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BENGALURU MONDAY 28 | NOVEMBER 2011

Aakash to get more features, prices may go down: Suneet Singh Tuli, CEO, Datawind

Footballer Lionel Messi has been signed by EA Sports to be the poster boy for its 2012 release FIFA Street

TECHNOMICS
Kapil Khandelwal

Tech upgrade

MS TO STREAMLINE WINDOWS 8
Upgrade and setup have long been hurdles for Windows OS owners, said Steven Sinofsky, Windows Live president. With the upcoming Windows 8, he said, Microsoft wants to make installation an allaround simpler process. Sinosky said the company was looking into how best to streamline the process for those updating from Windows 7 and customers starting fresh with the new OS.Our aim in improving setup is to reduce the time from start to finish so that customers can get to Windows and use the full power of Windows to further customize and ultimately enjoy their new Windows experience, he said.

Internet is no childs play: How to keep children safe from it?

SANGEETHA CHENGAPPA
BENGALURU, NOV. 27

A dose of IT

Robot scan

A jail in Pohang, South Korea, will soon begin a onemonth trial of three new robots, which will be there in a support capacity to monitor for abnormal behavior. The robots, which stand about five feet tall, were developed by the Asian Forum for Corrections. The robots are wheeled, and equipped with cameras and other sensors to monitor the inmates. If the robot notices what it is programmed to understand as risky behavior, then they will immediately alert the guards.

Shruthi Muddaiah, mother of two teenagers, is constantly on the edge trying to keep a track on her childrens online activities and spotting potential dangers before they can inflict any damages on them. I have bought a licensed game, Grand Theft Auto, for my son which includes cheats, but he still Googles for cheat codes from different gaming sites thus exposing his computer to various malware attacks, she says. Like Shruthi, another parent, Vinay Kumar is worried that his tech-savvy, 9-year-old daughter may access graphically violent videos or pornographic sites online. The risks of growing up in the digital age are increasing everyday says cyber security experts. Today, children are developing their online identity at an earlier age than before. They need parents, teachers and others to help them figure out where to go, what to say, how to act, and perhaps most importantly how not to act, said Vanessa Van Petten, youthologist and author of Radical Parenting. Negative situations online can have repercussions in the real world from bullying to losing money on scams to giving strangers personal information, she says. The Norton Online Family Report 2011 reveals that 60 per cent of kids in India have had serious negative experiences online, such as, receiving inappropriate pictures from strangers, being bullied or becoming the victims of cyber crime. It said that 84 per cent of kids on social networks often find themselves in unpleasant situations online, compared to 58 per cent who stay away from social networking. A further cause for alarm is that 20 per cent of the kids have admitted that they have used

their parents credit card to shop online for music, magazine subscriptions and event tickets without the knowledge of their parents. While 26 per cent of kids admitted to visiting adult content sites when their parents are not around, 30 per cent had seen violent images, games and videos online. The statistics show the real need for further educating parents and teachers, who play an enormous role in keeping their kids and themselves safe online said Effendy Ibrahim, Internet Safety Advocate & Director, Consumer Business, Asia, Symantec. While 57 per cent of Indian parents say they talk to their kids about online safety, 43 per cent still secretly check their childrens online activities. Having an open dialogue with

Negative situations online can have repercussions in the real world - from bullying to losing money on scams to giving strangers personal information
Vanessa Van Petten, youthologist
kids in a safe environment like at home or school can be much more effective than secretly monitoring. Parents should also arm their children with tools to stay safe online, he said. Although IT security firms like Symantec, Kaspersky, McAfee

and Trend Micro have already launched a range of Internet security products for 2012 that provide a suite of features like antivirus, anti-spyware, parental controls, remote file lock, social networking security, web threat protection, data theft prevention, they are also working towards educating kids and families to ensure their safety online. We have been running the Internet Safety for Kids and Families programme, to generate awareness about social media sites like LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and promote internet security videos for kids online, in India for the last two years, said Amit Nath, country manager, Trend Micro, India and SAARC. With tips from our experts, parents can frame timelines for their kids to go online and stop them from posting sensitive personal information on social networks, choose who they communicate with, and predefine which games and websites they can access. A lost credit card can be replaced, however, if your kids identity and personal information gets compromised, it is very difficult to undo the damage, added Amit. Consumer awareness about online security threats in India is pretty much stagnating at a decade-ago level says Altaf Halde, MD, Kaspersky Lab, South Asia. To increase awareness, we have initiated a student project this year where MBA and engineering students from across the country have been invited to present research papers on the theme, IT Security for the Next Generation at the International Student Conference hosted by Kaspersky Lab. The most innovative IT security projects will be chosen by the conference committee, comprising of our inhouse experts and IT security professors, and the authors will be invited to present their papers at the regional rounds early next year.

In healthcare tech cloud over the cloud

The healthcare cloud/mobility venture investment hype is out of the bag! Valuations in healthcare cloud/mobility businessmodel driven companies have grown over 400 percent in the last one year. If these valuations continue to grow at the same rate, we are quickly going to hit the disillusionment zone of this cloud/mobility, which will lead to another 'dot com' burst-like scenario. Rather than playing these valuations games, I have a more pragmatic approach in investing and looking into the inherent business models of such ventures' that can be disruptive and stand the acid test of their valuation on five key factors. First: The adoption of these technologies that drives the revenue models. There have been umpteen studies and surveys that have thrown in figures of current adoption on mobility and cloud-based business models. The crux is laptop and notebook PCs are common in the medical community but the next wave of mobile adoption is well underway as healthcare workers turn to tablets, smartphones and applications to increase productivity and improve patient care in a bigger way. Second: The scalability across the healthcare ecosystem that drives growth. There is enough hype on how cloud transcended D2C (doctor to consumer) to all the other stakeholders such as pharma and device companies, insurance, lab and diagnostics and the government health workers to integrate a national health informatics cloud. Closer home, we are still scratching the surface on how to implement cloud/mobility solutions at large. Do we need to encourage users to adopt such practices? We are also in the process of figuring out the rules for such integration across the ecosystem. Third: Clearing the regulatory cloud. The players in our healthcare ecosystem currently feel that the regulation elephant is wearing a blindfold. Pharma, devices, diagnostics and other players are not sure if the tablets or mobile devices provided by them to the doctors for data collection and closer integration is deemed as a gift as per MCI norms. The service providers have no clarity on the rules for revenue recognition from the taxation angle. Fourth: Interoperability and standardisation issues. While there are several international standards that are well recognised and adopted by a large majority of the players, the issue is to bring all players on a single interoperable standard. Finally: Managing the disruptive business model and the transition risks. I have seen many innovative business models in this space. I prefer to steer clear of most assumptive and dream-like scenarios. The cloud/mobility ventures' valuation expectations will turn sour as their cloud bursts when the disruptive business models meet the harsh ground reality. Kapil Khandelwal is a leading healthcare and ICT expert. Kapil@KapilKhandelwal.com

Tech plus

TIPS TO KEEP YOUR CHILDREN SAFE ONLINE

Work as a team to set boundaries. Discuss with your children exactly what is fine and what is out of bounds regarding the sites, chat rooms they visit, and the kind of conversation they can have there. Only let them use monitored chat rooms. Avoid .alt chat rooms as they focus on alternative topics that may be inappropriate for children. Position the computer in your main living space and make sure that the monitor faces outward into the room so there is no secrecy. Stress to your children that they need to tell you if they receive any odd or upsetting messages while chatting, and that you will not be angry with them or ban the Internet as a result. Set strict time limits for Internet use and enforce them. Software is available that enforces these limits. Ban latenight use. Do not permit your children to be left alone in cyberspace for long periods of time. Make it clear to your children that people in chat rooms are always strangers, no matter how often they chat with them, and no matter how well they think they know them. Make sure your child understands that they are never to reveal personally-identifiable information such as their real name, gender, age, school, phone number, etc. Dont let your children open attachments on emails from friends or file-sharing services without you being there to approve and scan the content for viruses. Install up-to-date security software on your PC. Learn how to save chat session logs, how to block users, and how to report problems. You can save sessions by copying and pasting the message text into a word document.

OVER 380 PHISHING INCIDENTS IN 2011

We also have Siri-like technology: Microsoft

Washington, Nov. 27: At the Techonomy conference in Tuscon, Arizona, Microsofts Chief Research and Strategy Officer, Craig Mundie, dismissed Apples new voice recognition technology as something Microsoft has had for over a year in Windows Phone 7. In an interview with Forbes discussing user interfaces, Craig Mundie was asked about Apples personal voice assistant, Siri. Mundie replied, as a technological capability, you could argue that Microsoft has had a similar capability in Windows Phones for more than a year, since Windows Phone 7 was introduced. Mundie went on to point out that Tellme, the eventual fruit of an acquisition in 2007, does what Siri does. Windows Phone 7 and even Xbox users are most likely already familiar with the product. You can ask it for directions, search the web through Bing or send texts while using natural language. In fact, Tellme does things Siri does not as of yet, such as transcribing voicemails to text. However, the Microsoft official conceded the company had a few things to learn about marketing. Craig Mundie suggested, maybe we need to pick a feature and hammer on it harder, while explaining that Apple had little choice but to push Siri hard. His reasoning is that many people were disappointed with the iPhone 4S. The disappointment stemmed from the lack of substantial changes to separate it from the iPhone 4. As a result, Apple had to focus on the one thing that would turn eyeballs: Siri. Voice recognition itself is actually far from new but Apple would certainly suggest that they do it better, leveraging decade-old technology from DARPA. Techspot

Over 380 phishing incidents have been reported in the January-October 2011 period and 508 in 2010 to the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In), the government said Friday. A total number of 508 and 386 phishing incidents have been reported to CERT-In in the year 2010 and during January-October 2011 respectively, Minister of State for Communications and IT Sachin Pilot said. The minister also said a large number of phishing incidents leading to hacking of bank accounts have also been reported.

Is Facebook starting to lose its touch?

New York, Nov.27: Facebook is steamrolling forward. It now boasts 800 million active users. The company is reportedly preparting for an initial public offering. Its laying plans to sell a Facebook phone, strengthening its presence on the mobile web. But Facebooks plans may be hampered by a new backlash against the companys efforts to get its users to share more of their lives online. In September, Facebook announced at its annual f8 developers conference that it was upgrading its Open Graph technology. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg introduced Open Graph in 2010 to let web sites and apps share information about users with Facebook. The revamped Open Graph takes sharing to a new level, allowing apps that automatically share what articles users are reading or what music theyre listening to. Zuckerberg said the new feature would allow frictionless experiences and real-time serendipity. At the time, only a few observers found them to be scary. They are seeking out information to report about you, wrote developer and blogger Dave Winer. But suddenly, a critical mass of critics are speaking up about the changes, how they affect users and publishers alike. Facebook has had its share of controversies in the past. In 2007, it introduced Beacon, an early version of Open Graph that automatically opted all users into its sharing features. In time, Facebook learned to allow users to opt in. But more importantly, its site changed how its users thought about privacy online. Today, its a given that the web is evolving into a social landscape where sharing personal information online is increasingly common. You either learn to share, or you stay off Facebook. The latest round of complaints have a different theme: This time, the problem is that Facebook is getting the social web wrong. One of the key reasons for Facebooks success is that Zuckerberg didnt try to tell its users how to use a social network. He kept things simple and made changes only when the online behavior of users dictated them. Zuckerberg believed that, in time, people would grow more comfortable sharing personal data on its site, even if they found it creepy at first. Reuters

APPly yourself

The technology of fun: Four things to keep you going through the week
Rockstar announced a Special Edition of Max Payne 3, which includes exclusive multiplayer content. The popular Rage demo to be released soon on Xbox Live and PSN.

gOFOLLOW GPS
goFollow is an extremely simple app which allows you to instantly view your GPS coordinates, and easily send directions to friends. Android

GAMES

WEBSITE

BORED AT THE OFFICE?

GIZMOS

THERE I FIXED IT
Link: http://www.thereifixedit.failblog.org/ In the case of ThereIfixedIt.com, we are talking about kludging to the tenth power! See some outlandish examples of how to fix automobile steering, toilet problems, and home renovations. These are not photoshopped images... every submission here is a candid photo of real-life DIY nightmares. This safe-for-work site is guaranteed for good chuckles, and you could probably show this to your boss and have her/him laugh with you, too.

XPS 14Z
Developer: Dell Price: From `48,900 to `67,900 The Good: Pleasantly light and compact. Excellent keyboard and touchpad The Bad: Needs more USB port. Could use slightly more pixels on screen The Verdict: Dells XPS 14z offers a balanced approach to thin-and-light, full featured laptops, but has only two USB ports.

COLOR MAIL
This web application helps you to create a colour styled email template and then you can use it directly in your iOS Mail app to send a colorful email to your friends. You can simply generate a colorful email from plenty of templates. Just tap to choose a theme from all categories, then browse and choose your favorite template, you can then use it directly in Mail App. iPhone

SAINTS ROW: THE THIRD

Console: PS3/XBox 360/PC Game type: Single-player, multiplayer Developer: Volition, Inc. The Good: Great assortment of vehicles and weapons with which to wreak explosive havoc Outrageous story missions and fun activities Wonderful variety of customization options The bad: Visually unimpressive Occasional glitches. The verdict: Fantastic missions, outrageous weapons, and awesome vehicles make the open-world mayhem of Saints Row: The Third an absolute blast.

DREAMr:ZOO Develope
Zynga Link: http://www.facebook.com/Dream.Zoo.Zynga. In Dream Zoo players create and expand their zoo by breeding animals only found in their wildest, most psychedelic dreams. Rainbow giraffes, polka dot baboons, and colorful zebras roam around animal kingdoms that players create and decorate. Players connect and visit their friends zoos to discover different habitats and terrains for a truly social experience. Dream Zoo enables players to watch their animals grow from babies to adults, building emotional connections with the breeds they created themselves thousands of animal varieties possible.

8.5 10