Software/Hardware News

Bangalore, March 10 (IANS) It's an event that links techies, development campaigners, agricultural scientists and others to help 'integrate the rural community into the digital world'. Welcome to the Baramati Initiative.

Pune, March 6 (IANS) The traditional Indian version of the cookie jar race is baby Krishna atop a human pyramid, reaching out to a pot of butter. It is enacted every year. This year, robots are going to do it, and they will be in a race.

Washington, March 5 (IANS) Computers may now enable people to experience the most realistic sense of touch, perceiving textures or feeling hard surfaces, with the help of a radical new touch-based interface.

Microsoft Corp released the latest version of its Windows operating system for powerful servers on Wednesday, thrusting itself into the red-hot market for virtualization technology that allows one computer to act like many machines.

Microsoft Corp ramped up its fight to have its Office Open XML document format made into an international standard on Monday as delegates from 37 countries met to reconsider the proposal.

Recent strong sales of higher-priced PlayStation 3 models may be an indication that Sony Corp does not need to cut prices of the flagship video game console soon, a U.S. executive said on Thursday.

Microsoft Corp is looking at ways to overhaul the online gaming and content service for its Xbox 360 console and hopes to double the number of users on the service, an executive said on Wednesday.

New York, Feb 19 (IANS) Here's one kid who lives up to the dictum that children must be seen and not heard. Meet Wizkid. Part computer, part robot, this Swiss machine is as endearing as any child, but unlike most kids, it doesn't walk or talk, and it pays perfect attention.

Consumers will be the winners, through better quality home movies and lower prices, when Toshiba Corp finally calls time on its DVD technology, ending a long-running battle to set the format for next-generation discs.

Taipei, Feb 16 (DPA) The Taiwan police are using the global positioning system (GPS) to catch bike and motorbike thieves, a radio station reported Saturday.

Research In Motion's BlackBerry could lose its iconic status in the eyes of corporate and retail subscribers alike if it doesn't manage to stem service problems such the ones that led to two major outages in less than a year, analysts say.

Apple Inc is to open new retail stores in Germany, Switzerland and Ireland following its successful European launches in Britain and Italy, a spokesman said on Monday.

In Bangalore, where it all began, the mood is of concern, but not alarm. While the city that championed the software export blllccoom led by Infosys and Wipro remains choked by the traffic generated by the growth, the industry's ride now faces some riders.

Kochi (Kerala), Feb 8 (IANS) California-based IT major Digital Liberty Group (DLG), Friday announced it taking over 55 percent stakes in the Kochi-based Comprehensive Software Solutions and Services (CS3).

Bangalore, Feb 8 (IANS) India's official response to a project to spread low-cost computers among school students was not too enthusiastic. But that has not stopped techies from seizing the opportunity.

Business software units of Yahoo Inc and Google Inc are introducing beefed-up versions of their Web-based software that compete with Microsoft Outlook, offering yet another clue why Microsoft Corp made a $45 billion unsolicited bid for Yahoo.

A good place to see the true frontline in Microsoft's battle with Google is deep in the bowels of the British Library in London.

Its time for a Best of CES but as always a selective list comes with its pitfalls. Let's do the math. Thousands of companies participated, each with an average of about 300 to 500 products and atleast 20 to 30 announcements of new products per minute. Here's what I am going to do to get as many into this column space. List the product, a short description and what the impact of such a device is.

Thiruvananthapuram, Jan 30 (IANS) Technopark headquartered IBS Software, a leading provider of IT solutions to the global travel, transportation and logistics industry, was declared the winner of the 'Emerging Cargo IT Systems Provider of the Year' award.

I must start by thanking everybody for the enormous response to my day to day saga at CES 2008 at Las Vegas. While this is not going to be my new format for this column, I will follow it for all coverage of live tech events.