Indian Railway Changing Gears

Indian Railway - The transportation service used by a huge amount of people is now Concentrating on the safety and security of passengers and providing the high class comforts.

Indian Railways is launching its fully indigenized version of the three-phase electric locomotive (WAG-7 and -9 series), fitted with software-controlled diagnostic tools to significantly improve locomotive performance and provide better asset utilization, as well as contribute value-added services in the train movement, besides avoiding line failures. The engineers at Indian Railways and Sunlux have developed a compact diagnostic tool for these locomotives. The tools can be fitted to electric and diesel locomotives, both freight and passenger versions.

Further, the GPS facility will also be introduced. The Real-time control using GPS for positioning information and GSM for communication and signaling thousands of kilometers away opens a new era of traction units. Real-time tracking of trains, which carry up to 800 passengers in 5 to 12 wagons, is now possible without any manual intervention, even though the engineer would be present to carry out other tasks while manning the train. The system can fulfill the following tasks:

* Reduce speed before motor overheating becomes a danger
* Quickly measure estimated repair time and failure urgency
* Identify whether it will be an on-train/service track repair or require movement to a nearby repair facility

The encrypted onboard diagnostic information will be transmitted through the GSM/GPS channel to the control room, which upon analysis; will assist the driver to handle the situation. The system can also monitor how the locomotive was performing, whether it needs assistance, or if the crew needs any help.Also it has been decided to make the coaches more comfortable and modern. It has been proposed to provide facilities such as electronic information display, Internet, comfortable seats, better lights, public address system, etc. By using modern materials in coach flooring, roof, inside walls, etc. the coaches are to be aesthetically enhanced.

The stations are also going to change their look. It is proposed that the stations should be developed similar to Airports with all the modern facilities. This upgradation will be carried out in the step by step manner. All the tracks need to be checked and upgraded as per the requirements.

Adopting these and other modern facilities is bound to make the Indian Railways one of the best public utilities in the world !!!

Cellphone users - A GOOD news and a BAD one...!

Hello Friends,
if you are a cell phone user then the coming year is a good year for you!
And if you are planning to buy a new cell wait for a few more days….Because –

1) Mobile Chargers are getting Standardized
2) Mobile Number Portability Facility to be launched And
3) 11 digit mobile numbers coming soon

Standardization of Mobile Chargers

Yes it's time to throw away your old mobile chargers again!

If you've changed your mobile phone in the past couple of years, you must be familiar with the problems of dealing with the chargers. You are forced to buy a charger even if you own the same or other compatible interface. And what to do with the old one? – An addition to e-Garbage!

With every different manufacturer comes a different charger, which worst of all isn't compatible with the charger from the previous manufacturer.

With technology as advanced as it is today and with almost all mobiles using the same type of batteries, one would think having the same charging mechanism would be rather a trivial job. Now mobile manufacturers such as Apple, LG, Motorola, Nokia, Samsung and Sony Ericsson along with electronic chipset manufacturers such as NEC, Qualcomm, and Texas Instruments have come together in an effort to end this needless confusion.

You can expect, from 2010 onwards to have all mobile phones work on a standard charging system using the microUSBport, one already present on the Nokia N97.

Soon you will be able to use any charger from anyone to charge any phone. Not only is this infinitely more convenient, but also more environment friendly, as it will lead to less electronic waste, from discarded chargers. What follows though is a brief period of discomfort as you deal with yet another charger format, but nothing we aren't already used to!


Launching of Mobile Number Portability Facility

Yes, Again one good news….

Every time you change your Service provider (because of affordable tariff) you have to send your NEW mobile number to everybody. But now the days are going to change, just wait for a few days. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) will be launching the Mobile Number Portability facility by Jan 2010. Now what is this – Change your service provider while keeping the same Mobile number on a fixed porting charge of Rs.19 (the amount to be paid by a subscriber to the recipient operator) for availing this MNP facility! Yes, this is it.

The MNP will allow a subscriber to retain his number even when he moves from one operator to another irrespective of the mobile technology.

According to TRAI, The facility of keeping the same existing mobile telephone number despite moving to a new telecom service provider helps in increasing competition between the service providers and acts as a catalyst for the service providers to improve their quality of service. The TRAI also fixed ‘per port transaction charge’ at Rs.19.

“Per port transaction charge” means the charge payable by the recipient operator (the operator where the subscriber is willing to port his number) to the MNP service provider for processing the porting request of a mobile number.

Now, No new SMS’s saying xxxxxxxxxx is my new mobile number.

So, Hurry Up! To book your favorite mobile number to keep it permanent as soon as MNP facility launches.


11 Digit Mobile Numbers

Yes, this one is the bad news for all the Grandparents. They will have to remember the 11 digit number from now onwards. This is because of the HUGE increase in the Cell phone users in India.

The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has decided to migrate to an 11-digit numbering plan in mobile services by prefixing the number ‘9’ to the existing two-digit PLMN Access Code. A PLMN is identified by the Mobile Country Code (MCC) and the Mobile Network Code (MNC). The proposed migration from the existing 10-digit number to an 11-digit numbering plan is likely to be implemented from January 1, 2010.


It seems that the coming year is going to bring some revolutionary changes in the Telecom World!

Robot solving Rubiks cube - Awesome

You must have played with Rubik's cube at least once in your life else must have seen it . For newbie its a bit tough to solve the rubik's cube . I try it daily but its hardly possible for me to solve it . It you think you can solve this then ask this robot.

The fallowing video show how robot solve Rubik's cube in 27 -37 seconds with his mathematical calculations.

Motorola Ready To Launch Projector Phone

Hello Friends,

Have you got bored of your Cellphone? Want some new cool features?

Then, this is for you!




In the World's Expensive Gadgets Expo at Hongkong, Motorola displayed the Projector Phone, the first of it's kind! (It is still undergoing developments. Even no information in available on Website.)

Motorola with Microvision has officially developed the PicoP pocket laser projector. This could be the next generation in business and media technology in mobile phones. It seems like a step forward.

Microvision's PicoP technology is an ultra-miniature laser based display engine that can project a mobile phone's display onto a wall or even a curved surface at WVGA resolutions (854 x 480 color pixels). Projector technology such as this has been around for a few years now in one prototype form or another, but Motorola is the first mobile phone manufacturer to develop the new technology.


Tiny laser-based projectors enable a "big screen" viewing experience from mobile devices. By projecting content displayed on the device screen onto a wall, object or even a curved surface, users can easily share Websites or multimedia applications such as movies, personal videos, mobile TV, photographs and presentations with friends or business colleagues.

Imagine you are playing favorite game on mobile on Big Screen!

The bad things are, It's Cost. The cost of this gadget is not decided, but surely it will be very high and the other thing is that, It will not be launched in India this year(Only USA) :(

So, be ready with heavy bucks to bag this cool cell, you have time till next year!

Comments Expected!!!

Cancel Your Cable, Watch TV on PLAYSTATION 3, Xbox 360, or HP MediaSmart TV

Hello Friends,

Yesterday I was just browsing the net and see what I found! A cool new Software provided by MediaMall "PlayOn", to watch TV on your gaming consoles and other devices no need of Cable :)

If you have a PLAYSTATION 3, Xbox 360, or HP MediaSmart TV, PlayOn lets you watch Netflix, Hulu, CBS, YouTube, CNN, ESPN and more on your TV. PlayOn is software you need to install on your Windows PC. The download is a fully functional trial and is free to use for 14 days, but once it expires, you'll have to purchase a license to continue using it. Download it here!

How it Works

MediaMall's PlayOn software is a UPnP (Universal plug-n-Play) digital media server and browser that pulls RSS feeds from content providers, and presents them to DLNA-compliant networked media devices. In plain English, this means you can use your game console or networked television to access content from providers like YouTube, Netflix and Hulu. The PC software pulls in the media streams, in the same way as your web browser, and then sends them directly over your home network to your device, even converting their formats on the fly to make sure the devices can play them. Simple as that.

(Digital Living Network Alliance is a standard used by manufacturers of consumer electronics to allow entertainment devices within the home to share their content with each other across a home network.)

PlayOn leverages the existing browser and UPnP functions of game consoles and networked televisions, and uses the PC in the middle to bring in the content from the Web, passing it over your home network to the device.


The Minimum System Requirements for the PlayOn PC software

• Microsoft Windows XP (Service Pack 2 or later), Windows Vista, or Windows Server 2003/Windows Home Server (Service Pack 1 or later). 64-bit versions of Windows are also supported
• Windows Internet Explorer 6
  
• Windows Media Player 11.0
  
• Pentium 4, 3.2+ GHz
• 512 MB RAM
• 100 MB of available disk space for installation
  
• Internet broadband connection of at least 1.5

After the trial period you will have to purchase a license, it's a one-time $39.99 payment, and will enable unlimited access to all of the services available through PlayOn.

So, enjoy new experience of watching TV.

The Computer goes Eco Friendly

Innovations will soon launch EcoSmart, an entire line of such products. For ex. keyboard, a mouse, speakers, a 4-port USB hub, a USB keyboard, a webcam and media card reader/writer. All of these are to be made from materials that include organic, biodegradable stuff – bamboo, to be more precise.

The reason bamboo is preferred by manufacturers of electronic eco-friendly products is not only that it’s reasonably durable and pliable. The best thing about this kind of wood is that cutting it down and making stuff out of it doesn’t affect a bamboo forest too grievously.

Bamboo Mouse and Keyboards

Although bamboo keyboard is still a new thing to most computer users, it is nevertheless gaining popularity.

The company is in Jiangxi’’s Tonggu County, which enjoys abundant bamboo resources.

A bamboo keyboard sells at 80-300 yuan (US$12-US$44), or slightly higher than a normal plastic one in China, according to sales manager Zhang. Students and home computer users are major consumers of the product in the country.

ASUS Bamboo Notebook

Asus was just gagging around with it when they took their concept bamboo laptop around the trade shows.

Essentially, these are going to be the standard 11.1″ Asus S6 and the 12″ Asus U6 (which they’ve previously covered in leather) cased in eco-friendly bamboo instead of plastic. No announcements yet on chipsets, but the current S6 uses a 1.66GHz Core 2 Duo T7700 Processor while the U6 runs a snappy 2.4GHz chip. Both pack a gig of RAM, a gig of super-quick DDR2 memory, and 100GB or more on the hard drive. The U6 rocked 3G internet connection capabilities, too, making this thing possibly the fastest environmentally conscious toy on the planet.

The new bambooed versions are expected to retail in the $1700 range, so they’re not totally out of reach, either.

Micro Innovations

Those accessories include speakers, a card reader, a webcam, USB hub, keyboard and a mouse. Hopefully the guts of these devices are a little greener as well, not just the casing.

Bamboo multimedia 2.0 channel amplified speakers contain the latest in sound technology in a beautifully crafted bamboo shell. Users enjoy rich sound performance and 8 watts of power while listening to music and movies through their computer or television. Other environmentally friendly bamboo computer accessories include a 1.3 mega-pixel webcam, 4 port USB hub, media card reader/writer and USB keypad.