World’s cheapest computer gets millions tinkering

It’s a single circuit board the size of a credit card with no screen or keyboard, a far cry from the smooth tablets that dominate the technology market.



But the world’s cheapest computer, costing just $25, has astonished its British creators by selling almost 1.5 million

units in 18 months.



The Raspberry Pi is now powering robots in Japan and warehouse doors in Malawi, photographing astral bodies from the United States and helping to dodge censorship in China.



“We’re closing in on one and a half million (sales) for something that we thought would sell a thousand,” said Eben Upton, executive director of the Raspberry Pi Foundation.



“It was just supposed to be a little thing to solve a little problem.



“We’ve sold many more to children than we expected to sell, but even more to adults. They’re using it like Lego to connect things up.”



The device, which runs the open-source Linux operating system, was designed as an educational tool for children to learn coding.



But its potential for almost infinite tinkering and customization has fired up the imaginations of hobbyists and inventors around the world.



Ways to play



Tokyo inventor Shota Ishiwatari has created a small humanoid robot run by a Pi, which can tell you the weather, manage your diary and even make coffee.



“I wanted to create something by using a 3D printer and the Raspberry Pi – two cool items,” he told AFP, adding that he also wanted to demonstrate the potential of the microcomputer.



“Many Raspberry Pi users did not know how to have fun with the chip. I wanted to present practical ways to play with it.”

Upton and his colleagues first thought of creating a cheap computer suited to programming when they were teaching computer science at Cambridge University.



They noticed that children of the wired generation lacked the day-to-day experience of coding that was so formative for the computer geeks who grew up in the 1980s.

Surge in iPhone sales rings well with Apple investors

 

Apple Inc shares opened about 5 percent higher on Wednesday after the technology company's third-quarter profit beat analysts' expectations due to stellar sales of its iPhones.



The world's largest technology company said it sold 31.2 million iPhones in the quarter, far more than the expected 26 million, easing concerns that growing competition is hurting demand for its smartphones.



Higher sales of older phone models drove sales numbers in the quarter as Apple aggressively cut prices for the older iPhone 4 in emerging markets before phasing it out, Susquehanna Financial Group analyst Chris Caso wrote in a note.



Many analysts have not updated their outlook on Apple stock, preferring to wait for the expected launch of iPhone 5S and a low-end iPhone later this year before updating their views.



BMO Capital Markets raised its rating on the stock to "outperform" from "market perform" citing Apple's fourth-quarter gross margin forecast of 36-37 percent at a time when new products are expected.



"We believe that the September-quarter gross margin guidance plausibly supports our view that the new mid-range iPhone will be in the ~$450 price range with approximately 38% to 40% gross margins," BMO analysts said.



However, Stifel Nicolaus analyst Aaron Rakers cut his price target on Apple stock by $60 to $540, saying weak China results and iPad shipments were negatives for the company.



A sharp drop in Apple's China revenue in the second quarter underscores the challenges it faces as cheaper local rivals close the technology gap, threatening demand in the company's second-largest market.



Along with a lower-priced iPhone some analysts want to see a new line of product from the company to complement its phones and tablets.



After smartphones, a watch-like wrist gadget is considered a potential new battleground between Apple and rival Samsung Electronics Co.



"Although (the) iPhone refresh will help the sentiment on the stock, we believe the company needs to launch a new product category to drive estimates materially higher," Mizuho analyst Abhey Lamba said in a note.



Apple has applied for a trademark for "iWatch" in Japan.



Apple shares, which have lost about 18 percent in market value in the last six months, closed at $418.99 on the Nasdaq on Tuesday.

Apple iPhone sales record 400% growth in India, Cook acknowledges country's importance

 

Apple Inc CEO Tim Cook has taken a U-turn on his stance on India, saying iPhone sales in the country beat all expectations to soar 400% in the April-June quarter just a year after he famously said he loved India but felt business opportunities were much more elsewhere.

In a conference call from the firm's Cupertino headquarters, Cook acknowledged the importance of India, which outpaced Apple's growth in its core markets.

Interacting with analysts after announcing Apple's third quarter (April-June) results when it was early morning in India, Cook said, "From an iPhone point of view...we saw very strong sales in several of the emerging markets, sort of pre-pay markets. India was up over 400%; Turkey and Poland were both up over 60%. The Philippines was up about 140%...."

Apple also saw strong phone sales in several developed markets as it grew over 50% in the US, over 60% in Japan and about 50% in the UK. "So we had several regions where phone sales actually accelerated from the previous quarter," Cook said.

Cook said Apple's popular tablet iPad too reported double-digit growth in sales by unit in China, Japan, Canada, Latin America, Russia, the Middle East and India.

Apple's Senior V-P and CFO Peter Oppenheimer attributed the 20% year-on-year jump in iPhone sales to 31.2 million units during the quarter to strong performance in markets such as India. "iPhone sales were ahead of our expectations and we were particularly pleased with very strong year-over-year growth in iPhone sales in markets like the US, UK, Japan, Brazil, Russia, India, Taiwan and Singapore," he said.

Google’s new tablet comes with HD screen, updated Android

 

Google and Asus on Wednesday launched the new version of the Nexus 7 tablet. While the screen of the device remains 7 inches, it now sports FullHD resolution (1920 x 1200 pixels).

 

The tablet is also almost 2 mm thinner and weighs around 50 grams less than the old Nexus 7. It will be available in Wi-Fi and LTE versions. In India, though, 3G version is likely instead of LTE model.

 

The basic model of the tablet will cost $ 229 in the US. So far, there is no word on the availability of the tablet in India. An industry insider told TOI that it is not expected here anytime soon.

 

Other than the bump in the screen resolution and a slimmer design, the tablet has also received better internal hardware. It is powered by a quad-core 1.5 GHz Snapdragon Pro chip and Adreno 320 graphics chip. Hugo Barra, vice-president of Android product management, claimed the processor is around 80% faster compared to the chip that powered old Nexus 7. The graphics performance in the new tablet is up by 400% compared to its predecessor.

 

The basic model the latest Nexus 7 will have 16GB internal storage and 2GB RAM. The model with 32GB internal storage will also be available. Unlike the old Nexus 7, the new one has a primary camera that can click 5 mega pixel images. The front camera, which can be used for video chats, sports a 1.2MP tag.

 

Google also announced Android 4.3 - still called Jelly Bean - at the Nexus 7 launch event held in San Francisco. The new Nexus 7 is powered by Android 4.3. The new version of Android is also available for Nexus 4, old Nexus 7, Nexus 10 and Galaxy Nexus.

 

Android 4.3 is similar to Android 4.2 in terms of user interface. But there are a few new features. Of these, the most important are new set of settings for multi-user accounts and ability to restrict content for different users on a device, similar to what Windows allows.

 

Sundar Pichai, the head of Android and Chrome divisions at Google, said that Nexus 7 has been a huge success after it launched last year. It constitutes 10% of all Android tablets sold in the last year.

 

"So far over 70 million Android tablets have been activated across the world," said Pichai.

 

At the same event, Google also announced Chromecast, a tiny dongle that can connect to any TV that has an HDMI port and allows a user to stream videos from an iOS or Android devices onto the big screen.

TRAI Says 'Yes' To Mass Porting Of Corporate Mobile Numbers Via MNP

Telecom Regulatory Authority of India has shown green signal to mass porting of corporate mobile numbers using MNP aka 'Mobile Number Portability' facility, which it launched a few months ago.



Through the facility, a person can switch to any telecom service provider of his/her choice without having to change the phone number. Before MNP, users would have to give up on their number because the series were tied to individual service operator. Until now, individual owners could easily port their numbers; but the facility was not available to corporate numbers to be moved in bulk.



The TRAI however has amended the rules to allow bulk porting of corporate numbers starting today. All the corporate numbers can now be ported to any service provider as long as there is a letter of authorization from the authorised signatory of the company, responsible for the corporate mobile numbers.



Through their press release, the TRAI said that up to 50 corporate numbers can be ported via single porting request. The new guidelines will remain in force for a period of 90 days from today and the telecom operators will have 48 hours to port the numbers. Remember that the individual users have 24 hours for their porting requests.



TRAI had received a number of complaints after the donor operators refused several requests to port the numbers stating "contractual obligation" for the want of permission from the responsible authorities.


We think it's definitely a good move by TRAI. Expect mass exodus from each operator in coming days.