AOL coming to India

AOL might be finding itself in trouble in their US and European operations but they are now aiming to enter the Indian market.

The company is set to enter the Indian market on November 15. AOL already has a customer service and customer analysis center in Bangalore but they have never considered providing their services in the country till now.

AOL’s Indian venture would take on domestic giants like Rediff, Indiatimes, and international players like MSN and Yahoo. The company is also working on increasing its focus on markets like Japan, China, and Korea.

DriveTrust: Seagate preparing a secure hard disk with built-in encryption

Market leaders Seagate has revealed that they are working on launching hard drives with built-in encryption.

Seagate’s Momentus 5400 FDE.2 would come loaded with a special encryption chip. It would make it impossible for anyone to read data off the disk without some form of authentication.

This hard disk is being designed for use in notebook computers which are more prone to data theft. The drive would be launched in capacities of 80GB, 120GB, or 160GB.

Seagate plans to allow users to gain access to the disk using a password but they expect PC manufacturers to develop other authentication systems such as fingerprint and smart card readers.

Motorola announces the Moto SLVR L7e mobile phone

Motorola has announced the latest variant of their SLVR range of mobile phones. The latest version is SLVR L7e.

It features a new metallic blue finish and comes with enhanced multimedia functions and high-speed data access.

The phone incorporates advanced music features including an integrated MP3 / AAC music player. It also comes bundled with Stereo Bluetooth technology; users can now enjoy a hands free music enjoyment.

Motorola has also added support for Progressive Downloading and Video Streaming. The phone comes powered with EDGE Class 10 (Enhanced Data for Global Evolution) technology. The camera has been enhanced to 1.3-megapixel class with 8x zoom and full screen video capture and playback.

Motorola SLVR L7e Features:
Ultra-thin shell with an innovative nickel-plated copper-alloy chemically-etched keypad with illumination panel
High-quality imaging via a built-in 1.3-megapixel digital camera with 8x digital zoom, image editing, and video capture and playback with audio / video streaming (3GPP) and video progressive download
MP3, AAC, AAC+ enhanced music player for listening to favorite music on-the-go
Bluetooth wireless technology for hands free convenience and streaming stereo sound
MicroSD memory expansion slot for additional storage with optional card
EDGE technology for high-speed data transmission with WAP 2.0 compliant browser
MotoSync to synchronize contacts and calendar at the touch of a button

Sony might lose some laptop battery business to rivals after the recall

Sony Corp. has warned investors that they might lose some of their business of delivering laptop batteries as they are already facing a crisis with the recall of up to 9.6 million of its personal computer batteries.

This recall is already overwhelming its production capabilities. The company said that production capabilities are not good enough to meet the regular demand and the demands from this recalling process.

The company is now talking with PC makers about enlisting the help of other battery makers to meet demand.

Sony Executive Deputy President Yutaka Nakagawa also admitted that this might result in their customers to look towards other suppliers for their future notebook battery needs.

Market analysts believe that this recall would help Sanyo Electric Co. expand its domination in this segment of the market.

Google launches Google Custom Search Engine

I have personally wanted such a tool from Google since a long time. We now have it. Search engine giant Google has finally launched a service named Google Custom Search Engine, which enables the users to create their own search engine for customized searching on particular sets of websites.

Users can not only specify the sites and pages they want to search using this custom tool but they can also prioritize those pages and sites. In addition, they are also free to customize the look of results to match a site’s theme.

Incidentally, Yahoo! recently launched a similar tool named Yahoo! Search Builder. Third party tools are also available like Rollyo and Eurekster.

Marissa Mayer, a Google vice president spoke about this new product launch: “Everyone — businesses, organizations, moms, dads, teenagers, and teachers — can harness the power of Google technology to create a personalized search experience.”

Fusion: AMD plans to integrate CPU and GPU now that they own ATI

Advanced Micro Devices has completed their takeover of the graphic card company ATI. The company added that they now plan to make chips integrating its x86 with a graphics processor on a single piece of silicon by early 2009.

This project has been codenamed Fusion and would result in products suitable for a range of appliances like laptops and servers.

Most hardware manufacturers already sell motherboards with built-in GPUs, which help reduce the cost of the final product. However, packaging the main processor and graphics processor on one chip will take this integration further.

AMD claims that this would help in reducing the power consumption while improving the efficiency of the final machine. However, they would continue development of coprocessors such as physics accelerators or high-end graphics chips for gamers.

Dell to soon launch cheap notebooks featuring AMD processors

A Dell notebook under USD 500 is now a possibility as the company is expected to launch some AMD processor powered products in the coming days.

Market sources claim that the first batch of 500,000 AMD notebooks from Dell will officially hit the market by the first week of November.

Dell’s 15.4-inch notebook is reportedly being manufactured by 15.4-inch notebook. While the 17 inch models will be produced by Compal Electronics.

AMD currently has less than 15% of the global notebook CPU market but with support from Dell they should perform well in the coming quarters.

Samsung updates its Q1 ultra mobile PC with two new variants

Samsung has updated its ultra mobile PC range with two new products. The launch has been low key as not much has been revealed in the media.

One of these two new models comes with a faster processor and more storage space than the original Q1 device.

The other variant uses a VIA processor instead of an Intel one. This is perhaps to bring the price of the device low.

Samsung said in a statement that these new products are on sale in some European and Asian countries and in the U.S.

The original Q1 came powered with a Celeron M 900MHz processor. The Q1-Pentium comes with a 60 GB hard disk and 1 GB RAM. It is powered with an Intel Pentium M 723 1GHz processor. The Q1b is based on a Via Technologies’ C7 1GHz processor and has a 40 GB hard disk and 512 MB RAM.

Europe dominates America when it comes to Mobile Internet users

European mobile device users are more likely to use the internet on their portable devices than their American counterparts.

This was revealed in a study by comScore Networks. The research team discovered that 29% of mobile users in France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK regularly use their phones to browse the web.

In comparison, just around 19% mobile users in the USA use their small screen device to access the web.

The study also found that men are more likely to access the internet on their mobiles than women. 55% of the surveyed mobile users were men.

Nokia and Motorola are the two dominating players in this market providing mobile devices capable of accessing the internet.

Bob Ivins, MD of comScore Europe said in a statement on this research paper: “In Europe, the mobile internet appears to mirror the dynamics of the fixed internet. Google remains strong but the other US-based portals achieve much lower penetration, facing stiff competition from local competitors – in this case the mobile providers – who have the structural advantage of a degree of control over the access point and interface from the mobile phone.”

Europe dominates America when it comes to Mobile Internet users

European mobile device users are more likely to use the internet on their portable devices than their American counterparts.

This was revealed in a study by comScore Networks. The research team discovered that 29% of mobile users in France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK regularly use their phones to browse the web.

In comparison, just around 19% mobile users in the USA use their small screen device to access the web.

The study also found that men are more likely to access the internet on their mobiles than women. 55% of the surveyed mobile users were men.

Nokia and Motorola are the two dominating players in this market providing mobile devices capable of accessing the internet.

Bob Ivins, MD of comScore Europe said in a statement on this research paper: “In Europe, the mobile internet appears to mirror the dynamics of the fixed internet. Google remains strong but the other US-based portals achieve much lower penetration, facing stiff competition from local competitors – in this case the mobile providers – who have the structural advantage of a degree of control over the access point and interface from the mobile phone.”