DataWind, the Canadian company that is manufacturing Aakash, has started the online booking and pre booking of the much anticipated low cost Android tablet. Online booking is for students' version of the tablet and pre booking is for UbiSlate 7, the upgraded version of Aakash.
Students' version of Aakash will be available for Rs 2,500 and will be delivered in seven days. The commercial version, UbiSlate 7 is priced at Rs 2,999. The payment mode for both the tablets is cash on delivery.
The commercial version of Aakash tablet will be powered by Android 2.3 and will have a resistive touchscreen, Cortex A8-700 MHz processor and graphics accelerator HD video processor, 256 MB of RAM and 2 GB of internal memory.
Other specifications are a one standard USB port, 3.5 mm audio jack, a 7 inch display with 800 x 480 pixel resolution, resistive touchscreen, GPRS and WiFi support.
"The improved version of Aakash tablet will be available in retail outlets by January end," a spokesperson of DataWind told The Mobile Indian.
The tablet was to be made available in retail stores by the end of November. "The delay in the availability of the tablet has been due to upgradation in the tablet and some unforeseen delay in manufacturing," the spokesperson said.
To book and prebook student and commercial versions respectively of Aakash tablet, users have to visit DataWind's website and fill up the required form. In case of booking they will get a booking ID and a message which will state, "You will shortly receive an email confirmation from our support team with further details."
In case of pre booking users will get a confirmation message which will state, "The commercial version of the Akash UbiSlate 7 would be launched in early weeks of December. After the commercial launch we would get in touch with you to deliver your device as soon possible."
As a matter of fact, the confirmation message a reader will see is factually incorrect as The mobile Indian had reported earlier the Aakash tablet will be available only by January end.
Datawind has however not cleared how it is going to establish the identity of students who will book the cheapest version of Aakash tablet. When The Mobile Indian contacted spokesperson of Datwind he said, "Anyone can book the student version of Aakash tablet."
This defeats the purpose of providing students an affordable tablet as now anyone can place an order to get the tablet. Interestingly, now it has been revealed that the government has procured only 10,000 Aakash tablets for distribution in schools and colleges of the initial 1 lakh proposed.
It looks like the company was in a hurry to start the online booking process and has not done not proper homework before staring it.
London, 4 Dec: Dev Anand, the 'Evergreen Romantic Superstar' of Indian cinema, has passed away in London on Saturday night following cardiac arrest. He was 88.
Dev Anand, who had come to London for medical check up, was not keeping well for the last few days, family sources said. His son Sunil was with him when he breathed last.
Dev Anand made his debut as an actor in 1946 in Hum Ek Hain. By the time his Ziddi was released in 1947 he was a superstar and has never looked back.
Versatile Dev Anand has given countless hits like Paying Guest, Baazi, Jewel Thief, CID, Johny Mera Naam, Amir Garib, Warrant, Hare Rama Hare Krishna and Des Pardes.
For his outstanding contribution to Indian cinema, Dev Anand was honoured with the prestigious the Padma Bhushan in 2001 and Dada Saheb Phalke Award in 2002.
He established his film production company Navketan International Films in 1949 and has produced more than 35 movies.
Dev Anand has won two Filmfare Awards - India's equivalent of the Oscars - in 1958 for his performance in the film Kala Paani (Black Water) and in 1966 for his performance in Guide.
Guide went on to win Filmfare Awards in five other categories including Best Film and Best Director and was sent as India's entry for the Oscars in the foreign film category that year.
He co-produced the English Version of "Guide" with the Nobel Laureate Pearl S Buck (The Good Earth).
In 1993, he received a Filmfare "Lifetime Achievement Award" and in 1996 he received a Screen Videocon Lifetime Achievement Award.
Of late he was involved in the direction of a new all American film Project Song Of Life - a musical love story which was to be shot in the United States.
He was to play the central character in the film which was to have a predominantly American star cast.
Dev Anand is the second of three brothers who were active in Hindi Cinema. His brothers are Chetan Anand and Vijay Anand. Their sister, Sheel Kanta Kapur, is the mother of renowned film director Shekhar Kapur.
Vizag: The Navy Day celebrations would be
held by Eastern Naval Command on 4
December in Visakhapatnam. It was on this
day in 1971 that the Missile Boats of the
Indian Navy carried out a deadly attack on
Karachi Harbour during the Indo-Pak War.
Three functions are scheduled on Sunday, 04
Dec 11, to commemorate the Event. The first
activity is the Wreath Laying Ceremony at the
War Memorial on the RK Beach by Vice
Admiral Anil Chopra, Flag Officer
Commanding-in-Chief, Eastern Naval
Command.
This will be followed by an Operational
Display that showcases the capability and
versatility of Naval ships, submarines, Aircraft
and the Special Forces, to be held in the
evening. His Excellency Shri Murali
Chandrakant Bhandare, Honourable Governor
of Odisha will be the Chief Guest on the
Occasion.
The Vizagites can view from RK beach, the manoeuvres by Destroyers, Corvettes, Fast attack craft and Landing Ships,
Beach assault by Marine Commandos, Sky Diving, Close Range Ant-aircraft Firing, Band performance, Formation
Anchoring and a host of other exercises. A total of 20 Ships, six types of Aircraft and a Submarine are scheduled to
take part in this years Demonstration. The Op-Demo would be followed by an At Home Function, being held for
invitees at the Navy House, the residence of Vice Admiral Anil Chopra.
World Disabled Day is observed every year on 3 December. Also known as “International Day of Persons with Disabilities”, the day aims to promote an awareness of disability issues and the fundamental rights of persons with disabilities. It is important to integrate disabled persons in the main stream of society. Disabled persons are often discriminated against and that is never an ideal condition. Society must take adequate steps to involve persons with disabilities in the main stream of each aspect of the social, political, economic and cultural status of their communities.
Several activities are conducted on World Disabled Day. Campaigns by human rights agencies and voluntary organizations are organized to raise awareness on the theme of right to act. Rallies are conducted to demand the right to select helps on their own free will for the disabled persons. The day seeks measures to assist physically handicapped persons in their own decision making. The year 1981 was proclaimed as “International Year of Disabled Persons”. Several plans were launched with a mission of providing similar opportunities, rehabilitation and prevention of disabilities. These campaigns were launched at national, international and regional levels
This edition of our 'Top five mobile phones under Rs 10,000' has two smartphones that were earlier priced around Rs 15,000.
Samsung Galaxy Y S5360 @ Rs 7,000
It maintained its numero uno status in our last list of 'Best smartphones under Rs 10,000' purely on the basis of its specifications and price.
Currently priced at Rs 7,000, the Samsung Galaxy Y has impressive specifications like Android 2.3 Gingerbread operating system with 830 MHz ARMv6 processor, 290 MB RAM and a 2 megapixel camera. In fact, it is one of the few smartphones under Rs 10,000 to feature Android 2.3, and that too with a powerful processor.
Galaxy Y comes with a 3 inch TFT capacitive touchscreen, Samsung's TouchWiz user interface and multi touch function. It has 180 MB internal memory which can be expanded by up to 32 GB. Other features include WiFi b/g/n with hotspot, Bluetooth v3.0 A2DP, a 1200 mAh battery, 3G and A-GPS, making it an ideal choice if you're on a budget.
LG Optimus Net P690 @ Rs 9,999
Not long ago this handset was priced around Rs 15,000 in India. However, several online retailers are selling this LG Optimus NET P690 for as low as Rs 9,999 now. This reduction is one of the prime factors for us to include this handset in this list.
That does not mean Optimus Net disappoints as far as specifications or performance is concerned. The Optimus Net comes with a 3.2 inch capacitive touch screen with accelerometer and proximity sensor for better gaming. It has an Android 2.3 Gingerbread operating system powered by an 800 MHz Qualcomm processor. This is only the second handset to feature Android 2.3 with above 800 MHz processor.
Its other features include a 3.15 megapixel camera, 32 GB expandable memory, WiFi b/g/n, WiFi Hotspot, DLNA capability, Li-ion 1500 mAh battery, A-GPS support etc.
Nokia E5 @ Rs 9,000
Nokia has close to 60 per cent market share in India and has a product in almost every category — be it the best feature phones or top of the line handsets. Though there are many more Nokia handsets within the Rs 5,000-Rs 10,000 price bracket, such as the Nokia C series X series phones, we zeroed in on the E5 for its specifications.
Available for around Rs 9,000, Nokia E5 runs Symbian S 60 operating system on an ARM 11 600 MHz processor. Though Nokia has shifted focus to Windows Phone, it has promised to support Symbian for a couple of years to come. Besides, there are thousands of users in India who use Symbian devices and Nokia isn't likely to leave them in the lurch.
Nokia E5 has the best in the industry 5 megapixel camera with flash, 32 GB expandable memory slot, 2.36 inch display, 1200 mAh battery, A-GPS, Nokia Maps, Bluetooth, WiFi b/g etc.
Micromax A70 @ Rs 7,600
Notwithstanding its very reasonable price of Rs 7,600, Micromax A70 3G comes with Android 2.2 Froyo operating system and a 600 MHz ARMv6 Qualcomm processor. Its 3.2 touchscreen is a capacitive one that supports multi touch input.
A70 is the only handset in this list to feature dual cameras — a 5 megapixel camera at the back and a front facing VGA one. Other noted features of Micromax A70 include a 1450 mAh battery, 32 GB expandable memory option, WiFi b/g with hotspot feature and Bluetooth.
Sony Ericsson Mix Walkman @ Rs 6,250
Mix Walkman qualifies for this list for its uniqueness and overall specs.
As the name signifies, its key feature is its Walkman. Sony Ericsson Mix Walkman comes with a Zappin key to search music. When pressed, the Zappin key opens a preview of the next track and lets you decide whether it is a favourite you want to listen to or not. A Karaoke function also enables the vocal track from any song to be lowered instantly so you can sing along.
Though it's the only phone in this list to run on a Java operating system, it has a decent specification list with 3 inch scratch resistance display, 256 MB internal memory expandable memory up to 32 GB, WiFi, Bluetooth, 1000 mAh battery and 3.15 megapixel back camera.
It is priced at Rs 6,250, and is the cheapest phone in the list.
Kolaveri
Superstar Rajinikanth's son-in-law and National Award winner actor, Dhanush's song 'Why this Kolaveri Di' from the upcoming Tamil movie 3 has taken the internet by storm. Though the song is in 'Tanglish' (Tamil and English), it has captured the pulse of everyone.
After creating hysteria amongst the netizens with its peppy music and catchy lyrics, 'Kolaveri di' sung and penned by Tamil star Dhanush, is now getting popular amongst Bollywood actors too. And the latest to be smitten by the song is the Shahenshah of Bollywood: Amitabh Bachchan.
Bachchan recently heard the song and was much impressed by the foot-tapping number. Senior Bachchan sang paeans about the song on the micro-blogging site Twitter, writing, "Just heard #Kolaveri after much talk on it ... its so original and catchy ..congrats Dhanush and Aishwarya(Rajni's daughter) .. love"
Neha Dhupia tweets, "Have shown tremendous restraint by not listening to #Kolaveri even once all morning. ..."
Singer Shreya Ghoshal tweeted, "Finally heard! Aiyyo! I lou! Hittu!! Soopera! "@aneeshb: This Kolaveri Di is super nice. 8shakes head n sings along*"
And Big B is not the only Bachchan raving about the song. Abhishek Bachchan too took to Twitter to praise the song. "how cool is Kolaveri di!!! slamming it LOUD! well done Dhanush and Aishwarya. big up guys!" He added later, "If you like Kolaveri di you guys must check out manmatha rasa. One of Dhanush's early songs. MINDBLOWING!! how does he move like that?"
Karan Johar tweeted, "Kolaveri di...definitely the sleeper song blockbuster of the year!!! Rock on dhanush!!!"
'Kolaveri di' is from the Dhanush and Shruti Haasan starrer '3' slated to release in 2012.
Let us pay tribute to those who gave their lives to save ours. Let us salute those who made their own lives, a trifle, to make sure that we lived ours.
Salute the men who fight our battles for us !
They have lost their precious life to save us, so why can’t we just say hat’s off to them? Come on show the spirit of what we Indians are and let’s stand brave against the terrorism.
