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Sanket Barot

JMD Computer India.com

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Goa students to get tablets, notebooks for Rs 25

Students in Goa can now get a tablet PC or a notebook for just Rs 25.

The digital largesse is a part of the Goa government education department's initiative to familiarise Class V and VII students with computers in order to "prepare them for the life ahead and get them curious about the e-systems", according to additional director education Anil Powar.

"General category students will have to pay only Rs.25 while SC and ST students will have to pay Rs.10 to register for the scheme," Powar told reporters here Tuesday.

The official said that the state government was making arrangements for purchasing nearly 50,000 notebooks and tablet PCs for distribution.

"All the computers will have a special e-learning packages. After a day in class, the students will now be able to revise their tutions at home over the tablets," Powar said, adding that a provision of Rs.95 crore had already been made for the purchase of the computers in the last budget presented by Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar.

All the systems will have inbuilt security systems installed to ensure that the computers are not misused for pornographic purposes and other controversial web applications, but the education department will also take an undertaking from the student's parents before handing over the computers.

"It is a no objection certificate saying they are OK with us giving them the computers. The parents should also be in a position to both goad the students to logging onto the right websites," he said.

The Goa government was the first state government in the country to give out free laptops to students over a decade ago.

Read more »

More top universities to offer free online courses

More top universities outside the United States are joining the rush to offer "massive open online courses" that are broadening access to higher education.

Coursera and edX, two leading providers of so-called MOOCs, announced major expansions that will roughly double the number of university partners offering free online classes through their websites.

Mountain View, California-based Coursera said it will add 29 institutions, including 16 outside the US Over the next several months, they will offer about 90 new courses, including some taught in French, Spanish, Italian and Chinese.

"Having courses taught in other languages will enable more students to take our classes," said Andrew Ng, a Stanford University professor who co-founded Coursera.

Coursera currently offers 220 courses from 33 institutions and has nearly 2.8 million registered users who have signed up for nearly 10 million courses, Ng said.

The new partners include Chinese University of Hong Kong, Technical University of Denmark, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico as well as the universities of Copenhagen, Geneva and Toyko.

Cambridge, Massachusetts-based edX said it's adding six new institutions, including five outside the US, which will provide at least 25 courses.

EdX, which was launched in May by Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, currently offers 25 courses from six universities and has 700,000 registered students.

The new partners are Australian National University, Delft University of Technology, Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne, McGill University, Rice University and the University of Toronto.

Delft University in the Netherlands will be the first edX partner to provide courses as "open content," which means other universities are free to incorporate the materials into their classes, said edX President Anant Agarwal.

"People can reuse it and remix it," Agarwal said. "It enables courses to get better and better over time by allowing people to share content."

Read more »

Internet rates may go up

Industry body ISPAI said that rates of internet and broadband services may go up under new licenses framework due to high entry fee proposed by Department of Telecommunications (DoT).

DoT has proposed to charge one-time entry of Rs 15 crore for a national level Unified Licence compared to Rs 30 lakh which companies pay for internet services at present.

"DoT has not done anything new as per the proposed format for Unified Licence regime. They are going ahead with option to continue the old licence format along with a new national level Unified Licence (UL) that will cost Rs 15 crore.

"If internet service providers opt for UL, then cost of internet and broadband services will go up," Internet Service Provider Association of India's (ISPAI) President Rajesh Charia told PTI.

In the new licencing regime, DoT should allow internet telephony which would lead to low cost call service that would benefit even rural area the country where illiteracy is very high.

"VoIP is widely accepted application. Foreign companies who are not registered with DoT are providing voice calling service both between Computer to Computer and Computer to landlines.

"They don't even have licences. We pay annual charges to DoT and should be allowed to provide voice services across networks," he said.

A DoT internal committee has recommended to allow ISPs with wireless broadband spectrum (BWA) to provide voice telephony service using these airwaves. In 2010, six private players including Reliance Jio Infocom, formerly Infotel Broadband, Tikona Digital and Augere had won BWA spectrum.

The committee has left it for higher authorities to decide if players who won BWA spectrum in 2010 should be asked to make additional payment of Rs 1,658 crore which was charged from telecom players till 2008 for providing mobile telephony.

The licence issued to mobile telephony operators for Rs 1,658 crore had 4.4 Mhz spectrum bundled with it but government has announced to provide no spectrum with UL.

Read more »

Facebook says it was hacked

Facebook said on Friday it had been the target of an unidentified hacker group, but it found no evidence that user data was compromised.

"Last month, Facebook security discovered that our systems had been targeted in a sophisticated attack," the company said in a blog post posted on Friday afternoon, just before the three-day Presidents Day weekend. "The attack occurred when a handful of employees visited a mobile developer website that was compromised."

The social network, which says it has more than one billion active users worldwide, also said: "Facebook was not alone in this attack. It is clear that others were attacked and infiltrated recently as well."

Facebook declined to comment on the motive or origin of the attack.

A security expert at another company with knowledge of the matter said he was told the Facebook attack appeared to have originated in China.

The FBI declined to comment, while the Department of Homeland Security did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

Facebook's announcement follows recent cyber attacks on other prominent websites. Twitter, the micro blogging social network, said earlier this month it had been hacked and that about 250,000 user accounts were potentially compromised, with attackers gaining access to information, including user names and email addresses.

Newspaper websites, including those of The New York Times (NYT.N), The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal, have also been infiltrated. Those attacks were attributed by the news organizations to Chinese hackers targeting coverage of China.

While Facebook said no user data was compromised, the incident could raise consumer concerns about privacy and the vulnerability of personal information stored within the social network.

Facebook has made several privacy missteps over the years because of the way it handled user data and it settled a privacy investigation with federal regulators in 2011.

Facebook said it spotted a suspicious file and traced it back to an employee's laptop. After conducting a forensic examination of the laptop, Facebook said it identified a malicious file, then searched company-wide and identified "several other compromised employee laptops."

Another person briefed on the matter said the first Facebook employee had been infected via a website where coding strategies were discussed.

The company also said it identified a previously unseen attempt to bypass its built-in cyber defenses and that new protections were added on February 1.

Because the attack used a third-party website, it might have been an early-stage attempt to penetrate as many companies as possible.

If they followed established patterns, the attackers would learn about the people and computer networks at all the infected companies. They could then use that data in more targeted attacks to steal source code and other intellectual property.

In its statement, Facebook said the attack was launched using a "zero-day," or previously unknown flaw in its software that exploited its Java built-in protections.

"Zero-day" attacks are rarely discovered and even more rarely disclosed. They are costly to launch and often suggest government sponsorship.

In January 2010, Google reported it had been penetrated via a "zero-day" flaw in an older version of the Internet Explorer Web browser. The attackers were seeking source code and were also interested in Chinese dissidents, and Google reduced its operations in the country as a result.

Attention to cyber security has ratcheted up since then and this week President Barack Obama issued an executive order seeking higher safety standards for critical infrastructure.

Other companies stand to benefit more from comprehensive legislation, which has stalled in Congress. Republicans have opposed additional regulations that would come with mandatory security standards.

Read more »

Now, charge your phone with coffee and beer

A new device that can charge your mobile phone with a hot cup of coffee or a cold beer mug has been developed by a US company.

The company claims that the two-sided Epiphany onE Puck converts the warmth of your hot cocoa or iced beverage into power for your phone. The lightweight device is portable enough to store in your purse or day bag for emergencies.

The device uses a Stirling engine powered solely by heat disparities to generate the electricity to keep your phone up and running, Gizmag reported.

Stirling engines were actually invented in 1816 as a rival to the steam engine, but its use was limited to low-power applications for a long time.

Epiphany Labs is using modern materials to use the technology in a rather different way. The most obvious evolution comes in terms of size.

The working prototype of the Epiphany onE Puck is not much larger than the bottom of a cup, so it's small enough to carry around easily.

The device has two sides - a blue side for cold drinks and a red side for hot drinks. According to its creators, a hot drink is the optimal way to charge a device.

It comes with a USB port that can charge any device that draws 1000mA or less. This means it can charge iPhones, Androids, iPods and other USB-based devices.

Epiphany Labs claims that, in ideal circumstances, the device would be able to charge your phone at the same speed you would see plugging it in directly to a wall.

It will also work in less-than-ideal conditions, but if you are not placing a fresh hot drink on the Puck, you will have to wait a little longer for your device to receive a full charge.

The team from Epiphany Labs has a working prototype, and is turning to Kickstarter to get the funding needed for production.

Read more »

7 tips avoid Facebook hack

People who do have little or no time to maintain Facebook profiles, can do seven things to at least minimize the damage when their account gets hacked, a report has said.

Firstly, change your name. If you tweak your name just a little, or use a nickname, it will be easier for you after the inevitable hack.

Opening more than one account can also help. It violates Facebook's terms of service, but 80 million accounts already do it, says privacy expert John Sileo.

Secondly, stop geotagging your photos. Geotagging includes the latitude and longitude where a picture was taken, the Huff Post reports.

Thirdly, lie about your age as it is a key piece of information needed to steal your identity.

The fourth and one of the most important rules is that do not store your credit card information on the site, the report said.

According to the report, another important step is to 'have some boundaries'. Foe example when Facebook asks you where your photo was taken, keep it to yourself.

Don't brag about new cars, especially if your photos show where you keep the keys in your kitchen, the report said.

The sixth important step is to go through your timeline and remove posts that provide personally identifiable information.

Lastly, deactivate your account. You can't get hacked if you don't have an account, the report said.

And the most important 'bonus Pro Tip' according to the report is: 'Don't use your Facebook password anywhere else. That's making it way too easy for the bad guys.

Read more »

Instagram boasts 90 million monthly active users, 40 million photos per day

Instagram might have gotten some crazy backlash from its policy changes back in December, for which they pulled an about face and returned it back to normal. However, a lot users were done with the service at that point, and vowed to switch to an alternative. Then again, that doesn’t seem to be scaring Instagram too much, as the company has reported 90 million monthly active users, as well as 40 million photos being posted per day.

AllThingsD notes that the service’s monthly active user base is actually up 10% from last month, so it seems that the privacy policy debacle wasn’t a huge deal for its users after all. Instagram’s Kevin System says that the company “continues to see very strong growth around the world.”

Along with those 40 million photos being posted every day, Instagram says that its users are liking photos at a rate of 8,500 per second and are posting 1,000 comments per second as well. This actually marks the first time that Instagram has posted statistics on its user base, but detailed numbers are still scarce.

According to AppData, Instagram use on iOS and Android actually rose quite a bit late last month, but with use on Facebook falling by 25%. Furthermore, according to AppStats, Instagram apparently saw their active user numbers cut in half to 40 million, but according to Instagram’s own numbers, that’s clearly not true.

Story Timeline

• SlashGear 101: Does Instagram own my photos?
• How to Ditch Instagram
• Five Instagram Alternatives you're going to love
• Instagram co-founder responds to user outrage
• Amid Instagram Madness, What Terms of Use Should Take for Granted
• Instagram updates its terms of service after massive backlash
• Instagram took the lazy, sneaky way out
• Instagram iOS and Android update adds new filter, support for 25 languages
• Instagram Privacy Policy prodded with Class-Action lawsuit
• Foursquare makes Privacy tweaks, wary of Instagram-style backlash

Instagram boasts 90 million monthly active users, 40 million photos per day is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 - 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

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Facebook‘s annual hacker competition opens for registration

Social networking giant Facebook has opened registration for its third annual Hacker Cup, set to begin from January 25.

The top prize will be $ 10,000 (approx. Rs 5.5 lakh) as against $ 5,000 (Rs 2.75 lakh) last year and as many 25 of the best hackers will be taken to Facebook's headquarter in USA, a statement said.

The Facebook Hacker Cup is an annual worldwide programming competition where hackers compete against each other for fame, fortune, glory and a shot at the coveted Hacker Cup.

"The competition will be held in two rounds starting with an online qualification, out of which 25 of the best hackers are then flown by Facebook to their headquarters inMenlo Park, CA," Facebook said.

"The preliminary round will be held between January 25 and February 16 while the onsite final round is scheduled for March 22-23, 2013.

Contestants will be judged on accuracy and speed as they race to solve algorithmic problems to advance through up to five rounds of programming challenges," it added.

Last year, the Hacker Cup attracted 8,000 participants from 150 countries, with the winner- Roman Andreev, hailing from Russia, Facebook said.

"Hacking is core to how we build at Facebook. Whether we're building a prototype for a major product like Timeline at a Hackathon, creating a smarter search algorithm, or tearing down walls at our new headquarters, we're always hacking to find better ways to solve problems," Facebook said in its Hacker's Cup page.

Facebook said that those who registered for a previous year are automatically registered for the competition year, however, they still need to check their information is up-to-date.

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How To Turn Your Boring Old Laptop Into A Cool Touch Screen Machine

Sure, Windows 8 - Microsoft's new touch screen operating system - will run just fine on PCs designed for Windows 7. But you won't be able to take advantage of the new touch capabilities the OS enables unless you scrap your existing PC and upgrade to a new computer.

Or maybe not.

At the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, a company out of China demonstrated a peripheral that combines a stylus and either a USB or wireless receiver to touch-enable a non-touch screen LCD monitor or laptop screen.

The technology has made its way to the United States via Shenzhen Yifang Digital Technology Co. Ltd., mercifully shortened to Yifang Digital, whose E Fun brand markets the APEN Touch8 system in the United States. Got that?

Discovering the Touch8 digitizer was a happy coincidence. Wandering though CES' maze of booths, you never quite know what you'll find. In the rear of the South Hall, for example, Trojan was handing out thousands of vibrators. So there's that.

Yifang was showing off several versions of the Touch8, including a USB-powered model and one that used wireless technology. According to Eric Ju, an account development manager with the digital pen business unit within Yifang, the company is attempting to license or has already licensed the technology to accessory vendor Targus, which is marketing a very similar device known as the Touch Pen. The Targus Touch Pen costs $99.99 and will be available during the second quarter; the Touch8 will be available this quarter for $79.99. Targus representatives, who were likely flying home from Las Vegas, could not be reached for comment.

The Touch8 system, and presumably the Touch Pen as well, both use a receiver that mounts to one side of your screen. A combination of ultrasonic and infrared beams detects the stylus' soft, fuzzy tip, orienting it on the screen. Ju told me that a brief period of 'training' the system is required, so the Touch8 learns the boundaries of the available touchscreen real estate. The stylus itself requires power, but it can be used for 500 hours (about 62 days of 8-hour workdays) without replacing the small, watch-sized batteries that power it.

I was able to play around with the Touch8 for several minutes. According to Ju, the system accommodates up to 15.6-inch displays, making the Touch8 suitable for a notebook or a small desktop monitor. The peripheral is magnetically clipped to the side of the notebook, and must be removed and recalibrated every time the notebook is closed. In other words, you'll have to suffer through some inconveniences to eliminate others.

To its credit, the Touch8 works well at what it does: Enabling 'touch.' Swiping works fine, and single-touch gestures seemed to work as advertised. True touch hardware, however, is multitouch, and I'm not even sure if holding two stylii together, chopsticks style, would even work. Right now, the Touch8 works best for drawing, swiping and other single-mode uses.

Should you buy one?

Yes, but only if:

• You're desperate for Windows 8 and touch interaction
• You're running a small monitor
• You leave your laptop on your desk
• You don't mind the absence of multitouch
• You're willing to spend $100 but not willing to buy a brand new machine

That's a pretty limited use case. But if you really want to use Windows 8 properly, you have to do something. I've used a mouse and keyboard with Windows 8, and while it's navigable, it's also sort of a pain; scrolling 'up' to slide your Windows 8 Start screen sideways simply feels awkward.

Pictures by Mark Hachman. Posted by JMD Computer

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Prepare These Questions For Job Interview Success: Answer of "Why did you leave your last job?" is very Important For Interviewer

The decision to hire or not usually comes down to how you perform with the  general interview questions that are sure to be asked. Some of these standard interview questions for the job are:

1. Why did you leave your last job?
2. Why have you had so many jobs in the past few years?
3. Can you explain this gap in your working history?
4. What are your long term career goals?
5. What do when dealing with people you dislike?

Once a collection of these type of questions start, you are really past the friendly chit chat stage that failed to put you at your ease. You can feel the temperature of the room increase to boiling point and your palms start to sweat.

Even though you thought up good answers when you were at home, under the pressure of the interviewer you mind most likely will go blank. You open your dry mouth and start to mumble answers that fail to make much sense to you and even less to your inquisitor.

In panic you begin to talk even faster, churning out half baked answers and you can feel the sweat start to trickle down you back. Your heart pounds in your chest and you long for it to be over. It's a vain hope, like wishing the dentist would finally put away that drill but they enjoy the torture too much and more questions follow. Your answers fail to impress.

After what seems like hours they finally jot down some notes, peer over their glasses and thank you for your time. Drained and exhausted you un-stick your dehydrated body from the soaked chair, forget to wipe your sweating palm and press it into their outstretched hand.

You can almost feel the steam rising from your collar as you unhurriedly rush for the door and freedom. You glimpse the interviewer holding his head in is hands as you leave without the prospect of a new job.

Interview is Gateway to Your Desired Job & Career, But Still You Have to Face the Competition, so You Must be Prepared Before Time.

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Samsung Galaxy S4 may have unbreakable screen

Samsung Electronics, the world's leading technology company by revenue, is likely accelerating the launch of its next-generation flagship Galaxy smartphone -- which may come with a breakthrough unbreakable screen.

Codenamed "Project J" after mobile division chief JK Shin, development of the new Galaxy S IV could be aimed for release by as early as April, according to analysts and tech blogs.

And, as smartphones increasingly look alike - the converging form factor - an unbreakable screen could be a big selling point for the Galaxy, which is battling Apple Inc's iPhone to lead the $200 billion plus smartphone market.

The Galaxy S IV is also expected to have bigger and better display, powerful quad-core processing power and a 13-megapixel camera, with picture density improving to 441 pixels per inch (ppi), a big improvement from the Galaxy S III's 306 ppi and better than the iPhone 5's 326 ppi.

"Looking to the first half of 2013, we see evidence of Samsung likely accelerating the release of the Galaxy S IV - compared with May (this year) for the Galaxy S III," said UBS analyst Nicolas Gaudois. "We believe preparations for volume manufacturing of unbreakable plastic substrate displays continue. All in all, we could see a strong products push in the high-end in the first half, followed by other releases."

Samsung declined to comment.

Samsung, a major backer of organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display, is a frontrunner in developing unbreakable screens, as OLED panels can replace glass substrate with plastic material. Down the road, mobile gadgets could be flexible as well as unbreakable.

"Eventually, they'll have unbreakable and flexible displays. Either the Galaxy S IV or S V will have unbreakable and even possibly flexible and foldable displays by 2014. That's going to be a game-changer," said Mark Newman, an analyst at Stanford Bernstein in Hong Kong.

Both Newman and Gaudois are ranked as 5-star analysts, the top ranking, by Thomson Reuters StarMine for their recommendations on Samsung.

Courtroom revisited

It would also be a game-changer for Samsung, which has built its reputation as a 'fast follower' of others' technologies and designs.

The South Korean consumer electronics giant faces off against Apple again on Thursday in a US courtroom for a follow-up ruling on whether it copied some of its US rival's patents and should pay the $1 billion awarded to Apple by jurors in an August verdict.

Samsung wants the verdict overturned, while Apple wants the damages to be increased and Samsung phones banned in the United States.

Since that landmark verdict, however, Samsung shares have gained 14 percent to record highs, while Apple shares - dented by a maps app fiasco, tight supply of its iPhone 5 and ever tougher competition in the mobile market - have slipped by nearly a fifth, wiping more than $120 billion off its market value.

Barring any extra costs related to the US ruling, Samsung should report a fifth straight record profit this quarter, as profits from its component business recover and more than offset thinning margins on mobile phones - squeezed by higher year-end holiday marketing campaigns.

"Samsung's strength extends beyond cool products, they're also a leader in the technology behind these devices. We see further upside to Samsung's stock as success in smartphones continues and chips and display profits also rebound," said Newman. "In smartphones, the opportunity is for Samsung to take more share from Apple in the premium segment, where Apple is still dominant."

UBS estimates Samsung will ship around 22.5 million of its Galaxy S III and Note II devices in the quarter to end-December, up from 20 million in July-September. Shin said in November that Galaxy S III sales would hit 40 million by the end of this month.

In a worst-case scenario for Samsung, US judge Lucy Koh could treble the damages payable to Apple, given the jury in August found Samsung "willfully" infringed some Apple patents.

"That would be a major blow to Samsung's fundamentals and overall investor sentiment, but it's not the most likely scenario," said Young Park, a 4-star StarMine analyst at Woori Investment & Securities.

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Samsung Galaxy S Duos S7562

Hi my Self Sanket Barot I Am Professional Blogger, SEO, Web Developer.

Today i had a Buy Samsung Galaxy S Duos S7562 Mobile from Seva Kendra – Mehsana Gujarat India Store. its Neared by Toranvali Mata’s (Pratima Computer).

In My Life 1st Time I had a Buy a Very Costly Mobile. i hope This Mobile is give a Good Response. 

GENERAL
2G Network
GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 - SIM 1 & SIM 2

3G Network
HSDPA 900 / 2100

SIM
Dual SIM (Mini-SIM, dual stand-by)

Announced
2012, July

Status
Available. Released 2012, September

BODY
Dimensions
121.5 x 63.1 x 10.5 mm (4.78 x 2.48 x 0.41 in)

Weight
120 g (4.23 oz)

- Touch-sensitive controls

DISPLAY
Type
TFT capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors

Size
480 x 800 pixels, 4.0 inches (~233 ppi pixel density)

Multitouch
Yes

SOUND
Alert types
Vibration, MP3, WAV ringtones

Loudspeaker
Yes

3.5mm jack
Yes

MEMORY
Card slot
microSD, up to 32 GB

Internal
4 GB storage, 768 MB RAM

DATA
GPRS
Yes

EDGE
Yes

Speed
HSDPA, 7.2 Mbps; HSUPA, 5.76 Mbps

WLAN
Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Wi-Fi hotspot

Bluetooth
Yes, v3.0 with A2DP

USB
Yes, microUSB v2.0

CAMERA
Primary
5 MP, 2592х1944 pixels, autofocus, LED flash, check quality

Features
Geo-tagging

Video
Yes, VGA@30fps

Secondary
Yes, VGA

FEATURES
OS
Android OS, v4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich), upgradable to v4.1

Chipset
Qualcomm MSM7227A Snapdragon

CPU
1 GHz Cortex-A5

GPU
Adreno 200

Sensors
Accelerometer, proximity, compass

Messaging
SMS (threaded view), MMS, Email, Push Email

Browser
HTML, Adobe Flash Lite

Radio
Stereo FM radio with RDS

GPS
Yes, with A-GPS support

Java
Yes, via Java MIDP emulator

Colors
White, Black

- SNS integration
- MP4/H.263/H.264/WMV player
- MP3/eAAC+/WMA/WAV player
- Organizer
- Document viewer
- Voice memo/dial
- Predictive text input

BATTERY
Standard battery, Li-Ion 1500 mAh

Stand-by
Up to 445 h (2G) / Up to 330 h (3G)

Talk time
Up to 13 h (2G) / Up to 7 h 25 min (3G)

MISC
SAR US
0.27 W/kg (head)     0.65 W/kg (body)   

SAR EU
0.47 W/kg (head)   

Price group Rs:  16,500 /-

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DoT issues new rules for buying SIM cards

Taking new mobile phone connection from will require physical verification of facts provided by subscribers and submission of forged documents will lead to police inquiry.

Tougher guidelines by the Department of Telecom, which took effect, make operators responsible for inaccurate information provided by subscribers for taking new pre-paid and post-paid mobile connections.

Under the new rules, the authorized person selling SIM cards will have to give an undertaking that he has seen the applicant and matched the photograph attached on the application form.

Retailers and franchisees selling mobile SIM cards will have to register police complaint against subscribers if they submit forged documents to get the connections.

All the telecom operators across the country are required to comply with the new guidelines.

"By and large we are compliant with most of the norms though there are a few areas for which we have sought clarifications from DoT like verification of date of birth and age," GSM industry body COAI director general Rajan S Mathews told PTI.

He said the government has indicated that the operators have to verify certain documents which include date of birth and age of users.

"We have asked DoT what should we do in case if the user has no documents related to his date of birth," he said.

COAI is expecting a reply on the issues in the next few days.

Read more »

10 things to know while buying TVs this festive season

The festive season is here and many people are looking to make a big purchase during this auspicious time. Are you considering a new television for your home, but are unsure of the things to look for while selecting your grand TV? Don't be misguided by the advertisers and the smooth-talk of retailers while making the purchase that you may plan to keep for a long time. 

Save a few bucks and make the best choice by going through the list of 10 things you must know before buying that TV. 

Display type - OLED vs LED vs LCD vs Plasma 
This is one of the biggest dilemma for all buyers, whether they should stick to the ageing Plasma TVs, go for the currently popular LED and LCD televisions or invest in OLED TVs, the technology of the future. 

For starters, Plasma TVs will save you a lot of money but don't think about the initial cost only, since this type of television draws much more power than any of its competitors. Moreover, since it is an outgoing display technology, manufacturers will stop customer support in a few years, leaving you stranded if you need a component replaced. Nevertheless, Plasma TVs offer superior contrast and dark blacks, along with excellent viewing angles. 

LCD TVs use CCLFs (Cold Cathode Fluorescent Lamps) and are the next in line in terms of power consumption; however, these score poorly when it comes to viewing angles. Though cheaper than LED televisions, they cost a bit more than generation-old Plasma TVs and can be quite expensive when it comes to large screen sizes. 

LED TVs, the most popular today, are basically LCD televisions with LEDs (Light Emitting Diodes) instead of CCFLs. Currently the best in the crop of displays in terms of power consumption, these offer better blacks than LCD televisions and are comparatively thinner as well. This type of TV also responds well to colour variations and acute viewing angles, giving the best user experience. 

OLED is the display technology of the future, with the thinnest screen, amazing colour rendition, lower power consumption and better viewing angles than existing display types. However, TVs with OLED displays are extremely costly and suffer from poor lifespan. 

Panel type - VA vs IPS

LED and LCD and televisions available today come with either IPS or VA panels. Since both types of TVs have LCD displays (LED televisions are LCD televisions with LED bulbs instead of CCFLs), both have liquid crystals. The different between IPS and VA panels lies between the alignment of the liquid crystals -- horizontal in IPS and vertical in VA panel. 

The advantage that IPS has over VA is that there is no distortion or damage to the screen even if it is hit quite hard. Apart from that, it also offers great viewing angles and maintains consistency of colours. Therefore, if you are worried about your kids damaging the brand new television, then go for IPS panels, otherwise VA panels will be suitable. LG and Philips use IPS panels, while others like Sony and Samsung have VA displays. 

Pixelation is the same with both the panels and you should be seated at least eight to 10 feet away from the TV for best picture quality. 

Brightness

Brighter display does not always make a better TV. If you go for a TV that offers high brightness, the dark colours - like grey and black - will appear dull. Brightness level in LED TVs is the best since the blacks appear dark as well, while Plasma and LCD televisions follow it from afar. 

Power consumption

LED TVs are the best choice if you are concerned about the amount of power consumed by your new television. This is because of the LED bulbs used in the display, which consume 20-30% less power than CCFL's of LCD TVs. Last in the race come Plasma televisions, which will add a hefty amount to your power bill as compared to LCD as well as LED TVs. 

Refresh rates

Refresh rate in a television refers to the speed at which the display changes images. Ever encountered the problem of motion blur on the TV? This is because of poor refresh rate. Higher refresh rate in a television translates to a clearer picture quality and reduce this motion blur or ghosting. Moreover, when it comes to gaming, the refresh rates matter a lot. 

If you want to connect your Xbox, Play Station or Wii to your TV, then Plasma televisions are the best option, since the refresh rate can reach up to 600Hz. On the other hand, LCD TVs deliver the worst results when the subject is of refresh rates and motion blur is a common complaint. A LED television can be a decent choice since it can handle high refresh rates in videos and games and render a quality image. 

Internet, voice control and apps

Internet connectivity in a TV is among the new advancements introduced in TVs, making them the much touted SmartTVs. But do you really plan to use internet on a big screen television? If you want to watch YouTube videos, chat with friends, check mails, play games and access Facebook on a TV, then you only have a handful options in the market. You can also look forward to features like gesture control, voice control and access to apps with these televisions. 

Just so you know, accessing all forms of online content on the television would require you to attach a keyboard and mouse to it via USB port. And be ready to pay a steep price for a set of features that you could probably access on your phone as well. 

If you decide against buying an internet-enabled TV, you can just link an Android set-top-box like Evo TV to your new non-internet television and enjoy all Android apps and seamless access World Wide Web on your TV. 

And before you go for an internet-enabled TV, take into account the bandwidth you would consume with this new device at your disposal. You should consider the data transfer limit that your plan has and the speed of your net connection before opting for an internet TV. 

3D viewing

3D viewing in a television is yet another feature that has caught the imagination of the masses. But the content producers, ie the companies which make 3D movies, videos etc, are still playing catch-up. There is a huge dearth of 3D content in the market and no TV can convert a 2D video into 3D. So, before going for a 3D television, be prepared to be disappointed since you will not be using that feature too much. 

If you wear spectacles and are thinking of investing in a 3D television, keep in mind that you would have to use contact lenses in order to view the 3D images comfortably. You only alternative in India would be the 55-inch Toshiba 3D that renders three-dimensional images and videos without any glasses. However, this technological marvel costs a hefty Rs 12 lakh and may not be within everyone's budget. 

Companies that claim to have TVs that can convert 2D videos to 3D are simply reproducing the same image twice in order to add depth to it. This process is quite effective but the on-screen rendition is not of the same quality as true 3D videos. However, this technology allows you to watch real-time videos in 3D as well, so you can convert any type of movie into a 3D extravaganza, well almost. 
For 3D TVs, manufacturers usually provide a pair of 3D glasses for free. But for a family with kids or a joint family for that matter, you will need several more if the whole family wants to enjoy the experience together. These 3D glasses cost around Rs 2,000 in the Indian market, so depending upon the number of people in your family and the frequent guests, this amount can add up to a considerable amount. 

Burn in

Burn in is the condition in which an image remains on the TV screen even when the video has moved forward. This issue is attributed to phosphor, which is used in CRT and Plasma televisions. On the other hand, it does not affect LED TVs since they do not have phosphor at all, making them the best choice when it comes to this parameter. 

Though LCD TVs do not use phosphor either, an image can stick to the screen permanently if the liquid crystals render the same image for too long. Nevertheless, for home usage, this problem is hardly an issue and makes LCD televisions almost immune to the issue. 

Ports and accessories

With a swanky new TV come a host of ports, such as USB, Ethernet and HDMI, along with ports for AV and RF cables. These enable you to access content from Smartphone's, tablets and computers, connect to the internet and link the television to speakers. Remember more ports mean more functionality, since you may be at a loss if your TV has only one port and you want to attach a keyboard as well as a hard disk drive. 

There are a few of accessories you would be required to buy with a new TV. If you want to view the content on your smart phone or tablet on the big screen of television, then be prepared to purchase a HDMI-to-mini HDMI cable. On the other hand, a HDMI-to-HDMI cable would be the need of the hour if you wish to view content of your laptop on the TV. But most of all, remember to purchase a voltage stabiliser as sudden change in voltage can damage the device, putting the burden of repair costs on your shoulders. 

Festive season offers, warranty and EMI

When the festive season beckons, manufacturers and retailers roll out offers to lure buyers, from slashed price to pack of DVDs to home theatre systems. Of course, you can always bargain the price of the TV you choose with the seller. 

Another point to remember is that your new TV burns a hole in your pocket and its best that you opt for extended manufacturer warranty while making the purchase. This will make you immune to the associated costs in case any problems crop up with the device over time as the manufacturer will take care of the issue on its own. 

Since a decent big screen TV now costs over Rs 30,000 in India, you may want to consider EMIoption to soften the financial blow on you. Nowadays, retailers will take just the details of your ID card and credit card to process the transaction at 0% interest.

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