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Today’s Latest News
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Samsung wins patent case against Apple in Japan
TOKYO: A Japanese court on Friday will issue a ruling in a bitter patent dispute between Apple and its South Korean rival Samsung, the latest case in a global battle between the two technology giants.
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Nokia to pay Rs 67,000 for selling defective mobile
NEW DELHI: Nokia India has been directed by a city district consumer forum to pay Rs 67,000 to one of its customers for selling him a "defective" cell phone and then failing to repair it or refund its price.
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After Samsung, now HP announces Windows 8 devices
The Windows 8 devices are being announced thick and fast. The latest is the ENVY x2 and Envy TouchSmart Ultrabook 4 from Hewlett-Packard (HP).
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Apple: Genius at making customers feel good
A number of articles lately have attempted to convey the full measure of Apple's unprecedented streak of business success.
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Rural internet usage grows faster than urban
Not just mobile telephony, rural subscribers are emerging as the fastest growing consumers of internet as well in the country.
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Samsung wins patent case against Apple in Japan
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TOKYO: A Japanese court on Friday will issue a ruling in a bitter patent dispute between Apple and its South Korean rival Samsung, the latest case in a global battle between the two technology giants.
The decision comes a week after the iPhone maker won more than $1.0 billion in a massive US court victory over Samsung with jurors finding that the South Korean firm had "willfully" infringed on Apple's patents.
The Tokyo District Court is due to rule on Apple's claim that Samsung illegally copied technology from its iPhone and iPad computer for some of its Galaxy smartphones and tablet.
Both firms' offerings are increasingly popular in Japan, where the market is also flooded with products made by domestic giants such as Sony and Sharp.
Apple is seeking 100 million yen ($1.27 million) in compensation from Samsung's Japanese units, and has accused it of stealing technology used to transfer music and video files, according to Jiji Press.
In the judgement expected later Friday, the Japanese court will issue its opinion on the patent infringement claims, while monetary damages, if any, will be decided in a later verdict.
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Featured Technology Talk
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Tokyo court rules that Samsung did not infringe on Apple patent
TOKYO — A Tokyo court has ruled that Samsung did not infringe on an Apple patent, in the latest development in the legal battle between the two technology titans.
The Tokyo District Court ruled Friday that the technology used in the South Korean company’s smartphones and tablet to synchronize with computers did not infringe on an Apple patent.
This is a separate case from a U.S. lawsuit between the two companies.
Last week, a jury in California ruled that some of Samsung Electronics Co.’s smartphones violated Apple patents. The jury awarded Apple Inc. $1 billion in damages.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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Nokia to pay Rs 67,000 for selling defective mobile
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NEW DELHI: Nokia India has been directed by a city district consumer forum to pay Rs 67,000 to one of its customers for selling him a "defective" cell phone and then failing to repair it or refund its price.
The South-II District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum held Nokia guilty of indulging in unfair trade practice for selling a defective phone and then failing to repair it or refund its price since September 2007 when it was first taken for repairs by Delhi resident and complainant Rohan Arora.
The forum also held retailer Luthra Communications guilty of resorting to unfair trade practice.
"When the complainant (Rohan Arora) left the defective piece of good to its manufacturer, it was incumbent upon it either to remove its defect to satisfaction of the complainant or to refund its (mobile's) amount with interest. But opposite party did not bother to resolve such genuine request of the complainant.
"Hence we hold both the opposite parties (Nokia and the retailer) guilty for gross deficiency in service and unfair trade practice and direct them to jointly and severally refund the amount of the handset amounting to Rs 37,000 and to further pay a compensation of Rs 25,000 for supplying a defective good and thereafter not replacing the same or to remove its defect to his satisfaction."
"They shall also pay a sum of Rs 5,000 towards the cost of the proceedings," the bench presided by MC Mehra said.
Arora in his complaint had alleged that the phone, a Nokia E 90 Communicator bought in July 2007 for Rs 37,000, had poor incoming and outgoing audio quality right from the beginning.
He had returned the mobile to Nokia in September 2007 to replace it or repair the defect, he had said adding that the handset was replaced with an old instrument which also had the same problem.
He had also alleged that Nokia flatly refused to refund the cost of the phone. Nokia was proceeded against ex-parte as it had appeared only once before the forum.
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After Samsung, now HP announces Windows 8 devices
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The Windows 8 devices are being announced thick and fast. The latest is the ENVY x2 and Envy TouchSmart Ultrabook 4 from Hewlett-Packard (HP).
HP says the ENVY x2 will give consumers the "power of a notebook and the freedom of a tablet in one stylish, lightweight device".
With a sleek aluminum finish and an innovative hinge with magnets that smoothly guide the tablet into place, the tablet part of the device can be separated. While the combined weight of the device is 1.41 kg, the tablet weighs exactly half of this.
The Windows 8 touch interface will come to life on the x2's 11.6-inch HD IPS touch display panel which promises a good visual experience indoors and outdoors. Along with the HD webcam on the front there will also be an 8-megapixel camera on the rear.
Like other premium HP devices, the x2 will also feature Beats Audio to complement the visuals. Plus, there is the additional feature of an optional stylus.
The HP ENVY x2 uses solid-state memory designed for improved reliability and faster startup times and will also have Near Field Communication (NFC) technology to let users share content with a simple tap.
The HP ENVY TouchSmart Ultrabook 4 will, meanwhile, be among the first laptops to offer a touchscreen for Windows 8. With the 14-inch multi-touch HD display the device will weigh 2.16 kg with a thickness of 23 mm. Like other Ultrabooks, this one too promises eight hours of battery life.
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TECHNOLOGY
"Don't anthropomorphize computers - they hate it"
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Government lifts restriction on SMS
The restrictions imposed on sending bulk SMSes and MMSes, imposed in the wake of nationwide rumours of attacks on persons of northeastern states, was Thursday lifted by the government.
"The restrictions on SMSes and MMSes has been removed," home ministry spokesperson K.S. Dhatwalia said here.
The government issued a notification in this regard.
Rumours earlier this month about imminent revenge attacks for the killings of Muslims in Assam sparked an exodus of people of northeastern states from cities such as Bangalore and Pune.
Initially, the government restricted the number of SMSes that could be sent from a mobile phone in a day to five.
The restriction on sending more than five SMSes and over 20 KB of data through mobile phones came into force Aug 17. The order was relaxed to 20 messages a day Aug 23.
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Famous Scientist
Marco Dorigo
Marco Dorigo (born 26 August 1961, in Milan, Italy) is a research director for the Belgian Funds for Scientific Research (FNRS), a professor in the computer science department of the University of Paderborn and a co-director of IRIDIA, the artificial intelligence lab of the Université Libre de Bruxelles. He is the proponent of the "ant colony optimization" metaheuristic (see his book published by MIT Press in 2004), and one of the founders of the swarm intelligence research field.
Recently he got involved with research in "swarm robotics": he is the coordinator of "Swarm-bots: Swarms of self-assembling artefacts" and of "Swarmanoid: Towards humanoid robotic swarms" two swarm robotics projects funded by the Future and Emerging Technologies Program of the European Commission.
For these contributions, in 2003 he was awarded the "Marie Curie Research Excellence Award" by the European Commission; on 22 November 2005, he was presented the "FNRS - Dr A.
De Leeuw-Damry-Bourlart award in Applied Sciences" by the King of Belgium, Albert II; and in 2007 he received the "Cajastur International Prize for Soft Computing", awarded by the "Foundation for the Advancement of Soft Computing". He his the recipient of an ERC Advanced Grant (2010).
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Apple: Genius at making customers feel good
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A number of articles lately have attempted to convey the full measure of Apple's unprecedented streak of business success. Perhaps the most mind-blowing factoid about the company's value came this week from Kontra, via Twitter: at the time of his tweet, Apple's market capitalisation had exceeded that of Google, Facebook, Microsoft and Amazon – combined.
One reason for that phenomenal success is, of course, Apple's products. Another is its customer service, namely the Genius Bar, where bright-faced young geeks win customers' hearts and build brand loyalty that Apple's competitors can't match.
To wit, a section of the manual under the subheading "Empathy Exercise 2 - Techniques" introduces "The Three Fs: Feel, Felt and Found." A sample conversation from the handbook:
Customer: This Mac is just too expensive.
Genius: I can see how you'd feel this way. I felt the price was a little high, but I found it's a real value because of all the built-in software and capabilities.
This tactic dovetails nicely with the section of the manual on things to avoid saying and doing. For instance: "Do not apologise for the business the technology." Instead, empathise: "I'm sorry you're feeling frustrated," or "Too bad about your soda spill accident."
Biddle's fascinating post on the manual is worth reading in full. But while he reads Apple's tactics as outlandish and creepy, if brilliant, I'd just call them brilliant. Of course the company wants employees to address tech problems without trash-talking Apple's own products. Of course it wants them to make customers feel valued while not forgeting that the ultimate goal is to part them from their money. These are things that every company wants, and they are skills that come instinctively to great salespeople.
But when you're a big company, it's almost impossible to impart these skills to every single employee. Most don't even try – they hand out a generic HR handbook that no one will read. Apple's manual, in contrast, reveals a firm so bent on maintaining customer loyalty that it will go to abnormal lengths to show its workers exactly how to behave in all situations.
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Rural internet usage grows faster than urban
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Not just mobile telephony, rural subscribers are emerging as the fastest growing consumers of internet as well in the country.
According to the Internet and mobile Association of India (IAMAI), the number of rural internet users increased from 29 million as of December 2011 to 38 million at the end of June and is expected to touch 45 million by the end of December this year.
The penetration of internet users in rural India has grown from 2.6% in 2010 to 4.6% in 2012, a compounded annual growth rate of 73%, the industry body said in a report released on Thursday.
Internet growth in the urban areas is expected to print lower — the data is due in a week, IAMAI officials said.
At the end of December 2011, the total internet subscriber base in India stood at 121 million.
More interestingly, mobile internet is seen driving rural internet penetration.
“This is just the tip of the iceberg, in the next two years, a combination of affordable smart phones, optic fibre backbone and local language content is likely to change the beat all projections of internet growth in rural areas,” said Subho Ray, president of IAMAI.
The industry appears to be in agreement on that.
“The demand for mobile internet via smartphones is rapidly catching up in rural areas. Whereas earlier people in B and C towns would take a year to adapt to a new technology, today, because of the abundance of low-cost data packs, local language content and informative apps like Mandi Bhav, etc, rural people are having their first internet experience on the mobile, as handsets are more accessible than cyber cafes in smaller towns,” said Praveen Rajpal, CEO, Handygo Technologies, a mobile value added service (VAS) provider.
“So, while it may have taken five years to reach the 100 million internet mark, it will hardly take one year to reach the 100 million mobile-internet usage mark. A further drop in handset prices will aid internet penetration in rural areas further. Handygo’s IVR apps and tablet distribution in rural areas has shown an 85% growth in WAP (wireless application protocol) this year from rural areas,” said Rajpal.
As per Trai data, wireless subscription in urban areas barely increased (0.51%) from 596.98 million in May to 597.59 million at the end of June.
Wireless subscription in rural areas increased 1.24% over the same period, from 332.38 million to 336.51 million.
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Tips to make your browser secure
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Browsers may be among the most commonly used applications, but they also offer the greatest number of attack options for dangerous content on the net.To keep viruses, worms and other malware away from your computer when surfing,it's crucial to configure your browser for security.
The firewall on a DSL router is a good first step for protecting the computer during surfing, says Marco Rinne from the computer portal chip.de. But that doesn't hold true if your browser is out of date: “Internet Explorer 6 and 7 or Firefox 2 no longer satisfy current security standards,” he says. For optimal protection, he therefore urgesusers to keep theirbrowsers updated.
There are numeroussecurity tools already present in Firefox and Internet Explorer. The pop-up blocker,for example, prevents more than justannoying ads. It alsothrottles other windows that can be used to sneak malicious software onto PCs. Phishing filters protect personal dataagainst theft.
Firefox offers additional configurationoptions underthe Settings item in the Security tab of the Options dialog box: thisincludes the ability to block risky or forgedwebsites.It's also a good idea to prohibit websites from installing add-ons on their own. Similar settings are possible under Internet Explorer in the Security tab of the Internet Options dialog box, accessible from the Tools menu.
Computer owners should also activate all options for warning against attacks, advises Markus Linnemann, managing director of the Institute for Internet Security (ifis) at the Polytechnic University of Gelsenkirchen in Germany. This applies in particular to warnings about suspicious content to be displayed using ActiveX, Flash, or JavaScript.
Yet the warning mechanism on most browsers alone isn't usually enough, Linnemann says. Those who wish to be especially careful can, for example, use the Firefox add-on 'No Script,' which blocks all active content of a website by default and allows the user to decide which should be permitted. The problem is that most users are unable to determine which content represents a threat to their computer, Rinne msays.
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a nanosecond is one billionth of a second
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Cartoon of Technology
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Kanchana Automotive to expand network
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The Mangalore-based Kanchana Automotive is planning to expand its network in neighbouring districts, according to its Managing Director.
Speaking at the launch of ‘Dost’ – Ashok Leyland’s light commercial vehicle – Mr Prasadraj Kanchan, Managing Director of Kanchana Automotive, said that his company will open its branches of Ashok Leyland in Udupi, Shimoga, Hassan and Chikmagalur districts, in the next six months.
Mr Nitin Seth, Executive Director of Ashok Leyland Ltd, said Kanchana Automotive is the 34th dealer of Ashok Leyland’s light commercial vehicle. He said ‘Dost’ is the first vehicle to be launched from the joint-venture between Ashok Leyland and Nissan Motor Company.
Priced at Rs 4.18 lakh-4.66 lakh (ex-showroom) in Mangalore, ‘Dost’ has a payload capacity of 1.25 tonnes. The top-end version of ‘Dost’ features air-conditioning and power-steering facilities.
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“Happiness is an attitude. We either make ourselves miserable, or happy and strong. The amount of work is the same. "
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