India wants to 'take charge' of dialogue with Pakistan

Terrorism will be a key focus in the upcoming foreign secretary-level talks between India and Pakistan on February 25, and though these talks are not being slated as the resumption of the 13-year-old composite dialogue process, the truth is that it will not be a one-off conversation either.
According to highly placed government sources, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has told the Foreign Office that he wants “India to take charge of the dialogue and not relinquish control to third parties.”
That is why Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao got in touch with the Pakistani side towards the end of January to restart the dialogue, the first time in 15 months. And that is why the forthcoming dialogue can become the start of a process, even if it is not dubbed the “composite dialogue” that was started 13 years ago when I K Gujral was prime minister.
Neither is the conversation going to be limited to “talk about talks,” as was dubbed by Home Minister P Chidambaram in his interaction with journalists at the Indian Women’s Press Corps last week, when he indicated that the dialogue could be superficial and limited to a photo-op.
Truth is, the Indian side has come around, once again, to the view that talks with Pakistan must go on, and that Delhi should use each of the conversations to express its views on terrorism or any other subject.
“The talks are not about love or betrayal, but a pragmatic conversation between India and Pakistan,” Rao told Business Standard.
On top of the agenda will be a reiteration of the demand that Pakistani territory cannot be used for anti-India terror, and that Pakistan hand over voice samples of the Lashkar-e-Toiba militants India believes masterminded the Mumbai terror attacks, such as Zaki-ur Rahman Lakhvi, his deputy Mazhar Iqbal and Abdul Wajid, who are in Pakistani custody.
Other issues will also come up, including Afghanistan, as well as the recent beheading of two Sikhs in Pakistan’s north-west frontier province.
Pakistan is likely to raise Kashmir, which has fallen off the international front-burner following the West’s obsession with the Af-Pak frontier. Delhi will counter this by acknowledging the basic nature of the dispute, and point out that under former President Musharraf’s administration, India and Pakistan had actually reached some understanding on this matter.
It is clear that the Prime Minister has decided to lead the resumption of the dialogue with Pakistan, ignoring the apprehensions of Chidambaram as well as Defence minister A K Antony, who is reportedly concerned that the dialogue will lead, down the line, to a settlement of the Siachen and Sir Creek issues, which the Army is said to have stalled for the last several years.
In fact, the PM will also use this dialogue resumption not only to stave off pressure from the US and other parts of the western world to talk to Pakistan, but also to point out to these interlocutors that for any real progress on the Pakistan front, India must also be involved in Afghanistan.
So far, the Americans have tended to acquiesce to the Pakistani army view that India cannot be a part of the solution in Afghanistan. The Americans as well as the rest of the international community acknowledge that this is “blackmail,” but have also expressed helplessness to deal with the situation.
But government sources point out, India could, in fact, also employ reverse pressure. That is, talking to Pakistan on all issues, including terrorism, would mean that the US and other western nations would also do their bit by telling Pakistan that the fight against terrorism must indeed be fought on the Af-Pak frontier, and not on the east with India.

US Finds China Cyber Attackers Code Author

US (ChattahBox) – Officials have confirmed that they have found one man who is believed to have helped code the program used by Chinese hackers on the attack on Google and other companies last year.

The Chinese government has denied any part in the cyber attacks, but the man who is believed to have been one of the code authors during the hack is a freelancer frequently used for government projects.
This comes after news that computers within two educational institutes, one with tied tot he Chinese military, were used for the attacks.
The attack came after the coder, or coders, created and inserted a spyware program through a security loophole in the newest version of Internet Explorer.
It was used to target both Google, and a number of Chinese businesses and human rights activists within the country.
Despite the government denial of any part, it is now widely believed that it was one of many cyber battles going on between various countries, including the US, China, and Russia.
The man has not been named, and the investigation into his part and the part of other alleged hackers is continuing.

Internet to define media consumer of the future

Internet enhances reading, writing and the rendering of knowledge, says the Pew Research Centre report. 

Media consumption will be revolutionised in near future, with the increasing impact of the internet on industry and our lives as such, revealed a recently compiled special report on the future of internet prepared by Pew Research Centre.

"Experts say the internet will enhance our intelligence – not make us stupid. It will also change the functions of reading and writing, and will be built around still-unanticipated gadgetry and applications," says the report that was released to Emirates Business.

The report, fittingly called Imagining the Internet, is part of a series of documents on the subject that capture people's expectations for the future of internet, in the process presenting a snapshot of current attitudes, say the publishers of the report.

Defining our change in attitude towards various habits, the survey clearly defines the findings in five main categories covering: Google and its influence; reading and writing habits along with rendering of knowledge; innovations in the virtual world; information flow and concern about anonymity online.

This is the fourth Future of the Internet survey and was conducted through online questionnaires to which a select group of experts and the highly engaged internet public were invited to respond. The survey presents potential "future scenarios" to which respondents react with their expectations based on current knowledge and attitudes.

Respondents to the survey, that was conducted between December 2, 2009, and January 11, 2010, were asked to consider the future of the internet-connected world between now and 2020 and the likely innovation that would occur. They were asked to assess 10 different "tension pairs" – each pair offering two different 2020 scenarios with the same overall theme and opposite outcomes – and they were asked to select the most likely choice of two statements.

Publishers of the survey highlight that "this survey is primarily focused on eliciting observations on the likely impact and influence of the internet – not on the respondents' choices from the pairs of predictive statements.

"Many times, when respondents 'voted' for one scenario over another, they responded in their elaboration that both outcomes are likely to a degree or that an outcome not offered would be their true choice."

Clearing any doubts of the regional relevance of the report, Danish Farhan, CEO and Managing Director of Xische Studio, believes the virtual world of the internet is without borders and habits and practices on the web are more or less the same with very little disparity.

"The internet changed our way in the sense we communicate today, and media is bound to be impacted by the technology that is grooming and evolving at an unprecedented pace. Its effect is universal with universal relevance," said Farhan.

Google will not make us lazy
Highlighting the various aspects of internet usage and people's dependence on it, the report states that tools such as "Google will not make us stupid" and lazy, contrary to the belief of many of the industry experts.

The report emphatically stated that 76 per cent of the experts surveyed for the research agreed with the statement: "By 2020, people's use of the internet has enhanced human intelligence. As people are allowed unprecedented access to more information, they become smarter and make better choices. Nicholas Carr was wrong: Google does not make us stupid."

In support of the notion, Google Research Director Peter Norvig said: "When the only information on a topic is a handful of essays or books, the best strategy is to read these works with total concentration. But when you have access to thousands of articles, blogs, videos and people with expertise on the topic, a good strategy is to skim first to get an overview."

He said: "Google shifts responsibility from management to the worker, encouraging creativity in each job, and encouraging workers to shift among many different roles in their career."

"Google will make us more informed. The smartest person in the world could well be behind a plow in China or India. Providing universal access to information will allow such people to realise their full potential, providing benefits to the entire world," said Hal Varian, Chief Economist of Google.

Conclusively, the resources of the internet and search engines will shift cognitive capacities. We won't have to remember as much, but we'll have to think harder and have better critical thinking and analytical skills. Less time devoted to memorisation gives people more time to master those new skills, said the Pew Research Centre report.

Reading and writing

The second point highlighted in the report is the habit of reading and writing that contributes to the rendering of knowledge, that will improve immensely, as per the survey results.

"By 2020, it will be clear that the internet has enhanced and improved reading, writing and rendering of knowledge," agreed 65 per cent of the respondents in the survey. Still, 32 per cent of the respondents expressed concerns that by 2020 "it will be clear that internet has diminished and endangered reading, writing and rendering of knowledge".

Closely related is the issue of freedom of information flow and majority of the survey respondents conveyed that though there will be flashpoints over control of the internet, they hope information will flow relatively freely online.

Concerns over control of the internet were expressed in answers to a question about the end-to-end principle, and 61 per cent responded that the internet will remain as its founders envisioned. However, many who agreed with the statement that "most disagreements over the way information flows online will be resolved in favour of a minimum number of restrictions", also noted that their response was a "hope" and not necessarily their true expectation. A minority of 33 per cent of survey participants chose to agree with the statement that "the internet will mostly become a technology where intermediary institutions that control the architecture and content will be successful in gaining the right to manage information and the method by which people access it".

Anonymous concerns

Some of the anonymous online activity will be challenged, though a modest majority still think it will be possible in 2020: There is more of a split verdict among the expert respondents about the fate of online anonymity. Some 55 per cent per cent agreed that internet users will still be able to communicate anonymously, while 41 per cent agreed that by 2020 "anonymous online activity is sharply curtailed".

Respondents described their views about the future of anonymous activity online by the year 2020 with very specific concerns, but most of them conveyed very little concern. The outcome conveyed in the report revealed that pressures for authentication of internet users are growing, and many are legitimate. New methods to accomplish that are being explored, but it is not yet clear which ones will prevail in the marketplace.

"Anonymity online will gradually become a lot like anonymity in the real world. When we encounter it, we'll take a firm grip on our wallet and leave the neighborhood as soon as possible, unless we're doing something we're ashamed of," said Stewart Baker, Internet Legal Specialist at the law firm Steptoe & Johnson. Addressing the ethical stand on this issue, Larry Masinter, Principal Scientist and Standards Advocate, Adobe Systems, believes that "the question confounds 'authentication' with 'identification'. There are a few market forces that would increase formal authentication of user identity. But even though internet users may retain the perception that they are anonymous [and other users may not know who they are], advertising-funded service providers have enormous motivation to identify users, and are rapidly instituting monitoring capabilities everywhere".

The Pew Research Centre defines Imagining the Internet's objective as to "explore and provide insights into emerging network innovations, global development, dynamics, diffusion and governance". Its research holds a mirror to humanity's use of communications technologies, informs policy development, exposes potential futures and provides a historic record.

The centre investigates the tangible and potential pros and cons of new media channels through active research.

Among the spectrum of issues addressed are power, politics, privacy, property, augmented and virtual reality, control and the rapid changes spurred by accelerating technology.

Apple iPhone App Store declares war on sex

Apple has pulled thousands of apps from its app store on the grounds that they feature 'overtly sexual' content - which can be as mild as pictures of people in swimsuits.

 

 

The Simply Beach iPhone app - which lets users buy swimwear - is one of several thousand taken down by Apple

 

It's thought that thousands of apps may have been banned under the new rules, which according to reports prohibit anything that is 'for any purpose of excitement or titillation', anything featuring people in swimsuits, or anything that involves innuendo.
Apple gave no warning to app creators that their apps would be removed - developers found out only when they were told their apps had been pulled, supposedly following 'numerous complaints from customers about this type of content.'
One app developer whose app was removed was told that the ban even extended to ice-skating costumes and a rather vague prohibiition on 'skin'.

Designer swimwear retailer Simply Beach had their app removed, and criticised the decision on their blog, saying: 'We could totally understand if they were topless shots, but there’s nothing like that on our site; just simply beachwear from reputable brands for you to browse and buy.'
And Apple were accused of double standards, after it was pointed out that the official Playboy app - which features semi-naked models clearly designed to titilate - was still allowed on the store.
App developers were told they could make changes to their apps to remove the objectionable content, and then resubmit them for approval.

It is not the first time that Apple have been criticised for having an opaque and inconsistent approach to what apps it allows in its store. Last year, it banned an e-book app on the grounds that users would be able to read the Kama Sutra on it.
There is speculation that Apple is attempting to 'clean up' the App Store in advance of the iPad's release, as the larger-format device is intended to target the family market,

Apple's only comment about the issue so far has been a statement saying: 'Whenever we receive customer complaints about objectionable content we review them. If we find these apps contain inappropriate material we remove them and request the developer make any necessary changes in order to be distributed by Apple.'

Google Buzz poses a major privacy risk for kids, analyst (and parent) says

Should parents worry about Google Buzz? Technology analyst Charlene Li thinks so.
She says she has counseled her children on how to stay safe online, including not sharing personal information. But the other day she logged into her Google Buzz account only to discover that her 9-year-old daughter had posted a conversation with friends to Buzz without understanding the post was public.
"I saw it because Buzz conveniently made me a follower of hers. I pride myself on staying ahead of my kids, but this time, my kid got ahead of me," Li wrote. "Fortunately, this was her only Buzz posting. But what was most disturbing was looking at her friends’ conversations and realizing that some of them were chatting with complete strangers, and in some cases, sharing personal information like e-mails. Absolutely terrifying as these are 4th graders who have no clue.”
The blog post's most frightening line: “Imagine parents (and kids) checking out their Buzz accounts to find that 'iorgyinbathrooms' is following them, which is exactly what happened with my child’s account."
Li, founder of Altimeter Group, turned off Google Buzz, alerted the parents of her daughter's friends and went into full analyst mode.
“First, I discovered that buried in Google’s terms of service somewhere is that children under the age of 13 are not allowed to have Gmail accounts. But unlike Facebook, which requires that people enter their birthdates when setting up accounts, Google makes no such attempt to educate people signing up for Gmail that such a provision is in place. As a result, while Google is absolved of responsibility because of the TOS, it could and should do a better job of complying with the Child Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA).”
Li said she also worries that even if parents disable Buzz, kids can easily turn it back on. And they may not understand how to manage the settings to stay safe. So she is asking for Google to add parental controls to Gmail. And she is asking parents to take action.
“Does your child have a Gmail account? If so, have you talked to them about what Google Buzz is and how they should be properly using it? Please take action, which may be as dramatic as completely disabling Buzz on your child’s account. Do this as soon as possible, as I’m concerned that unsavory characters are already exploiting this parental control loophole.”
Privacy expert Kathryn Montgomery, a professor at American University, urged the Federal Trade Commission to address the issue.
"Google Buzz is a new danger zone for children," she said. "Google knows that kids are strongly attracted to Gmail, as they are to the growing number of social networks online. Google Buzz is designed to make private communications public by default. It is problematic enough for most of us.  But when it comes to kids, it is outright particularly troublesome."
Google has already gotten blasted for how it rolled out its social networking tool inside millions of Gmail accounts. We will update with a response from Google when we get one.
And if that weren't enough trouble for Google, there may be more on the horizon. The Electronic Privacy Information Center is amending its complaint with the FTC to allege that Google violated its own privacy policy for Gmail when it launched Buzz.
Last week Google held privacy briefings for reporters and bloggers covering the Internet giant. Privacy counsel insisted that the company followed rigorous protocols before rolling out the product, but conceded there were some problems in the "execution." Google did test Buzz on its employees (something it calls "dog fooding" or eating their own dog food). One blogger got some laughs when he said the company may have missed what "real people" care about.

Online social networks are getting unsafe

Truly speaking, social networking sites are becoming one of most unsafe, insecure zones in the globe! First it was Twitter and if recent reports are relied upon too, Facebook has joined the bandwagon too. Have you been able to discern the development? Copious numbers of Twitter users were worst hit by virile phishing attacks over the weekend that have already given rise to spam runs from compromised accounts.

It’s time to get more pertinent. What did happen in reality was that reprobates committed themselves to the painstaking efforts of posting messages camouflaged as amusing updates on the Twitter micro-blogging service as part of a continual attack that started on Saturday. Well, the messages were indeed funny and were staged as hilarious as it could be. While one of those stated, "Lol. this is me??", the others stood for "Lol , this is funny." and "Lol. this you??" - included links to a counterfeit Twitter login page hosted in China, located under the domain BZPharma.net. Got it? Have you been able to identify the perpetrators? We’re still searching!

But it should be said that the micro-blogging site warned of the attack on Sunday and also advised anyone that had fallen for the ruse to change their passwords speedily, sooner than hackers had a chance to change login credentials to take over compromised accounts. It is to be noted that the BZPharma.net domain prospective marks are directed towards is actually designed to harvest Twitter login details for later misuse in spam and identity theft-based attacks.

In the beginning, the phishing lures appeared as direct messages on Twitter, but later dangerous links were posted in public feeds often by means of a service called GroupTweet, net security firm Sophos reports.

What’s the problem with Facebook then? Well, many Facebook users by now have become beguiled into joining a phone group to enjoy supposed benefits of a non-existent Gold account.

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Continental eliminating 600 call center jobs

Continental Airlines is cutting about 600 jobs in its reservations centers because customers increasingly prefer to book flights online.

Continental told employees about the furloughs on Monday and said they would take effect April 11.

The airline said it will cut the jobs of 250 agents who are currently on leave plus another 350 still working.

The company said calls to reservations agents are falling 15 percent per year as customers instead buy tickets from Web sites. There is no charge for booking on continental.com, but customers must pay $20 to make a reservation by phone. Airlines use the call center fees to raise money and encourage passengers to book online, which is cheaper for the carrier as well as the passenger.

Continental also said it won't renew a contract to answer calls for Disney resorts, which will result in about 100 of the 600 job losses.

The Houston-based airline has about 2,600 U.S. reservations agents, with about 1,000 working from home and the rest at centers in Houston and Salt Lake City. Spokeswoman Julie King said most of the furloughs will be in the Houston area, including agents who work from home.

Last year, Continental cited the same downward trend in online bookings when it closed a call center in Tampa, Fla., and eliminated 500 jobs there.

The April furloughs will be based on seniority. The airline said it will offer early retirement packages including travel benefits to employees with at least 10 years of service, and will offer severance payments to others losing their jobs.

As of Dec. 31, Continental had 41,300 employees.

Airlines are looking for ways to boost revenue and cut costs as they deal with a slump in travel that started during the recession and has been slow to end.

Higher traffic and lower fuel prices helped Continental earn $85 million in the fourth quarter of last year -- a profit that surprised analysts. Still, the airline lost $868 million in 2008 and 2009 combined.

Continental has tried to return to profitability by imposing and then raising fees for handling checked luggage and other services. On the cost side, new CEO Jeff Smisek said last month he would not take his $730,000 salary and bonuses until the company makes a full-year profit.

Continental shares rose 36 cents to $20.25 in midday trading.

Green tea may help fight eye ailments

 

In their animal model study, On Chu and colleagues fed laboratory rats green tea extract and then tested their eye tissues to see if catechins affected them

Green tea has shown several health benefits in previous researches, such as fighting heart disease and cancer. Now a new study adds one more to them- Protection against eye diseases.

Adding to the surging list of health benefits related to green tea, a new research has shown that the tea may protect against glaucoma and other eye diseases, thanks to its high concentration of disease-fighting antioxidants called catechins, the antioxidants thought to protect the body against damage from oxygen.
Glaucoma is a disease of the eye in which damage is caused by elevated pressure within the eye. The disease leads to damage to the optic nerve and gradual loss of eyesight.

Green tea, the hot favorite in mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan and Middle East, have been labeled as a health drink, reducing illnesses and assuring a healthy life.

Green tea and eye disease
Now, researchers of the latest research from the University of Hong Kong suggest that drinking green tea often may help protect against common eye diseases like glaucoma as it contains healthful substances which helps to penetrate health tissues.

Scientists from the department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences at the University of Hong Kong believe healthful substances found in green tea are capable of protecting the eye.

Antioxidants in green tea
According to them, the substances, known as “catechins,” can penetrate into the tissues of the eye, and have antioxidant activity there. These catechins are absorbed by the lens, retina and other parts of the eye and reduce oxidative stress in the eye.

Researcher Kai On Chu of the department of ophthalmology and visual sciences at the Chinese University of Hong Kong and colleagues say that their findings suggest that catechins have protective qualities against the oxidation that causes various eye diseases.

The study authors say that catechins are among a number of antioxidants, including vitamin C, vitamin E, lutein, and zeaxanthin, thought to help protect the delicate tissues of the eye from glaucoma and other eye ailments.
Catechins beat harmful oxidative stress
On Chu said their study conducted on laboratory rats is the first to show that catechins pass from the gastrointestinal tract and the stomach into the eyes tissue.

In their animal model study, On Chu and colleagues fed laboratory rats green tea extract and then tested their eye tissues to see if catechins affected them.

They found the green tea compounds, after reaching the eye tissues, did reduce harmful oxidative stress in the eyes for up to 20 hours.

The scientists’ team concludes that “Our results indicate that green tea consumption could benefit the eye against oxidative stress”.

The authors of the study reported benefits of green tea in ACS’s bi-weekly Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.

Novatel Wireless MiFi Intelligent Mobile Hotspot Wins GSMA Global Mobile Award for Best Mobile Connected Device

Industry's First Intelligent Mobile Hotspot Recognized at Mobile World Congress 2010

Novatel Wireless (Nasdaq: NVTL), a leading provider of wireless broadband solutions, is pleased to announce that its MiFi™ Intelligent Mobile Hotspot has won the GSMA Global Mobile Award for Best Mobile Connected Device (non-handset). The GSMA Global Mobile Awards is the mobile industry's leading annual award presentation that honors excellence and innovation in the mobile communications industry worldwide.

The MiFi platform represents the industry's first Intelligent Mobile Hotspot, a new category of mobile broadband that lets users put their world of content, services and connectivity in their pocket. Unlike existing router solutions that require an external broadband modem and serve only to provide connectivity, the MiFi platform creates a personal cloud of high-speed Internet connectivity that can be easily shared between multiple users and up to five Wi-Fi devices such as laptops, cameras, gaming devices and multimedia players.  The MiFi Intelligent Mobile Hotspot serves as an intelligent, open platform capable of hosting advanced software applications and flexible enough to address the continued evolution of mobile broadband.

"We are delighted and honored that GSMA has chosen the MiFi platform as the Best Mobile Connected Device at Mobile World Congress," said Rob Hadley, CMO, Novatel Wireless. "As we continue to expand the capabilities of our product line, this recognition validates our ongoing commitment to developing the most advanced connectivity solutions in the market."

ABOUT NOVATEL WIRELESS

Novatel Wireless, Inc. is a leader in the design and development of innovative wireless broadband access solutions based on 3G and 4G wireless technologies.  Novatel Wireless' Intelligent Mobile Hotspot products, software, USB modems and embedded modules enable high-speed wireless Internet access on leading wireless data networks. The Company delivers specialized wireless solutions to carriers, distributors, OEMs and vertical markets worldwide. Headquartered in San Diego, California, Novatel Wireless is listed on NVTL. For more information please visit www.novatelwireless.com. (NVTLG)

This release may contain forward-looking statements, which are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as amended to date.  These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties.  A number of important factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements contained herein.  These factors include risks relating to technological changes, new product introductions, continued acceptance of Novatel Wireless' products and dependence on intellectual property rights.  These factors, as well as other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially, are discussed in more detail in Novatel Wireless' filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (available at www.sec.gov) and other regulatory agencies.

WM 6.5 Handsets Might Not Taste Windows Phone 7 OS

The development of WM 6.5 to continue indefinitely

Redmond-based software company Microsoft unveiled a week ago a new mobile operating system, dubbed Windows Phone 7 OS, which is said to be a completely new mobile platform, and not a new version of the already existing Windows Mobile OS. Since there are a great deal of handsets available on the market with the older platform, the question that rises is whether these devices will taste the new OS, and it seems that there are little chances for that to happen, especially since the development of the Windows Mobile 6.5 OS is said to continue for an indefinite period of time. 

Aaron Woodman, Microsoft Mobile Communications business director, said recently in an interview with Cnet that there were chances that Windows Mobile 6.5 phones did not meet the requirements for an upgrade to Windows Phone 7 Series. “We will provide the OS primarily to software developers in March. Every 7 Series device will have a Qualcomm chip. It will be touch-based. There won’t be any non-touch, but that’s not saying there won’t be any keyboard devices, so they will all be touch and capacitive,” he stated.

In other words, non-touch devices will certainly not receive an upgrade to the new Windows Phone 7 OS, and there are chances that touch-enabled phones won't taste the OS either, as few of them would be compliant with the hardware specs requirements put in place by Microsoft (we say few because HTC HD2 has chances to receive the upgrade). And with Windows Mobile 6.5 still included in Microsoft's roadmap, it is understandable why the company plans on maintaining the OS alive on the market.

Moreover, a recent article on PocketNow says that HTC already confirmed that the development of Windows Mobile 6.5 would continue for an indefinite period of time, the same as Woodman stated in the aforementioned interview. This shows that Windows Mobile 6.5 will indeed continue to exist beyond the launch of Windows Phone 7 Series, and also unveils the fact that Microsoft will most likely transform it into a business-oriented platform, unlike the new OS, which is more end-user friendly.

“There are many reasons for this, not least Steve Ballmers announcement that “no current handsets will be upgraded.” Also 7 Series is NOT an upgrade to 6.5. Microsoft is releasing it as a totally new and separate OS from the existing Windows Mobile versions. 6.5 will continue to be developed, even after 7 will be available, to offer two different OS versions for different needs. 6.5 will remain more business orientated, and for devices with OS skins on them (Like the HD2 which uses our Sense skin), and 7 Series for new, more media and social based handsets, which will not be skinned,” HTC stated, according to PocketNow. 

Samsung to Announce Cheaper Smartphones

Samsung announced its own smartphone OS, the Bada, at the recently concluded Mobile World Congress 2010. It was also the occasion where the first Bada based handset, the S8500, was showcased.

After the unveiling of the phone, Samsung went on to clarify that apart from being a hardware manufacturer, it is also investing over $112 million in the development and upgrading of the software part of its devices. Samsung seems to be optimistic about its Bada OS and asserts that it intends to make this platform a force to reckon with.

With this in mind, Samsung is aiming to launch smartphones across all price ranges. These include high-end smartphones to basic ones. The Bada, it seems, will be its platform to achieve this. Interestingly, this comes at a time compatriot competitor LG has clarified that it has no intentions to get in to the Mobile OS business. Nokia, on the other hand, has also said it will be launching cheap smartphones this very year - however, its software part would be taken care of by Symbian.