But what is more surprising is that in the UK, the Streak is being given out free coupled with a 2 year mobile-data contract or data-voice contract with O2. Here are some of the hardware specs of the Dell Streak

- A sharp 5-inch capacitive multi-touch WVGA (800×480) display for a great full-screen experience watching video or browsing the web

- Fast 1GHz Snapdragon ARM-based mobile processor from Qualcomm

- 5 MP autofocus camera with dual LED flash that offers easy point & shoot capability and quick uploads to YouTube, Flickr, Facebook and more
- VGA front-facing camera enables video chat functionality down the road
- A user-removable (and replaceable) battery
- A 3.5mm headphone jack means many of you can use the Dell Streak as the music source (and more) in your car
- Integrated 3G + Wi-Fi (802.11b/g) + Bluetooth 2.1 (think headsets, external keyboards, stereo headsets, etc.)
- UMTS / GPRS / EDGE class 12 GSM radio with link speeds of HSDPA 7.2 Mbps / HSUPA
- A user-accessible Micro SD slot expandable up to 32GB. That means you can store lots of movies, music, photos or other kinds of files.

On the software side, here’s what you can expect:

- A customized multi-touch version of the Google Android operating system that features Dell user interface enhancements

- Access to over 38,000 apps (and growing) via the Android Marketplace
- Microsoft Exchange connectivity and integration through TouchDown
- Google Voice support
- Integrated Google Maps with voice-activated search, turn-by-turn navigation, street and satellite views
- Quick access to activity streams via integrated social network app widgets like Twitter, Facebook, YouTube

You can read more here

Google co-founder Sergey Brin couldn’t make it to a science gala this past weekend, so he went as a robot he could control remotely. It’s a little creepy and a little awesome.  Brin was using a Willow Garage Texai robot, according to the blog Down The Avenue. The e-creature has a two-way computer monitor for a head, which displayed a live shot of Brin’s face, a long metal “neck,” and wheels to propel it around a room in response to remote commands. There’s more in the video here, but we’re guessing envious Silicon Valley CEOs won’t need to know any details beyond “Sergey Brin has one” before putting in their orders. Just like when the geeky trendsetter bought a Tesla Roadster.

Cheers!!!

Electromyography is the phenomenon used by this device, developed by the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT),  monitoring tiny muscular movements that occur when we speak and converting them into electrical pulses that can then be turned into speech, without a sound uttered.

‘Silent Sound’ technology aims to notice every movements of the lips and transform them into sounds, which could help people who lose voices to speak, and allow people to make silent calls without bothering others. Rather than making any sounds, your handset would decipher the movements your mouth makes by measuring muscle activity, then convert this into speech that the person on the other end of the call can hear. So, basically, it reads your lips.

“We currently use electrodes which are glued to the skin. In the future, such electrodes might for example by incorporated into cellphones,” said Michael Wand, from the KIT.

The technology opens up a host of applications, from helping people who have lost their voice due to illness or accident to telling a trusted friend your PIN number over the phone without anyone eavesdropping — assuming no lip-readers are around.

The technology can also turn you into an instant polyglot. Because the electrical pulses are universal, they can be immediately transformed into the language of the user’s choice.

“Native speakers can silently utter a sentence in their language, and the receivers hear the translated sentence in their language. It appears as if the native speaker produced speech in a foreign language,” said Wand.

The translation technology works for languages like English, French and Gernan, but for languages like Chinese, where different tones can hold many different meanings, poses a problem, he added.

Noisy people in your office? Not any more. “We are also working on technology to be used in an office environment,” the KIT scientist told AFP.

The engineers have got the device working to 99 percent efficiency, so the mechanical voice at the other end of the phone gets one word in 100 wrong, explained Wand.

“But we’re working to overcome the remaining technical difficulties. In five, maybe ten years, this will be useable, everyday technology,” he said.

image reference: http://www.telecomspace.com/files/cebit_silent_sound_device.jpg, http://fotosa.ru/stock_photo/image100/p_2462676.jpg,

Luckily for me, my good friend, Shoban @shobankr from the TweetMyPC fame, who attended the TechED 2010 had a chance to meet Prasanna. He has literally gone a step further and implemented this in his own house.

It took me a while but then 2 minutes through the video, I just couldn’t take my eyes and ears off the video.

Shit I envy all these guys. Truly amazing.

Cheers!!!

Pranav Mistry, is a PhD student in the Fluid Interfaces Group at MIT’s Media Lab. Before his studies at MIT, he worked with Microsoft as a UX researcher; he’s a graduate of IIT. Mistry is passionate about integrating the digital informational experience with our real-world interactions.

At TEDIndia, Pranav Mistry demos several tools that help the physical world interact with the world of data — including a deep look at his SixthSense device and a new, paradigm-shifting paper “laptop.” In an onstage Q&A, Mistry says he’ll open-source the software behind SixthSense, to open its possibilities to all. Watch the video

This technology has finally been commercially implemented by BMW. Watch the video

Truly mind blowing. Hats off to you Pranav. Feel proud to be an indian.

Cheers!!!

Now here is a state of the art innovation by my dear friend and partner Shoban Kumar. It is a very simple, 2 minute installation, masterpiece that gives you the power to control your PC from anywhere in the world. All you need to achieve this are

- A twitter id (which am sure most of you have)

- Download and install the application. You can download it TweetMyPC. It is FREE and SAFE.

Steps to install the application.

- Download the application from the link above
- Unzip it and install it
- Click on the icon that appears on your desktop (after this, you will see the icon appear on the bottom right corner of the desktop)
- Enter your twitter username and password and click on Save. It will hide the new window automatically
- You are all set to control your PC from anywhere now.

If you find some problems, then try this alternate option after installing;

- Goto Program Files, open the folder CodeGeeks, then TweetMyPC
- Right click on the .exe file and Run as administrator

How will I control my PC now?

Sign in to your twitter account from anywhere and tweet the following commands and you will be able to achieve the respective actions. You can find your commands here.

It is indeed a brilliant piece of innovation. This is version 3. The previous versions had crossed 18,000 downloads within a mere span of 6 months and with only two commands of shut down and lock compared to the present 30 commands.

Someone has also made a video on this application and uploaded in on YouTube which has earned 32,206 views, 222 ratings and 203 comments. Watch it here

It is that simple. Shoban has developed a series of applications that are up for downloads and if you are interested to know more or connect with him, you can follow his technical blog CodeGeeks.

Let me know what you think about this. For any doubts, you know where to reach me or Shoban.

Cheers!!!

image reference: http://blog.nationmultimedia.com/home/blog_data/5/5/images/PuppetMaster.jpg

Command	Purpose
shutdown	This command will shut down your computer after showing a warning and a wait-time of one minute.
restart	restartsyour computer after a warning and a one minute delay
standby	Don’t want to shutdown? Then you can make your pc go to standby mode with this command.
hibernate	This command will hibernate your computer after showing a warning and a wait-time of one minute
lock	This command locks your Windows pc – TweetMyPC will still continue running and answer to tweets
logoff	Locking the account is not what you want? Try logoff to log off your Windows-Account and close all programs
abortshutdown	You accidentally tweeted shutdown or hibernate? Don’t worry. You still can stop it by tweeting “abortshutdown” to stop it – if you are fast enough!
physical memory	As the name says, this command will let you know the free Physical Memory of your pc
virtual memory	Want to know the free virtual memory of your pc? Just tweet virtual memory
os	This is one of the command which does not have much value. Tweeting “os” will make TweetMyPC to tweet about your Operating System version.
ip	Know your pc’s internal and external IP-Address from anywhere in the world with this command
screenshot	Want to know what is happening in your pc when you are not around? Just tweet screenshot and TweetMyPC will take a screenshot of your desktop and post it to Twitpic.
getprocesslist	This is one of the very useful commands. On receiving this command TweetMyPC will generate a list of running programs, along with the process ID, and email it to a predefined email address.
kill <process id>	This is used along with the above command. Once you receive the process list you can close a program using the kill command.
download <URL>	Want to download an interesting video but you are on the move? Don’t worry – just tweet download followed by the download URL and TweetMyPC will download it for you and it will be ready when you return back. Note: Twitter automatically converts long URLs into short one using bit.ly. TweetMyPC can download files only if the URL is in the short form for security reasons. Please use bit.ly to shorten your URL before posting.
getfile <filepath>	Missed an important document and you are traveling somewhere? No problem. Just tweet get followed by the file path and TweetMyPC will email the file as attachment to a predefined email. Don’t know the path? Don’t worry. Just checkout the next command.
getfilelist <drive>	This command will make TweetMyPC to send you the list of files and folders in a drive. You can use this command to email you a file once you know the complete path of the file.
volinc	Increases the volume of the main speaker by 20%
voldec	Decreases the volume of the main speaker by 20%
volmute	Mutes the main speaker
volunmute	Un-mutes the main speaker
wallpaper <URL>	You found a nice image and want to use set it as background at your TweetMyPC-Computer? Just use this command with the URL of the Image to set it fast and easy from anywhere!
url <URL>	This command helps a lot for example if you find a website, a document or a download-file you want to review it at your computer. Then you can just open the URL by using this command, and see it at the screen when you are back at the pc. (the url has to start with http:// or www
powerstate	This tweets the battery-state (Charging or not, if power-cable is plugged in and how long the remaining battery-running-time is)
ping	When TweetMyPC reads this, it will answer that it is running and checks for tweets – This is really helpful to see if TweetMyPC is working and if your commands will have any effect. +fun link try it!
message <your message-text>	Thanks to this command you can send a custom message to your computer, which will be shown as message-box, so you can communicate with other people sitting in front of your computer or just send a notification to yourself to read them later.
stopscr	This stops the screensaver
darkscreen	darkens/turns off your screen for example to save energy or to hide what the desktop shows
print <URL>	TweetMyPC will download and then print the specified file – currently just .doc, .docx or *.pdf supported
<Custom Command> <optional with parameters>	This is the most interesting feature of TweetMyPC. You think the above list of commands is not enough? No problem! With this new release of TweetMyPC you can start any program or shell-command with parameters just by using twitter and this program! You can start any program you want by adding it in the CustomCommand-Window of TweetMyPC and then tweeting the specified name of it. But also you can just add parameters to the tweets. Thanks to this you can now for example start your torrent-client with the torrent download-url as parameter or you can open Winamp and play a webstream, local file or whatever you want. (Example: add %windir%\system32\cmd.exe in the custom-commands window and tweet “command /K defrag /M /U” – see http://ss64.com/nt/cmd.html

the Nokia E-72 is highly user friendly, sleek, handy, and of course the software upgrade, a mammoth 5 mega pixel camera with flash, fading backlight, dictionary, multiscanner, 3D tones, mere 128 grams, Five-way scroll key,  Accelerometer sensor for auto rotate and tap-for-time,  Optical trackpad, wifi, bluetooth, usb, Digital compass, turn to silence a call, a video and audio player that can play practically anything,  Document editor (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, PDF),  Flash Lite v3.0, Printing….

And I have been craving for one of these after surviving with my E-61i for nearly 3 years. Eventually I went and got one and man am I in love with it. You get all the accessories you require along with what I need the most which other phones do not provide, a sheath. Superior, classy and stylish.

If anyones planning to buy a new phone try this and you will not regret it. After all its a Nokia

Cheers!!!

image reference: http://www.gsmarena.com

Max reaches his friend’s place and is surprised at how small an office he has and stops to wonder if he was doing something that wasn’t worthwhile. He scraps all the random thoughts running through his mind and steps in. Walks into his friend’s office and meets him. His friend welcomes him with a hug and asks him to take a seat. Without wasting anytime, his friend introduces Max to one of his subordinates and asks him to commence the process of familiarizing Max with the goings on of the distribution unit. From identfying production companies, negotiating, agreements, logistics, stock checking, distribution, further negotiationm basically from alpha to omega.

As time passed, Max started showing exemplary skills in every field. He also went the extra mile and became sort of the union leader of the employees. He got their concerns to the higher authorities; his friend. Within a short time span of 4 years, he had managed to increase the distribution units from 1 to 4 in 3 different cities. His friend was very proud of him and promised to make him his partner and let him handle 2 sectors all by himself. Max regularly sent money to his uncle’s house and wrote to them as he considered them his family. He had also saved enough money to invest in real estate, and 3 ambassadors. Don’t ask me why he bought 3 of them. Maybe he found some use of it. Within another year, business was going smooth but stagnant. No growth and they badly needed to expand. His friend put forward the idea of him joining his business and both of them investing more money into the business and opening up more distribution units in 2 other cities to increase their revenues. Max readily agreed as, in a way, he was thankful for the life he had and he wanted to grow. After their discussions, his friend agreed to invest quite a bit of money and to get Max to be an equal share holder, his friend asked him to invest the same amount. If Max invested that amount, he would be left with exactly INR 8,000/-.

In a way Max loved the challenge. He thought to himself, “If this is a wrong decision, then I stand to learn from this. So what, I have my friend and team with me. If something goes wrong, we can always work our way up.” He agreed and they started the procedures to open the new units. He handed over the money to his friend and told him to take care of the formalities as that was what was happening all these years. He handed over the money and decided to visit his only family to tell them the good news and go check on them after years. As soon as he said this, I sat back on my chair, widened my eyes and cupped my mouth. Max looked at me and made the loser sign on his forehead. I sat there motionless.  Max was in charge of all the operations whereas his friend was in charge of the management. He stops, looks at me and says, “You guessed right Mithun, he screwed me. I am not ashamed to admit it.” He adviced, “Whenever you get cheated or screwed in business, shout it to whomever you want. Do not keep it within. Only then will you have the drive to prove to those that you can come out of it and you are capable of it. If you are the only one who knows it along with a few others, you will keep a low profile and end up a loser.”

In a way, it is true. It does help in many ways. I openely accept my first failure but at the same time working ten times harder to prove myself and find myself at peace. I find a lot who agree with me in the wrong decisions I made, advice me, correct me, say the I-told-you-so phrase but most of all support me and offer me all kinds of help. And one thing I appreciate and realize is that, all those weren’t just words. Every single person who promised to help me has come to my aid, with absolutely no expectations. It is indeed a good feeling. Just for the sake of those people, I want to excel in life. I will ensure I do not make the same mistakes that I made and I saw others make. But I might make new ones. Take life as it comes and learn as you go.

Max then returns from his home to find out that his childhood mate and his work buddy for so many years has, no points for guessing, invested his money and moved on. All within a matter of 2 weeks. Apprently, the procedures had started well before the handing over of the money. Basically he was broke with just INR 4000/-, 3 ambassadors and a piece of land. What he did after that, I can not say, f@#k!!! He quit his job, spent a few months brooding over his mistake and without wasting anymore time went on to build a whole new business that flourished to not that state alone but 3 different states and lives a happy life with his family. Due course of this new venture he went through a lot of hardships as well which I am not allowed to speak about. Pretty much the same thing, backstabbing, cheating, lying, but by other people in new ways. This time, he had a back up plan for everything that happened. He ends by saying, “Once bitten, twice shy. I just followed my instincts and learnt to observe, read and decipher people.”

Recently, his old friend got in touch with him, apologized and asked him if he was interested in a new business venture and told him this time he would work for him. “What goes around, comes around.” He told me, “Mithun, you just do your part. The universe has a way of its own. It will reward you with everything you want if you want it with all your heart and work towards it.”

If you guys haven’t heard of or watched it, please get your hands on this documentary called “The Secret”. It is a life changing documentary. NOT THE MOVIE, THE DOCUMENTARY. At least for me. I hope you enjoyed this post. I just wish Max lets me write about his work someday. I would love to share the rest of his story. It is action packed.

Cheers!!!

Reader, if you are an entrepreneur or an aspiring one, you will realize that the above emotion is a common one. The above sentence is like a perpetual chant in your head. It is a sentence you might have used and heard being used a million times. The not-wanting-to-work-for-anyone-but-yourself, is an innate emotion in all entrepreneurs. For the very same reason, I reacted with an ear to ear grin and told him, “I felt the very same way.” The moment those words left my lips, I realized I was gonna get slapped down. I wished I hadn’t said those words.  He looked at me, smirked and said, “Every aspiring entrepreneur thinks the same. It is nothing new.” I didn’t say anything else but, “That’s true”. What else could I say? Somehow getting slapped down by this man did not pinch my ego.

I heard a phone ring in the yonder, it stopped half way through. A little later his wife, a very sweet lady, appears on the first floor and taps on a wind chime that hung off the edge of the roof. Max swirled his head around the moment he heard the melodious chime. They exchanged glances, not one word spoken. He turned to me and excused himself and hopped to his house over the moist lawn. I sat there and took in the beauty of the place and wondered what I had done to meet such a person. Why would he sit and talk to me at such length and narrate his life story to me? My imaginative time piece started ticking. With every passing second I was thinking of a new scenario. Does he want to help me out with my business? Does he want to start something with me? Yeah right he will. Does he want to warn me of the hurdles that lie ahead? Is he telling me not to lose focus? Why is he free today? Doesn’t he have work? Is he shitting me or playing a prank on me? Why am I thinking all this? After we speak everything, is there anyway this person will be helpful in business to me? How can I use this contact? In other words, I was being plain desperate. Once you venture into business, you wonder how every second person you meet can help you out. It isn’t because you have become an opportunist but purely because you are desperate or looking for greener pastures. Once you have achieved what you want, this internal war of queries cease to occur. But I guess, that is normal. If you meet some big shot in your field tomorrow, by chance and he starts chatting with you about his life and asks you about your work and gives you tips, wouldn’t you also think somewhere on the same lines? Maybe not this desperate, but I am a little hyper as it is and also have balls to admit to all of this

He returned from the phone call and pardoned for being away. I just smiled to such statements. What could I possible say when he says sorry? “It’s okay Max, dont worry.” As if he gives a flying f#$k about what I feel? But he is a person who has such values and principles. He somehow seemed gleeful about narrating his own story. Maybe he knows its an award winning rags-to-riches story. He continued narrating, “As I was saying, once I passed out, I didn’t know what to do. Got a few job offers but turned them down that very moment.” I listened intently for the next part of the story as that was the part I was interested in. What a bum I am. He leaned back on the cane chair and stretched his arms and let out a sigh. I was still listening intently with the empty coffee cup in my hand. He asked me, “Care for some more Mithun?” and pointed to my cup. I looked down at my cup, the left over coffee had dried up and formed an ink devil sort of artwork that spanned from one end of the cup to the other. I placed the cup on the table, denied the offer cordially and went back to the “intently listening” position, you know the one when you sitting on a chair, with your elbows perched on your thighs and your chin resting on your palm or merely clamping your hands together. He got the hint and went on with his narration, “I then bumped into a friend of mine who I knew from my school days, by chance, on the road after almost a decade. It was really nice to catch up with him after a long break.” Apparently, that friend of Max’s was into pharmacy. He had a large distribution network and was quite successful. When Max expressed his interest in starting something of his own, his friend asked him what field he was interested in. Max hadn’t the slightest clue. Mind you he was 24 years old then. He told him that he wanted to join him in his business. Being a good friend, he did not say anything and told him to meet him the following week with whatever certificates he had on him. Max admits, “To be a successful entrepreneur, hard work alone will take you ages. You need an impressive combination of luck, timing, hard work, contacts and most importantly, how to utilize them.”

So Max set out the following week with all the documents he possessed from his school and college. He also gathered as much information about pharmacy and distribution. That day was his first interview for a job that he wanted with all his heart.

to be continued……..