Airtel becomes First to Offer SMS2.0

Airtel, along with Affle, a leading mobile media company that currently operates out of India, Singapore, Thailand, UK, and USA, has launched SMS2.0, touted as the world's first upgrade to SMS.

With Affle being the inventor of this technology, Airtel claims to be the first in the country to offer this innovative service to its 55 million-odd customers.
SMS2.0 enables an interactive and non-intrusive platform on mobile phones that would allow Airtel users discover a host of relevant content services with enhanced messaging features.

While riding on the popularity of the familiar SMS application, SMS2.0 is unique in that it converges messaging, content, and contextual advertising into one seamless application that resides as the default SMS application on the customer's mobile handset.

SMS2.0 also serves free content to users, contextual to their areas of interest. The content is served in the form of teasers on the Message Compose/Read window and a Full Screen that appears along with the Message Sent/Sending Window.

Commenting on the launch of SMS 2.0, Sanjay Gupta, chief marketing officer (Mobile Services) of Airtel, said, "Trends indicate that youth and young professionals are more active users of messaging. SMS2.0 represents a huge opportunity for Airtel to differentiate itself, and further gain both mind-share and market-share in these segments."

SMS2.0's message personalization options include additional features like composing and sending messages with a variety of text, background colors, and emoticons.

The content experience is driven around leveraging SMS, and delivering user-relevant content such as news, jokes, movie updates, Cricket, Astrology, etc -- all seamlessly integrated into the messaging experience.

Available as a 'free upgrade' to the regular SMS application, Airtel subscribers can download SMS2.0 by sending "SMS2" to 543210. There are no charges for downloading the new application or for subsequent content delivery on this platform.

Transcend Intros T.Sonic 650 Player

The player sports a bright, dual-color 4-line OLED display with power-saving screen-savers. The display can be viewed at any angle, even in broad daylight. Besides, with the player's Karaoke-style lyrics sync function, the display proves good in singing along the lyrics. A convenient 4-way button built into the face of the player helps increase ease-of-use.

The T.sonic 650 has built-in FM radio with 20 station presets, and recording options. Features like A-B repeat and variable playback speeds are especially useful for students and professionals. Meanwhile, one-touch recording with voice activity detection allows users get high-quality gap-less voice recordings and personal memos.

The T.Sonic 650 comes with support for MP3, WMA, WAV, and even WMA-DRM10 subscription music.

Up to 1,000 favorite tracks can be stored with 4GB of storage. There are seven different equalizer modes to choose from, including Normal, Pop, Rock, Classical, Jazz, Bass, and a special User EQ (letting users make personal adjustments to create their own music styles).

Other features of the T.Sonic 650 include a real time clock that displays local and world times, internal rechargeable Li-ion battery that provides over 15 hours of playback, and high-speed USB 2.0 interface with USB flash drive and security functions.

The 650 is available in two capacities; 2GB (Ivory) and 4GB (Charcoal), through Supertron Electronics and Mediaman Infotech. The Ivory version costs Rs 3,800 while the Charcoal version comes for Rs 4,600.

Coming: A Wearable Computer!

We may soon be headed for a time when laptops, mobiles, and mobile devices no longer suffice to make us feel 'sufficiently mobile'.

Possibly such a premonition might have led one Andy Fagg from the Computer Science faculty at the University of Massachusetts to embark on his mission of developing a 'wearable computer'. Meaning, a computer that can be worn, like you wear shoes or jackets or watches, and that offers access to information- and communication- resources at any time during walking (waking) hours.
Fagg was quoted as saying that with general computing systems becoming smaller, we're reaching a point at which it's becoming conceivable to don these devices easily.

It's not about being able to write a paper or send an email while you're at the grocery store; rather about having digital assistance as you go about your life, Fagg explained.

Fagg's ultimate objective is to teach the computer to 'notice' a user's routine, and offer information accordingly.

For instance, if you happen to enter a conference room, the computer you're wearing should be able to figure out that you're going for a meeting, and accordingly pull-out appropriate documents, including minutes of the last meeting and related discussions, explained Fagg.

The other example he cited was that of the computer being able to recognize that you're going to cook a certain something for dinner, and being able to know exactly what's in stock in your kitchen cabinet, so that a call may be taken on what else is required, which the computer could then remind you to purchase from your friendly grocery store -- of course when you're passing by it...

WeP Intros Thermal Receipt Printer

WeP Peripherals has launched its thermal receipt printer, the TH400, which is targeted at retail formats for printing cash receipts, restaurants for printing kitchen orders, banks for printing tokens, toll gates for printing gate- and tax- receipts, theaters for printing movie tickets, and so on.

A smart and light printer, the TH400 promises printing speeds of 220mm per second. The thermal receipt printer boasts unique features, including character enlargement, Black mark sensor, bar code printing, and 256 Kb flash memory.
The TH400 has built-in parallel interfaces that can be changed to serial and USB or Ethernet interface options depending on user requirements. The printer promises non-stop performance with a MTBF of 360,000 power on hours.

Launching the product, Ramdinsanga Saiwi, marketing manager of WeP Peripherals, said their new thermal receipt printer is perfect for the growing requirements of the Indian Retail segment.

The TH400 is available for a MRP of Rs 13,800.

More 3 Piece Speakers from Genius

Genius has introduced yet another 3-piece, 2.1 desktop speaker system.

The SW-V2.1 1255 spews up to 40 Watts power, and has a 5.25-inches sub-woofer long-throw driver, and satellites with 3-piece, 2-inch Aluminum full range magnetically-shielded driver.

The system is accompanied by a wired controller with standby, volume, and bass adjustments. Meanwhile, the satellites can also be hanged on a wall to save on space.

Other features of the system include a headphone jack and AUX line-in jack for easy connection to other audio devices like CDs and MP3 players. The system also packs an extra converter cable for gaming consoles.

The Genius SW-V2.1 1255 is available with Transtek, Ingram Micro, and Redington, priced at Rs 4,590.

Buffalo Intros 400GB External HD

The MiniStation 400GB TurboUSB is a 5400rpm hard drive that not only helps users store large amounts of data on the move, but also delivers benefits of Buffalo TurboUSB technology. The key benefit being considerable acceleration in file transfer rates and performance up to 64 percent, the company claims.
A shock-resistant USB 2.0 portable hard drive, the HD-PS400U2 comes with a wrap-around cable for easy storage. It features a tough durable outer case and a shock-absorbent internal design, based on new improved floating structure.

No external power supply is required as it has the ability to draw power from the PC it is connected to. Plug-n-play capabilities allow the 400GB external hard drive to connect to any USB 2.0 port on a desktop, laptop, or Buffalo network attached storage device where software is loaded.

With Buffalo's Secure Lock Ware (SLW) utility1, data can be protected with up to 256bit AES Encryption technology. Further protection is afforded by multi-lingual Memeo Auto Backup software for Windows that offers improved back-up options.

The 400GB TurboUSB MiniStation range is available in India for Rs 19,999, along with a limited two-years warranty.

Portable Photo Printer from Epson

Epson has launched its PictureMate PM270 4R portable photo printer in the country.

The PictureMate PM270 utilizes Claria photographic inks to achieve photo lab-quality print-outs. It combines quality and speed by churning a lab-quality photo in just 37 seconds, and has a durability of up to 200 years, claims Epson.
The PM270 is also integrated with Claria PhotoEnhance, an automatic scene correction function that can optimize skin tones, color casts, and exposure levels.

The tiltable 3.6-inches color LCD screen allows users experience PC-less printing. Alternatively, users can plug-in their PictBridge devices in an extensive card slot for direct photo printing.

Users can enjoy wireless printing with the optional Bluetooth toggle, which also enables them to receive images from any Bluetooth-enabled device.

According to the company, the new PictureMate, as compared to previous models, lessens the number of buttons, besides sporting a new interface. It has a dedicated zoom function and improved design featuring membrane textured buttons that are easier on the fingers than plastic keys.

The PictureMate PM270 bundles 150 pieces of 4R photo paper and one ink cartridge (sufficient for 150 print-outs), and is priced at Rs 11,500.

Bible on Chip Smaller than Pinhead

Scientists from the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology have reached a major breakthrough in Nanotechnology by printing the entire Old Testament on a Silicon chip smaller than a pinhead -- thereby creating the world's smallest Bible.

The 'nano-Bible' is written on a Silicon chip, which is so small that it is less than 1/1000th of an inch in size.

How was it written? Using a focused ion beam (FIB) generator that shot tiny particles called Gallium ions onto a Gold surface covering a base layer of Silicone.

How long did it take? The actual 'writing' of full text took just 90 minutes. Whereas the computer program that guided the FIB generator took over three months.

What are the possibilities? Professor Uri Sivan, who conceived the idea of the miniature, said the research could lead to the creation of more advanced miniature structures and imaging on a nanometric scale, advancement in the storing of information in very small spaces, and usage of DNA molecules in storing information.

Meanwhile, the ongoing plan is to photograph the nano-Bible and expand it 10,000 times to make it fit into a 75-square foot frame to be hung in the Technion Faculty of Physics.

The size of the photograph will make it possible to read the entire Old Testament with the naked eye. The height of each letter will be three millimetres. And, the original nano-bible will be displayed next to the photograph.

NVIDIA extends SLI technology to three ways

If you think that having a pair of high end video cards running in your gaming rig is really hot (Crysis, anyone?), think again. NVIDIA has already upped the ante by extending its SLI technology, letting the user use multiple graphics processing units (GPUs) on a single computer. Instead of the usual two video cards, hardcore gamers will be able to take advantage of up to three GeForce graphics cards on a single machine. I’m sure those with a heart for the environment will probably cringe at such a development, considering the power requirements of such a computer system, but those concerns are but poppycock for those who want to smoothest frame rates possible at the highest resolutions. This new SLI setup will be unlike anything you’ve ever seen before, handling graphics intensive titles such as Call of Duty 4, Company of Heroes Opposing Fronts, Enemy Territory: Quake Wars, and Unreal Tournament 3 with ease despite turning on all the graphics settings to the maximum at the highest resolution, with antialiasing applied.

Official numbers of NVIDIA’s new 3-way SLI claim to deliver up to a 2.8x performance increase over a single GPU system, capable of spitting out 60 frames per second at resolutions as high as 2,560 x 1,600 and with 8x antialiasing. 3-way SLI technology would mean dialling back the image quality settings on the newest PC games to be a thing of the past. Imagine running Crysis at high resolutions such as 1,920 x 1,600 with all the advanced DirectX 10 effects such as motion blur, ambient occlusion, and soft shadows turned on without missing a beat - pure gaming nirvana if you ask me.

With 3-way SLI, gamers have more flexibility as they will be able to, over time, upgrade their machine by just adding on another video card. This works great as you will be able to work within your budget.

Zoombak Pet and Auto Locator

otta love that Hanson. They prophesized the Zoombak Pet and Auto Locator ten years before its release when they sang “Zoombak, Zoombak, Zoombak”. All right, I guess it was mmmbop, sorry.

Still, the Zoombak is worth singing about. The Zoombak is a GPS that is smaller than a deck of cards and weighs less than three ounces. Once it is activated, it releases a signal that someone can find 24/7.

It is perfect for the prevention of car theft. Since the Zoombak is small, it can go in the car virtually undetected. Then all you have to do is track the thief to his chop shop, and you can bust the thief in the act.

It is also good on pets, as it can be put on a dog’s collar unnoticed. Then if the dog gets out, it can be tracked within a few feet.

The Zoombak has a lot of great features including the way users can create a “safety zone” around the designated area. You can locate someone and receive updates via email, text message, or even from the website. In fact, it automatically updates a user when a GPS device will leave the safety zone.

If it is something you like, you can get it for about $199-249.

Simple adapter turns your SD card into an IDE drive

Flash memory is becoming cheaper every day. You can pick up a 2GB card for your camera for a little bit of nothing. With the ASUS Eee PC only having between 2GB and 8GB of storage, it makes me wonder if it wouldn’t speed up my computer considerably to get a small SSD drive for my computer, as they’re generally faster then traditional hard drives. Thanks to this cool adapter, I’ll be able to use one of my SD cards to do just that.

The adapter is about as basic and boring as it gets. All you have to do is insert an SD/MMC card, hook up a power cord and plug it into your IDE ribbon inside your PC and you’re all set. The adapter doesn’t require any special software or drivers to work, as it is simply recognized as an IDE drive by your BIOS.

This gadget isn’t going for most people. Tech enthusiasts and people looking to create embedded solutions will likely get the most out of it. The best part about this IDE to SD Card Adapter is that it won’t break the bank at $24.99.

Citizen unveils earthquake warning concept watch

Japan is a country that is extremely prone to earthquakes, so it is no wonder that Citizen of Japan recently paraded its innovative earthquake warning concept watch at the CEATEC Japan 2007 event. It was developed in part with Rhythm Watch, bringing together an Earthquake Early Warning (EEW) receiver and an analog watch. This Seismic watch works like any other timepiece that you purchase from a store, but upon receiving a signal from the EEW, it will cause the hour hand to speed up based on the seismic intensity estimation, whereas both the minute and second hands will give the countdown time to the earthquake’s arrival. Sounds great and will definitely be a life saver for most people. Imagine making this a compulsory item to have for every person in Japan - Citizen’s executives will definitely be laughing all the way to the bank.

Other than a visual clue, the wearer of this concept watch will also receive an audible alarm as well as vibration cues thanks to the built-in vibrator. At this point in time, the EEW capability is made available only in Japan since it relies on announcements from Japan’s Meteorological Office. These announcements are crucial, since they provide subscribers with advance announcements regarding the arrival time, epicenter and magnitude of impending earthquakes based on data collected from stations located at around 1,000 locations all over the country.

At this point in time, Citizen is working on a way to utilize public radio wave that is currently being used by 1Seg broadcasting to receive EEW data. Implementation of such a system will enable reception of the EEW outside and over a much larger area compared to other EEW watches that take a different route, using specified low power radio waves or Bluetooth connectivity instead. Not only that, Citizen claims that its watch can provide a more instant notification compared to cellphone alarm systems that receive alerts via email. Currently, this prototype watch is available in a men’s model due to its much larger size requirements, with work being carried out to shrink those components for a women’s model being built. A 2010 release data has been targeted, accompanied by a $170 price tag.

Griffin’s Evolve Speakers Work Without Wires

If you have an iPod, chances are that you’ve noticed all the different makes, models and styles of different speaker sets for you to plug your iPod in to listen to your music. Some are alarm clocks, some are radios, but most of them run with either built in speakers, or wired speakers.

Griffin Technology, an innovator of technologies and accessories to go with the iPod, has developed and released the Evolve Speaker. The Evolve speaker system comprises a charging base and two cube-shaped speakers. You can place the rechargeable Evolve cubes wherever you want to hear the music. You can even move them into the next room with you. There are no entangling wires to hassle with.

Each speaker cube has its own long-lived Lithium-Ion battery pack, delivering up to 10 hours of music between charges. Evolve even charges wirelessly: to charge the batteries, just place the speaker on its charging station. There’s nothing to plug in, and nothing to unplug when you’re ready to deploy the music. Each speaker features its own on/off switch, and an automatic sleep mode to conserve battery charge. It also comes with its own remote control. More technical specifications and details are at the Evolve website.

The Evolve comes in both white and black color options and will set you back around $300.

Waterdrop Weather Station Clock w/Hands-Free Snoozing

If you’re like me, you set your alarm to go off just before the news and weather reports on the radio. That way, you can lie there and not have to get up yet still get the weather report. But what if it’s one of those mornings where you keep hitting snooze over and over again and you miss the weather? Since I rely on the report to figure out what to wear that day, it’s a bit of a problem if my snoozing ways ruins dressing appropriately for the weather conditions. Who wants to wear a sweater if it’s going to be 70 degrees outside?

The Sharper Image offers the Waterdrop Weather Station Clock. This multi-function alarm clock features U.S. Atomic time and date and an alarm clock setting. With the hands-free infrared sensor, all you have to do to silence the alarm clock and activate a five-minute snooze is to wave your hand in front of the clock’s infrared sensor. (No, waving a rude gesture at the clock will NOT give you more time to sleep!) Activating the snooze will also illuminate the screen for five seconds, giving you a clear view of the time.

The illuminated LCD screen on this waterdrop-shaped weather station boasts a wealth of features, including weather forecast icons with a color code; temperature (F°/C° indoor/outdoor); humidity (25% - 95%); maximum temperature and humidity; barometric pressure (24-hour); and moon phase. The unit includes an outdoor sensor with a 433MHz transmitter for a super-long transmission range of up to 246 feet. The screen has a changeable back light with three different options, as well as illuminated digits for easy nighttime view.

Can be set up on desk or wall-mounted. Measures 5.7″ x 9.8″ x 2.2″ and weighs 1.4 lbs. Runs on 4 AA batteries (not included) or with plug-in AC adapter (included). Pick one up today for $119.95.

Mobile NoteTaker for the Paper Lover

Back when I was in college, we didn’t have laptops. I didn’t even have a mini cassette recorder to tape the lectures. No sir, I had to take notes with a pen and paper! (And I had to walk to class uphill, both ways in 10 feet of snow in my bare feet!) Nowadays, most people use laptops or smaller digital audio recorders to take notes at lectures and speeches. But what about us relics who still prefer using pen and paper? (you can’t doodle in the margins on a laptop!) We laboriously take great notes, that later we have to transcribe into our computer for future use. Is there an easier way?

ThinkGeek has the Mobile NoteTaker. This ingenious little device will transcribe your every pen movement into a digital format that can be easily transferred to your computer with the included software (Windows only). Simply take any pad of paper (no special paper required), clip the Mobile NoteTaker to the top and start writing. Instantly your text and illustrations are displayed on the LCD screen and stored in the internal memory. Also, the included software allows to you save all your illustrations and convert your written notes to editable text using OCR (Optical Character Recognition). From the website:

Wi-Fi Detecting Watch

I don’t know about you, but I live my life by my laptop, and I am totally dependent on finding a decent Wi-Fi signal, preferably a free one.

I see no point in opening my laptop, wait for it to boot up, then get rid those darn unnecessary pop-ups, only to find out that there isn’t a Wi-Fi signal to get a hold of.

Fortunately, I can have something that can detect a Wi-Fi signal. And not some device that I might lose, but something that is attached to my wrist like a watch. Something like a Wi-Fi watch, which just happens to be available from ThinkGeek.

All you need to do is hit a little button on the side, and you’ll get a reading form 0 to 8 which will let you know exactly what kind of connectivity you can get. However, one thing I would like to know is if it shows whether it is an open connectivity thing going on. I mean, I like it when I can get a Wi-Fi available, but can’t stand it when I find out that I have to enter a password.

Well, the Wi-Fi Detecting Watch comes with a stylish steel case and a rubber strap band, and is available for $29.99 on the Think Geek site.

Cervellum Bike Digital Rearview Mirror

I usually don’t cover electronic gadgets for bikes, simply because there aren’t really many of them out there, frankly.

However, the Cervellum Bike Digital Rearview Mirror seems to be an interesting and useful device. As you might have guessed by the picture, a biker can now see all that is happening behind him or her.

I suppose that seems useful, as bikes have a terrible way of being made without rear-view mirrors. I’m kidding, of course, but as I recall from basic driver’s ed, you need to check your mirrors, then look, then make your move.

I guess we don’t feel that way about bikes, so I was never taught to look into the mirrors. It would reduce the risk of bumping into something while you’re looking or turning wrong, or something.

In other words, I’m not certain how good of a job the Cervellum Bike Digital Rearview Mirror will do. Especailly when it has a 4-hour battery life. Better do some short rides.

Right now, it is still not get ready for release, but it is expected to be about $200 when it is. You should also know that Cervellum is already developing plans for devices for GPS and hear rate monitors.

Lens Accessory makes taking 3D pictures a snap

Photographers looking to take their digital SLR hobby into a new dimension may want to check out the Loreo 3D Lens in a Cap. Easy to use as mounting onto your SLR body, The Loreo 3D incorporates a matched pair of lenses into one mounted unit, the 3D len transposes two images by means of the same beam splitting technology developed in the 60s for sci-fi drive-in movie cameramen.

Technical specs are as follows: the lens is built with two lens with a focal length of 38 mm which focus from 1 meter to infinity. The downside is that this setup is rather slow, with an f-stop rating of 11. But considering it’s splitting the light between two lens elements, one can’t expect a digital day at the races. But how it works is rather simple. Both lenses expose the camera’s CCD chip to the same image and are adusted automatically to produce the 3D effect, which can only be viewed with a 3D viewer or on a PC monitor thanks to Loren’s own 3D viewer software. Prints can also be made.

The Loren 3D Lens in a cap is available for Canon EOS & FD, Nikon, Olympus, Pentax K mount, Minolta MD and AF (which means it’ll probably also work on Sony Alpha models as well).

Prices range from $72 - $120 US.