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Year

DataWind PocketSurfer GZ with Linux OS, 1 year free browsing launched for Rs 1,499

by Rajdeep April 4, 2024

written by Rajdeep

DataWind PocketSurfer GZ with Linux OS, 1 year free browsing launched for Rs 1,499

DataWind launched the PocketSurfer GZ in India for Rs 1,499. DataWind has partnered with Reliance Communication to offer free internet on the device for a year. The device ships with the Linux Operating System. There are no details on specifications as of now.

Suneet Singh Tulli, CEO of DataWind said “We are focused on driving the cost downward to a level where access to technology becomes universally affordable and democratization of technology finds its true meaning. Therefore, this new launch of smartphone at just Rs 1499 is a step in that direction. This will certainly enhance the connectivity in the developing nations.”

Further explaining the need of low cost handsets to, he added, “Hands-free communication has become extremely important and we feel strongly that this technology should reach every corner of the world. DataWind aims to breaks the affordability barriers and bandwidth constraints of networks touching the mass of India at a whole new level.”

The handset maker is known for making low cost devices, including mobile phones and tablets. DataWind is one of the leading manufacturers in the low cost device segment. According to IDC, DataWind led the tablet market with 27.6 per cent share.

[Source:- tech.firstpost]

April 4, 2024 0 comment

Education

AS-level results ‘more variable’ this year, schools warned

by Rajdeep April 4, 2024

written by Rajdeep

Girl in exam

Schools and colleges are being warned to expect “more variation” in AS-level results in England this year, the first since they were split from A-levels.

Results in the 13 decoupled subjects have been “relatively stable in recent years”, says exams regulator, Ofqual.

But this year “we expect that there will be more variability than between 2015 and 2016”, warns the report.

Students and teachers are “getting to grips” with the new system, says Ofqual associate director, Cath Jadhav.

“We know that students tend to do less well in the first year of a new qualification,” writes Ms Jadhav, in a blog.

“That, in part, reflects the time it takes for teachers to become comfortable with new content and assessment design.”

AS-levels have been split from A-levels since last September and no longer count towards the final A-level grade.

Statistical predictions

Ms Jadhav says there could also be changes in the ability range of students taking AS-levels this year which would also affect overall results.

Ofqual has noted that the number of entries for AS-levels has fallen by 20% on 2015 in subjects where the grade will no longer count towards the final A-level.

It is possible that for some students this exam could be their final school qualification, explained Malcolm Trobe, interim general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders.

Some schools may have decided that students who are aiming for A-levels should skip AS-levels altogether, said Mr Trobe.

In her blog, Ms Jadhav says the regulator will rely on statistical predictions to ensure students are not disadvantaged by being the first cohort to sit the new linear AS qualifications.

She warns that exam boards “won’t be slaves to the predictions” when they set grade boundaries.

But “exam boards will need to be able to justify any grade boundaries that are different from those suggested by the predictions”, she adds.

“We would expect to see some variability,” said Mr Trobe.

“What is important is that there will be appropriate checks and balances in place so that young people are not disadvantaged in any way.

“It would be good to have an absolutely clear and transparent system in place so that schools can see how it has operated this year.”

Ofqual plans to publish its 2016 AS-level analysis when the results come out on August 18.

The 13 AS-levels affected are:

art and design
biology
history
physics
computing
economics
English language and literature
English language
English literature
psychology
sociology
business studies
chemistry

[Source:- BBC]

April 4, 2024 0 comment

Education

Student fees: Universities could charge £6,300 a year, Queen’s says

by Rajdeep April 4, 2024

written by Rajdeep

Queen's University in Belfast

Student tuition fees in Northern Ireland could rise to £6,300 a year, Queen’s University in Belfast has said.

It said students should pay between £5,200 and £6,300 depending on the level of government funding available.

Students currently pay £3,925 to study at Northern Ireland universities.

The figures are contained in an internal university document in response to the NI Executive’s programme for government (PfG) 2016-21, which has been obtained by the BBC.

In the document, Queen’s said the money higher education institutions had received from the executive had reduced from £214m in 2009-10 to £185m in 2014-15.

“This equates to some 13% in cash terms and 24% in real terms,” it said.

“The 2015-16 academic year saw a further 10.8% reduction in the higher education budget, totalling £16.1m.

“The impact of this funding reduction has required the university to substantially reduce its undergraduate intake.”

Cutting

Queen’s said there is a deficit of £55m between the money universities in Northern Ireland need and what they receive in public and private funding.

An additional £14.6m was allocated to higher education in the executive’s 2016-17 June monitoring round, but it is not clear if this funding will be repeated in the future.

Last year, both Queen’s and Ulster University announced they were jointly cutting more than 2,000 student places over three years.

There are three costed funding options put forward by Queen’s in the document, all of which, it said, would reverse that cut in places.

All involve “moderate levels” of extra public funding and “affordable increases” in tuition fees.

Additional government funding of £27.5m and tuition fees of £5,200 a year

Additional government funding of £14.6m and tuition fees of £5,700 a year

No additional government funding and tuition fees of £6,300 a year

Reductions

The document from Queen’s said the options are fair to students, graduates and Northern Ireland.

“These options are designed to facilitate discussion amongst stakeholders regarding the development of a sustainable model of funding for higher education,” it said.

“The options are based on the principles of providing a competitive level of funding for Northern Ireland’s universities and the reinstatement of places that have been lost due to successive budgetary reductions.”

NUS-USI President Fergal McFerran and Queen’s Students’ Union President Seán Fearon condemned the leadership of Queen’s University for calling for a rise in tuition fees in Northern Ireland.

‘Damaging’

“This is extremely troubling development because any increase fees could have a devastating impact on students” said Mr McFerran.

“Placing even more debt on students could also significantly damage the economy as well as damaging universities here.”

Mr Fearon, said the proposal would only “drive the export of our school leavers to universities elsewhere, increasing ‘brain drain’ in the region”.

Former education minister Stephen Farry said he hoped the executive would find extra resources to fund universities.

“There are changes we can make in our public spending that would allow us to invest in things that are important for the future,” the Alliance party MLA said.

“I think we can maintain the balanced approach with fees in the region of £4,000, but only if the executive is serious about putting in [about] £80m per year to make sure we’re properly resourcing this.”

He added: “If we’re serious about growing the economy, we will need more and more people with high-level skills.

“This is not an optional extra – this is an absolute inescapable requirement.”

Borrow

The trade union Unite said arguing for increases in fees was “completely indefensible”.

Unite regional officer Sean Smyth said: “Increasingly, a university education is beyond the hopes of many working-class young people.

“It is essential that [the funding budget for universities] is used to prioritise the education of those coming from disadvantaged and working-class households.”

A recent study by the former Department for Employment and Learning (DEL) found that Queen’s and Ulster University were receiving funding of between £900 and £2,500 a student less than English universities.

University education in Northern Ireland is free at the point of entry, but the vast majority of students borrow the cost of their yearly tuition fee.

They can also take out a maintenance loan for living costs, which is capped at £3,750 if they live with their parents, and £4,840 if they live away from home.

These loans start to be paid back when the student enters employment and earns more than £17,495 a year.

The more a graduate earns, the bigger the proportion of their loan they repay.

{Source:- BBC]

April 4, 2024 0 comment

Internet

Google Details Plans to Start Blocking Flash in Chrome This Year

by Rajdeep April 4, 2024

written by Rajdeep

Google Details Plans to Start Blocking Flash in Chrome This Year

In a bid to get more developers to adopt HTML5, Google has announced plans to slowly phase out support for Adobe Flash Player in Chrome. The company looks to implement this change by the fourth quarter, after which Flash will come bundled with Chrome but its presence will not be advertised by default.

It will instead promote HTML5 which provides faster load times and consumes less power. So if any website offers an HTML5 experience, it will be made as the default experience. As many sites still use Flash, Google is not completely blocking it, but is nonetheless discouraging it. If a site absolutely cannot work without Flash Player, then Google will prompt its users to run the plug-in for that domain only.

Google states that Chrome will also keep a track of the domains that the user manually opted for Flash, and open it automatically in subsequent visits. Furthermore, Google has named the ten most used websites that run Flash, and has white-listed them to avoid over-prompting. The names of some of the white-list websites are YouTube, Facebook, Yahoo, Amazon, Yandex.ru, Live.com, Mail.ru, OK.ru, VK.com and Twitch.tv. These websites will have Flash Player running without any hiccups. However this white-list expires in one year, and by the end of 2017, these websites are expected to make the switch to HTML5.

Google is also discouraging the download of Flash Player, by trapping links that redirect to the download page. Some sites like Pandora ask the user to download Flash Player by redirecting them to Adobe’s installation page. Once the user clicks on the download link, Chrome will intercept the request, cancel the navigation, and instead present an ‘Allow Flash Player’ yellow infobar on top. This is merely done in an attempt to get the user to rethink before using Flash.

For Enterprise users, Chrome will enable a setting that gives the option to “Always run Flash content”, for all intranet sites that may use Flash. Even though Google is doing all it takes to get rid of Flash, there are quite a few creative, interactive and gaming sites that use Flash heavily and changing them to HTML 5 now, would be a deep tedious task. Chrome may run Flash on click-to-play basis to discourage its use, but the Web isn’t getting rid of Flash just yet.

April 4, 2024 0 comment

Online Marketing

31 of the Best Internet Marketing Articles of the Year (So Far)

by Loknath Das November 14, 2021

written by Loknath Das

It seems that every few months something huge is going down in the world of online marketing. It’s such an action-packed industry that it’s often easy to miss some of the awesome content and major milestones that occur in the field.

It’s no fun to be behind the times, which is why we’re bringing you the 31 best internet marketing articles from a variety of sources and experts.

From modern link building guides and content promotion plans to industry news and groundbreaking studies, there’s something for everyone.

Best Internet Marketing Articles: Content Marketing and Promotion

1. How to Create a Winning Content Promotion Plan

Buzz Stream gives a run down on how to create a top-notch content promotion plan, ensuring that your stellar content gets the attention it deserves.

2. How to Create Great Content That Drives Traffic

In this comprehensive article from OkDork, Noah Kagan explains his skyscraper technique for creating great content that drives legitimate traffic.

This post is incredibly detailed and takes you through the step-by-step process for seeking out topics that will perform well in your niche. Noah’s skyscraper technique has been celebrated often following this post – be sure to give it your time and attention!

3. We Analyzed Nearly 1 Million Headlines. Here’s What We Learned

Headlines a huge, as every content marketer knows. A Garrett Moon guest post on OkDork (adorable name) shows what makes a popular headline with some nice data pie charts to back it all up. Some stuff is obvious (list posts are awesome) but other tips may provide some eureka moments.

4. Writing Tips: How to Come Up With 50 Topic Ideas in 30 Minutes

Is your brain busted? Can’t break through the writer’s block wall? Entrepreneur is coming to the rescue, showing you how to think up 50 fresh article ideas in less time than it takes to watch an episode of Modern Family.

5. 16 Explosive Content Promotion Strategies

While the “all you need is great content” manta is slung around more than sloppy joes at a middle school food fight, we all know it takes a hell of a lot more than “great content” to run a successful website. Creating awesome content is step 1, but what comes after that? Robbie Richards clues us in to 16 awesome strategies and tools to use for content promotion. Really good stuff here you may not have seen before!

6. The Ideal Length of Everything Online

The Buffer blog brings us another super special study: the ideal length for everything online, backed by real research. Get the highlights with a quick flick through and read the details if you’d like. Learn the perfect number of words in a headline, characters in a tweet, words in Facebook posts, and more.

Best Internet Marketing Articles: SEO

7. The Complete Google Leaked PANDA Do & Don’t List – 2011 to Present

Panda and its successors have forever altered the SEO landscape. This guide from The Moral Concept gives you all the “dos” and “don’ts” to avoid the Panda landmines and create a Google-friendly site.

best internet marketing articles of the year

8. All-New Beginner’s Guide to Link Building

Moz provides a comprehensive guide to modern link building, covering all the nitty-gritty details you need to be a successful link builder. Learn how to create a blogger outreach list, how to craft a solid outreach email, how to conduct broke link building, and SO much more.

9. 50+ Google Analytics Resources – The 2014 Edition

This awesome collection of Google Analytics resources from Kiss Metrics will help you become an analytics master. Dig into guides detailing every aspect of Google Analytics, from data segmentation to split testing.

10. ROBOTS.TXT DISALLOW: 20 Years of Mistakes to Avoid

This year marks two decades of robots.txt. Brian Ussery discusses why robots.txt exists and common robots.txt mistakes that are best avoided.

11. Open Letter to the New SEO Generation

Jenny Halasz of Search Engine Land offers words of advice and guidance to the next SEO generation. Take to heart young online marketers – the future is now!

Best Internet Marketing Articles: Google News

12. Your Google Algorithm Cheat Sheet: Panda, Penguin, and Hummingbird

As Google’s menagerie grows large enough to rival Disney’s Animal Kingdom, more technical tranquilizers and Serengeti strategy is needed to keep from being devoured alive (and no way are hummingbirds are harmless – they could poke your eye out in an instant!) Moz provides a comprehensive explanation of Google’s major algorithm updates and how to play nice with the wild beasties.

13. HTTPS As a Ranking Signal

Google announces HTTPS as an official search ranking signal. While it’s only a light signal for now, it’s worth reading up and considering if you should transition to HTTPS (if you haven’t already).

14. The Advanced Guide to Google Penalty Removal

Google slapped you across the face and left a nasty bruise – what next? Data Dial helps you get on the road to recovery with a walkthrough guide for recuperation. Put away those frozen peas, help is here!

15. It’s Over: The Rise & Fall of Google Authorship for Search Results

2014 marks the demise of the Google Authorship experiment, simply proving that Google is as fickle a mistress as ever. Search Engine Land provides a sweet eulogy for this now-buried feature that once rocked the online search landscape. What happened Google Authorship? You were the chosen one! You were supposed to bring peace and balance to the search world, not leave it in darkness. Oh well. There’s always Google+…

Best Internet Marketing Articles: Email Marketing

16. How We Doubled Email Signups in 30 Days

Buffer blog brings us a great article about how to double your email subscribers! Sounds too good to be true? Read and see for yourself.

17. 32 Clever Lead Generation Ideas For Your Next Marketing Campaign

If you’re on the hunt for leads (and who isn’t?) check out Unbounce’s awesome assortment of lead-generating tips. Get your pen and paper ready, because those names and numbers will soon be flooding in!

18. 9 Best Email Subject Lines to Your Increase Open Rates

A great email is useless if no one reads it – learn which email subject lines you need to get noticed in the inbox. From yours truly!

Best Internet Marketing Articles: Social Media

19. 45 Fabulous Facebook Advertising Tips & Magic Marketing Tricks

We take you through all things Facebook – from advertising 101 to social posts that drive engagement and dialogue. We’ve got you covered with this one-stop shop for Facebook marketing.

20. 6 Social Media Marketing Strategies to Drastically Improve Your Efforts in 2014

Margot daCunha of WordStream takes us through six spectacular social media strategies that will continue to prove valuable long after 2014 comes to a close.

21. 5 Brilliant Ways to Use #Hashtags in Social Media Marketing

Search Engine Watch takes us through a lesson in hashtags, covering the history of hashtags online and citing successful hashtag campaigns. #HashtagHelp

22. 50 Tweetable Tips You Wish You Knew Years Ago

HubSpot gives 50 short and sweet Twitter tips that every marketer should skim through. The coolest part? Every tip is tweetable! It’s tweetception – quick, get Leo over here!

23. How to Easily Double Your Traffic from Social Media

Kiss Metrics explains how to get the most out of your social media networks by reposting your content multiple times. You’ll even get help developing a social sharing schedule to ensure that you’re sharing your content multiple times without getting labeled as a spammer.

24. 13 Ways to Beat the Facebook Algorithm

Our own Larry Kim dishes out 13 strategies for fighting the new brand bashing Facebook algorithm blues.

25. New Report Reveals Just How Drastically Brand Engagement is Plummeting on Facebook

Facebook has been wreaking havoc on brand engagement since their algorithm update in June 2014. Organic engagement has plummeted for everyone from Disney to Intel, as this report for Contently illustrates.

26. Ultimate List of IFTTT Recipes for Marketers

If you don’t know about IFTTT it’s time to learn! IFTTT is a free automation tool that lets you connect functionality between different apps. For example, you could use IFTTT to automatically post your instagram pics on Twitter. IFTTT is one of the tools featured in our social media promotion tools. In this post, Seer Interactive details the ultimate list of IFTTT recipes specifically for marketing masters. Check it out!

27. Study: How Marketers Optimize Their Social Content

B2B Marketing Mentor provides some awesome data on how many social media outlets the average marketer uses, how many social media posts marketers conduct each day, how many marketers schedule posts in advance, etc. Definitely an interesting study worth taking a look at.

28. 5 Painfully Obvious But Extremely Effective Facebook Tactics Nobody Told You About

Unbounce elaborates on some obvious tactics, brining the discussion to some not-so-obvious places. Studies have shown emoticons increase comments, but as Unbounce shows, not all emoticons are created equal! :0

Best Internet Marketing Articles: Conversion Optimization

29. Beginner’s Guide to Conversion Rate Optimization

Qualaroo presents a thorough guide to conversion rate optimization. Learn why it matters and how to create your own tailored testing and optimization plan. Long live CROs, the true defenders of the realm.

30. Everything You Know About Conversion Rate Optimization Is Wrong

You thought you knew conversion rates – but you thought wrong! Larry Kim debunks some common conversion rate canon and shows what a truly good conversion rate looks like.

31. 6 Proven Ways to Boost the Conversion Rates of Your Call-to-Action Buttons

Copyblogger takes us into some intense conversion rate testing with call-to-action buttons. See what works and what doesn’t in this super thorough and handy article.

Are you thinking: I can’t believe they didn’t include ___________ in the list!? Tell us what digital marketing news we missed in the comments!

[“source=wordstream”]

November 14, 2021 0 comment

Education

Education review 2019: A year of stretched school budgets

by Loknath Das January 5, 2020

written by Loknath Das

Photo of all kids putting hands up - stock photo

It was another year when balance sheets were as much a part of education as books.

Throughout 2019 there were several high-profile warnings about stretched budgets in schools.

In July, the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee at Westminster said a lack of money was having a devastating impact on schools.

In the continuing absence of devolution, MPs had carried out an inquiry into education funding.

Their findings were echoed by the economic research body, the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS).

It said Northern Ireland had faced the highest school spending cuts per pupil in the UK over the past decade.

As the year ended, the new head of the Education Authority added her voice to the chorus.

Sara Long said no more could be done in some schools to save money.

In October, though, the authority itself came under fire from a Belfast primary school principal in an extraordinary letter.

Diane Dawson said she had struggled to get help for some pupils with special educational needs (SEN), and claimed the EA was in “meltdown.”

Students in classroom — Image captionThe proportion of children with autism in Northern Ireland schools has almost trebled in a decade, according to the Department of Health

A number of parents also spoke out about the problems they had getting appropriate help for their children with autism and other special needs.

The proportion of children with autism in Northern Irish schools has almost trebled in a decade, according to the Department of Health.

There have been many calls for “transformation” of the education system to improve provision and to save money.

For instance, an Ulster University report said more mergers between small schools could achieve both broad goals.

But while the existing area planning process for schools continues, big strategic decisions cannot be taken without an education minister in place.

Teacher marking, surrounded by books — Image captionFour of the five teaching unions have been in a dispute over pay and workload with the department

As the year ended amid a flurry of political negotiations there was also no end in sight to the teachers’ pay dispute.

Unions and management have reached a draft agreement, but it is unclear where the tens of millions of pounds needed to pay for it will come from.

It is sometimes easy to forget that a lot of good work still goes on in Northern Ireland’s schools.

A child writing in a notepad doing their school work — Image captionNorthern Ireland teenagers performed above the global average in international tests in reading.

The most visible manifestation of that is A-level and GCSE results where the performance of pupils continues to improve, even if there are still concerns over the fact that children from relatively affluent backgrounds do better than disadvantaged children.

Teenagers in Northern Ireland also performed above the global average in international tests in reading.

Many schools go the extra mile to help newcomer and refugee pupils settle quickly.

Northern Ireland has resettled proportionately more Syrian refugees than any other part of the UK, and many are under 18.

Media captionMohammed picked up plenty of languages during his journey from Syria to Northern Ireland

One Syrian pupil in Belfast “went viral” due to his aptitude for languages.

Unfortunately a virus of a different kind struck a number of schools in November and some were forced to close due to the effects of the winter vomiting bug on pupils and staff.

In higher education, our two main universities continued to carry out cutting-edge research.

They are also vital to the Northern Ireland economy but they also made the headlines for other reasons.

Image captionBelfast’s Union Theological College is run by the Presbyterian Church in Ireland

Queen’s University cut long-standing ties with a Presbyterian-run college due to a number of concerns raised by internal university reviews.

Ulster University, meanwhile, endured a difficult end to 2019.

An audit office report revealed that its new Belfast campus building was set to go over £100m over budget, while its vice-chancellor Professor Paddy Nixon announced he was leaving for a post in Australia.

Image captionStranmillis University College is one of two teacher training colleges in Belfast

Meanwhile, Stranmillis and St Mary’s University Colleges began working in partnership to ensure students training to be teachers in both institutions would be able to access the Certificate in Religious Education.

It is necessary to be employed as a teacher in a Catholic primary or nursery school.

Our schools, colleges and universities continue to innovate, but many in education will be following events at Stormont early in 2020 closely as significant change still relies on political decision-making.

[“source=bbc”]

January 5, 2020 0 comment

Internet

HTC is not leaving the mobile business, plans new phones for next year

by Loknath Das November 23, 2018

written by Loknath Das

You’ve not seen the last of HTC yet – the company plans to introduce one new device before the end of the year and to continue innovating in 2019. The company plans to integrate AI, blockchain and 5G technologies to strengthen its mobile portfolio.

But that’s for next year, this year (near the end of December) we’ll see a 6GB/128GB version of the HTC U12 life. The phone is currently only available in a 4/64GB configuration. It does support microSD expansion, but it has a hybrid slot, which doesn’t work for those who need the dual SIM functionality.

HTC will also continue building its VR/AR platform and deliver more content. It sees the headsets and mobile phones as related technologies. The screens certainly are, but carriers are also keen to push 5G for VR/AR use (where low latency is vital).

As for the blockchain, the Exodus 1 is set to ship next month. It packs hardware and software features related to cryptocurrencies and is aimed squarely at enthusiasts – you can only pay for it in crypto.

[“source=marketingweek]

November 23, 2018 0 comment

Internet

Xiaomi Plans to Enter US Market Next Year, Says Ties Will Help Avoid Trade Tensions

by Loknath Das July 4, 2018

written by Loknath Das

Xiaomi Plans to Enter US Market Next Year, Says Ties Will Help Avoid Trade Tensions

HIGHLIGHTS

Xiaomi is set to enter the US next year
The company is considering the US market “very attractive”
Xiaomi’s Senior Vice President Wang Xiang confirmed the development

Xiaomi is aiming to enter the US a long time after gaining success in India and China. The company also recently entered Europe and the UK. The Beijing-based smartphone maker that sells its Mi and Redmi range of handsets is reportedly in development to foray into the US market as early as next year. The latest development emerges in the midst of hindrances faced by Chinese companies, including Huaweiand ZTE, that are seeking their market expansion through the US market. Xiaomi notably launched its online store in the US to sell its accessories back in 2015, however, none of its smartphone models have so far formally been available in the country.

Senior Vice President Wang Xiang confirmed Xiaomi’s plan to Reuters. Xiang said that the US market was “very attractive” and the company is adding engineering resources to make its handsets compatible with US carriers. “Next year we hope we can do something there,” the executive told the news agency.

In December, Huawei announced the plans to expand its presence in the US and set to bring the Mate 10 as the first model on AT&T. But the deal between the Chinese company and AT&T suddenly collapsed in January and in March, Best Buy even stopped selling Huawei devices through its retail stores in the country.

Alongside Huawei, the US Department of Commerce in April banned American companies from selling components to ZTE for as many as seven years. The ban was imposed on the Chinese telecom equipment maker for allegedly violating the terms of sanctions violation case. Recently, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) also blocked China Mobile from offering its services to the US telecom market.

Xiaomi’s Wang believed that the trade tensions between the US and China introduced “uncertainty” but downplayed their impact on plans for the US market. Xiaomi already has relationships in the US market, such as Qualcomm and Alphabet, and these should help the consumer-facing company avoid the political resistance faced by Huawei and ZTE. He also highlighted that the company already has a large number of engineers and investors from the US.

While Xiaomi’s arrival in the US is yet to take place, the company has already expanded its presence widely in the key European markets. It kicked off its operations in Spain late last year and tied up with CK Hutchison in March this year to step into other European markets and the UK. Xiaomi Chairman Lei Jun also recently showed the interest in entering the US market after the initial success in the western world through the Europe and UK debut. “We’ve always been considering entering the US market,” Jun was quoted in a Wall Street Journal report in March. “We plan to start entering the market by end 2018, or by early 2019,” he had added.

According to a recent report by research firm Strategy Analytics, Xiaomi was the fourth largest smartphone vendor in the world with whopping 125 percent annual growth in the first quarter of 2018. The company is also the most dominating vendor in India, leading the market with 30.3 percent market share, as recently reported by IDC.

[“Source-gadgets.ndtv”]

July 4, 2018 0 comment

News Update

In-Flight Connectivity Likely to Start Within a Year: Manoj Sinha

by Loknath Das June 13, 2018

written by Loknath Das

In-Flight Connectivity Likely to Start Within a Year: Manoj Sinha

HIGHLIGHTS

Telecom Commission had approved in-flight connectivity on 1 May
He was holding a press meet to share the achievements of DoT
Almost all recommendations by TRAI on this have been accepted

With the Department of Telecommunications taking a lot of “progressive steps”, the government hopes that within a year it can provide in-flight connectivity within Indian airspace, Communications Minister Manoj Sinha said here on Monday.

“In one year we will be able to provide in-flight connectivity,” Sinha told reporters.

He was holding a press meet to share the achievements of the Department of Telecommunications and Department of Posts in the last four years.

It was learnt that Communications Ministry officials will be meeting their counterparts in the Civil Aviation Ministry along with the telecom service providers in a week to 10 days to discuss this matter.

The Telecom Commission on May 1 had approved in-flight connectivity, facilitating both voice and data calls and data surfing in Indian airspace.

“Almost all recommendations by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) on this have been accepted. We are expediting the process (to start) and within 3-4 months it should be ready. We will be operationalising this decision immediately,” Telecom Secretary Aruna Sundararajan had said earlier.

Sundararajan said: “We have to create a separate category of licensee, called In-Flight Connectivity Provider. This will also be applicable for ships. Re. 1 will be the token licence fee. It is applicable above 3,000 metres.”

She also said that the matter need not go to the Cabinet for approval.
[“Source-gadgets.ndtv”]

June 13, 2018 0 comment

Internet

Microsoft Garage Now in India; Bengaluru Expansion Planned for This Year

by Loknath Das March 26, 2018

written by Loknath Das

Microsoft Garage Now in India; Bengaluru Expansion Planned for This Year

HIGHLIGHTS

Microsoft has inaugurated India’s first Garage facility
The facility is located at the Microsoft Developer Centre in Hyderabad
A similar facility is in plans to debut in Bengaluru later this year

Microsoft on Monday formally inaugurated its first Garage facility in India. Spread across 8,000 square feet, the new Garage facility gives Microsoft employees a resource to support their experimentation and help them nurture new ideas. The facility is located at the Microsoft Development Centre in Hyderabad, Telangana and includes three dedicated lab sections, including a Hub for hackathons and workshops, a Makers Space, a Advanced Makers Space with electronic workbench, 3D printers, laser cutter, and PCB milling machine for creating prototypes, as well as a Reality Room to enable developments around Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR), and Mixed Reality (MR). There is also a dedicated space and equipment to enable deep learning developments. The Redmond giant first launched the Garage as its programme to support ideas generated by employees back in 2009.

Some of the projects that have successfully been launched by Microsoft employees through the Garage programme include Seeing AI, SMS Organizer, Favourite Lock Screen, and Kaizala. India has been one of the focus markets for the Garage team for a long time, and the latest facility is the second largest after the one located in Redmond, as specified by Jeff Ramos, Partner Director of Microsoft Garage, during a press briefing at the Garage facility on Monday. The executive also stated that work for the Garage facility in India began 12 months ago and its operations have been functioning at the same venue without the facility for some time.

jeff ramos microsoft garage hyderabad gadgets 360 Jeff Ramos Microsoft

Jeff Ramos detailing Garage locations across the world

Apart from the new facility in Hyderabad, Ramos at the press briefing revealed that Bengaluru is next on the radar for Microsoft. “India is the place in the world, outside North America, where we have great people with creative ideas,” he said, adding, “We have committed plans to open our Garage facility in Bengaluru in this calendar year.”

Microsoft has assigned the Garage programme in India to Reena Dayal Yadav, who was previously heading a Makerz Lab focused on Internet of Things (IoT) at the same Developer Centre in Hyderabad. “The success of the Garage is to harness the creativity of our people to work on new ideas,” Yadav told the reporters during the Monday briefing.

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Reena Dayal Yadav explaining the innovation life cycle to media

Alongside giving a platform to employees to give their ideas and create new solutions, Microsoft Garage includes a Ship channel that helps people take their projects to the market. On how Microsoft decides the place for its Garage facility, Ramos said, “Where we have smart people, who work hard, we open our Garage.”

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The Makers Space, from outside

Speaking at the launch of the first Garage facility in India, K. Taraka Rama Rao, Minister for IT, Government of Telangana, said, “Telangana is fast evolving as the hotbed for innovation, we are really glad that Microsoft has chosen Hyderabad as the location for The Garage in India.” The inauguration function was also attended by Jayesh Ranjan, Principal Secretary, Government of Telangana, Microsoft India Corporate Vice President of Cloud and Enterprise Anil Bhansali, and Microsoft Global Corporate Vice President of Artificial Intelligence and Research (AI&R) T.K. Rengarajan.

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The Makers Space, from inside

Furthermore, the developers working on the SMS Organizer app that was launched recently to organise messages on Android devices have added Indic language support with Hindi and Telugu languages initially under a new beta version to support the new development. The team is in plans to expand that localisation effort by bringing more Indian languages on board in the coming future.

[“Source-gadgets.ndtv”]

March 26, 2018 0 comment