Indian researcher awarded Australian Laureate Fellowship for e-waste study

An Indian woman researcher is among the 16 scientists who has been awarded the prestigious Australian Laureate Fellowship for her work in micro-recycling of e-waste.

Veena Sahajwalla, director of University of New South Wales (UNSW) Centre for Sustainable Materials Research and Technology, was recently awarded AUD 2.37 million for her research. Sahajwalla was also awarded ‘Georgina Sweet Fellowship’, under which she would undertake an ambassadorial role to promote women in research in addition to their research project.

Announcing these fellowships recently, Education minister Christopher Pyne said the fellowships were an important investment in the nation’s future. “This funding scheme supports researchers of international repute and these fellowships will play an important role in meeting the Australian government’s commitment to ensure Australia successfully competes on the international research stage,” Pyne said. “The outcomes of these Fellowships will make a valuable contribution to Australia\’s knowledge base and prosperity. Fellows will also mentor our young researchers, which is vital if we are to continue to produce world-class research.” Sahajwalla, who hails from Mumbai, said she was excited about her research which was basically to give a technological solution for recycling e-waste.

“I am really excited about my research which could have a global impact and implications,” Sahajwalla said adding, e-waste that were effectively getting thrown away had several high value metals like copper. Such e-waste, for example, contains copper and recycling it makes very good economic and environmental sense, she said.

“For example in India, such a research would be beneficial not only in terms of countering environmental challenges but also create new economic opportunities for underprivileged,” she said. The Australian Laureate Fellowships scheme is given by the federal government annually to over 16 researchers for their excellence in research.

Pacemakers based on automatic watches will work without battery

Swiss engineers, famous for making the world’s finest watches, are turning their hands to cardiology with a prototype battery-less pacemaker based on a self-winding wristwatch.

Current pacemakers, which help the heart beat more regularly, offer a lifeline for many patients with cardiac problems but the need for battery power is a limiting factor, since replacing them requires a surgical intervention.
Adrian Zurbuchen of the University of Bern’s cardiovascular engineering group aims to get around the problem with his device, using automatic clockwork first developed for pocket watches by Swiss watchmaker Abraham-Louis Perrelet in 1777.
In the same way that an automatic watch winds itself when it moves on the wrist, the clockwork pacemaker generates electrical current using the movement of heart muscle. To do this, it is stitched directly on to the pulsating heart.
So far the experimental system has only been tested on pigs, Zurbuchen told the annual meeting of the European Society of Cardiology in Barcelona. The animals hearts were successfully regulated to a steady 130 beats per minute.
“This is a feasibility study. We have shown that it is possible to pace the heart using the power of its own motion,” Zurbuchen said.
The research is still at an early stage and there is, as yet, no schedule for human testing. Zurbuchen has also not discussed the idea with potential industrial partners but he said it was “probably a good time to look” for backers.
Other researchers are investigating ways to get rid of batteries in pacemakers by transmitting power through the body from an external source – but the idea of using clockwork is novel.
Automatic watches work because they have an eccentric weight that pivots when the wearer’s arm moves. This rotation progressively winds a spring that then turns the watch mechanism. In the new Swiss pacemaker, the mechanical spring unwinds to spin an electrical micro-generator.

North Korea increases restrictions on mobile SIM cards used by tourists

In a move that makes it harder for North Koreans to gain illicit access to the global Internet, North Korea now only allows mobile phone SIM cards used by tourists to be active for the duration of their visit, tourism sources told Reuters.

Unlike North Koreans, foreigners visiting the isolated country can freely browse social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter using the Koryolink domestic network.

Under a change made in July, North Korea deactivates the card when a visitor leaves, ensuring that it can not be left for use by a resident, the sources said. It can be reactivated when a visitor returns to the country. “This basically means in practical terms that if someone leaves the country they can’t simply leave their phone with a local friend and have them use the Internet,” said one source, who declined to be identified due to the sensitivity of discussing such issues when working in North Korea.

The move could be linked to a broader crackdown on the exchange of information in North Korea, and according to the source appeared to have been government-led.

More than 2.5 million North Koreans use the Koryolink network to make calls and browse an internal, heavily monitored domestic Internet. Foreigners can use the network too – but on a separate cell network that connects to the regular outside Internet. It was not clear if the new rule applied to contracts held by long-term residents or foreign diplomats.

Information in repressive North Korea is tightly controlled but small storage devices like USB sticks or micro SD cards have become popular in recent years for discretely sharing uncensored information such as videos, games, music and ebooks.

SIM cards used in phones to access mobile networks are also easily concealed, and experts say the new policy could be linked to a wider crackdown.

Sokeel Park of LiNK, an NGO that works with North Korean defectors, said Pyongyang has stepped-up control of information flows under Kim Jong Un, who came to power in late 2011 when his father Kim Jong Il died. Park was referring to a widespread crackdown on illegal foreign media and smuggled Chinese cell phones that are often used to make international calls from areas in North Korea within range of Chinese cell towers along the border with China.

“It would make sense to close a loophole that might have seen some foreigners lend their SIM cards to North Koreans while they were away, since international phone calls and 3G access to the global internet are a big breach of their information blockade with the outside world,” said Park.

Artists repurpose video games to find new ways to shine light on social issues

Five artists have come together to make art more playful, by developing video and board games that explore aspects of how people engage with society, while simultaneously expanding the notion of art practice.

While one artist has developed a game based on a court case dating back to the pre-Independence era, another artist uses a busy street model to develop a board game that aims to garner new insights into complex urban systemic issues like traffic woes, water and sanitation etc. The artists, Mohini Dutta, Shradha Jain, Zuleikha Chaudhary, Krishnarjun Bhattacharya and Vinit Nikumbh had taken part in a gaming residency co-curated by Prayas Abhinav at the Khoj International Artists’ Association studio in Delhi six weeks ago.

Beginning this week on September 4, an exhibition of the developed games is scheduled to be held at the studio for three days. Architect Vinit Nikumbh, who is currently working on a mobile application that gamifies urban planning has researched issues of pedestrian access to important nodal transportation junctions in the Mumbai. At the Khoj residency Nikumbh, has developed a game where the player can have the immersive experience of programming his walk through a busy street engaging with factors like weddings, festivals, the use of rickshaws etc.

“Collecting the responses of the participants to the procedure of the game and layering them can create newer insights about the way we can think of answers to complex urban systemic issues,” says Nikumbh. Zuleikha Chaudhary, a renowned theatre personality has explored the performative aspect within games and gaming.

Chaudhary takes her cue from a very old court case that began in pre-independence about a possible imposter who claimed to be prince of Bhawal, a zamindari estate in modern-day Bangladesh, who was presumed dead a decade earlier. “My project layers this trial with an audition using the framework of a game to consider being yourself and being someone else and where telling the truth and faking dissolve into each other and become indistinguishable,” says Chaudhary.

Mohini Dutta, a game developer working out of Brooklyn in the US and Mumbai explores the potential for play by using tribal narratives to create a palimpsest. Dutta, who has created games like \’Survivor\’ – a video game about growing up and leaving home as an adult. She also has designed the “Humans versus Mosquitos” to educate children about vector-borne diseases.

BlackBerry Blend will take on Apple Continuity with cross-platform support

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Looks like BlackBerry’s upcoming updates to the BB10 platform will add some much-needed cross-platform productivity and utilities to the OS.

BlackBerry Blend, which has leaked in the past, has been leaked once more. The new leak courtesy BBIN.in has given us the best look yet at BlackBerry Blend and what you can do with it. With BlackBerry Blend, users will be able to sync content (including messages) from their BlackBerry handset to the larger screen of a tablet or a PC.

The application will work on Windows, Mac OS X and Android.  In addition to sharing data, you can also reply to messages and chats with Blend on your PC, without unlocking your phone. BBM groups, chats and channels will be synced from your mobile device to the PC, while daily, weekly and monthly agendas will also be available on the connected devices. Users will also be able to add entries to the calendar through Blend.

Businesses using BES10 can enable Blend with a browser that can allow access to the company’s intranet. Backing up and restoring device data, migrating to another BB10 handset will now be taken care of by BlackBerry Blend. Running Blend will require BlackBerry 10.3 OS or later.

At this stage, Blend looks to be a direct competitor to Apple’s Continuity and Handoff features, though it does feel more robust thanks to the Windows and Android support. That could be a major advantage as the company prepares to bring back some QWERTY flair to its upcoming smartphones. BlackBerry is expected to launch the Classic and the Passport at the end of this month, according to rumours floating around on fan sites, and it looks like the company is solely focussing on becoming the smartphone choice for workplaces. Of course, Blend will greatly improve the utility and application possibilities of BB10 for these enterprises.

Lava Iris X5 ‘selfie phone’ with 5MP front camera and flash launched for Rs 8,799

Thanks to the selfie wave, front cameras no longer get the step-child treatment they used to. Just as their rear-camera counterparts, smartphone manufacturers are arming front cameras with larger sensors and better features, leaving little to distinguish the two except for their placement.

The latest smartphone to join the selfie bandwagon is the Lava Iris X5 smartphone, which boasts of a 5MP front camera. It uses a BSI+ sensor, which should help you get better low-light shots. Apart from the large sensor, it comes with an auto-focus and LED flash. Lava also claims the front camera has the ability to take wide-angle shots so you can add more people into your group self-shots.

The flashy front-camera aside, the Iris X5 is a 5-inch, dual-SIM smartphone with a 1280 x 720 resolution IPS display. It features an 8MP rear camera and is powered by a 1.2 GHz quad core processor with 1GB of RAM. But considering the budget price, it is likely to be a MediaTek processor rather than a Qualcomm one. It runs on the Android 4.4 KitKat operating system and the device is fuelled by a 2100 mAh battery, which sounds great given the other specs.

Lava provides 8GB of internal storage, but you can expand it up to 32 GB with an external memory card. Lava claims that the Iris X5 has a dual mic that provides active noise cancellation for clearer phone calls.

If you enjoy taking self-shots or need a phone that doubles up as a mirror, the Lava Iris X5 could be a cheaper option over the Sony Xperia C3. Like the Iris X5, the Xperia C3 features a 5MP front camera and includes a 25mm wide-angle lens that Sony claims delivers an 80-degree field of view. However, the Xperia C3 includes a larger 5.5-inch display, a faster 1.2GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 processor and a larger 2500 mAH battery. The Xperia C3 also supports 4G LTE, which is lacking in the Iris X5. That said, the Sony Xperia C3 costs a pricey Rs 23,990, which is a lot more than the Lava Iris X5.

Android One incoming? Google sends invites for India event on September 15

Are you ready for this? We’ve just received an official ‘Block the date’ notification from Google India for an event to be held on September 15. At the moment, there’s no clarity on what the event is being held for or what will be announced.

Speculation is that Google will be launching the much-awaited Android One programme on the day, with its Indian hardware partners Micromax, Intex, Celkon, Spice and Karbonn. Previous rumours have suggested Android One will be released in late September and early October along with the first wave of devices. These Android One devices are expected to run stock Android software which has been specifically built by Google. The idea is to bring the latest Android version to the low-end segment. Android One phones are expected to retail for under $100 as announced by Google during I/O in June this year.

We see a bunch of Ls

The invite we received just shows colourful squares intersecting so there aren’t any obvious clues. But if we had to look for hints, the intersecting squares do result in a lot of ‘L’ shapes, which adds to the speculation of an early release for the next big version of Android.

Google had announced that Android One phones will receive the L release as soon as it’s available, but since releasing the developer preview, we haven’t heard about the timeline of L’s official arrival. It could be that the Android One line-up will bring the official Android L version to the market. It’s also likely that Google is just teasing Android L in the image and will announce a guaranteed update process for the new Android One range.

We will of course be keeping a close eye on what exactly is going on at Google India and will be bringing you the latest news as and when we do get it.

Samsung ditches Google Maps for Nokia HERE Maps in Tizen devices

Telecom gear maker Nokia has partnered Samsung to provide its maps and location services to Tizen-powered smart devices by the Korean electronics giant.

The Finnish firm’s location-based services arm HERE will also provide solutions to Samsung’s new smartwatch, Gear S.

Nokia in a statement today said, “HERE has partnered with Samsung to bring its maps and location platform services to Tizen-powered smart devices by Samsung, including the Samsung Gear S.”

On the Samsung Gear S, HERE is powering an application called Navigator, which offers turn-by-turn walk navigation and public transit routing, it added.

Tizen, an open and flexible OS operating system, was launched as a competitor to Android and iOS operating systems.

The OS aims to address the needs of all stakeholders of mobile and connected device ecosystem, which includes device manufacturers, mobile operators, application developers and independent software vendors (ISVs).

Samsung will launch the first smartphone based on its Tizen platform in the July-September quarter this year, a move aimed at reducing dependence on the popular Google’s Android OS.

Samsung, the world’s largest smartphone maker, said the Tizen-powered ‘Samsung Z’ will be made available in the third quarter in Russia followed by other markets, Samsung said but did not disclose specific details.

A majority of Samsung’s mobile phones are currently powered by the Android platform, which is also the dominant OS on most smartphones across the globe.

Previously, Samsung ran ‘Bada’ OS, which did not see much success. It has since been working on merging the platform with Tizen, which is backed by chipmaker Intel Corp.

The other popular operating systems include Apple iOS, Microsoft’s Windows Phone OS and BlackBerry’s proprietary platform.

According to research firm IDC, smartphone sales stood at 281.5 million units globally in Q1 2014, up 28.6% from 218.8 million devices in January-March 2013.

Samsung had a 30.2% share, while Apple had 15.5% and Huawei had 4.9% share in the said quarter.

WhatsApp with free voice calling on its way

According to news report, mobile messaging service WhatsApp may soon introduce free voice calling feature to its list of features. At the Mobile World Congress earlier this year, WhatsApp CEO Jan Koum announced its plans of adding voice services to its feature list during the second quarter. During the same time, it had revealed to bring voice to Android and iOS first, followed by some Nokia and BlackBerry phones. Now it looks like the feature is set to launch very soon.

In a recent revelation by WPCentral, some volunteers who translate the app’s Hindi version were apparently asked to translate new strings. The translation requests were for the words ‘Hang up’, ‘Incoming call’ and ‘Outgoing call’, clearly indicating the upcoming voice calling functionality.

“The leaked images of the upcoming user interface shows that the app has been enabled with other language translations which will be displayed at the time a person receives a call via WhatsApp,” a report on thefusejoplin.com stated.

WhatsApp is already one of the most popular smartphone messaging apps. The latest reports show that WhatsApp has crossed 600 million active users and crossed 50 million active users in India alone. The addition of free calling could boost its rank and broaden its user-base, while taking on existing free-calling apps such as Viber and Line.

Batteries made of sugar can last 10 times longer

In a breakthrough to develop long-lasting batteries for smartphones and other gadgets, scientists have successfully created a sugar bio-battery that completely converts the chemical energy in sugar substrates into electricity.

This bio-battery can achieve an energy-storage density of about 596 ampere-hours (A/h) per kg – an order of magnitude higher than the 42 A-h/kg energy density of a typical lithium-ion battery used in various gadgets.

“A sugar bio-battery with such a high-energy density could last at least 10 times longer than existing lithium-ion batteries of the same weight,” said YH Percival Zhang, an associate professor of biological systems engineering at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, popularly known as Virginia Tech.

The bio-battery is a type of enzymatic fuel cell (EFC) – an electro-biochemical device that converts chemical energy from fuels such as starch and glycogen into electricity.

“We are first to demonstrate the complete oxidation of the bio-battery’s sugar so we achieve a near-theoretical energy conversion yield that no one else has reported,” Zhang added.

The sugar bio-battery is also less costly than the lithium-ion battery and environmentally friendly, researchers reported in the journal Nature Communications.

Google Glass reads your mind, can tell your age and gender

German scientists have developed a software for Google Glass to measure human emotions by analysing their facial expressions, in addition to gauging a person’s age and detecting gender. Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits adapted its SHORE real-time face detection and analysis software to work with Google Glass, the first app of its kind.

With the aid of Glass’ integrated camera, the app detects people’s faces and determines their emotions by analysing their facial expressions. The so-called Glassware (Google Glass app) simultaneously gauges the person’s age or detects their gender among other things, but it cannot determine their identity, researchers said.

All calculations are performed in real-time by the CPU integrated in the eye-wear. The image data never leaves the device. The advance opens up an entire spectrum of new smart eye-wear applications, including communication aids for people with disorders such as autism, many of whom have difficulty interpreting emotions through facial expressions.

This missing information could be superimposed in the person’s field of vision with data glasses. Even the visually impaired can benefit from the new software by receiving supplementary audio information about people in their surroundings, researchers said. By taking advantage of the additional capability to determine someone’s gender or estimate their age, the software could be used in other applications such as interactive games or market research analyses.

Xiaomi’s ultra-affordable Mi Band could launch in India by the end of this year

Xiaomi’s Mi Band, the wearable device that costs $13 which is approximately Rs 700 in India, could be launched in India by the end of this year, provided it passes regulatory restrictions. Xiaomi’s Hugo Barra and Manu Jain had discussed this during an interaction with members of the media last week.

Barra had said that the Mi Band relied on Bluetooth solely, and it would take some time to get approval from the relevant authorities, but that the company was keen to ensure that the device is launched by the end of this year in India.

The Mi Band is water resistant (IP67-certified) and has a standby life of 30 days. Mi Band has a fitness monitor, a sleep tracker and once paired with a Xiaomi smartphone, it can be used to unlock the smartphone without typing any password or patterns. The Mi Band comes in colour variants of Blue, Pink, Brown, Black, Purple and Grey.

It should be noted that where the fitness aspect is concerned (which is a crucial feature of nearly all wearables) the Mi Band doesn’t seem to offer much. According to this TheNextWeb hands on report, the Mi Band “can’t display any metrics while you are exercising,” and instead syncs them with the Mi Band Android app that Xiaomi has developed.

The report adds that “the fitness band tracks a variety of metrics and syncs to the “Mi Band” Android app developed by Xiaomi — including the amount of calories you have burned according to the activity you have done, how long you have slept for, etc.”

Where wearables are concerned, research firm Canalys has said that the market has grown by 684 percent in the first half of 2014 with Fitbit leading in basic wearables category and Samsung being the leader in the smart band category.

The report had noted that Samsung is the worldwide leader in smart wearable band market in the first half of 2014 with the release of three new products in the second quarter: the Gear 2, Gear 2 Neo and Gear Fit.

The report added that with new Android Wear shipments expected in Q3 such as LG’s G Watch, Samsung’s Gear Live and Motorola’s Moto 360 the market is expected to grow. And now there are reports that Apple’s iWatch is all set to launch on 9 September as well.

In such a scenario, the Mi Band suffers from the basic fault that it doesn’t offer too many functions. Sure it’s only going to cost Rs 700 or so, but it’s not at all useful for those who don’t own a Xiaomi Mi 3 or Mi 4 smartphone, since the device is only compatible with these two Xiaomi smartphones.

Xiaomi’s Mi Band will have to offer more than what it currently does, if it hopes to succeed.

Package-delivering drones: Google’s Project Wing to rival Amazon Prime Air

San Francisco: Google’s secretive research laboratory is trying to build a fleet of drones designed to bypass earthbound traffic so packages can be delivered to people more quickly.

The ambitious program announced on Thursday escalates Google’s technological arms race with rival Amazon.com Inc, which also is experimenting with self-flying vehicles to carry merchandise bought by customers of its online store.

Amazon is mounting its own challenges to Google in online video, digital advertising and mobile computing in a battle that also involves Apple Inc. Google Inc. calls its foray into drones “Project Wing.”

Although Google expects it to take several more years before its fleet of drones is fully operational, the company says test flights in Australia delivered a first aid kit, candy bars, dog treats and water to two farmers after traveling a distance of roughly one kilometer, or just over a half mile, two weeks ago. Google’s video of the test flight, set to the strains of the 1969 song “Spirit In The Sky,” can be seen here.

Besides perfecting their aerial technology, Google and Amazon still need to gain government approval to fly commercial drones in many countries, including the US Amazon last month asked the Federal Aviation Administration for permission to expand its drone testing. The FAA currently allows hobbyists and model aircraft makers to fly drones, but commercial use is mostly banned.

Project Wing is the latest venture to emerge from Google’s “X” lab, which has also been working on self-driving cars as well as other far-flung innovations that company CEO Larry Page likens to “moonshots” that push the technological envelope. The lab’s other handiwork includes Internet-connected eyewear called Google Glass, Internet-beaming balloons called Project Loon and a high-tech contact lens that monitors glucose levels in diabetics.

Google says it is striving to improve society through the X’s lab’s research, but the Glass device has faced criticism from privacy watchdogs leery of the product’s ability to secretly record video and take pictures. Investors also have periodically expressed frustration with the amount of money that Google has been pouring into the X lab without any guarantee the products will ever pay off.

A team led by Massachusetts Institute of Technology aeronautics professor Nick Roy already has been working on Project Wing for two years, according to Google. The Mountain View, California, company didn’t disclose how much the project has cost.

Drones clearly could help Google expand an existing service that delivers goods purchased online on the day that they were ordered. Google so far is offering the same-day delivery service by automobiles in parts of the San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles and New York.

“Self-flying vehicles could open up entirely new approaches to moving goods, including options that are cheaper, faster, less wasteful and more environmentally sensitive than what’s possible today,” Google said in a pamphlet outlining Project Wing.

Google, though, seems to see its drones as something more than another step in e-commerce delivery. The aerial vehicles also could make it easier for people to share certain items, such as a power drill, that they may only need periodically and carry emergency supplies to areas damaged by earthquakes, hurricanes and other natural catastrophes, according to Google’s Project Wing pamphlet.

Swatch to develop smartwatch called Smart Touch by next summer

Swatch Group is happy to go it alone with a launch next year of watches with “smart” features to compete with so-called wearable gadgets from the big tech companies, a market potentially worth $93 billion.

The world’s biggest watchmaker, which sees the advent of smartwatches as an opportunity rather than a threat, will unveil its new Swatch Touch next summer.

Swatch Chief Executive Nick Hayek said these new watches might allow the wearer to count the number of steps they take and calories they burn. And there will be a few other cool ‘Swatchy’ things on offer via latest Bluetooth technology, he said in an interview at the company’s headquarters in Biel.

“All the big technology firms want to work with us and I don’t rule out that we are or could be collaborating in some areas. But we can also do many things on our own.”

Wearable gadgets, such as smartwatches that allow users to connect to their phone to check emails, make calls or monitor their health, are expected to be the next big thing in the tech world and a potential threat to traditional wristwatch sales.

Apple Inc has just invited media to a “special event” next month, fuelling speculation it might present a much-anticipated “iWatch.”

The possibility of an iWatch launch is partly responsible for Swatch shares losing almost 15 percent so far this year, lagging a 3 percent rise in the European sector.

“For Swatch, this could mean a 2 percent hit to revenue and earnings before interest and tax for each 10 percent share that the iWatch was able to gain in its addressable market,” Bernstein analyst Mario Ortelli said in a study in July. Ortelli has a “market perform” rating on Swatch’s shares.

Other tech companies are working on smartwatches. Google’s Motorola is set to launch a Moto360 smartwatch next week in the United States.

But the spotlight is on Apple after the company poached executives from the fashion, luxury and medtech (medical)industries and registered the trademark “iWatch” in Japan.

DREAM TEAM
For many analysts, Swatch and Apple would be the dream team for a smartwatch project, but Swatch has always played down its interest in such a relationship. The argument is that Swatch’s business is selling watches not technology.

“Our first message for customers is the watch. If they like it, they might also be interested in the extra functions,” Hayek said. “It is a problem if you only define a product by its technology. Technology alone doesn’t sell, not in watches.”

His comments highlight the importance of fashion and branding for the development of the smartwatch business.

“(Technology firms) that want to strike partnerships with us also want access to brands. They want (their products) to be more than a commodity,” the CEO said.

Swatch has a well-established list of brands, including its colourful Swatch watches, sporty Tissot and Longines, elegant Omega and hand-decorated Breguet timepieces.

There are already smartwatches on the market from companies like Samsung, Sony Corp and LG Electronics, but these have had mixed reviews.

Experts say even if the technology is cheap and small enough for wearable gadgets, this is not enough for consumers. “Nobody has hit on the right combination of problems a wearable should solve and convinced mainstream consumers,” Avi Greengart, research director at IT research firm Current Analysis, said.

The rewards are potentially huge for whoever comes up with a winning formula. Andrew Sheehy, chief analyst at Generator Research, sees the retail value of wearable Internet-connected devices at $93.1 billion by 2018, versus $4.1 billion in 2014, with smartwatches accounting for about two thirds of the market’s value in 2018.

TECH EXPERTISE
Swatch itself is already in the tech business, making microchips, displays and batteries, mainly for third parties, including mobile phone and smartwatch makers.

“We work with many companies, but there’s no reason to shout it from the rooftops,” Hayek said. “EM Marin supplies tiny parts to many, maybe also Apple. We also make batteries for others. But that’s not our core business.”

Swatch’s electronic systems arm includes semiconductor maker EM Marin, battery maker Renata, quartz maker Micro Crystal and its sports timing business. It had sales of 299 million Swiss francs (327.31 million US dollar) in 2013, but the strong franc led to an operating loss of 12 million francs.

“I don’t know if it will turn profitable this year, that depends on the dollar,” Hayek said.

Almost 500 people work at EM in Marin, about a half-hour drive from Biel, and another 500 at sites worldwide.

“Low-power and low-voltage microchips are our specialty. The Swatch Touch, for example, is the only battery-powered device to have a touch screen that is always active because its power consumption is so low,” Michel Willemin, head of EM Marin, said.

EM Marin supplies components and Renata long-life batteries for Garmin’s Vivofit fitness band that monitors distances walked and calories burned.

“Fitness bands are a trend,” Hayek said. “They are selling like crazy in the U.S., but our Swatch and Tissot brands still have double-digit sales growth there. People wear the band on the other wrist and often take it off again after a few weeks.”

AnandTech founder Anand Lal Shimpi announces retirement from tech publishing; most likely headed to Apple

Anand Lal Shimpi, the founder of hardware reviews website AnandTech.com has announced his retirement in a lengthy letter put up on the site. Shimpi had been the Editor-in-Chief of AnandTech over 17 years and is renowned in the geek world for his in-depth, thoroughly researched stories as well as reviews of  core components such as CPUs, motherboards, solid-state drives, graphics cards and so on.

According to Recode, Anand Shimpi will most likely join Apple – a news which was confirmed by an Apple rep. As of now no details are known about the work responsibilities to be under Shimpi. According to 9to5Mac, AnandTech’s former senior smartphone reviewer had also left the site to join Apple with a focus on building mobile processors for the iOS lineup.

The website will carry on with Ryan Smith as the new Editor-in-Chief. Anand Shimpi has not given any specific reason for retiring from tech publishing at a young age of 32, but he has mentioned that there are no health or business issues that have motivated the decision.

Anand Shimpi started the website way back in 1997, and it was called  Anand’s Hardware Tech Page and was hosted on GeoCities. He was just 14-years old at the time and reviewed motherboards. Over the next 17 years, AnandTech has grown into a brand unto itself, and has expanded beyond core components into consumer gadget reviews as well.

“Even though I’ve been doing this for nearly 18 years, we’ve evolved with the industry. AnandTech started as a site that primarily reviewed motherboards, then we added CPUs, video cards, cases, notebooks, Macs, smartphones, tablets and anything else that mattered. Our learnings in the PC component space helped us approach mobile the right way, and our learnings in the mobile space have helped us bring the PC enthusiast message to a broader audience than would’ve ever seen it before,” said Shimpi in his farewell letter.

We wish him the very best with future ventures.

Microsoft shuts down MSN Messenger in final market of China

Once the world’s favourite instant messaging client, 15-year old MSN Messenger will soon bid a final farewell to the Internet. Post the smartphone age, the Microsoft-developed messaging client was one of the best IM clients known for its reliability and ease of use. The service was rebranded to Windows Live Messenger in 2005 and has since been known by that name.

Microsoft merged MSN Messenger with Skype rendering the former obsolete. Though it had axed MSN messenger from the rest of the world, has been available in China where it’s being run by local partner TOM and not Microsoft itself. Now, even the Chinese service will close down on October 31st and users in China are being encouraged to move to Skype with the offer of free calls.

MSN Messenger is just one of the many IM clients nearing extinction – a service that once attracted a major chunk of PC use, especially among the youth. While messaging clients date back to the 1980′s, it was in the 1990′s when Internet-based graphic IM clients actually began to catch on. That was the age when IM clients such as AOL, MSN, Yahoo, etc introduced the concept of ‘Buddy-lists’ where users could create a set list of people who they could talk to, emoticons for expressing feelings without the need for words, and profile photos. The easy and real-time messaging made it an instant hit, with MSN alone attracting 330 million active users each month.

While MSN is retiring this year, Yahoo messenger is still in operation although there are more bots than humans actually using the service. Others are either being abandoned for modern messaging services by Facebook and Google or have been made obsolete by smartphone messaging apps such as WhatsApp and the likes.

Alibaba IPO’s ‘unusual’ business structure will give investors less control

Foreigners who want to buy Alibaba Group shares in the Chinese e-commerce giant’s US public offering will need to get comfortable with an unusual business structure.

Alibaba’s online and mobile commerce businesses will be controlled by a ‘variable interest entity,’ an arrangement meant to allow investors to buy into Internet and other businesses in which Beijing bans or limits foreign ownership.

Used since the 1990s by Internet operators such as Baidu and Sina, VIEs are based on contracts that say an offshore entity in the Cayman Islands or another corporate haven will control a Chinese company. Foreign shareholders get a stake in that offshore vehicle and profits but no ownership of the Chinese company.

“The VIE structure is the only way at present to play this game,” said Paul Gillis, a professor at Peking University’s Guanghua School of Management. “So if you want to invest in restricted sectors of China’s economy, you have to get comfortable with the VIE structure.”

Chinese regulators have left the status of VIEs ambiguous. Most operate uneventfully, but courts have rejected contracts if they were deemed to be an attempt to evade ownership curbs.

Regulators could shut down VIEs, but “that would be too disruptive,” said Gillis. “They don’t mind the ambiguity because it puts them in a position of strength over the companies to make sure that they comply with government policy.”

Such uncertainty is one of a number of risks investors have accepted to gain a stake in China’s economy. Even after a steep deceleration in growth, it is forecast to expand by about 7 percent annually in coming years.

And Alibaba, based in founder Jack Ma’s hometown of Hangzhou, southwest of Shanghai, represents an especially appealing industry.

Its Taobao, TMall and other platforms account for some 80 percent of Chinese online commerce. Online spending by Chinese shoppers is forecast to triple from its 2011 size by 2015. And Alibaba is expanding into online banking, entertainment and other services.

Analysts believe demand for shares will be so strong that Alibaba could surpass the $16 billion raised by Facebook in 2012. That would value Alibaba at $150 billion to $200 billion, making it one of the most valuable US-traded companies.

In a filing with US regulators, Alibaba says licenses for its online and mobile commerce businesses are held by Chinese citizens to comply with legal restrictions but VIE contracts will give shareholders “effective control.” Still, it warns regulators “may not agree” they are legal.

An Alibaba spokeswoman, Florence Shih, declined to comment, citing the “quiet period” required by US securities rules ahead of an IPO.

Investors can find a VIE gives them less control than they expect, according to a March report by Tom Pugh, a lawyer for the firm Mayer Brown JSM in Hong Kong. He cited the case of shareholders who lost control of a Chinese company when its founder blocked them from firing him by seizing the seals used to sign corporate documents.

In a dispute, foreign shareholders have to work through the Chinese legal system, which “may not be adequate or effective,” Pugh wrote.

In 2012, China’s Supreme People’s Court threw out contracts used by a Hong Kong businesswoman to invest in China Minsheng Bank. The ruling said agreements that “conceal illegal intentions” were invalid. A year earlier, an arbitration panel rejected a VIE contract involving Singapore-based GigaMedia Ltd. and a Chinese online gaming business.

Alibaba appears to have done its best to avoid problems by keeping the amount of business done through VIEs to a minimum, said Peking University’s Gillis.

Only 11.8 percent of Alibaba’s revenue last year was generated by VIEs, according to its filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The rest went to entities that can be directly owned by foreign shareholders.

“They have one of the better VIE structures among Internet companies,” said Gillis.

The ruling Communist Party promised last year to open online commerce to foreign competitors as part of efforts to make China’s state-dominated economy more productive. That has raised hopes they might lift the ownership ban.

“There is some hope that China will fix this problem,” said Gillis, “and that will be a good thing for investors.”

Microsoft given 20 days to clarify queries in China’s anti-trust probe

A Chinese anti-trust regulator said it has given Microsoft 20 days to reply to queries on the compatability of its Windows operating system and Office software suite amid a probe into the world’s largest software company.

The State Administration for Industry and Commerce (SAIC) questioned Microsoft vice-president David Chen and gave the company a deadline to make an explanation, the agency said in a short statement on its website. SAIC also repeated that it suspected the company has not fully disclosed issues relating to the compatability of the software and the operating system.

“Special investigation team conducted an anti-monopoly investigation inquiry with Microsoft vice-president Chen Shi (David Chen), and required that Microsoft make a written explanation within 20 days,” the SAIC said in a statement on its website. In a statement, Microsoft said it was “serious about complying with China’s laws and committed to addressing SAIC’s questions and concerns”.

Microsoft is one of at least 30 foreign companies that have come under scrutiny by China’s anti-monopoly regulators, as the government seeks to enforce its six-year old antitrust law. Critics say the law is being used to unfairly target overseas businesses, a charge the regulators deny.

Last month, a delegation from chipmaker Qualcomm, led by company president Derek Aberle, met officials at the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) as part of that regulator’s investigation of the San Diego-based firm. NDRC said earlier this year that the US chipmaker is suspected of overcharging and abusing its market position in wireless communication standards.

Microsoft’s Satya Nadella is expected to make his first visit to China as chief executive later this month.

DoT plans Wi-Fi hotspots for major Indian cities, tourist spots

The Department of Telecom (DoT) is working on a mechanism to provide Wi-Fi hot spots in cities with population of over 10 lakh and in tourist centres.

The DoT has held meetings recently with telecom operators for the scheme. It has not been decided if the service will be free or chargeable, sources said. “We are planning to provide Wi-Fi hot spots in cities with a population of over 1 million and in tourist centres. Meetings have been held with telcos regarding the same but we are yet to take a call if it will be a free or chargeable service,” the source added.

The scheme is part of the Digital India programme, which has been approved by the government. The programme comprises various projects worth about Rs. 1 lakh crore to transform the country into a digitally empowered knowledge economy.

The programme includes projects that aim to ensure that government services are available to citizens electronically and people get benefit of the latest information and communication technology. The programme will be implemented in phases from the current year till 2018.

The vision of government under Digital India project includes creation of ICT infrastructure like high speed Internet at gram panchayat level, on demand availability of government services like health, education etc., and digital empowerment of citizens specially through digital literacy.

The programme will be monitored by a committee headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) will accord approval for projects.

Penny Arcade Expo: For gamers, combating online abuse not easy

While most attendees of the Penny Arcade Expo come to the boisterous convention to play games, bag swag and meet like-minded people, a few take the time to investigate online bullying and why it’s so prevalent among the gaming community.

Therapist Stacey Weber, herself a gamer, is a bit mystified. “It just doesn’t make sense,” said Weber, who was part of a Saturday talk at PAX Prime called “Not Us, Not Here: Examining Bullying, Harassment and Misogyny.”

“When we pick up our games, we delve into these whole new worlds where there’s a multitude of various species and ways of being,” Weber said. “Difference is the norm, so how come this community seems so intolerant of difference?”

The discussion at the four-day, sold-out convention, which ends Monday and is expected to draw about 85,000 gamers, follows a week of several reports of online harassment of developers and personalities in the gaming community. “Unfortunately, a lot of the recent conflict is showing us there’s a lot of work left to be done,” Weber said.

Weber points to research that shows online taunting, popular in “Call of Duty,” ”Halo,” and other shoot-’em-up games, may come from bullies who enjoy the online anonymity while seeking to reduce their own anxiety and feelings of inadequacy. She said such abuse is no different whether it occurs on the playground or the virtual battlefield.

“The quadrants of harassment don’t change from the physical space to the digital space,” said therapist Joshua Neal, who joined Weber for the discussion. “The effects are the same.”

Neal said that because anonymity is common on the Internet, online activity can become a “fantasyland” for people seeking to spread negativity with fewer repercussions. He implored PAX Prime attendees to be mindful of the language they use while playing games. “When our speech directly harms marginalized communities, I think that’s something we can stand up for needing to reduce and stop,” he said. “Individually, we can parse that stuff out. If we’re using misogynistic, homophobic or racist remarks, that has a real impact on stereotypes that get perpetuated in communities where we can see damage occurring.”

Despite developers and publishers taking steps to stymie abuse, the name calling, sexual harassment and “swatting” — when a person anonymously files a false police report — continue to persist in the gaming world.

Weber and Neal told PAX Prime attendees that if they observe abuse online, the best response is to show empathy not only toward the person targeted but also toward the tormenters because that might provide them an opportunity to recognize and correct their bad behaviour.

Creators shed light on live-action Halo: Nightfall series at Penny Arcade

“Halo: Nightfall” is returning to familiar territory.

The overseers of the popular franchise at 343 Industries announced Saturday at the PAX Prime gaming convention that the upcoming live-action “Halo” series would take place on a surviving fragment of the Alpha Ring, the intergalactic locale from the original “Halo: Combat Evolved” sci-fi shooter.

“Our director, Sergio Mimica-Gezzan, felt really strongly that he wanted the setting to be a character,” executive producer Kiki Wolfkill told hundreds of fans gathered inside Seattle’s Benaroya Hall.

Following the destruction of the Alpha Ring at the end of “Halo” by series protagonist Master Chief, the fragment now orbits an unidentified sun, making the surface inhospitable for several hours a day. “We really dug into how this fragment ended up there,” Wolfkill said.

The live-action series takes place between the video games “Halo 4″ and “Halo 5: Guardians,” which is set for release next year exclusively on the Xbox One console from Microsoft Corp. “Nightfall” centers on agent Jameson Locke, who is portrayed by Mike Colter and will be a playable character in “Halo 5.”

The multi-part film will be released this year ahead of a live-action “Halo” TV series that will be produced by Steven Spielberg. The untitled show is scheduled to debut next year on Microsoft’s Xbox Live service, as well as the Showtime network.

During this weekend’s PAX Prime panel, the developers also teased more details about “Halo: The Master Chief Collection,” which will bring four previous “Halo” installments to the next-generation Xbox One console alongside “Nightfall” on November 11.

“Halo” audio director Paul Lipson played new tracks from Misha Mansoor and Steve Vai that will be part of a remastered edition of “Halo 2.” “It just wouldn’t be ‘Halo 2′ without a guitar legend,” Lipson said.

Apple iCloud hack? Nude photos of Jennifer Lawrence, Kate Upton and other celebs leaked

Nude photos purportedly showing many top stars, including Oscar-winner Jennifer Lawrence and pop star Rihanna, bounced around social media Sunday, in an apparent massive hacking leak, US media reported.

“It’s so weird and hard how people take your privacy away from you,” Lawrence said in a tweet. The actress’ agent, meanwhile, vowed to take legal action. “This is a flagrant violation of privacy. The authorities have been contacted and will prosecute anyone who posts the stolen photos of Jennifer Lawrence,” her representative told TMZ entertainment website.

Word of the images began spreading early Sunday, amid reports that the photos had been obtained by allegedly hacking iCloud accounts, Mashable and other media reported. Among the celebrities whose pictures allegedly were stolen and posted online were Avril Lavigne, Amber Heard, Gabrielle Union, Hayden Pannettiere and Hope Solo, according to Mashable.

Other celebrities targeted were Kate Upton, Hillary Duff, Jenny McCarthy, Kaley Cuoco, Kate Bosworth, Keke Palmer and Kim Kardashian. Former Nickelodeon star and singer Victoria Justice said the images claiming to show her naked body were anything but the real deal. “These so called nudes of me are FAKE people. Let me nip this in the bud right now. *pun intended*” she tweeted.



On Reddit, a subreddit dedicated to the leaks shot up to the top of the popularity charts and even managed to outrank the website itself in Alexa rankings. With users posting leaked images on Imgur, the photo sharing service was also forced to take down a number of uploads that claimed to be from the leak. However, as messages on the subreddit suggest, a bunch of users had already downloaded images to local drives before they were taken down.

As for the origin of the leak, Gawker says an anonymous user on 4chan claimed to have access to celebrities’ personal photos and wanted Bitcoin and monetary donations to a PayPal account before they were released. It would seem the user was also in touch with media outlets and named TMZ as one of the contenders to get the pictures.

However, reports about iCloud being hacked allowing the attacker to spread the personal photos have so far only stayed in the realm of speculation. Apple has not officially commented on this issue, but iCloud has been the target of recent efforts by hackers and researchers. Activation bypass tools such as doulCi exist in the wild, while earlier this year some Australian iPad and iPhone owners found their devices remotely locked, but Apple has said that iCloud remains secure. 

Redmi 1s vs Moto E vs Zenfone 4: Which budget smartphone should you buy?

Update: We’ve put the Redmi 1S through our tests. You can read the full review here.

After the success of its Mi 3, Xiaomi is all set to bring yet another uber-affordable smartphone with awesome specs in India. The company is all geared to officially unveil the Redmi 1s priced at Rs 6,999. Well, the pricing may sound familiar, as most entry-level devices come in a similar price bracket and aim to compete with the reigning budget Android, the Moto E.Another device that fits the bill is the Asus Zenfone 4, which has two variants with different displays. All three devices carry similar price tag and are also being sold exclusively via Flipkart, so which one is a better bargain. We’ve thrown them into  the ring to see which one emerges as the winner, at least on paper.

Comparison table

The Redmi 1s steals the show when it comes to the display. It not only sports a larger screen but also packs in 312 ppi pixel density thanks to the HD resolution, compared to the Moto E and Zenfone 4. The other two lag behind with 256 and 217 ppi respectively. This doesn’t mean the Moto E is bad, at the price point, it’s a pretty decent display. All three devices come across highly portable and the Zenfone is the lightest at 133 grams. However, it isn’t as sleek as the Redmi 1s.

The Mi 3 runs on Xiaomi’s customised UI called MIUI that is built upon Android. It is a highly customised UI that lets users choose from a plethora of themes for almost everything from homescreen to boot animations. It supports all the popular games and apps found on the Google Play Store too. However, if you are looking forward to stock Android, then Xiaomi may not be the device for you. The Asus Zenfone is also customised to some extent. The Moto E runs stock Android and comes from a seasoned OEM, with some pretty inoffensive customisations. On storage front, the Zenfone does a better job with 8GB onboard storage that is expandable up to 64GB. The Moto E does a mediocre job when it comes to the camera, and lags behind the competition.

In terms of processing speed, all three devices should be fairly good. In our review, the Moto E powered by dual-core Snapdragon 200 did a pretty good job and isn’t laggy for a budget Android. The Zenfone 4 running dual-core Intel Atom could be slightly better, but Xiaomi seems to have stepped up performance with the Redmi 1s that runs a quad-core Snapdragon 400, clocked at 1.6GHz, higher than the competition. In terms of performance and efficiency, the Redmi 1s could go beyond the other two, but we will have to reserve judgement till we put it through the paces in our labs.

In a nutshell, the Redmi 1s comes as a great pick for the hardware it offers at the price point. However, the OS could also be a deciding factor for many. Moreover, the Moto E and Zenfone 4 are easily available, while we wouldn’t be surprised if Xiaomi continuous its drama of playing hard to get.

Men vs Women: Research shows both sexes use cellphones differently

Women are more likely to use cellphones for texting or emails to build relationships and have deeper conversations, while men prefer using their devices for entertainment purposes and accessing social networking sites, a new US study has found.

Women college students spend an average of 10 hours a day on their cellphones and men college students spend nearly eight, with excessive use posing potential risks for academic performance, researchers from Baylor University said.

“As cellphone functions increase, addictions to this seemingly indispensable piece of technology become an increasingly realistic possibility,” said researcher James Roberts, The Ben H Williams Professor of Marketing in Baylor’s Hankamer School of Business.

The study noted that approximately 60 per cent of college students admit they may be addicted to their cellphone, and some indicated they get agitated when it is not in sight.

The study – based on an online survey of 164 college students – examined 24 cellphone activities and found that time spent on 11 of those activities differed significantly across the sexes.

Some functions – among them Pinterest and Instagram – are associated significantly with cellphone addiction. But others that might logically seem to be addictive – Internet use and gaming – were not.

Of the top activities, respondents overall reported spending the most time texting (an average of 94.6 minutes a day), followed by sending emails (48.5 minutes), checking Facebook (38.6 minutes), surfing the Internet (34.4 minutes) and listening to their iPods (26.9 minutes).

Men send about the same number of emails as women but spend less time on each. “That may suggest that they’re sending shorter, more utilitarian messages than their female counterparts,” Roberts said.

Women may be more inclined to use cellphones for social reasons such as texting or emails to build relationships and have deeper conversations, the study suggested.

The men in the study, while more occupied with using their cellphones for utilitarian or entertainment purposes, “are not immune to the allure of social media,” Roberts said.

They spent time visiting such social networking sites as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Among reasons they used Twitter were to follow sports figures, catch up on the news – “or, as one male student explained it, ‘waste time,’” Roberts said.

The study was published in the Journal of Behavioral Addictions.

Intel releases its 8-core Haswell-E Extreme edition processors

Intel has announced the much awaited debut of its 8-core processor lineup – the Haswell E Extreme Edition processors. Along with this line up Intel has also introduced the Intel X99 motherboard chipset which will support the new DDR4 RAM modules. The processor prices range from $390 to $1000.

Eight core Intel Core i7 5960X Haswell E extreme edition processor’s internal circuit diagram

The flagship CPU – Intel Core i7-5960X is clocked at 3GHz and will be an 8-core/16-thread CPU thanks to hyperthreading technology. This is the first 8-core processor from Intel in the Core series lineup. Generally 8-core processors are seen on the Xeon server chips. The turbo clock speeds can go upto 3.5GHz. The new additions include support for 40 PCIe 3.0 lanes which is the same as that seen on Intel Core i7-4960X – the Ivy Bridge E flagship. Haswell E will be the first processor line up to support Thunderbolt 2 connections which is significant considering the push towards 4K technology. The Core i7-5960X will be priced at a whopping $1000 or approx Rs 60,500.

Apart from the flagship model, Intel has released two more models namely Intel Core i7-5390K and Intel Core i7-5820K, both of which are 6-core/12-thread parts. They are both clocked higher than the flagship model, with the Core i7 5930K clocked at 3.5GHz base clock / 3.7GHz turbo clock whereas the Core i7 5820K is clocked at 3.3GHz base clock / 3.6GHz turbo clock. The Intel Core i7 5930K will be priced at $594 or approx Rs 36,000 and the Intel Core i7 5820K will be priced at $396 or approx Rs 24,000.

The Haswell E processor launch marks the end of the 22nm manufacturing process. The next processor line up will be based on the 14nm Broadwell architecture which will be the 5th generation Intel Core processor line up which we can expect towards the end of the year.

Apple could include NFC-based payments system in upcoming iPhone 6

Apple's new iPhone 6 will have mobile wallet payment system

Apple plans to enable its next iPhone to become a mobile wallet by allowing owners to securely make mobile payments in a store with the touch of a finger, Bloomberg said on Sunday, citing a person familiar with the situation.

The agreement includes participation by Visa, MasterCard and American Express and will be announced 9 September along with unveiling of the next iPhone, according to the source, who Bloomberg said asked not to be identified because the talks are private.

The new iPhone will simplify mobile payment by including a special communication chip, along with a fingerprint recognition reader that debuted on the most recent iPhone, the source said. Officials could not immediately be reached at Apple, Visa, Mastercard and American Express.

With a recent report hinting that the next iPhone and the iWatch will incorporate NFC technology to enable users to pay by touch, we might see NFC being put to some real good use with Apple’s latest iPhone. Apple is working with Dutch chipmaker NXP Semiconductors NV to add secure NFC into the next iPhone. Financial Times reported that this will allow an iPhone to connect with payment terminals or ticketing systems.

BJP portal and PM’s website among India’s most targeted sites by hackers

Bhartiya Janta Party’s (BJP) portal and the personal website of Prime Minister Narendra Modi are among India’s most targeted sites by hackers.

“Prime Minister’s personal site as well as our party’s website is one of the most targeted websites in the country,” BJP National Head IT Cell Arvind Gupta said at a hackers conference in New Delhi.

Gupta added the IT wing of the party has sufficient resources at its disposal to check on such attacks. The Government’s cyber-security arm Computer Emergency Response Team-India (CERT-In) reported 62,189 cyber-security incidents in the first five months this year. The body also reported that 9,174 Indian websites were hacked by groups spread across the world.

According to government data, during the 2011, 2012, 2013.and 2014 (till May), a total number of 21,699, 27,605, 28,481.and 9,174 Indian websites were hacked by various hacker groups spread across worldwide.

Besides, during these years, a total number of 13,301, 22,060, 71,780 and 62,189 security incidents, respectively, were reported to the CERT-In.

In July this year, Communications and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad told Lok Sabha that there have been attempts.from time to time to launch cyber-attacks on Indian cyberspace.

“These attacks have been observed to be originating from the cyberspace of a number of countries including the US, Europe, Brazil, Turkey, China, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Algeria and the UAE,” he had said then.