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29.11.09

Google Wave - Online tool for real-time communication and collaboration.



Google Wave is an online tool for real-time communication and collaboration.
A wave can be both a conversation and a document where people can discuss and work together using richly formatted text, photos, videos, maps, and more.



What is a wave?

A wave is equal parts conversation and document.
 People can communicate and work together with richly formatted text, photos, videos, maps, and more. 

A wave is shared. 
Any participant can reply anywhere in the message, edit the content and add participants at any point in the process. Then playback lets anyone rewind the wave to see who said what and when.

A wave is live. 
With live transmission as you type, participants on a wave can have faster conversations, see edits and interact with extensions in real-time.


There are tons of ways to use Google Wave--here are just a few examples to get you thinking.



Google Wave is currently available in a limited preview release.
Google Wave does not currently interact with your email.
We look forward to providing this functionality in the future.



I have limited invitations left. Request me for an invitation!

Reliance Communications offers SMS at 1 paise each

A new frontier opened up in the telecom tariff wars on Friday, with Reliance Communications announcing that it will offer its customers the facility of sending SMSes for a mere 1 paise/SMS. The Reliance offer follows a ToI report on November 5, which revealed that while companies have been charging consumers 50 paise to Re 1 per SMS, it actually costs them less than a single paise to send.




    This was followed by many representations to telecom regulator Trai by consumer organizations and members of Parliament seeking immediate intervention to lower tariffs. Last week ToI was told by Trai chairman J S Sarma that it would intervene to review SMS tariffs in view of the public pressure, representations and cost data. Within a week of these developments, Reliance has triggered off an
SMS tariff war, which is expected to spread like wildfire across all major operators. 



    Reliance is offering SMS at 1 paise each or unlimited SMSs at Re 1/per day. The new SMS tariffs are add-on plans and are applicable for all Reliance mobile customers irrespective of CDMA or GSM network as well as prepaid and postpaid
customers. Irrespective of their current tariff plans, consumers on the Reliance network can avail of the 1p/SMS plan by subscribing to a standard tariff voucher of Rs 11/month. The unlimited SMS plan can be availed on a daily deduction of Re 1/day from consumers prepaid balance. 



    Given that the cost of sending an SMS is just a fraction of a paise, this move will still allow telcos to make money while reducing the tariff burden on consumers in a significant manner. Speaking to ToI, Reliance Communications president Mahesh Prasad said that this competitive step may prompt the regulator to reconsider its stated intention to intervene in SMS tariffs. 




    Lower SMS costs are expected to catch the fancy of the youth and office-going consumers. This in turn will put pressure on other operators like Bharti, Vodafone, Idea, Aircel, Tatas and MTNL /BSNL to respond. 


 

    An average mobile user sends 25 SMSes every month, says Trai

    
This costs roughly Rs 25 a month at present


    New tariff plan means mobile users will now pay no more than 25 paise a month for the same usage

    
This will be a reduction of 99% on today’s SMS bill 




 Courtesy: Shalini Singh | TNN

28.11.09

Uninor Launched in India














Uninor  is  the brand name  for Unitech Wireless  -  the  joint  venture  company of  India’s  second  largest  diversified  real  estate major  Unitech  Ltd.  and  the  Norway  based  world’s  6th  largest mobile  services  provider Telenor Group. The company holds a pan-India UAS license to offer mobile telephony services  in each of India’s 22 circles. It has also received spectrum to roll out these services in 21 of the 22 circles.


At present, the Telenor Group has invested INR 2620 crores through subscription for new shares in the  JV company with an agreement to raise this to INR 6120 crores to hold 67.25% stake. 



The  company  intends  to  launch  its  service  in  22 circles in India  by  end  2009  under  the  brand  name Uninor.  This  would make  it  the  fastest  to  launch  among  the new operators with  a window of only  6  to 9-months  between creation of the Joint Venture (in March 2009) to service rollout (by end 2009). 




PrePaid Plans:

Offers a Lifetime card for Rs.49 with atalktime of Rs.5.

Loacl@ Re.1

STD@ Rs. 1.50

SMS@ Re1 (Local) Rs.2 (National)

ISD@ Rs.6.40 (Class1) to Rs.550 (Class6)




Providing variety of Value Packs like AfterNoon Saver, Morning saver, Night Saver, SMS / Call with Daily rental packages, long duration call and STD Saver packages.




Can recharge with the denominations of Rs.10 / 20 / 30 / 50 /100




Contact Nos.:


Uninor Customer can dial 121 

If you are not then please dial the number corresponding to the circle / state. 















Circle Call center number (10 digit)
Andhra Pradesh 9059090590
Bihar 9122091220
Kerala 9061090610
Karnataka 9060090600
Orissa 9124091240
Tamil Nadu (Incl. Chennai) 9171091710
Uttar Pradesh (East) 9125091250
Uttar Pradesh (West) 9058090580



http://www.uninor.in/

25.11.09

Kanakku - A free online spreadsheet and calculator

Kanakku is a free web 2.0 application that is a combination of a spreadsheet and a calculator. This application is designed to be used on either IE 7+ or Firefox (Safari seems to be compatible, but further testing is ongoing). All operating systems that use these browsers should be able to use this Website.



This website does not use accounts. You are free to use this website without registration.


File can be saved or opened into the application. Please note that currently only csv (e.g. comma separated value) file extensions are supported.




The application can be used in a variety of ways. Like a spreadsheet, mathematical formulas can be written in each cell. These formulas can be evaluated by pressing the enter key, and the corresponding answer to the formula will be displayed to the user. The type of formulas used by this application can be determined by looking at the function keys on the calculator. As of now, this application can handle arithmetic, trigonometric, and statistical functions. The user can also select multiple cells and select a functional key on the calculator. If the function selected by the user is a unary operator (only one operand or multi selection is needed) then the answer will be automatically displayed. Binary operators require a multi selection to be made, then the desired binary operator should be pressed, and this is followed by making the final multi selection.

http://www.kanakku.com/

24.11.09

BSE websites in Marathi, Tamil and Punjabi






Bombay Stock Exchange will soon publish its websites in  regional languages including Marathi, Tamil and Punjabi.

"BSE will soon publish language websites...At present we have websites in Hindi, English and Gujarati... We will create more in Marathi, Tamil, Telegu and Punjabi," the sources said unofficially.




23.11.09

SMS rates are set to crash!

NEW DELHI: SMS rates are set to crash with telecom watchdog TRAI reconsidering its longstanding policy of non-interference on tariffs. Following an expose by TOI on November 5 that SMS tariffs are 50 to 100 times higher than what it costs service providers, a top TRAI official said, “We are going to issue a consultation paper to review telecom tariffs within 20 days to a month.” This means consumers can expect substantial relief in SMS tariffs latest by March.





According to the official, the move would have come sooner had the regulator not had its hands full with a consultation process on controversial 2G spectrum issues. The widespread proliferation of texting is expected to spin off into far higher levels of internet usage. Experts confirm that a crash in SMS tariffs could be the first step to generating demand-side pressure for wireless broadband access.



The cost of an SMS is a fraction of a paisa. This is because an average SMS consists of 1KB data, which takes a fraction of a second for transportation and termination. This revelation by TOI knocked the bottom out of claims that India has among the lowest telecom tariffs in the world.



Trai has so far refused to regulate rates under the belief that competitive markets were at work and tariffs reflect costs. However, in the SMS arena, competition has clearly failed to move prices closer to costs. The practice of pricing SMSs high has been prevalent for several years while Trai has chosen to look the other way. This, despite the facts stating otherwise in Trai’s own cost data from its IUC regulation of August 2006.




Source:TNN 23 November 2009

TATA DOCOMO Offers Per-Second Billing for Roaming Across India

NO MORE ROAMING CHARGES!

TATA DOCOMO Offers Per-Second Billing for Roaming Across India

Company’s Industry-changing ‘Pay-for-what-you-use’

Pricing Paradigm Extended to Roaming Calls as Well


+ Introduces 1 paisa per second for all incoming and outgoing local and STD calls, to any network, to mobile  or landline phones, while roaming

+ No ‘packs’, hidden charges or upfront payments to avail this unique offer

+ Best-in-the-country offer sure to become yet another industry benchmark

+ With this, company brings in simplicity in tariffs in roaming space as well



Delhi, 22 November 2009: TATA DOCOMO, the GSM brand of Tata Teleservices Limited, today

announced the extension of its industry-changing ‘Pay-for-exactly-what-you-use’ pricing

paradigm to roaming services as well, introducing per-second billing for all calls made or

received while ‘roaming’ across the country, at its existing tariff of 1 paisa per second—for

both pre-paid and post-paid subscribers. The move is set to redefine the very concept of

making calls while ‘roaming’ in India, much as TATA DOCOMO’s per-second billing offer did for

local and long-distance calls a few months earlier, when the company launched commercial

operations.



From Monday, while roaming, subscribers can make calls across India at 1 paisa per second,

across all 15 Circles where TATA DOCOMO has launched GSM services, regardless of which

network or type of phone the call is made to. Furthermore, incoming calls while roaming will

also be charged on a per-second basis, at 1 paisa per second. With TATA DOCOMO set to launch

its GSM services pan-India this year, this game-changing roaming option will be available across

the country.



Redefining the Roaming Paradigm

“We are delighted to announce yet another industry-defying offer to our subscribers—a

transparent and pack-free roaming tariff plan of 1 paisa per second for all incoming & outgoing calls, both local and long distance, to all networks and types of phones (mobile or landline).

TATA DOCOMO subscribers will need no special packs or pay any hidden charges to avail this

offer,” Mr Deepak Gulati, President, TATA DOCOMO, said. “This is in keeping with our

promise to offer innovative and honest services to our subscribers across the country, he

added.”



“When a subscriber is roaming, most telecom operators in India charge a minimum of 50-60

paise per minute, even when the call duration is less than a minute. Under the TATA DOCOMO

roaming offer, subscribers will be charged only for what he or she uses—at 1 paisa per second.

For instance, a 15-second call made or received while roaming will elicit a charge of 15 paise

only—not up to Re 1 on a per minute basis, as is the industry norm,” Mr Gulati said.



End of Confusion in Tariffs

“The roaming value proposition offered by TATA-DOCOMO is a unique and revolutionary idea

which symbolizes the spirit of simplicity, innovation and inventive acumen. This offer for all

our subscribers who roam across the country is another moment of triumph for the TATA

DOCOMO subscriber—and we firmly believe it will create a paradigm shift in the overall

telecom experience for the customer and provide a service that is refreshingly different,” Mr

Gurinder Singh Sandhu, Head, Marketing, TATA DOCOMO, said. “We have always believed

that in a market that is cluttered with many operators and confusing options, it is our

simplicity and transparency that will liberate subscribers,” Mr Sandhu added.

Mobile Number Portability in India, from Dec,31 - TRAI Notification



Finally, India will introduce mobile number portability on Dec 31, 2009

a move that could further intensify the stiff competition in the world's fastest-growing wireless market and push call charges lower.



Mobile Number Portability (MNP), which allows users to retain their number even if they switch operators, will be introduced in two phases, the telecoms regulator said, first in the metro cities and the so-called Category A telecom zones and in other areas by March 20.



MNP helps in "increasing competition between the service providers and acts as a catalyst for the service providers to improve their quality of service," the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) said on its website.



The regulator also notified certain charges associated with MNP and said switching charges for users must not exceed 19 rupees. 



Four new firms including ventures of international telecom operators Telenor, Etisalat and Batelco are set to start services in India this year and MNP would make it easy for them to lure existing subscribers.





TELECOM REGULATORY AUTHORITY OF INDIA

NOTIFICATION

New Delhi, the    20th, November, 2009



TELECOMMUNICATION MOBILE NUMBER PORTABILITY  

PER PORT TRANSACTION CHARGE AND DIPPING CHARGE  REGULATIONS, 2009

No. 116-5/2009-MN --------------- In exercise of the powers conferred by

sub-section (1) of  section 36, read with sub-clauses (ii), (iii), (iv) and (v)

of clause (b) of sub-section (1) of section 11 of the Telecom Regulatory

Authority of India Act, 1997 (24 of 1997), the Telecom Regulatory

Authority of India hereby makes the following regulations, namely:-         



1.  Short title and commencement.

 (1) These regulations may be called

the Telecommunication Mobile Number Portability Per Port Transaction

Charge and Dipping Charge Regulations, 2009.

 (a) Except as otherwise provided in clause (b), these regulations shall 

come into force on the 31  day of December, 2009.  st



(b)  Regulation 5 of these regulations shall come into force from the

date of publication of these regulations in the official Gazette.



2.   Definitions .   In these regulations, unless the context otherwise

requires,-

 (a)  “Access Provider” means the holder of a Cellular Mobile

Telephone Service licence or Unified Access Service licence

and includes a service provider providing fixed wireline or fixed

wireless service  in addition to Cellular Mobile Telephone

Service;

(b)  "Act" means the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India

Act, 1997 (24 of 1997);

(c)  "Authority" means the Telecom Regulatory Authority of

India established under sub-section (1) of section 3 of the Act;

(d)     “dipping" means use of query response system of the

Mobile Number Portability Service provider for obtaining

Location Routing Number for routing a message to the called

number,



(e)  “Dipping charge” means the charge payable by an Access

Provider or an International Long Distance Operator,  to the

Mobile Number Portability Service provider for each dipping;

(f)   “Location Routing Number ” means the code assigned to

every Access Provider for the purpose of implementing Mobile

Number Portability;

(g)   “Mobile Number Portability” means the facility which 

allows a subscriber  to retain his mobile telephone number when

he moves from one Access  Provider to another irrespective of

the mobile technology or from one cellular mobile technology

to another of the same Access  Provider;

 (h)  “Mobile Number Portability Service provider” means an

entity who has been granted a licence under section 4 of the

Indian Telegraph Act, 1885 (13 of 1885) for providing Mobile

Number Portability Service;

 (i)  “Per Port Transaction charge” means the charge payable

by the Recipient Operator to the Mobile Number Portability

Service provider for processing the porting request in respect of

a mobile number;



(j)  “Recipient Operator" means an Access Provider  who  will

be providing mobile telecommunication service to the

subscriber after porting and includes his authorised agent;

 (k)  all other words and expressions used in these regulations

but not defined, and defined in the Indian Telegraph Act, 1885

(13 of 1885) and the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India

Act, 1997 (24 of 1997) and the rules and other regulations made

thereunder, shall have the meanings respectively assigned to

them in those Acts or the rules or such other regulations, as the

case may be.

 

3.   Per Port Transaction charge.--  The Per Port Transaction charge shall

be rupees Nineteen.



 4. Dipping charge

( 1)  The Dipping charge shall be such as may be

mutually agreed between the Mobile Number Portability Service provider

and the Access Provider or International Long Distance Operator, as the

case may be, who desires to utilise the query response system of the

Mobile Number Portability Service provider. 

(2) Each Mobile Number Portability Service provider shall, by an

agreement with the Access Provider or International Long Distance

Operator, as the case may be, arrive at the Dipping charge within thirty



days from the date of publication of these regulations in the official

Gazette.

 (3) In case the service providers are unable to arrive at a mutual

agreement under sub-regulation (2) within thirty days of publication of

these regulations in the official Gazette,  the Authority shall on reference

from such service providers or suo-motu fix the Dipping charge.

 

5. Reporting Requirement:  

 (1) Each Mobile Number Portability

Service provider shall report the Dipping charge to the Authority within

seven days of entering into an agreement under sub-regulation (2) of

regulation 4. 

(2) Any subsequent change in the Dipping charge shall be reported to the

Authority by the Mobile Number Portability Service provider within

seven days of coming into effect of such change.



6 .   Intervention and Review:  

 (1) The Authority may, by order or

direction in writing, from time to time, intervene, for the purpose of

protecting the interest of the subscribers or the service providers or for

monitoring and ensuring compliance of these regulations so as to promote

and ensure orderly growth of the telecom sector.



(2)    The Authority may review and modify the Per Port Transaction

charge and Dipping charge at the end of one year from the date of these

regulations coming into force. 

 



the Telecommunication Mobile Number Portability Per Port Transaction

Charge and Dipping Charge Regulations, 2009 (9 of 2009). 



Click Here to Dowload TRAI order



Nokia Messaging

Nokia Messaging is Nokia’s consumer messaging service for Nokia S60, S40 and Maemo devices that provides access to the email, instant messaging and social networking services that consumers already use on their desktop. The service is Nokia-hosted and Nokia-branded for Nokia devices. With one Nokia device, consumers can manage all their email, IM and social networking accounts and stay connected with friends-no matter how they communicate.



Nokia Messaging provides consumers with quick and affordable access to the world’s most popular services, such as Gmail Talk & Gmail, AOL Mail, Windows Live Hotmail & Messenger, Yahoo! Mail & Messenger, as well as Facebook.









Samsung Launches Bada Mobile Operating System

 Samsung Launches Open Mobile Platform







There's another mobile operating system to add to the mix that includes Windows Mobile, Research in Motion's BlackBerry, Palm's webOS, Apple's iPhone, Symbian and Google's Android. On Tuesday, Samsung Electronics announced the launch of its own open mobile platform, called bada.





The Korean company said the new OS "enables developers to create applications for millions" of Samsung phones, providing a "rich smartphone experience to a wider range of consumers across the world."





Samsung said it chose the name bada, which means ocean in Korean, to "convey the limitless variety of potential applications which can be created using the new platform."



The company said the new OS will be an open platform, which presumably refers to the open software development kit and the ability of developers to create applications for devices running on bada. Third-party applications are becoming an increasingly important factor in purchasing decisions, with online markets for thousands of applications for phones using operating systems from Apple, Microsoft, Palm, Android and others.



Samsung emphasized that its new platform will be "simple" for developers to build on, including a "groundbreaking" user interface. The company also said the platform will be easy to integrate so wireless operators can offer "unique and differentiated services" to customers.

In addition to bada, Samsung said its mobile application ecosystem includes the Mobile Innovator program, which gives developers access to the company's Virtual Device Lab, the Application Seller Site, and the Application Store.