Nokia Expo Ushers In Fresh Phones, Facebook Features

Nokia (NYSE: NOK) on Wednesday unveiled three new smartphones at Nokia World 2009 in Stuttgart, Germany.

Nokia N97 Mini

It also announced a partnership with Facebook through its Lifecasting With Ovi application.

One smartphone, the N97 mini, is targeted at women, IDCanalyst Ramon T. Llamas told TechNewsWorld.

The other two, the X6 and X3, are aimed at maintaining Nokia's position in the mid-range smartphone market.

Lifecasting With Ovi will be available on the N97 mini.

PlayOn for Wii: Sometimes a Great Application

When they were designing the latest generation of video game consoles -- the generation we're currently right in the middle of -- two of the three major players envisioned their systems as hubs not just for games but for all sorts of digital entertainment. Downloaded movies, songs stored on a PC, high-definition discs, etc., would all run through their platforms, so they built their systems with HD video capabilities. The results appear to be what they intended -- three or four years on, the Microsoft Xbox 360 and the Sony PlayStation 3 still look spectacular on a big screen. But their prices, at least at the time of launch, were enormous.

With the Wii , Nintendo took a totally different route. It wasn't concerned with high-def multimedia. It didn't side with either HD-DVD or Blu-ray. The Wii has a WiFi chip, but its Web capabilities have barely evolved beyond a built-in browser and an online store through which you can buy decade-old titles. The Wii doesn't even have an HDMI port; instead, you hook up with low-def RCA. What the Wii does have is a bunch of fun games anyone can play by moving a wand around, and compared to the other two, it was dirt cheap at launch. Of the three, it's consistently been the best seller.

However, even the Xbox and PS3 high-def hubs are imperfect multimedia machines. Native support for online video from popular providers like Hulu, Netflix (Nasdaq: NFLX) and Amazon(Nasdaq: AMZN) usually doesn't come as a built-in, out-of-the-box feature (though Xbox does offer native Netflix support). And the Wii won't even share video files with your PC.

Now that prices on the PS3 and Xbox 360 Elite have fallen to points competitive with the Wii and with each other, someone looking to buy a new console might want to consider what each system is capable of besides just gaming. As far as native features go, PS3 and Xbox still beat Wii in multimedia, but with the right third-party software, the Wii can theoretically be a media center too. MediaMall Technologies has just released a beta version of PlayOn that includes Wii support in addition to PS3 and Xbox 360 support.

Setup and Installation

PlayOn is a server application that runs on Windows PCs. In order to work, the computer it's running on must be connected to your home network, and your video game console must also be hooked up to the same network.

After it's downloaded and installed on your desktop, the PlayOn server app lets you save your user IDs and passwords for Hulu, Netflix and Amazon. Once those accounts are saved, you'll be able to access your queued video lists on these sites and services. PlayOn also supports video from Internet channels like ESPN, YouTube, CBS and CNN.

The desktop server app has features for testing your bandwidth and processor abilities, setting parental controls, checking for updates, requesting help and adjusting performance. You can set PlayOn to activate every time you turn on your PC or set it for manual activation. There's also a tab for inputting a license key if you decide you want to pay US$40 to keep it after a 14-day free trial.

In addition to all those Internet channels, the latest edition of PlayOn also includes a beta feature for streaming media like music, video and photos from your PC to your console. A tab on the server application lets you designate which PC folders are allowed to share content. Wii users will probably get the most use out of this feature; the other two consoles already have Windows Media Server compatibility.

The Laptop Benchmark

Before using PlayOn, when I wanted to watch Hulu or Netflix videos in the living room, I'd have to schlep my laptop in from the office , yank an HDMI cable out of one component, stick it into the laptop, and hope that the battery wouldn't quit before I was finished watching (digging that power brick out from behind the desk is so undignified). With PlayOn, as long as the server app is running on your computer and all connections are solid, the video is sent straight to the TV by way of the console (and by way of the PC). All pause/play/FF/RW functions are handled using the console's controller. No schlepping required.

The resulting picture and experience, however, isn't seamless. To access this video on the Wii, you have to open the Web browser and go to the address "Playon.tv" in order to find your options. Once there, you can choose a channel (Netflix, YouTube, etc.), go through your list of queued videos, and start playing.

Unfortunately, the resulting picture was just abysmal on a big-screen HDTV. While Netflix and Hulu videos rarely come in at resolution even approaching high-definition under any circumstances, when viewed through my old laptop arrangement, the quality is tolerable for an hour-long program. Viewing it through the Wii with PlayOn, I could barely make it through the opening credits.

By contrast, the PS3 experience is much smoother. PlayOn appears as a server under the video section of the XMB -- no need to visit the browser and tap in an address.

However, even though the PS3 has better video capabilities than the Nintendo, PlayOn video running through the PS3 also seemed to suffer the same picture quality issues as video on the Wii. This is likely due to the strain it puts on a home wireless network (my PC, PS3 and Wii were all running on WiFi rather than wired connections).

According to PlayOn's FAQ: "If you're using a wireless network for your PC or device, especially if it's on 802.11g, you are likely to experience problems. PlayOn requires a lot of bandwidth on the home network to pass over the MPEG video files to the device. Anything that may interrupt or slow down that video feed will result in an unhappy device, and you'll see excessive buffering."

Sure enough, when I put the PS3 on a wired connection, quality improved significantly, though I was still vexed by frequent freezes and claims of "corrupted data." This is perhaps related to the "excessive buffering" mentioned above. And keep in mind that it's impossible to give the Wii a wired connection without buying an adapter -- it has no built-in Ethernet port.

Things might clear up further if the PC rather than the console gets a wired connection, which for some might mean finding a new home for the modem and router. Such are the joys of home networking .

Bottom Line

Even though I wasn't consistently satisfied with how PlayOn performed on my network, I have three reasons for liking it as a product: A) The app itself is easy to get up and running (networking issues may be a different story depending on how you're set up); B) It's a great idea that really expands the multimedia capabilities of a console; and C) It lets you try the product for free for two weeks.

That last point is really important. Getting PlayOn to work right depends on all sorts of disparate hardware and software, not to mention where your router is physically located and whether a wired connection is convenient. With home networks, sometimes stuff just works, sometimes it just doesn't, and it's good that MediaMall lets you figure out for yourself whether you're satisfied before spending. If you can get PlayOn to work, it's worth the price.

If you're interested in a convenient way to get Web video to a TV without schlepping a laptop, I highly recommend taking 15 minutes to install and set up PlayOn -- and make sure to put it to the test for the full two weeks before committing.

Wikipedia to Tinge Suspect Entries With Orange Cast

Wikipedia wants to give users more confidence in the reliability of its information, so it has come up with a color-coding scheme that will assign an orange background to less-trustworthy information -- the darker, the more suspect -- and a white background to content that ranks high for accuracy. However, Wikipedia hasn't said much about how it will arrive at its rankings.

Top Ten IT Companies of India 2008-2009

1) Tata Consultancy Services : Tata group-owned Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) is the country's no. 1 IT company. During the year 2008-09, the company clocked Rs 25,894 crore in revenues.

Like all its peers the company too was hit by slowdown pangs. The turmoil in the BFSI sector in the US hurt the company which has a huge exposure to the segment. It also had to write off some dues of Lehman Brothers and was hit by the bankruptcy of auto major General Motors and telecom giant Nortel.

However, the company made impressible gains in other sectors like manufacturing, healthcare and engineering services to grow by 22% year on year. Geographically, the company continued its expansion in Latin America, setting up its third delivery centre in Mexico. On acquisitions front, the company bought Citibank's BPO unit for $505 million.

The company which got 8% of its revenues from the domestic segment expanded its focus beyond government. It provided backend connectivity to Rajathan Royal's team during IPL season 2.

2) Wipro : At no. 2 is Bangalore-based Wipro. The company beat its larger rivals TCS and Infosys to post a revenue growth of 41% (excluding BPO). The company recorded revenues of Rs 23,882 crore during the fiscal 2008-09 which saw its two divisions Wipro Technologies and Wipro Infotech synergies better for total outsourcing deals.

The company fought the likes of IBM and HP on the domestic turf to wrestle Aircel, Wnitech Wireless and ESIC deals. The company's Middles East operations grew by over 280%.

The restructuring at the top level was followed by the departure of several senior executives of the company. The company was also hit by the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers and General Motors. The news that it Wipro has been barred by World Bank also created a small flutter.

3) Infosys : The third biggest IT company in India is Infosys with 2008-09 revenues of Rs 20,392 crore. The company closed the year with a 31% growth, with Europe and the US contributing 90% of the total revenues.

The turmoil in the US economy hit the company which had little focus on the domestic market. Only 1% of the company's revenues came from the domestic market.

However, the recession in the US seems to have wisened the company who is now focusing aggressively on the domestic market. Bharti Airtel and SBI were two of its big wins in the domestic market during the year.

Geographically, the company also expanded in Central Europe, Latin America and South America. The company also opened a new development centre in Mexico.

Last quarter saw the company laying off almost 1500 people on the grounds of non-performance.

4) HP India : The fourth largest IT company is Hewlett Packard India. Slowdown seems to have hurt the company badly, which grew by mere 2% in the fiscal 2008-09.

However, the company's slow growth was not company wide. While TSG grew by a good 33%, largely led by services and enterprise software, the PSG and IPG divisions saw a big hit in their numbers due to the general hit in the consumer sentiment.

Parent company's acquisition of EDS helped solidify HP's services business in the Indian market, with 18% of the revenues coming from the domestic segment.

The company bagged several new clients including Indian Railways, Tata Motors, Durgapur Steel and Raymonds. HP India continued to be the no. 1 vendor in notebooks and desktops across all four quarters according to IDC.

5) IBM India : At no. 5 is IBM India. With revenues of Rs 12,048 crore, the company grew by a decent 36% during the fiscal 2008-09 (excluding BPO business). The FY ‘09 saw the share of domestic revenue in the overall pie increase to 48%, from the previous year's 42%.

The company's big wins included SAP implementation deals from Torrent Pharma and Star India. It also won some key deals from Bharti Retail, Bharat Bijlee, LANCO Infratech, Cavincare, HDFC Bank, Max NewYork Life and Sun Direct.

The company was hit by its aggressive focus on the retail and real estate segments, as the two sectors are among the worst hit sectors.

The company's image as a hire and fire employer too is said to be there due to the layoffs it announced early last year.

6) Cognizant Technology Services : The sixth largest IT company in India is Cognizant Technology Services. Surprisingly, the company which gets four-fifth of its revenues from the US and half of this from the BFSI sector grew by almost 49% during the fiscal year 2008-09. With this the company recorded highest growth among all IT companies in the country for the third year in a row.

At a time when almost all companies announced layoffs, Cognizant claimed to have added 10% to its workforce between April ‘08 to March ‘09.

Cognizant also increased its penetration in the non-US markets, growing by over 71% in Europe and 142% in APAC. The company also made some inroads into the German market. The year also marked Cognizant’s entry into the domestic market.

7) Ingram Micro : IT distributor Ingram Micro is the seventh biggest IT company in the country. The year saw slowdown straining the company's revenues. The worst hit was the company's non-IT business, which includes mobiles and consumer electronics.

Incidentally, the company witnessed healthy growth in the first half of fiscal 2008-09, however, the poor showing in the second half wiped out the gains of the first half.

Computing systems including, notebooks, servers and desktops continue to be the biggest revenue generator for the company. In the computing segment, Ingram got maximum revenue from HP products followed by Acer. Lenovo's declining fortunes continue to trouble Ingram.

While printers and other peripherals did show slowdown pangs, the company's component business did well showing impressive performance from Intel.

8) HCL Technologies : At no. 8 is HCL Technologies. The company grew by 41% to clock revenues of Rs 8,764 crore. The biggest highlight of the fiscal 2008-09 for the company was its acquisition of UK-based Axon for which it pipped rival Infosys technologies.

The $658 million Axon buy was the biggest acquisition in the history of Indian IT. The company said that the acquisition was the part of its Blue Ocean strategy, which aims to expand in high-potential areas with low competition.

The year saw the company expanding its footprint in the APAC market. Some big deals included, UTI, MTV Networks, Misys and Serena Software.

The company's two major clients were among the worst hit BFSI companies.

9) HCL Infosystems : The ninth largest Indian IT company is HCL Infosystems. With Rs 8,089 crore revenues, the company grew by almost 60% during the fiscal 2008-09 largely riding on its services business.

BFSI segment showed the most activity, with the company acquiring a cooperative banking software vendor NTPL. The company bagged orders from BSNL in the telecom space.

The company ventured into physical security space launching Safe State to offer security and surveillance solutions. Some big launches of the year include mobile POS solutions and high-speed Infiniti challenger series workstations.

However, the company's marketshare in the PC/laptop market continues to lag at a lowly 11-13%.

10) Redington India : The tenth largest IT company in India is Redington. Slowdown hit the company badly during the fiscal 2008-09, with growth slipping to 5% from 25% in the previous year.

The company's revenues during the year stood at Rs 6,576 crore. Peripheral and systems were the biggest spoilers for the company during the year, with both businesses shrinking.

On the positive side, the company added nine new vendors including some niche principals like Philips LCD and Belkin accessories. Focusing on large deals and guarding it cash reserves helped the company.

Premji re-appointed Wipro Chairman

MUMBAI: Software major Wipro said its current Chairman and Managing Director Azim Premji has been re-appointed for the post for a further two year period till July 2011. The shareholders of the company have given their approval for the re-appointment of Azim Premji as Chairman and Managing Director until July 30, 2011, Wipro said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).

His re-appointment would be effective from July 31, 2009, it further said.

Samsung launches world's first OMH phone

Leading CDMA player Samsung has announced the launch of the world's first OMH (Open Market Handset) phone "Mpower 699" in the Indian market in cooperation with Qualcomm that develops digital wireless communications products and services.

The OMH technology gives cellphone customers the flexibility to buy SIM cards for CDMA handsets from operators of their choice.

“This technology will help migration between operators in all our CMDA (Code Division Multiple Access) phones,” Samsung India country head Sunil Dutt said at the launch of the handset, priced at Rs 7,000.

He said Samsung's Mpower 699 is the world's first CDMA phone to offer this flexibility to customers since the network settings for CDMA connection have shifted from phone to OMH SIM card.

Qualcomm Inc's Senior Vice-President Kanwalinder Singh said that OMH handsets like Samsung's Mpower 699 play a central role in offering Indian subscribers the freedom and choice to easily change or upgrade their handsets.

"With currently more than 100 million CDMA subscribers, we expect OMH to play a key role in driving the growth of CDMA in India," Singh said.

Put Things Off: A Practical, Pragmatic Prioritizer for Procrastinators

Put Things Off is a to-do list app made for people who have come to terms with the fact that they can't always get everything done every day. It shows you a list of tasks you want to accomplish today, but if you decide any of them can wait for later, you don't have to go through the process of editing the date. With one button, they can be put off for anywhere from one to 31 days.

Procrastinators: The Leaders of Tomorrow

With a name like "Put Things Off," this app sounds like it was tailor-made for slackers and lazy people. Not so. Slackers and lazy people, by definition, lack motivation to plan for, organize and actually do things. Maybe it's a character flaw, or maybe it's a sort of Zen virtue, but it's not the kind of thing Put Things Off is made for.

Instead, Put Things Off is best for really busy people who need an easy way to manage tasks, figure out which ones need immediate attention, and put the rest on the back burner without abandoning them completely.

The app is laid out as a set of four wooden boxes like you'd find on an actual desk: Inbox, Today, Put Off and Done. Hit the "+" sign in the upper right corner to create a new task. You can either assign a specific due date, or save it in your Inbox with no date assigned. Giving it a due date of today saves it in your Today box, and any date in the future sends it over to you Put Off box. When the date changes at midnight, everything with a due date for today gets moved to the Today box.

So far, this sounds like nothing that can't be done in Calendar, but there's one feature that makes it stand out a little. Any to-do item can be immediately put off using a single button press. Its due date will be set back anywhere from one to 31 days (you can set this default number of days in the setup menu), and it'll pop back into your Today box when the new, procrastinated date rolls around.

Sure, when you get a reminder in Calendar, you can view it, edit it and assign a new time. Put Things Off's approach just lets you do that a little easier. Choose the tasks that need immediate attention; save the rest for later without risk of losing them. Things will only be trashed when you actively throw them away.

Wake Me Up on Thursday, Please

Graphically, Put Things Off is well-polished. The developers could have easily made the UI very bare-bones and still kept the functionality, but instead it has some good animation and a nice wooden desk background with off-white note paper. Even the icon looks nice, which is something I wish more developers would pay attention to. It's a detail, it's minor, and it won't turn a poorly designed app into a good one, but if you have a good app, why make the icon look lousy?

Unfortunately, there is no landscape typing mode.

I also wonder whether this app might be improved by adding some sort of time-of-day element to the mix. Put Things Off is more polite than Calendar because it won't barge in and remind you of what you need to do with a chime and a message at the moment you set it for. Instead, you have to actively open the app each day to see what's on the agenda. Sometimes, though, I need to be barged in on, I need a wake-up call, and adding the option to make any task buzz in and demand your attention at a given time on its set due date would be very helpful, as long as you could still use that Put Off function.

It wouldn't even need to be as active as a beep and a pop-up. Apps like Mail, App Store, Facebook , and lots of others use a little red badge in the upper right-hand corner to notify you of items in need of attention. Perhaps Put Things Off could use one of those for its Today list.