The company also announced Yahoo Messenger for the iPhone, which will be launched soon. Yahoo Mobile for the Web is available as a service on the mobile Web, accessible by cell phones with Web browsers. It's also available at Apple's (Nasdaq: AAPL) App Store for the iPhone and the iPod touch, Yahoo spokesperson Kate Sternberg told TechNewsWorld. The mobile service can be accessed on more than 300 devices equipped with mobile browsers, Yahoo said. These include smartphones from Nokia, Research In Motion, Samsung, Sony Ericsson and Motorola, as well as Windows Mobile devices. Users of Yahoo Mobile for the Web will have access to mobile search; news; oneConnect to stay in touch with contacts; email services from Yahoo, Google, AOL and Microsoft; social networking sites including Twitter and Facebook; and Yahoo's address book, calendar and instant messaging service. The Java smartphone version of Yahoo Mobile for the Web has additional features. These include voice-controlled search capabilities; access to maps; widgets for services from Yahoo and other brands that can be browsed, added or removed at any time; and an integrated version of the Opera Mini 4.2 browser.

BOOT CAMP 09 @ Microsoft IDC Hyd

Boot Camp 09 was in Hyderabad.One of the coolest benefits of being an MSP(Microsoft Student Partner)
is that you get to meet a lot of people from all over India or i should say that you get to meet a lot of
people with a LOT OF BRAINS.
Boot Camp 09 was the largest ever MSP Boot Camp which saw over 150 MSP's .And did it go well???
HELL YA.
We were given the finest  of rooms in the finest of hotels(Ella Suites, Hyd) and interacted with people
who are responisble for taking technology to where it is today.When Microsoft comes into the picture
things HAVE TO ROCK.
The Boot Camp was held from 6th Mar - 8th Mar.Everyday we were taken to the MICROSOFT IDC
which even smells of technology.After entering the IDC campus we understood who we really are
we knew the meaning of being a MSP.So now lets see how things went on....

Day 1
Internship Test for 3rd yearites and a small competition for the rest.Also a small session by the MS recruitment team.I'll not say much about the first the day coz i missed a lot of it :-(. Don ask why?

Day 2
After sleeping at around 4:00 AM the previous day,we woke at 6:30 coz we had to catch the shuttels to MS IDC at 7:30(you know we hardly slept during the whole camp).After a refreshing breakfast,the day started.
After a enlightening speech & presentation on the MSP program(which really made us feel really GOOD ;-))
There was a session on SQL Server (waz good to ;-)).After that we were introduced to the world of MAD(Mobile Application Development) that rocked and was also a sort of eye opener(if you know what i mean ;-)).The MAD session was followed by a session on writing secure code which (if frankly said) was mind blowing.We were told how a unsafe site can be made a safe one and how stop a hacker(i hate them) from spoling all the fun.Then we were given an insight into the next generation of computing.We were introduce to the world of Cloud Computing and the next gen AZURE.The only thing which can be said about tha is WOW
In between we had lunch..and man that was really good.I mean personally speakin the food was really good(even thaz one of the Many benefits of an MSP ;-)).
During lunch we realised that we were really lucky coz we were given the chance to have are lunch we top class MS Employes in different MS Divisions(it sounds so cool...we had lunch with people working with MICROSOFT)
We had a chance to ask them all of sorts of questions and did we do it....i say VERY WELL
We squeazed out every bit of information they had(or we can).After that group photo of over 150 MSP's.
At the end we had are very own ( 3 Musketeers),Mohammed Reza,Siddharth prakash,Mark D'souza  giving us all the backside knowledge of IE8,Windows 7 and (very interesting) 9 lives of students.
The best part was the give away's which we got(yipee i have a VISITING CARD).
Then surprise which rocked us all ,after a tiring day,a pool side dinner and a DJ party was organised just for us(MSP's are pretty good dancers you know).
And the day ended at 5:00 AM when we decided to sleep(I did say we hardly slept)

Day 3(The Last Day :-()
After an AWESOME Day 2 we are at the Last day.The day saw a lot of technical sessions from people like us(MSPs) and we got to know that we are in a group of really realllllly brainy guys(does make you feel proud doesn't it).Sessions included ROBOTICS,MICROSOFT POPFLY,HOW TO EARN POINTS....
The Lunch again was really GOOD(m not too foody just a lil bit ;-)).
And then the worst part.....we had shuttels waiting for us to drop us back at stations so that we return to our normal lives(why does it happen ?????).

In all the 3 days rocked.We were amongst the group of people who have all the knowledge about almost evything ever made and still strive to know more.When you are an MSP you never tend to say ENOUGH you say THAZZ IT!!!!
The Boot Camp was truly Aw Aw AWESOME