If you are a frequent international traveller, then I’m sure your mobile phone bill burns a hole in your pocket. Last year, Vodafone India launched an International Roaming Pack for just Rs.1499 that offered 60% discount on international roaming on voice, data and SMS. This packs was quite popular among Vodafone users who travelled abroad.

Today, Vodafone launched a new International Roaming Pack which offers over 90% discount on data and approximately 64% on outgoing local and international calls. This pack will be extremely beneficial for people travelling overseas during this vacation season. Vodafone India is offering the new international roaming pack for a rental of just Rs.2499. This pack comes with a validity of just 30 days.

The benefits mentioned above are offered across 45 countries including UK, USA, UAE, Singapore and Thailand in partnership with select network operator in each country. You will be charged at standard international roaming charges, if you are connected to any other international operator’s network in these countries. You should also note that it is a non-recurring packs, which basically means that the operator will not auto-renew this pack after 30 days of usage.

To activate the International Roaming Pack, Vodafone subscribers will need to dial 111 their mobile phone. To know the operator on which the pack benefit will be applicable, send Pack ‘space’ Country to 111 or head over to this page.

Vivek Mathur, Chief Commercial Officer, Vodafone India, said,
“At Vodafone, we like to stay closely aligned with customer requirements and constantly work to add value for our customers. There is an increasing need of customers to remain connected while travelling abroad and our latest international roaming pack enables our customer to do that. It guarantees affordable connectivity for our customers travelling to countries like UK, USA, UAE, Singapore etc.”

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Micromax recently launched the company’s first 3D smartphone, the Micromax Canvas 3D. This handset does not come with the dual camera for 3D video recording, however it features a 5 inch screen which can display 3D content without glasses. Micromax Canvas 3D runs on the Android 4.1.2 (Jelly Bean) Operating System. It comes with Micromax 3D Space which allows the users to access 3D videos and pre-loaded 3D games. Check out the complete specs below.

Micromax Canvas 3D features a 5 inch touchscreen display, sporting a resolution of 480 x 800 pixels, 1 GHz dual-core MediaTek MT6577 processor, dual-SIM capabilities (GSM + GSM), 5 megapixel rear camera with flash, 0.3 megapixel front-facing camera for video calls, 512 MB RAM, Wi-Fi Hotspot functionality and much more.

Other features include a 3.5 mm audio jack, 4 GB internal memory, MicroSD card slot, 32 GB expandable memory, Google Play Store, GPS with A-GPS, Bluetooth technology, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, 3G connectivity, Micro USB, USB 2.0, up to 5 hrs of talk-time, up to 200 hrs of stand-by time and a 2000 mAh battery.

Micromax Canvas 3D comes with a price-tag of just Rs.9,999 (approx. $190). This handset will be available in both black and white colors. Micromax Canvas 3D will go on sale from the first week of May.

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The Samsung Galaxy Note 510 is finally up for pre-order in India. This device is nothing but the same Galaxy Note 8.0 which was announced at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2013 in Barcelona. Samsung is already known for changing the name of its tablets before selling it in India. Previously, the South Korean tech giant released the Galaxy Note 10.1 in India as the Galaxy Note 800.

The Samsung Galaxy Note comes with an 8 inch display, 1.6 GHz quad-core processor and the innovative S-Pen. This device runs on the Android 4.1.2 (Jelly Bean) Operating System. Samsung has also pre-loaded the upgraded ChatOn, Awesome Note, Flipboard and Smart Remote on this device. Galaxy Note 510 is currently available for pre-booking at Samsung India’s eStore.

Samsung Galaxy Note 510 (Note 8.0) features a 7 inch WXGA display, sporting a resolution of 1280 x 800 pixels, 1.6 GHz quad-core processor, Android 4.1.2 (Jelly Bean) Operating System, Samsung TouchWiz UI, 5 megapixel rear-facing camera, 1.3 megapixel front facing camera for video calls and more.

Other features include a 3.5 mm headset jack, Music player with SoundAlive, 16 GB internal memory, MicroSD card slot, 64 GB expandable memory, Bluetooth 4.0, USB 2.0, Wi-Fi Direct, Wi-Fi 801.11 a/b/g/n, 3G Connectivity, Samsung Apps, Games Hub, Readers Hub, Samsung Kies, A-GPS + GLONASS, 2 GB RAM and a 4600 mAh battery.

Samsung Galaxy Note 510 comes with a price tag of Rs.30,900 (approx.$570) in India. On the other hand, this device is available in the US for just $399. Samsung also offers a free book cover of worth Rs.2,699 for the customer who pre-order this device from their eStore. To get this tablet, head over to this page.

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Asus recently launched the Fonepad tablet in India. It comes with 3G Connectivity and voice calling features of a smartphone on a 7 inch tablet. Asus Fonepad packs a 1.2 GHz Intel Atom Z2420 processor and it runs on the Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean) OS. According to the manufacturer, this device offers up to nine hours of battery life. The Asus Fonepad comes with SuperNote lite app for drawing as well as for creating handwritten notes and Office Online app for Microsoft Office-compatible document editing.

Mr. Peter Chang, Regional Director – South Asia & Country Manager, Asus India, said,
“Users now want a better screen with entertainment, social media and other online activities and this is playing an increasingly important part in our mobile lifestyles. By incorporating 3G mobile data connectivity with full telephony support, we have made the Asus Fonepad the perfect combination of a tablet and phone in one single device at an affordable price.”

Asus Fonepad features a 7 inch WXGA LED Backlight IPS display with 10 finger multi-touch, 1280 x 800 pixels resolution, 1.2 GHz Intel Atom Z2420 processor, Android 4.1.2 (Jelly Bean) Operating System, 3 megapixel rear-facing camera with HD (720p) video recording and playback, 1.2 megapixel front facing camera for video chats and much more.

Other features include a 3.5 mm headset jack, Micro SIM, voice and video calling capabilities, Wi-Fi 801.11 b/g/n, 3G Connectivity, Bluetooth 3.0, Micro USB 2.0, Google Play Store, A-GPS, 1 GB RAM, 8 GB internal memory, MicroSD card slot, 32 GB expandable memory, up to 9 hours of usage time and a 4270 mAh non-removable Li-Ion battery.

Asus Fonepad comes with a price-tag of Rs.15,999 in India. This device will be available at Croma stores and select Asus authorized retail outlets from April 30, 2013. Asus Fonepad will compete with Nexus 7, Galaxy Tab 2 and other mid-range Android tablets in India.

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Last month, Samsung unveiled the much-awaited Galaxy S4 smartphone at the New York’s iconic Radio City Music Hall. Samsung has not revealed the price of this device, however the company has announced that the Galaxy S4 will go on sale from April-end in Europe and Asia. Today, Samsung India has finally started sending out the invites for the Galaxy S4 launch. As expected, this device will be officially launched on Friday, April 26 in India.

Samsung Galaxy S4 features a 5 inch Super-AMOLED display, sporting a resolution of 1080 x 1920 pixels, Corning Gorilla Glass 3, 1.9 GHz quad-core processor, Android 4.2.2 (Jelly Bean) OS, TouchWiz Nature UX, 13 megapixel rear-facing camera with autofocus and flash, full HD (1080p) video recording and playback, 2 megapixel front-facing camera for video chats and much more.

It also comes with a 3.5 mm headset jack, Stereo FM Radio with RDS, Smart stay, Smart pause, Smart scroll, 16 GB internal memory, microSD card slot, 64 GB expandable memory, full HTML web browser, DLNA, HDMI out, Bluetooth 4.0 with EDR, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, 3G/4G Connectivity, 2 GB RAM, Wi-Fi Direct and a 2600 mAh Lithium-ion battery.

Samsung Galaxy S4 is expected to come with a price tag of Rs.42,000, however the street price is expected to be around Rs.40,000. Samsung Galaxy S4 will be available in both White Frost and Black Mist colors. This handset will compete with high-end smartphones such as HTC One, Sony Xperia Z and BlackBerry Z10 in India.

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Earlier this year, LG announced three new Android powered smartphones, the Optimus L7 II, Optimus L5 II and Optimus L3 II. The South Korean mobile phone manufacturer has already launched the dual-SIM variant of Optimus L7 II and Optimus L3 II in India. Infibeam, a popular online retailer has already started selling the Optimus L5 II Dual smartphone. This indicates that the company will soon launch the Optimus L5 II Dual in India.

The mid-range Optimus L5 II Dual is the successor of the not-so-popular Optimus L5 Dual. This handset runs on the Android 4.1.2 (Jelly Bean) Operating System. If you are planning to buy one, then check out the complete specs below.

LG Optimus L5 II Dual features a 4 inch IPS display, sporting a resolution of 480 x 800 pixels, 1 GHz single-core processor, Dual SIM capabilities, 5 megapixel camera with auto-focus and LED flash, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, 3G Connectivity and much more.

Other features include a FM Radio with RDS, A-GPS, 4 GB internal memory, MicroSD card slot, 32 GB expandable memory, Bluetooth 3.0 with A2DP, 512 MB RAM, Accelerometer, microUSB 2.0 and a 1700 mAh battery. This handset measures 118.4 x 62.2 x 9.2 mm and weighs just 100 grams.

Sadly, the much needed front-facing camera is missing from the device. Currently, you can get this handset in two colors – Black and White. LG Optimus L5 II Dual is expected to come with a price tag of Rs.14,999, however Infibeam is currently selling this device for Rs.11,499 (approx. $210). To get this handset. head over to this page.

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Earlier this year, Alcatel unveiled the One Touch Idol and One Touch Idol Ultra at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2013 in Las Vegas. These mid-range smartphones are powered by the Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean) Operating System. The Alcatel One Touch Idol Ultra is touted to be the world’s thinnest smartphone with just 6.45 millimeters thickness. Today, Alcatel finally launched the One Touch Idol and One Touch Idol Ultra smartphones in India.

Mr. Albert Wong, Head – APAC, Alcatel One Touch, said,
“India is a key strategic market for Alcatel One Touch, poised towards high growth trajectory. In line with Alcatel philosophy of enhancing the mobile entertainment experience and offering pioneering technology firsts to the consumer, today we are launching the slimmest and lightest smartphones in India. Being the exclusive mobile phone partner for Marvel’s Iron Man 3 is a good example of the increased popularity of the brand’s premiere Android devices, including the One Touch Idol and Idol Ultra”.

Alcatel One Touch Idol Ultra features a 4.7-inch HD AMOLED display, sporting a resolution of 1280 x 720 pixels, Dragon Trail Glass, 1.2 GHz dual-core processor, 8 megapixel rear-facing camera with full HD (1080p) video recording, 1.3 megapixel front-facing camera, 1 GB RAM, 16 GB internal memory, up to 400 hours of stand-by time, up to 7 hours of talk-time and a 1800 mAh battery. This handset is available in vibrant color options of Black and Red.

Alcatel One Touch Idol packs a 4.7 inch IPS display with 540 x 960 pixels resolution, 1.2 GHz dual-core processor, 8 megapixel rear-facing camera, 2 megapixel front facing camera, 3G Connectivity, 4 GB internal memory, 32 GB expandable memory, Stereo FM radio with RDS, A-GPS, up to 415 hours of stand-by time, up to 7 hours of talk-time and a 1800 mAh battery. This handset is available in Silver, Slate, Cranberry Pink and Red colors with brushed aluminum finish.

Alcatel One Touch Idol Ultra comes with a price tag of Rs.21,000 (approx. $390), while the Alcatel One Touch Idol is available for Rs.15,800 (approx. $290).

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Lava recently launched the entry-level Iris 455 smartphone in India. This handset is the successor of the Lava Iris 454 smartphone. Similar to its predecessor, Lava Iris 455 comes with a large 4.5 inch display and a 1 GHz dual-core processor. However, it will be shipped with the newer Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean) OS, instead of the old Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) OS.

Lava Iris 455 features a 4.5 inch touchscreen display, sporting a resolution of 960 x 540 pixels, 1 GHz dual-core processor, Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean) OS, Dual-SIM (GSM + GSM) capabilities, 5 megapixel auto-focus camera with LED flash, VGA front-facing camera for video calls and much more.

Other features include a 3.5 mm headset jack, FM Radio with RDS, 4 GB internal memory, 2 GB user memory, MicroSD card slot, 32 GB expandable memory, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, 3G Connectivity, Bluetooth 3.0, A-GPS, 512 MB RAM, Google Play Store and a 1500 mAh battery. This handset measures 9.92 mm and weighs just 120 grams.

The manufacturer has not yet revealed the price of this device. However, Lava Iris 455 is expected to be available for less than Rs.10,000. This handset will compete with Xolo A800, Micromax A101, Intex Aqua Wonder and other entry-level Android smartphones.

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Earlier this year, LG unveiled three new mid-range smartphones, the Optimus L7 II, Optimus L5 II and Optimus L3 II. As the name suggests, these handsets are the successor of the LG Optimus L7, Optimus L5 and Optimus L3 respectively. These devices run on the Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean) Operating System. Today, LG officially launched the dual-SIM variant of Optimus L7 II and Optimus L3 II in India.

According to Mr. Amit Gujral, Head Marketing, LG Mobiles,
“The smartphone market is growing at an incredible pace, and the global mobile subscribers is predicted to touch 3.9 billion in 2017. India is catching up fast to this smartphone race. With the launch of LG Optimus L7 II Dual and L3 II Dual, LG plans to reap the benefits of the intense smartphone demand in India, as well as to build on its heritage of technological innovation.”

LG Optimus L3 II Dual:

LG Optimus L3 II Dual comes with a 3.2 inch touchscreen display, sporting a resolution of 240 x 320 pixels, 1 GHz Qualcomm MSM7225A Snapdragon processor, 3.2 megapixel front-facing camera, 4 GB internal memory, MicroSD card slot, 32 GB expandable memory, A-GPS, 512 MB RAM, up to 730 hours of stand-by time, up to 16 hours 30 mins of talk-time and a 1540 mAh battery.

LG Optimus L7 II Dual:

LG Optimus L7 II Dual features a 4.3 inch IPS display, sporting a resolution of 480 x 800 pixels, 1 GHz Qualcomm MSM8225 Snapdragon dual-core processor, 8 megapixel camera with auto-focus and LED flash, HD (720p) video recording, VGA front-facing camera, 4 GB internal memory, MicroSD card slot, 32 GB expandable memory, A-GPS, 768 MB RAM, up to 800 hours of stand-by time, up to 12 hours of talk-time and a 2460 mAh battery.

LG Optimus L7 II Dual comes with a price tag of Rs.18,650 (approx. $340), while the LG Optimus L3 II Dual is priced at just Rs.8,800 (approx. $160).

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Today, HTC announced that it will be bringing its latest and greatest flagship – the One – to India by the end of April for a MOP (Best Buy) price of Rs 42,900. The HTC One has a zero-gap aluminium unibody, with a 4.7-inch S-LCD3 1080p display in the front adored by BoomSound stereo speakers on its top and bottom.

The One is a beast in every sense and packs in a quad-core 1.7GHz Snapdragon 600 processor, Adreno 320 GPU, 2GB of RAM, 32GB of on-board storage to make up for the lack of a microSD card slot, NFC, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi b/g/n/ac, GPS and even an IR blaster so that you can directly control all your remote appliances from your phone. The handset also includes a revolutionary new camera that aims to buck the Megapixel race. While the camera only has a 4.3MP resolution, it consists of a 5 element plastic lens with an f/2.0 aperture. All this combined with the new custom made camera sensor from HTC provides the One with stellar low-light performance and bigger pixels dubbed as “UltraPixel”.

On the software side, the One runs on Android 4.1.2 with the greatest and latest version of Sense UI (v5) on top of it. HTC has included some really nice features in the latest Sense UI including BlinkFeed for a new re-defined homescreen experience, and HTC Zoe for a new imaging experience.

HTC has also tied up with Reliance GSM to offer 1GB of free 3G data to all One customers for three months. The handset should retail for a couple of thousand lower when it hits the market, making it a very tempting deal.

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Google and Amazon rained on the parade of budget Android tablet manufacturers with the Nexus and Kindle Fire series respectively. However, both of those devices aren’t officially available in India, which has left the field open for Indian brands as well as Chinese manufacturers. Videocon is hoping to grab a slice of this market with its new VT10 tablet.

As you might have guessed from the naming scheme, the Videocon VT10 is a 10” tablet. It sports a capacitive touchscreen with a resolution of 1280×800, which is pretty good for a budget tablet. It’s powered by a 1.5 GHz Snapdragon processor, which is again better than what is found in most budget tablets in India, but not as powerful as the Nvidia Tegra 3. The VT10 is equipped with 1 gigabyte of RAM, and 8 gigabytes of storage. You will almost certainly fill up the limited internal storage quickly. Thankfully, the VT10 includes support for external memory up to 32 GB. Both front and rear-cams are 2 megapixels, and the battery is rated at a hefty 6800mAh. The VT10 is Wi-Fi only, but supports 3G dongles. The default packaging includes an adapter, headset, battery, HDMI cable, OTG cable, and manual.

On paper, the VT10 appears to be a competitive tablet, which makes just the right compromises. However, its biggest draw isn’t really the hardware specifications. It’s the software and the price. The Videocon VT10 ships with Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean), and is available for purchase from Snapdeal and HomeShop18 for Rs. 11200 (about $204) with free shipping.

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E-commerce in India has been experiencing rapid growth over the past few years. It’s estimated to be worth $1.6 billion in 2012 (Forrester Trends Report), which is not a huge number by global standards, but is impressive considering the demographics. However, still many Indians shy away from buying stuff online. Trusting retailers who are probably located several thousand kilometres away to deliver goods that one hasn’t checked first-hand is a scary proposition for many Indians.

Google is trying to break the shackles and initiate more Indians to online shopping by leveraging its brand name and deep pockets. The online giant is organizing a “Great Online Shopping Festival” on Dec 12. It has roped in most of the biggies in the Indian e-commerce space, including Flipkart, Myntra, Snapdeal, Pepperfry, and Jabong. Google has also partnered with classifieds, matrimonial services, job portals, and real estate agencies. You can avail attractive discount on premium memberships for services like Bharat Matrimony and Monster.com.

In addition to leveraging its online assets and getting the buzz going on social media, Google is also campaigning on radio channels. The target is obviously the middle class that has so far stayed away from e-commerce. It has even prepared a handy collection of tips for new shoppers. Unlike in most western countries, winter shopping is not a big deal in India. It will be interesting to see if Google can help change that with its Cyber Monday-esque shopping festival.

[ Visit Grand Online Shopping Festival ]

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After months of speculation and rumors, it looks like ASUS and Google are finally bringing the Nexus 7 to India. Croma, a popular electronics megastore in India from Tata, listed the Nexus 7 on its website for sale just a few moments ago with a shipping time of 7 working days.

Sadly, the tablet won’t be coming with its tempting price of $199 or roughly Rs 11,000 in the Indian market. Instead, the 16GB variant of the tablet will cost around Rs. 19,999, which is a bummer. At the moment, it is unclear whether ASUS and Google plan on launching the 8GB/32GB variant or even the 3G version of the tablet in India or not.

The Nexus 7 packs in a 7-inch IPS screen with a resolution of 1280×700, along with 1GB of RAM. The tablet runs on Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean out of the box, and is powered by a quad-core Tegra 3 processor. Other specs of the tablet include NFC, Wi-Fi, a 1.2MP front-facing camera and Bluetooth.

Via – Kunal Gangar

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The state of political affairs in India has become chaotic recently, mostly due to findings on black money and offshore-accumulated wealth, various scams of colossal scales and blatant statements made by people high up in the food chain. Needless to say, the level of discontent among the people is at an all-time high, and in these situations, the Right to Information (RTI) Act provides for more transparency and accountability, and lets us be absolutely sure instead of being driven by whims and opinions.

The Department of Personnel and Training in India understands this fact, and has launched a program to train people to make better use of the RTI. The program has two courses, and is described as:

The Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, Government of India (GoI) has launched an ‘Online Certificate Course on RTI’ for various stakeholders. With a view to make the earlier 15-day course more practical, now the course has been bifurcated into two versions, namely – 7-Day Online Course (English) and 15-Day Online Certificate Course (English).

While the 7-day course is elementary in nature, the 15-day course is more practical and includes a session on applying for an RTI. However, the 15-day course can be taken only on completion of the 7-day course.

The 15-day course is actually an interesting one, since to register for this part of the course, you have to come with proof of an RTI claim made on a public-service authority. The term of 15 days is allotted for a study of the RTI report, as received from the claim. The report will be evaluated based on some predefined criteria, and finally, an online certificate will be generated on course completion. The total estimated time from enrollment to getting a certificate is around 9 weeks, which is just above two month. However, it is worth the experience.

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There are just 2 days to go for the fifth edition of IPL tournament to begin and the excitement is already building up. One of crickets’ most talked about tournament, IPL 5 2012 will start from April 4, 2012. This year’s IPL 5 Opening ceremony will have performances from Katy Perry and Prabhudeva.

IPL 5 is one of the biggest cricketing tournaments in India at have matches at convenient hours. However, the online broadcasting of IPL 5 gives users an opportunity to catch up on the live action of the cricket matches while on the go.

This years’ official partner for broadcasting the match online is Times Group’s Indiatimes. Viewers will be able to catch up on all the live action for IPL 5 2012 on the Indiatimes IPL website at http://ipl.indiatimes.com. Users can also catch up on the latest IPL 5 news and scores on the official website at http://www.iplt20.com.

Indiatimes got the telecast rights for IPL after the initial online broadcasting for IPL 3 had gone to YouTube. However, the broadcasting of IPL 4 in 2011 was later jointly streamed by both Indiatimes and YouTube on Indiatimes official YouTube channel. Users can also watch the IPL broadcast on Indiatimes official channel on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/indiatimes. Additionally, you can also find more links to watch IPL 5 2012 Online.

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It seems that the Indian Government (probably specifically the vile, ignorant, devious, scheming leech of a person called Kapil Sibal) does not want the population of the country to enjoy the democratic right of free speech in any and all media. It is common knowledge that the censor board exists for cinema and the media companies themselves block non-sensationalist-yet-truthful stories, notwithstanding the ignorant religious zealots that declare war on every slight to their religion. However, the Government of India is taking things a little too far this time.

Pluggd.in reports that a national spying agency called the National Cyber Coordination Centre (NCCC) will be set up to implement ‘internet security’ by scanning tweets, Facebook updates and other units of social media. This entire arduous exercise comes at the cost of a whopping Rs. 800 crore (~$163 million). This news comes on the heels of the fact that under the pretense of e-Governance, the Indian Government wants to track mobile phone users in real time.

Funnily enough, the Government wishes to track the millions and millions of citizens of the country and what they do and will go to any lengths to make sure this happens. However, when asked to track its own polity and politicians and their malicious work the Government refuses stating that it does not have the necessary resources.

Then again, we all know how efficient the Indian Government is and just how fast this will be implemented. Stay tuned for more updates in 6 years’ time.

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Indian ecommerce giant Flipkart has formally unveiled its new digital music store Flyte, which was outed last week by a hawkeyed user. Music piracy is rampant in India with an overwhelming majority of downloaded music being illegal. However, much of the blame can also put on the unavailability of affordable and reliable digital music stores. Apple disrupted digital music and entertainment arena around the world with the iTunes store. Unfortunately, Apple’s disdain for the Indian market means that the world’s second most populous country is still an untapped demographic with plenty of raw potential.

Flipkart has already established itself as a clear leader in ecommerce. With the impending arrival of Amazon, it has been getting more and more aggressive. Recently it acquired one of its biggest competitors – LetsBuy. Even before that, it had acquired Mime360 and Chapak’s digital catalogue. Mime360 specialized in hosting streaming music, while Chapak had a catalogue with 40,000 filmographies, 10,000 movies and close to 50,000 ratings.

Digital music business is always a tough nut to crack. Flipkart is entering uncharted waters as most Indians simply aren’t habituated with purchasing music online, or purchasing music at all. The greediness of record labels often complicates things further. However, Flipkart’s dominance and reach offers it a killer advantage that might prove vital in this challenging segment.

To its credit, Flipkart is kicking things off on the right note. All the music in Flipkart’s catalogue is DRM-free (high quality MP3 files) and will work on any device and any operating system. Consumers can download each track a total of four times, and a download manager is available for Windows, Mac, and Linux to facilitate simultaneous downloads. Browsing through the music catalogue is simple and intuitive, and purchasing is easy as credit cards, debit cards, and internet banking is allowed. However, none of this would have mattered if Flipkart hadn’t gotten the pricing right. Thankfully, I think they have succeeded in making music affordable enough for the extremely price-sensitive Indian market. Like iTunes, Flipkart allows purchase of individual tracks, so you only pay for what you want to listen to. New and popular tracks are priced at Rs. 15, while Rs. 6 seems to be the baseline. Flipkart has managed to get a large chunk of Indian music publishers onboard, including biggies like T-Series, Saregama, Tips, Universal India and Sony Music. International record labels that have signed up include Universal, and Sony Music International. EMI is sadly missing. Currently Flipkart’s catalogue features music in English and Hindi, as well as regional languages like Tamil, Telegu, Punjabi, and Bengali.

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The quick eyes of Setu at Woikr.com (no doubt helped by being there just in time) has revealed a new face of Flipkart. It seems that the Indian e-retail store is opening a digital distribution service for music, called “Flyte”. While the exact facts of the music store are yet to be revealed, the household online retail name wants to take up as much of the untapped market share of ecommerce as is possible in India. Considering that the brand is trusted, it would be nice to see digital music sales pick up in India which has long been known to be a pirate island.

Flipkart had acquired Mime360, a Mumbai based company that specialized in hosting streaming music for Indian labels such as Saregama, Universal Music and others. This, coupled with the fact that Flipkart had acquired rights to Chakpak.com’s huge digital catalog, obviously points out to the launch of this music (and hopefully movies) digital distribution platform.

The biggest clincher of the entire episode would be the pricing scheme decided upon by Flipkart. To satisfy the Indian wallet, they must price it evenly at about Rs. 15 to Rs. 20 per song, offering discounts and the like to newly released albums and movies. From what had transpired on the Twitter account, it seems that the songs will definitely be 320kbps DRM free (!), and that an eBook store with ePub files will be implemented in the “near future”. (You must know that by now I have a “:D” face)

@slackerninja All mp3s DRM free, 90% of the catalog at 320kbps (as opposed to 256kbps). The industry has matured… @failgunner @udayvirgarg

— Flipkart (@Flipkart) February 22, 2012

@Failgunner mp3, imminent future. ePub, near future. @slackerninja @udayvirgarg

— Flipkart (@Flipkart) February 22, 2012

Of course, the success of this entire venture depends on the end user. I am sure Flipkart has thought this decision through, but everything depends upon the non-pirating customer who believes that music actually carries a price and that the royalty money helps the musicians make more music. I really hope this works out for Flipkart and that a video game digital distribution with Indian prices starts up there!

[Image from Woikr.com]

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News of Duqu- a large-scale trojan attack surfaced over the Internet, last week. The impact of Duqu measures up to the likes of Stuxnet, as it attacks mission critical systems. Duqu was discovered by Symantec, which claimed that it had code similar to the Stuxnet trojan. This malware has raised concern in the world of security as it has been devised to raise mayhem in industrial fields, just like Stuxnet. The primary targets of Duqu are oil refineries, power plants and pipeline systems.

Duqu seems to have a very similar scare-factor as Stuxnet because it attacks critical industries. Although, it is not related to Stuxnet in any way, the complicated nature of Duqu makes it look like a well-funded attack, probably by a government. The first piece of evidence in Duqu was found at Web Werks, which is a web-hosting company based in Mumbai. The Department of Information Technology in India received a tip from Symantec, and the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team  visited Web Werks offices. They seized two hard-drives with information of the trojan. Apparently, the hosting at Web Werks was used to run their command-and-control center. However, the complicated nature of the trojan makes it hard for a quick analysis.

The Duqu trojan as  explained by Symantec  is,

W32.Duqu is a worm that opens a back door and downloads more files on to the compromised computer. It also has rootkit functionality and may steal information from the compromised computer.  Initial analysis of this threat has shown that it is related closely to the W32.Stuxnet worm from 2010.

Although the affected system list does not include Windows 7, it includes all possible Windows versions before Windows 7 all the way to Windows 95.  However, you may be surprised to see that the Symnatec page on Duqu lists it as a low severity.

Web Werks has failed to track down the dubious customer who owned the h0sting account and the Indian Department of Information Technology is yet to unearth the mysteries contained in the seized drives. A second command-and-control center has been located in Belgium, recently.

In the meanwhile, CrySys laboratories in Hungary got hold of an installer for Duqu and claims that it exploits an unknown vulnerability in the Windows kernel. The attack spreads through a .doc (word document) file and is being distributed though social engineering. The safest way to protect against the worm is to follow email best practices and to steer clear of anything that looks fishy, especially dubious word documents.

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How nice would it be if the blind could walk around the streets without the white stick in their hand? That’s what Anirudh Sharma has been working since January 2011. Anirudh, who holds a Bachelor of Information Technology Engineering degree from Rajasthan Technical University, has developed a system called “Le Chal”, which is a Hindi translation for “Take Me There.” It helps the visually impaired to walk without having to carry their white stick in hand. Not just that, the system also alerts them about any potholes they come across while walking.

Sharma made his debut of the haptic (of or relating to the sense of touch) shoe design during an MIT Media Lab Workshop hosted at COEP, and was featured in MIT Review in August 2011. During the workshop, he created the first prototype of the haptic shoe and showcased it to the delegates. The shoe was instantly named “Le Chal”.

So what does Le Chal basically do?

Le Chal is a non-obtrusive navigation aid for the visually impaired, which is designed to send vibration signals about the direction one need to walk in so to reach the desired destination. The entire system is fitted to a regular shoe which is coded to parse Google Maps/GPS data. It is basically intended to assist the blind in finding their way to a specified geographical location, and also helps them avoid walking into ditches and potholes on their way.

The system contains an Arduino LilyPad which is the main circuit board and is placed at the back mid-sole region of the shoe. Along the sides of the shoe, there are four mini vibration motors placed (front, back, left and right), which are intended to inform the user about the directions. For instance, a vibration on the left side indicates that the user should turn left. The vibrations start out low, but build in intensity as the user nears points where he or she has to take a turn.

It also contains a Bluetooth Arduino LilyPad to sync devices and a smartphone with GPS enabled to pull the location data from the satellite.

How it works?

IT all starts with the user entering their destination on Google Maps, using their Le Chal Android app. The phone then converts the speech into text and communicates by Bluetooth with the LilyPad Arduino circuit board. Now following the directions given by Google Mas along with the location data from GPS, the phone gets the circuit to activate the vibrator depending on the direction.

A proximity sensor in the front of the shoe also alerts the user to obstacles, which it can detect from up to ten feet (three meters) away.

The shoes have had their trials in a Bangalore blind school. We intend doing about 20 shoes (priced at Rs 1,000 or $20 USD a piece) and distribute them to the visually challenged. After the feedback, we will make all the improvements suggested by the user group before going for future plans,” said Anirudh.

Vaishnavi Kasturi, a visually challenged girl who cleared CAT, said: “It’s a great option. Sometimes a white cane cannot sense big objects. They just don’t matter on a pothole-marked terrain like in Bangalore. The shoes could be very convenient. The proximity sensor is brilliant. It can help you spot small objects. For instance, in case of a pothole, there is one at virtually every step in Bangalore, the shoes could give out some warning by way of vibrations.”

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